Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Fan Fiction ❯ The Skeleton Key ❯ Specter's Demise ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Funimation does, nor do I make money from my stories. They are for entertainment purposes only, in agreement with Fair Use.

“Ghost talking”

Reading

‘Thoughts’

“Specter” ;

Fate’s POV

It has taken three us two months of solid searching the property with no sign of what we were looking for. As we've been searching, I could feel the presence and it was angry but I did notice something. When we would go away from a certain area, the anger would lesson but the closer to a certain area we got the stronger and harder it became.

That's when I knew that we were onto something. We concentrated in that area but still no luck in finding what we were looking for; the key to setting Nanoha free.

Hayate had contacted her cousins that were priestesses of the local Shinto temple. She told them what was going on and what we were attempting to do. They said when the time was right they would come out and banish the Specter from the property but they had to wait for the full moons power which means we had to wait almost a full month before they could do anything.

So we continued to search. I knew that they were both getting tired of this. It seemed like it was a never ending crusade for me. I had to find her head so that she could be set free and be with the other person that she loved.

Even though this was tearing me apart inside I couldn't be like her husband and hold her here. Even if she wanted to stay, I couldn't do it. I had to set her free. As days turned into weeks the full moon was just days away now.

I would continue my searches even when the others weren’t with me. When I had spotted something it looked kind of like a cave so I approached it. The closer I got the angrier he got. When I stepped into the cave and turned on my flashlight, I heard something that made my heart go cold as stone.

“FATE!”

I turned around and tore out of the cave heading straight for Nanoha knowing that he had to be there with her. I had to try and protect her. I just didn't know how I could protect her when I couldn't even touch her.

When I got through the door, I looked around. The house had been torn apart as furniture was broken and other items had been thrown around. I searched room by room looking for Nanoha knowing she was somewhere here in the house. I could still feel her presence, but I could also tell he was here.

Each room looked as bad as the last. Everything was torn to shreds. Curtains, bedding, anything that could be destroyed was. I had gone through every single room and I couldn't find her. There was only one last place to look… the root cellar. I tore down the stairs from the second level running to get to the root cellar when something caught my ankle. I went flying into the wall.

I'd hit my head and I was slightly dazed. When I looked down at my ankle there was a hand still gripping it. It was a man's hand and I knew instantly that it was her husband. I was slowly being dragged across the room towards the front door and then thrown 10 feet out into the front yard.

Chrono almost ran me over as he was driving up the drive. Both he and Amy jumped out of their vehicle and came to see if I was all right. I tried to struggle to get up but my leg was in pain and I couldn't stand on it. I could still hear her screaming and there was nothing that I could do to help her.

They got me into their car and headed into town to take me to the hospital. After a few x-rays it seemed that I had sprained my ankle but something that nobody could explain was the black and blue handprint on my sprained ankle. How do you tell the doctors a Specter did that to you? If you wanted to sound insane that would be exactly what you would tell them. I was not about to fall into that trap. I had to get back to Nanoha as quickly as possible.

They kept me overnight in the hospital for observation to make sure that I stayed off of it. The next day I had Hayate and Yuuno pick me up. As we were heading back to the house to search some more, I told them what had happened to me. They both looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces knowing things were starting get out of hand.

Hayate called her cousins to see if they could come out and perform whatever it was that they needed to do to get rid of the Specter as he had attacked me and it was quite possible his intentions were to kill me. It was the day before the full moon they said that they would be there as soon as they could. They were still an hour away by car so we devised a plan for when they arrived. I would keep him occupied with Yuuno and Hayate and her cousins would go to his grave to banish him into the depths of hell.

It felt like years but I know it was only an hour when they arrived. Signum was the high priestess and Shamal was her counterpart for the ritual. We had gone to the Town hall to look at the records of where he had been buried, so Hayate took her cousins the priestesses to where they needed to be.

My part of the plan was getting him far away from his own grave for as long as I could so he couldn't stop them once the ritual had started. To do that, I intended to go back into that cave and retrieve what was hidden inside.

As Yunno and I made our way to the cave, I could feel his presence watching us. When I started to hear Nanoha screaming again I had to stop myself from turning around and running back to try and save her. I knew the only true way I could save her was by getting rid of him forever.

