Chapter One: "Crossing the Bridge"

[Senkusha]

"Now, I must bid your farewell, little Fate.  I hope that you suffer long and hard before you die.  For you are going to the mythical land of El-Hazzard!"  Percia said cruelly.

"Mother!  Please.... don't do this! ... I... I love you!"

"You just don't get it, my dear.  So I shall put this simply for your underdeveloped brain....  I HATE you.  I always have.  You are a FAILURE, my sweet little Fate.  You could never replace my beloved Alicia.  In fact.  I want to kill you right now!  And perhaps, you may die yet.  Assuming you never reach El-Hazzard!  To fall into the void of time and space, to become nothingness, to slowly dissolve into emptiness.  Yes.  May you have a wretched thing!"

She walked ever so closely to me, I could feel her breath on my face as she stooped down to be eye level with me.

"I wish I had never created this failure!"  She said, and shoved me into the swirling violet vortex behind me...


I felt like I was falling, and then like something grabbed me, and yanked me.  Something invisible had a grip on my waist.  I couldn't breath, and my vision faded.  I was going to die for sure.  I saw darkness, and then passed out...


I woke to the aroma of something delicious cooking.  I looked around.  I was tucked into a soft bed, with the covers pulled taught around me.  The room was made of wood, and there were some freshly growing plants in large pots growing in the corners of the room.  A bookcase filled with books lined one of the walls.  I struggled to get free of the blankets, and realized that I was wearing cute pink pajamas that fit very well on me, as if somebody took the time to size me.  I heard an argument building somewhere in this building...

[Skuld-chan]

"Master Tenchi is not your toy to play with!  Now release  him, immediately, you demon!" Ayeka said.

"Oh.  I see.  You're jealous, because he's chosen ME to be with.  Nobody wants a stupid brat of a snob like you as a girlfriend."  Ryoko said, sticking her tongue out at Ayeka.

"Girls -- um, I haven't dec---", Tenchi mumbled, before Ryoko gave Tenchi a huge, wet and sloppy kiss on his lips.

Ayeka immediately climbed over Tenchi and started pushing and shoving Ryoko, eventually ending up on the floor, as she pulled Ryoko off of Tenchi.  The two girls wrestled on the floor screaming obcenities at each other.

Tenchi took this moment to escape the forced bondage he usually endures with the girls.

"Sasami, I'm going to go check on our guest.  Is there enough food?  I'm sure she's probably hungry."  Tenchi said.

"Sure is!"  Sasami answered back loudly.

"Do you mind if I come with you?  I really need to get away from Mihoshi for a while."  Kiyone said.

"I don't mind."  Tenchi said, and both Kiyone and Tenchi quietly crept up the stairs toward the guest room.

[Skuld-chan]

Ayeka was busy prepairing the long dining table, setting plates and chopsticks down in front of each seat.

"Sasami, do you think that blond girl will wake up anytime soon?"  Ayeka asked.

Sasami, with her usual cheerful smile and bright pink eyes looked over toward the staircase to see Tenchi, Kiyone, and the blond girl walking down the stairs.

"Yes."  Sasami said and giggled.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because, she's right there."  Sasami pointed.

"Ah, Lord Tenchi.  How is our guest doing?"

"I think she's going to be fine, Ayeka.  Her name is Fate Tes..."  Tenchi looked at Fate as they finally made it to the bottom of the staircase.

[Senkusha]

"My name is Fate Testarossa.  It is very nice to meet you all."

"I am Ayeka, First Royal Crowned Princess of the Jurain Empi--"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah.... shut it First Royal Brat.  Hi, I'm Ryoko.  And this is Tenchi, my love."

"Hey YOOOOOOOOOOU!  You be quiet this instant, you brute!"  Ayeka screamed, balling her fist up and raising toward Ryoko.

"Don't mind her.", Ryoko said.  "She's just upset because Tenchi has clearly picked me as his love..."

Little hearts danced around Ryoko's head as her eyes took on a dreamy look.

"Ryoko, I haven't --"  Tenchi said.

