It's alive. IT'S ALIVE!

Ahem. As you can probably surmise from the above statement, this story is not dead (yet), and, in fact, here's the thirty seventh chapter! And while I now have a few ideas what to write about next, I'm not sure I can guarantee updates at any sort of regular schedule. So, I'm going to keep the on-hiatus warning in the summary for the time being...

* Review Response:
Nuthenry2, thank you for the idea, but I'd like to keep this one as just HP and MGLN crossover.
Jostanos, FateBurn, polarpwnage, davycrockett100, vampireharry the 2, Reishin Amara, ultima-owner, roughstar333, yukicrewger2, Kuro-tan, Thermidor606, Ashzaroth, JohannaGracia, Partsu, shadowchaos5150, thank you for your reviews, folks!
jgkitarel, maybe?
Locothehood, Ranmaleopard, thank you. Hopefully, it won't be abandoning me like that anymore...
Jose19, Alicia is just... being Alicia.
Impstar, no, it's indeed not the harem time. Yet. I don't know.

* AN: Great thanks to Remilia - The Scarlet Moon, greysongarr and Skelekitty for helping me gain the inspiration back and for polishing this chapter.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" or "Mahou Shojou Lyrical Nanoha". No profit is being made. The same goes for the other books, anime & manga I may or may not use for ideas.

"speaking"
"telepathy"
'thinking'
"spells"
「Devices speaking」
written messages

Bureau Agent Potter
chapter XXXVII: Library of Ashare

Pretty much as soon as they were back to the privacy of the Harlaown apartment, Fate-chan had one very serious talk with her sister. Namely, that Harry was in a relationship and, therefore, off limits. It wasn't truly something that Alicia didn't know already, but now Fate-chan finally made her accept this and stop trying to seduce the green-eyed mage. Well, not entirely. While the revived beauty did promise to lay off teasing her 'prince', she also made it quite clear that she wasn't giving up on him just yet.

And while she was dreaming of a future – the one where she and Harry were together, of course – Alicia realized that there were other decisions and plans that needed to be made. Like her future occupation, for example. After all, much like her sister, she wasn't someone who'd be satisfied with being just a housewife. And she really wanted to be helpful to her sister and her friends,..

Of course, her inability to actively use her magic did restrict her from some of the more interesting jobs, but it certainly didn't make her dream of being there for the people she loved unattainable. Indeed, between the bits knowledge gifted to her by her late mother and her own talent of understanding magic and magitech, she could fare reasonably well as a researcher or an engineer. Or, perhaps, as a Device Meister. Yes, becoming one sounded like a really good idea to Alicia. And so she made her decision: she'll become a Device Meister and she'll give her absolute best to her sister and her friends!

Meanwhile, Harry was quite curious about the way Reinforce reacted towards the certain blond beauty's playful advances on him: even though he knew that despite her fearsome reputation his lover actually was a kind and gentle soul, he was still surprised by how mild her reaction towards Alicia's flirting was. And sensing that something major was the cause of this passiveness, the green-eyed mage tried to get the truth out of his silver-haired lady. As inconspicuously as possible, of course.

Unfortunately for him, Reinforce was quite evasive whenever he tried to bring this topic up in their conversation. Eventually, though, he got his lover to confide in him: as it turned out, there indeed was a reason why she didn't act territorial when Alicia was making her advances on him. Namely, as much as she would've liked to be the one and only for him, the silver-haired beauty knew that due to her nature of a magical construct, there were some things she simply couldn't bless him with. And that was why she didn't protest much when Alicia was making her attempts to woo him... Of course, she'd rather share her man with her Master, but... Hayate-chan so far was showing way more interest in the fair sex than she did in boys, so...

Understandably, Harry was deeply moved by this confession and wasted no time in alleviating Rein's fears, reassuring her that he didn't love her any less just because she was what she was... And by the time he was done making her forget all about those fears, the Lady of the Blessed Wind was practically glowing from the knowledge that his love for her was very real and quite strong.