After we had walked a good 10 feet into the cave, we looked around to see if we could find anything that looked like a skull. Towards the back wall we both saw a symbol that was red like blood and below it was a pile of stones. We both made our way towards it and started removing the stones and at the bottom was a burlap satchel that was stained in Burgundy. I knew in my heart of hearts that we had finally found what we have been looking for.

With trembling hands I gently picked it up and held it to my chest. I knew it was her. I looked up at the wall and knew that it had to be her blood that was in that symbol. I didn't know what it meant, but I knew I had to destroy it. I took the bottle of water from my pocket handing the burlap satchel over to Yuuno. I stood up pouring water in my hand and then rubbing it on the blood. Even washing a part of it away would be enough to break whatever curse he placed on her.

He must have felt it because I could feel his presence getting closer and he was hot with anger. Throwing the bottle down onto the ground, I looked over at Yuuno still holding her head and I made a decision. He would go after me in a heartbeat so to make him think that I had her I would need the burlap satchel.

I took the satchel from Yuuno then carefully put my hand inside. I could feel her hair and breath caught in my throat. I could finally touch a part of her that wasn't just bone. I closed my eyes for just a few seconds to relish in the sensation of brushing my fingers through her hair. Then gently I removed her from the satchel. Yuuno took his jacket off and held it out as I gently placed her in his jacket. He nodded his head once to let me know he knew where to go with her.

I bent down and picked up one of the stones and then rolled my own jacket up into a ball with the stone in the center. I placed this into the satchel so that would make it look like her head was still inside.

We made our way outside of the cave. Yuuno ran and I tried to run in the opposite direction. As planned, he focused on me. He caught up to me sooner than I had expected and he flung me into a tree. The satchel went flying from my hand and I crawled towards it. I was then hit in the back by a tree limb. I was momentarily stunned as I laid there and watched him walk over to the satchel.

I tried to get up and prevent him from getting to it, but he swung the tree limb at me again hitting me in the head and knocked me unconscious. I came to with his scream of rage when he found out he had followed the wrong person. I opened my eyes just in time to see him lift the limb again as he was about to kill me with it.

Out of nowhere, I see Nanoha running up behind him grabbing the limb and yanked it from his hands. He spun and the look of surprise would have been comical if I wasn't in so much pain. She swung the limb and he went flying smashing into a tree causing it to explode into splinters.

“You will not hurt another person that I love ever again!”

“Love? Like you could know what that is you whore.”

“Yes love. I have felt it twice, where you will never feel it ever. I wasn't able to save Alicia but I sure as hell am going to save Fate from your murderous ways.”

“You harlot! I should have left you at that brothel where you belonged!

He ran towards her grabbing the front of her kimono before throwing her 20 feet into the air. When she landed, dirt and leaves went everywhere and she was lying in a small crater. My first instinct was to go to her to see if she was all right. She may have been a ghost, but she could still feel pain and possibly even be injured. (What was I thinking? She’s a ghost she can’t be hurt.)

But he was standing in my way and now, as he turned his wrath towards me. I tried to crawl away but my arms and legs weren’t working properly as I must've still been affected by his last attack. He bent over and picked me up. I knew I had to at least be a foot or two above the ground as my feet were dangling underneath me.

When I looked into his eyes, I saw the look of pure evil and it made me go cold inside. The only thought that was going through my mind was that if I died at least Nanoha and I would be together forever.

Suddenly his hands let me go and I fell crumpled to the ground. He was staring at his hands as they started to slowly fade out of existence.

“Nooo! I will have my revenge; it will not be denied to me. I will take you with me you meddling mortal. That will be my final revenge on that traitorous bitch.”

He reached down as if to grab me, but I smiled up at him. “I don't think so, we're going to win the day this time you sick son of a bitch!” Kicking my good leg out the bottom of my boot connected with his groin causing two reactions him; screaming in pain as well as him flying back and away from me. Just before he landed, he faded out of existence straight into the bowels of hell where he belonged.

With relief, I went limp. I vaguely had the sensation of someone being next to me. When my head and upper body were placed on someone’s cool legs I knew it had to be Nanoha. I opened my eyes and looked into her beautiful clear blue eyes. I reached my hand up to touch her cheek expecting my hand to go right through her, but it didn't. I was actually able to touch her for the first time.