"Lord Tenchi is the rightful heir to the Throne of Jurai, at my side, we shall rule the galaxy with fairness and justice."

"Okay.  Lady... Vader." 

Ryoko said and broke into a fit of giggles.  In fact, everybody but Ayeka did.  I was dumbfounded.  Who is Vader?  He must be a relative of Ayeka, because she wasn't laughing.  She looked pretty angry.

Two older men walked into the room, the eldest asked, "What is all the commotion about?"

"And who is this little cutie?" The younger man asked.

"Grandfather, Dad, this is Fate.  Fate, this is my father, Nobuyuki and this is--"

"I am Katsuhito.  Tenchi's grandfather.  It is a pleasure to meet you, Fate-chan."

"Yes.  It's very nice to meet such a fine cutie, Fate."  Nobuyuki said with a smile on his face.

"Dad!  Stop being such a pervert!"  Tenchi cried out.

"Dinner is ready!"  Sasami said as she carried out a large pot.  A small brown rabbit like creature happily hopped behind the young girl."

"Meyaaaaaaaow!"  the fur-ball said cheerfully, and hopped up onto a chair at the long table.

That must be Sasami's familiar.  She's probably a magical girl too.  I should be on-guard with her around.  But she seems nice.  Like Nanoha. ... Oh Nanoha.  I miss you already, but I will find you after we eat.  That's what I agreed to.  Besides, I am hungry...

[Skuld-chan]

"Miss Fate,"  Ayeka said gently, "if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know more about you.  Where do you come from."

"Yeah.  It's not everyday that someone falls out of the sky."  Ryoko said, "Especially through the roof."

"Shut up YOU!  Nobody was talking to you anyway.", Ayeka chastised.

Meanwhile, Washu was busy typing into her holo-top computer, glancing up at Fate every so often.

[Senkusha]

"Um, ... okay.", I began, "I came from another dimension, called The Garden of Time. I've spent a while here on Earth, where I found my first friend, Nanoha."

"That girl, Nanoha.  She's the one you wish to find?"  Kiyone asked.

"Yes.  She can help me. I know she can.  At the least, she can contact the Time and Space Administration Bureau for me.  I have to face my Mother."

Sasami ladled some ramen soup into the bowl in front of me, and other dishes were being passed around the table.  Carrots and Cabbage, some beef and pork, and grilled fish.  Ryoko walked around the table, filling little cups with sake.

"Why do you feel that you have to confront your Mother.  What did she do?"  Mihoshi asked.

"She shoved me through the portal to El-Hazzard.  But I ended up here instead."

"What is an El-Hazzard?"  Sasami asked.

"It's a forbidden place of ancient magic.  Most people assume that it's just a myth, a story of a once powerful capitol city on old Midchilda, before the Time and Space Administration Bureau came to power."

"It's forbidden?"  Ryoko asked with a sly smile on her face.

"Yes, it's supposed to have --"

"Ryoko!  Ayeka shouted...

[Skuld-chan]

"What's wrong, Your lowness, are you scared?", Ryoko chastised.

"YOU....don't need to know about the El-Hazzard!  You're up to nothing good.",  Ayeka started to scream, but quickly resumed her composure.

"Yet another power source for the already super powerful, corrupted Jurain Empire to control?" Ryoko shot back.

"That's not tru--", the princess defended.

"Ryoko..." Kiyone interrupted, "The Empire may have it's corruptions, however, there has been some peace."

Fate looked back and forth between Ayeka, Ryoko, and Kiyone.  Lightning bolts flickered between the Space Pirate and the First Royal Crowned Princess.

Ah-ha.  Yes."  Washu proclaimed with her grin of genius-ness.  Everyone looked at her.  Washu stood up and pointed right at Fate.  "You.  Come with me.  Now."

[Senkusha]

I blinked at the short red-headed girl and pointed at myself.

"Why?  What did I do?"  I said.