~/ *** \~

About two weeks after the Alicia's failed abduction, Nanoha was finally discharged from the hospital. Her physical wounds were healed and some faint scarring on her tummy was but the only reminder of a nearly-fatal wound a gadget drone had inflicted on her. Her Linker Core, though, still needed more time to finish healing. And to make sure that she wouldn't hurt herself by trying to use her magic before it was okay to do so, her device, the Raising Heart, was temporarily taken away from her.

Surprisingly enough, Nanoha wasn't too upset by this. By her own admission, she had learned her lesson about overdoing her training and will never make such a mistake ever again. In fact, she decided that once the doctors finally give her a clean bill of health, she'll pursue a career of a TSAB combat instructor and will do her best to stop others from making the same mistake that nearly cost her life.

And now that her dearest friend was finally released from the hospital, Fate-chan was finally able to concentrate on her Enforcer training properly. Even more than just that, with nothing weighting her down anymore, the blond mage was actually preparing for the final tests that would take place in a month. And, once she passed them, finally becoming a full-fledged member of the Enforcer Division.

Mrs. Alpine, meanwhile, wasn't getting discharged from the hospital just yet: the doctors wanted to keep her under close observation for a bit longer; probably due to how damaged her Linker Core still was. But that didn't stop the lavender-haired knight from making her own plans for the future. And those plans included finding a new home for her family: Megane just knew that she wouldn't be able to live peacefully in her old apartment, the one her dear husband had been murdered in and her daughter had been abducted from.

At the same time, though, she knew that she shouldn't go about it carelessly: over the past few months little Lu-chan has grown really close to Harry and his ladies, and separating them suddenly would end in a disaster. But, that wasn't actually a big problem for Megane as between the monies she already had and whatever she could gain from selling her old apartment, she knew she'll be able to buyout one next door to the Yagami-Potter household. And there might even be enough money left after the deal to do some really nice renovations there...

Aside from that, Mrs. Alpine was also thinking about her future employment. Losing her ability to use magic made it impossible for her to continue as an active-duty investigator. However, that didn't mean she could no longer work within the Bureau: there was quite a number of positions that didn't require one to be capable of casting spells. She could get a position in the public relations offices or in the archives or, hell, become an instructor and teach the recruits about the TSAB history or law! Plus, while she'd rather keep working for the TSAB, there nothing actually preventing her from seeking employment elsewhere, and there was a number of interesting civilian jobs she could take.

Still, none of her plans could be really set into motion until the doctors deemed her ready to leave their care, so the lavender-haired knight could do little more than making sure once and again that these plans were as close to being flawless as was possible.

~/ *** \~

Why Alicia was so confident that a Unison Device would know how Devices were manufactured and maintained, Harry wasn't sure, but this time her guess was quite spot on. Reinforce, despite lacking the knowledge on now she herself or even her knights were made, indeed knew a thing or two about the creation of lesser Magical Terminals. It was just one of the great many things she has 'learned' over the centuries of her long life via her Rare Skill, 'Collect and Use'. She was quite willing to share this wealth of knowledge too.

And so Alicia began visiting the Yagami-Potter household almost every day as she learned the basics of Device creation from Reinforce. Harry actually had no idea why she picked Reinforce over some certified Device Meister as her teacher, but this unexpected apprenticeship seemed to work for both of them, so... Anyhow, with her sister spending much of her time there, Fate-chan too started coming whenever she wasn't busy with her Enforcer training, much to Hayate-chan's joy. Especially since Nanoha-chan, who was yet to go back to Earth, often joined them as well.

For awhile things were peacefully-quiet. Then, one day, this routine was shattered to pieces by a sudden call from an old friend:

"Long time no see, Yuuno." Fate-chan greeted him. Indeed, between his job at the Infinite Library and the archaeological expeditions he still frequently participated in, the ferret-boy has kinda fallen out of everyone's lives.