Smiling up at her, I let the darkness overtake me into oblivion.

When I woke up I found myself in a hospital room with mom, Chrono and Amy surrounding my bed all with worried expressions.

“Fate honey, how are you feeling? Are you in pain anywhere?”

“No mom. I think I'm all right. I just want to go home.”

“My little sister's not going back to that place ever again, if I have anything to say about it.”

“I tried to tell everybody that, that place was haunted but did anybody listened to Amy. No, no one took me seriously when I tried to tell people that place was dangerous. Are you going to believe me now Ms. I do everything on the spare of the moment and don't think before you do something sooo stupid again? Are you going to listen to me next time?”

“It's all over. The specter is gone. There's nothing more in that house that could hurt anyone. The only one left is Nanoha and once I get back it'll be time to set her free so that she can finally be at peace after all this time.”

Complete silence greeted me after that statement. Shortly after Hayate and Yunno walked into my hospital room both were happy to see that I was awake. But then they both looked sad apparently. There was something that they needed to tell me and by the looks of it I wasn't going to like it.

“Don't tell me you didn't wait for me so that I could say goodbye to her. I at least wanted to be able to say goodbye to her before she was reunited with Alicia.”

Hayate shook her head no. “We haven't done anything yet Fate. Actually, even when you get back home, I don't think you'll be able to put her to rest. A portion of her skull was missing and without it there's no way you'll be able to lay her to rest. I'm sorry Fate. We went through all of that… ….”

“So does this mean that I have failed her? That she's stuck here and can't go and be at peace with her love.”

“Well about that, my cousins would like to talk to you about what they can do to help her move on.”

Stepping through my hospital room door was Signum and Shamal still in their priestess outfits. By the stern look on Signum's face, I had a feeling I may not like what they had to suggest.

“We have a suggestion. Seeing how you are unable to lay her to rest in the proper way, we can exercise her to the other plain and that will at least partially keep your promise.”

“What do you mean partially? What plain would you exercise her to? I want her to be able to go to heaven nowhere else.”

“She would probably end up in limbo and stay there for all eternity. I'm sorry Fate but it is the only way to keep you safe and healthy. If she stays, she will only endanger your health. Even if she does not intend to hurt you it will be inevitable.”

“If we can't get her to heaven to be with Alicia then she stays with me. I'm not going to abandon her or send her somewhere where she will be tortured and alone. That is my final decision and I will not waver on it. Thank you for your help in getting rid of the specter. Have a safe drive home and will see you at their wedding.”

“If you change your mind you know how to get in contact with us. Good day.”

The two priestesses bowed and left the room. I knew what they were trying to do to protect me but there was no way I was going to allow Nanoha to spend all of eternity in torment and loneliness when she could spend the rest of my life together on Earth.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, the door to my room opened and in walked the Dr. Graham. “Well it's good to see that my patient is finally awake after how many days has it been now… four?”

“Dr. Graham I've been unconscious for four days.”

“Yes and I'm not happy of the fact that I had only seen you the previous day for a sprained ankle and then to fine you come back into the hospital the same day I release you in even worse shape than when you left. To say that I am happy to see you awake is good, but the fact that you're back in here I am not pleased with.

I'm going to keep you for a few more days to make sure that your concussion is healing properly as well as the fact that you further injured your sprained ankle. It seems that you ended up tearing some of the ligaments in your ankle so I've put your leg in a temporary cast to prevent you from injuring it further.

Once you get home you are to put your leg up and do nothing for at least a week, then I want you to come back and I will re-examine your ankle and will see where you go from there. I do not want to see you in here any sooner than your Doctor’s appointment Ms. Harlaown. Ladies, Gentlemen have a good day.”

After the Dr. left, I raised my right eyebrow. “Remind me not to get on his bad side again.”

With that, the tension in the room broke and everyone started laughing and giggling. True to his word, I was stuck in the hospital for at least two more days. When I was released I was given crutches so that I could maneuver around the house.

Nanoha was happy to see me when I walked in the door. Now I just have to figure out a way of setting her free.


Authors Notes: Thank you for reading my story; please leave a review and tell me what you think, positive criticism is always welcomed, flamers will of course be ignored.

In Love & Light,

Zona Rose @};-