[Skuld-chan]

"I need to run some tests on you right now."  Washu said crossing her arms, then she closed her holotop and walked over to Fate, grabbed her by the wrist and practically dragged the poor girl into the living room, opened the closet door underneath the stairs and dragged Fate down the stairs until they reached her Labratory.

[Senkusha]

"Hey!!!"  I screamed and looked back at the others while I was being pulled.  The door slammed shut behind me and I nearly tripped down the stairs as I was yanked.

Once we were at the bottom of the stairs, Washu loosened her grip on my.  I looked around the immensely large room, that seemed to have no ceiling.  Machines and tools and who-knows-what littered this huge area.  Washu let go of me as she sat me down in a chair, and strapped me down into it.

"Um, I really don't think the straps are necessary, Washu?"  I said.

"This is for your own safety."  She said.

She directed a strange looking pointed ... colander down at my head, climbed down the ladder and flipped a large switch.  I heard an engine whirling to life with a loud hum.

"Um, Washu?  What's this thing do?"  A tall, tan, blond, blue eyed woman asked.

"How did you get in here Mihoshi?"  Washu said.

I looked over to see Tenchi, Ayeka, Kiyone, Sasami, Ryoko, and Mihoshi all standing in a group about 20 paces away from me.

"Uh... I used the door?"  Mihoshi replied and blinked with a wide smile.

"Tha--That's impossible!  The doorknob is genetically encoded--!"  Washu yelled.  "Don't touch ANYTHING!"

"Oh, okay!"  Mihoshi replied, as she was staring down at a control panel.

Meanwhile, there was a fight breaking out involving Tenchi...

[Skuld-chan]

"You stand back, Ryoko."  Ayeka declared firmly.

"Excuse me?  Miss nose-shoved-so-far-up-Tenchi's-butt, Why don't you go stand over there."  Ryoko said smiling, and moved closer, grabbing Tenchi by his waist.

"Oh no.  Not again."  Tenchi grimmiced.

"I don't think so, You foul-mouthed-serpent!"  Ayeka chellenged back, and grabbed Tenchi by his chest.

"Girls....?"  Tenchi said nervously.

"Look, your Loweness.  The truth is I found Tenchi first.  So he's mine.  Why don't you go back to your little Empire. -- Oh wait.  You can't.  Too bad, you destroyed your ship like a little brat."  Ryoko said, wiping a fake tear out of the corner of her eye.

"Why you!"  Aykea said and shoved Ryoko backward by shoving her open palm in Ryoko's face.

Ryoko shoved back, and then the tug-o-war started with Tenchi being the rope...

[Senkusha]

I watched as the fight broke out and Washu was busy staring into a computer screen, smiling widely.  Bardiche glowed briefly saying "Caution, Sir."

Kiyone had stepped away from the chaos and leaned against a wall -- or something she thought was a wall.  It began to vibrate violently.

"Um, Washu?  Is this...thing supposed to do this?"  Kiyone said.

Washu ignored Kiyone and was rubbing her hands together in glee.

"Sir.  Massive energy build-up detected.  Suggested action:  Perform Set-Up operation."

"Um... Washu?"  I called to the red-head, but she was just staring at a bunch of numbers and wave-forms.

"GIRLS!"  Tenchi shouted as Ayeka and Ryoko were about to tear him apart.

"Danger."  Bardiche said plainly.

I felt my skin tighten, as what I thought was an electric current flowing through my body.  Sparks of violet lightning met in the middle of the room before me and the ground began to shake.  I was feeling dizzy, and my mind was filling with memories of long ago.  My Mother smiling at me, but always working.  No.  That's not me.  That was Alicia!  Damn You Mother!  Why couldn't you love me!?  A jolt of electricity brought me out of my dreams, and hearing Bardiche, feeling the electricity, was that gravity??  In front of me?!

"Bardiche!  SET.... UP!!!!!!"