"Hello, Fate-chan, Nanoha-chan, Harry-kun." The blond boy greeted back. "I'm sorry for calling you so suddenly, but I'd like to ask a huge favor from you, Fate-chan." Now, this was interesting. The red-eyed beauty could only wonder what her friend might need her help with. After all, he was probably the smartest person in their little group and he wasn't lacking when it came to the connections within the Bureau. And, despite being downright terrible with shooting spells, he could hold his own in a magical fight quite well.

"What sort of a favor?" She asked. Immediately, two new windows popped into existence. One cycled through a number of photos depicting some ancient but well-preserved ruins that were covered by a strange magical shield, while the other showed whatever data the archaeological team got from scanning that shield. And, well, that data made absolutely no sense. It was like the magic behind it operated on the entirely different principles than what everyone here was familiar with.

"About a month ago, one of the TSAB border patrols discovered an asteroid drifting through the Dimensional Space that gave off some very strong and very unusual magical readings. The preliminary investigation of this asteroid makes us believe that it is a vault of some sort that was created by the Al-Hazardian civilization around five thousand years ago. The magical shield you see, however, prevents us from exploring this place properly." Yuuno explained, giving Fate-chan a good idea, what sort of a favor he was about to ask from her.

"You want to enlist Alicia-nee-chan to help you get past that shield." The Enforcer Trainee observed. Yuuno nodded in response; there really was no reason for him to be equivocative.

"Yes." He confirmed. "We believe that she, as an Al-Hazardian mage, will be able to interface with the spells that protect the vault and deactivate them gracefully." There was quite a long pause, before he added: "We should be able to force our way through that shield regardless, but I'm afraid that doing so will trigger some sort of a defense mechanism that will destroy the priceless artifacts that are stored inside." Fate-chan let out a small sigh.

"Yuuno-kun, we've known each other for years now, and I trust you, really." She said. "It is your colleagues that I have no trust in. I'm sure, you've heard what happened to nee-chan the last time I've entrusted her to someone I didn't know. And I know for sure that you have your duties that won't let you watch Alicia-nee-chan 24/7."

"Watch me why?" The said girl asked as she walked into the room, her lessons in Device making apparently over for the day. "And you must be… ah... Yuuno-kun, right? Nice to meet you." She greeted the young archaeologist. "Fate-chan told me lots of stories about you."

"Hello, Alicia-san." Mr. Scrya greeted her back.

"So…" The revived blonde continued. "What would someone need to watch me over for?" She asked while looking into her sister's eyes. It was not Fate-chan but Yuuno who gave her the answer to his question, however:

"You see, some time ago an untouched vault of Al-Hazardian origin was discovered. This vault, however, protected by a powerful magical shield and I was hoping that you could help us deactivate that shield." He said. "But Fate-chan, quite reasonably, raises a question about your security, should you agree to assist me and my colleagues."

"Mhm…" Alicia breathed out as she studied the images of the ancient magical vault that Yuuno has shared with her sister and her friends. "Is this vault of yours a library?" She asked finally. The young archaeologist shook his head.

"No, not really. But, as far as we were able to see, there is a decent amount of hand-written books stored within this vault, alongside with various other artifacts of that period."

"I'm not letting Alicia-nee-chan go if there are no guarantees of her safety there." Fate cut in. Alas, the other two blondes were too engrossed in discussing the possible contents of the Al-Hazardian vault to really listen to her right now:

"Do you think that there might be something on medicine?" The revived beauty asked. "Al-Hazardian magic has brought me back to life… even if it did so in a rather twisted way; it's not impossible that there might be something that can cure my condition." She said, referring to her mana poisoning and the lingering damage from the curse she had been revived under. And, just because Alicia has accepted that she might never be able to use her magic freely again didn't mean that she wasn't looking for a way to make herself healthy again.

"Well…" Yuuno began. "We don't know for sure what is stored within this vault as the shield prevents us from exploring it, but, based on what we've seen thus far, there is a significant number of books inside. And since the Al-Hazardian civilization was even more reliant on magic than Belkan or our own, books on magic would certainly be plentiful. We can only guess on what kind of spells are described within them, but it would actually be quite surprising if there is absolutely nothing about healing magics in those books."

"If there is a chance, I should take it." Alicia said, apparently already imagining the magic no one has heard in millenniums of curing all of her ailments.

"You aren't going anywhere if there are no guarantees of your absolute safety." Fate inserted assertively. "And, sorry, Yuuno-kun, but you won't be able to guard my nee-chan all the time." The said girl could see where her sister was coming from with this 'decision', but that certainly didn't mean she was happy about being denied a chance at getting the cure to her condition. Similarly, the young archaeologist would rather Alicia helped his expedition…

"But what if someone else comes with me and protects me while out there?" The revived beauty tried. "There will be no problems with this on your end, right, Yuuno-kun?" The said teen immediately replied with a nod.

"No, there won't be any. I should be easy for me to get the permissions for you and anyone that else that will come." He said.

"And who is going to accompany you, nee-chan?" Fate asked. "None of us can take any more days off right now." At least, that was true for those whom she considered to be capable of watching over her sister well.

"Well, since I'm her Lord and commander, I can give Hedwig some extra leave. Gods know, she hates being stuck in the Department's Archives..." Harry spoke up. "And, I'm sure, Hayate-chan can do the same for Yuuki. Together, our little Unison sisters should be more than enough to keep Alicia-chan safe."

"Yeah, papa's saying worthwhile things." The once-owl added, seeing as Fate-chan didn't appear to trust her Lord. "I'm strong and so is my sister." The Enforcer trainee let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, if you two can prove it to me that you will be able to keep Alicia-nee-chan safe, I'll let her go."

As Fate quickly learned, underestimating the Hedwig and Yuuki because of their small stature and 'meager' A-rank in magical power was a very big mistake. Especially when the two Unison Devices were working together. With how they could share their senses, sneaking up on them was all but impossible, and their predictive abilities on top of their small size made them extremely hard to hit with anything short of a massive area attack. Meanwhile, their own spells, while, perhaps, not as powerful and devastating as something their 'mother' could throw around, still hurt quite a bit.

In the end, Fate won that training match, but it wasn't an easy win for her. In fact, she admitted that this was probably the hardest fight she fought since the final battle of the Book of Darkness incident. And so, while she'd rather not let Alicia out of her sight, Fate-chan did as she promised and allowed her sister to go help breaking into the Al-Hazardian vault with Hedwig and Yuuki acting as her guards.

~/ *** \~

While rather drawn out and tiring, the flight to the non-administered world #131, Ashare, to which the asteroid with the Al-Hazardian vault has been towed, went without any real troubles. And, once Alicia settled in the quarters aboard the ship the archaeological team was using as their base of operations, Yuuno brought her to the dig site itself.

"Here we are." He said while gesturing towards a small elevated platform cut from some sort of black vitreous rock with a semi-circle of rectangular waist-high columns covered in strange carvings protruding from it. "We believe this to be a control panel of sorts, through which the spells maintaining and protecting this vault can be controlled. Unfortunately, it appears to be designed in such a way that only an Al-Hazardian mage can interact with it."

"I see..." The revived beauty replied. "And you want me to try and use to lower that shield?" She then asked, while nodding towards a glowing orange wall of magic that made it impossible to enter the depths of the ancient vault.

"My team would be most thankful if you could do that." The young archaeologist confirmed.

"Okay." Alicia nodded. "I'll see what I can do, though I should warn you that while I seem to be able to use Al-Hazardian Magic, I can't understand their writings. At all. Those carvings here? They are nothing more than scribbles to me." She said, implying that she was just as likely to screw something up really badly as she was to quietly power down that shield like Yuuno hoped she could do. This confession didn't discourage him in the slightest, however.