My body broke through the straps that bound me to the chair, and as I floated in the air, a white orb of light surrounded me.  My shirt and shorts were replaced by a digital pink absorbing my entire body.  One piece by one piece, my magical armor appeared.  My black bodysuit, pink skirt, thigh-high stockings, steel shoes, a black cape, and my pigtails tied in black ribbons. Bardiche appeared in my hand, as a long staff with the yellow jewel at the end, encircled by grey steel, and his golden energy arc-blade buzzed to life.  The bright orb around me shattered, and just in time....

As Ayeka lost her grip on Tenchi because of the ground shaking violently, she lost her footing, bumped into Mihoshi.  Mihoshi's fingers mashed the keypad and the engine that Kiyone had once been resting on kicked into high gear.  The purple sparks met in the middle of the room with an intensity much like the sun, and a round portal exploded  behind Ayeka and Kiyone.  I felt the gravitational shift from vertical to horizontal, as the portal was sucking everything not nailed down into itself.  I dove towards Ayeka to grab her free arm as she was desperately trying to grab on to anything.  Without knowing, her other had and tightly gripped Kiyone's left ankle.  I managed to reach Ayeka.

But it was too late....


Darkness surrounded Ayeka, Kiyone, and myself as we fell through time and space.  After what seemed to be an eternity, finally a pinhole of white light slowly grew...or was that green??  Nope!  It was azure blue sky.  And now we three were falling toward the ground at increasing speed!  I grabbed both Kiyone and Ayeka  and tried to fly back upward to slow our decent.  The good news is.... it worked.  The bad news?  I wasn't fast enough!

We came crashing through a house roof, but instead of landing on something hard, it was soft.  Beside the sound of a cat hissing and meowing in panic, there was the ear-piercing scream of a teenage girl....

[tanyalc38]

"AHHHH!" Usagi screamed.
"Who the hell are you? How did you get in here? Why are you in my bedroom-you broke my bed!" she rapid fired questions at the two girls.

[Senkusha]

"Huh?"  I said.  "Who are you?  Where am I?"

[Skuld-chan]

"Owwww."  Ayeka said, as she heard the girl scream next to her, her eyes poped wide open.  "Hmmm?  Oh, I am terribly sorry.  I must appologize for dropping on top of you.  I am Ayeka Jurai, the First Royal Crowned Princess of the Jurai Empire.  And you are?"

[Senkusha]

Before the teen could answer, I felt a surge of electricity course through my body again.  A moment later I was surrounded in darkness...

"Kiyone!!!!"  Mihoshi's voice echoed.

"Ow!"  Kiyone shouted a moment later.

The lights came back on, and I noticed that I was once again sitting in the chair that Washu had strapped me down in, although, I was not restrained.

"That was interesting."  Washu said and walked over toward me.  Her large green eyes stared deeply into mine.

"Wh--what?"  I squeaked.

[Skuld-chan]

"The matter conversion into energy ratio was at a near perfect efficiency, and the power output that was manifested from your physical matrix was incredible!"  Washu said with eager excitement.

Ayeka and Kiyone sat up, still on the metallic floor.

"Wh... what just happened?"  Kiyone asked weakly.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure, however, it appears that there was temporal-dimensional shift that occurred for a mere instant."  Washu said while analyzing her holotop data.

"Fate, what happened to your clothes?"  Mihoshi asked.

That's when Fate looked down and noticed that she had transformed into her mage armor.

[Senkusha]

I looked down and blushed.

"Oh... um, this is my Mage Armor. ... It helps to protect me from danger."

[Skuld-chan]

"Oh, so it's kind of like this."  Mihoshi said as she pulled out a translucent pink cube and began twisting it like a Rubic's Cube.  Random things started appearing all around her.

"Mihoshi...", Kiyone said with disappointment, "Please stop making a mess in here."

"It's okay.  I'll find the force shield-thingy."  Mihoshi said as she continued to turned the sides of the cube.

[Senkusha]

I watched on as Mihoshi  started to accumulate a pile of random useless junk around her ankles.  A bouncy ball that squeaked hopped along the floor and stopped in front of my.  I glanced up at Mihoshi and then looked over at Kiyone, who had her forehead pressed against her palm looking downwards.