"Whatever is written here, it's in a dialect we haven't encountered before; no one here can understand it." Oh well… If the people who spent their entire lives studying the Al-Hazardian civilization were as much in the dark as she was, then Alicia saw no reason not to try her luck with this ancient 'console'.

"Alright, let's do it." She said, before stepping onto the platform and placing her hands onto a random pair of control columns. Letting out a small sigh, Alicia drew upon her Magic and forced it into the ancient device, hoping that everything will go well and she will be able to safely operate it. Her unspoken prayer, apparently, was answered and the Al-Hazardian creation came back to life as soft orange glow slowly spread through the carvings, lighting them up and forming some sort of a user interface.

Distantly, the blonde beauty could hear the awestruck archaeologists whispering among themselves about how none of them ever managed to make this thing work… But she wasn't listening to them and instead concentrated on the magical 'console' in front of her, desperately trying to find anything that might give her a hint on what she had to do to lower that shield. Alas, all she was seeing were completely alien signs that refused to divulge their meanings to her. So she tried to randomly touch some pictogram. Unfortunately, it produced no discernible result, as did another several other attempts with different symbols on the other columns.

"What now?" She called, hoping for some sort advice on what to do next. "I have absolutely no idea how to operate this thing."

"Well…" Yuuno began. "I'm not sure we can really help you there." After all, no one here could understand the dialect used by the creators of the vault. "But, from what we know about the Al-Hazardian civilization, much of their magic could be controlled via user's intent. Perhaps, you should try willing the shield to power off?" He suggested.

"Alright, I will try that." Alicia replied, before returning her attention to the 'console' she was using. Letting out another sigh, she concentrated on powering the shield off while pushing some of her magic into the ancient device. And, while the shield itself remained as strong as it was a minute ago, it made something happen: light which was previously confined to the carvings on the stone columns extended past one of them into the air, forming more of those strange patterns no one here could understand. Deciding that the best way to proceed would be to continue trying to exert her will over the system, Alicia pushed more of her magic into the 'console' while concentrating hard on the thought of powering the shield down.

The light patterns in the air flashed angry red a couple of times, before receding back into the column. Then, a couple of seconds later, the shield began fading out of existence. The happiness everyone experienced at that moment, however, was very short-lived as the instant the shield disappeared completely, everything went to hell as a sudden blast wave tore through entire complex, throwing the people around like ragdolls and destroying priceless artifacts.

"Augh..." The blonde beauty moaned as Hedwig and Yuuki brought her round. "What happened?" She asked, hoping that someone might be able to explain the catastrophe that took place moments ago.

"Apparently, the Al-Hazardians removed all of the air from the vault to make its contents last. So, when the shield was lowered, it was like we set off a vacuum bomb." The battered-looking Yuuno, who was sitting on the ground a dozen meters away, explained.

"I'm so sorry." Alicia said, tears appearing in her eyes. The young archaeologist shook his head.

"Don't be, you couldn't have known." He tried to comfort her. "Neither our spells nor other scans could've penetrated that shield, none of us knew that this would happen." This was followed by quite a bit of uneasy silence, before the revived girl asked fearfully:

"So… H-How much… How much was destroyed in this… this disaster?"

"Most the written books were too frail from their extreme age to survive this, I'm afraid." Yuuno said mournfully: for someone who has dedicated his life to studying the ancient civilizations, the destruction of the priceless artifacts was always a tragedy. "And a significant number of tablets and other artifacts were shattered as well, but we might be able to piece them back together. All in all, I'd say that we still got more things intact than we would've had were there no shield at all."

Alicia gave him a weak smile, though she was still thinking that this was her fault; she was an Al-Hazadrian mage, she was supposed to be able to use their magic and their technology properly, damn it! And now her hopes of getting the cure for her mana poisoning were shattered, just like the innumerable artifacts once contained in this vault were. Life, indeed, was a cruel mistress...

That's all folks!
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