FIRST PART
FRAGMENTS

Another day was about to end at the Ange Café.

The sun had already begun its descent over the horizon, beyond the ocean, and the first stars had made their way across the orange sky, filling the air with magic.

Ange looked up from the counter, watching quietly as the superb figures of a pair of dragons, a male and a female, engaged in chasing each other in one of their courtship games.

Ange almost could not believe to have fought them for almost one year, and all because of a sadistic plan hatched by the dirty mind of a self-proclaimed god.
But now those days were gone.

Now there (was) only peace and prosperity.

Her new nation was growing stronger day by day, attracting a growing number of potential residents.

She was about to lift the tray of empty glasses when someone embraced her from behind.

"Tusk!" she swore. "Stop fooling around."

"Don't pretend you don't like it" he smirked, embracingher a bit stronger.

Unfortunately that pervert had learned to know her very well, and differently from the past as Ange could no longer shirk his displays of affection.

She needed Tusk. He was her life.

They had opened the coffee shop together, creating a common dream of a new life.

The work at the end of the day dried up, and the two lowered the blinds and flipped the sign from open to closed. The pair quickly found themselves half-naked and hugging each other on the sofa, exchanging passionate kisses.

"I hate when you do that," said Ange breathlessly. "I cannot beat you. Do you know how much it's costing us to make your horrible soup that no one wants to eat? "

"I'm happy. Because I have nothing in my body that you didn't break already."

She laughed, amused, exchanging a new kiss with him, then their eyes traveled toward the sunset. And then, on their faces, appeared almost a touch of nostalgia.

"Do you ever think about our old world?" Asked Tusk

"Why should I?" She said, almost angrily. "After all, it's not our world anymore."

"But it was. Who knows what's going on over there; Embryo controlled them in everything. They were puppets in his hands, without them even realizing it. I wonder what's going on now that the bond has been severed. They're not used to make decisions on their own. "

"But they will do so if they want to survive. And in the end, I'm not interested in the fates of those that labelled me a monster and called for my death."

"Still, I refuse to believe that they were all like that."

"They were like clones. Produced to love what they were told to love and to despise what had to be hated.

The Norma were the only exception, and that's why they called us monsters. I find it difficult to think that any of them could be different. "

"I suppose you're right," said Tusk with a smile but did not seem too convinced. "Although I'm sure that, with the death of Embryo, they somehow managed to find their way. That is also the strength of mankind, after all. "

"They must have done it. Otherwise by now they're all probably already dead. A fate that they would have deserved. "

Sometimes Ange was able to be really cynical, sometimes even ruthless, but Tusk did not want to blame her; it was difficult to maintain an objective point of view after all she had endured

It was true that Embryo had programmed them to hate the Normas, but Momoka and Emma had demonstrated that they was not without free will, or the ability to distinguish good from evil.

The hope was that what happened to the two of them had happened also to everyone else, but a part of Tusk doubted that this could really have happened.
"Speaking of Momoka, where is she?" Asked Tusk. "It's odd that I didn't see her during lunch."

"She went to town with Pamela and the others for shopping. The day after tomorrow will be two years from the end of Libertus. I want to have a party. "

"It's a wonderful idea. I will prepare my best snake soup. "

"Again with that soup!? Is it something from the toilet bowl or what?"

The sunlight continued to fade, disappearing quickly in a matter of moments, replaced by threatening roars: surely a storm was approaching.

Then, suddenly, the door of the room opened.

"It's terrible, noble Angelise!" Yelled Momoka as she appeared at the door, blushing in embarrassment at the sight of her two friends content in their private moment. "I ... I'm sorry!"

"Momoka!" Shouted Ange, covering the chest. "How many times have I told you not to come when you see the blinds down!"

"I'm sorry, noble Angelise" she said in mortification, but she regained her composure in a moment with the exception of her agitation. "But, there is a problem! Hurry, come and see. "

The two lovers looked at each other, confused and a bit worried. Once they were fully dressed again and had reached the nearby cliff, they saw something forming in the sky before them.

It wasn't the first signs of a storm covering the sun.

A circle of black clouds, sinister and threatening, had formed in the sky a few miles away, in the open sea, swirling slowly on itself.

A shiver ran through their bones.

"But that... that is..." stammered Tusk.

He didn't even have time to turn around as his partner was already running toward the warehouse next to the barn.

"Ange, wait for me!"

Together, they opened the heavy metal door, climbing quickly into their machines.

It had been a while since the Villkiss and Arquebus had flown, and yet, immediately after powering up, their engines began to sing like goldfinches.

"Momoka, warn Salako and the others!" Ange ordered as the pair guided their mechs outside. "We're going to see what's going on."

"Yes, my lady," responded her faithful servant, and soon after the two took off at full speed.

...

The closer Ange and Tusk approached the strange, but not unusual weather phenomenon, the more they were able to confirm their fears, and when they finally arrived at the site, in an area where remains of the rusty and decrepit ruins of the old Tokyo had emerged from the sea, its imposing size aroused in them an even greater fear.

"I have never seen one of them of this size," said Tusk on the radio.

It was not uncommon to see a singularity casually opening.

According with the Holy Aura, the barrier dividing the two worlds had been severely impacted by Embryo's attempts to collapse it, leaving some holes which occasionally appeared only to vanish in a few minutes.

Ange and Tusk then waited, hoping that the legacy of old battles would disappear once again, but after several minutes the singularity, rather than close again, almost seemed to enlarge, becoming even more menacing.

"What do we do, Ange? This singularity keeps growing."

Then, a pair of ragna-mail mechs and a para-mail arrived from the city, followed by a large group of dragons, mainly females.

"Here comes the cavalry!" Said Vivian in her childish style.

"At last you're here!" Ange replied.

"Sorry, we're late" Salia said. "It all happened so quickly, and when Momoka called us we arrived as quickly as possible."

"And Salako and the others?"

"They're coming. They'll be here in a few minutes."

"So, what the hell is happening here?" Asked Hilda, rude and outspoken as ever. "Because this (damn) hole has not closed itself yet!"

"Not only is it not closed, but it became bigger," said a worried Tusk. "If things continue to get worse, we should seek help from Holy Aura."

"That goddamn big lizard. She chose the worst moment to go into hibernation."

"Do not call our Mother Aura a big lizard!" Snapped Vivian. "And she didn't go into hibernation, she's recovering! You get your energy drained continuously for hundreds of years, and then see how strong you are."

"Yes, yes, all right," snapped the redheaded girl. "But now what should we do?"

"Let's wait for Salako» Ange advised. "They'll probably help us."

Suddenly, the magnification of the singularity abruptly increased, causing a shower of particle beams that nearly hit the girls and the dragons accompanying them, and when the center of the circle of clouds began to form a semi-transparent surface, beyond which they could see clearly a sky and a land that had nothing to do with their world, the concern in the eyes of Ange and his companions turned to real fear.

"It is ..." he stammered Tusk. "It has broken through!"

It was not possible.

Nobody, apart Midgardia, had the power to do such a thing.

They spent a few moments, long and tense; then, from the slot, one after another a large number of para-mail, some of a model that neither Ange or anyone else remembered ever seen began to come out.

Between them there was one, pitch black, with silver reflections, a high-precision rifle in his belt and a crescent turned in on itself as a melee weapon, and a crimson one, that instead of hands seemed to have a pair of blades that made him look like a mantis.

With them there was a platoon of combat helicopters, aircrafts and other military airplanes.

"But what the fuck ..." cried Hilda

At least, even a ragna-mail appeared, almost a clone of Villkiss, leaving Ange and the others terrified; it had an amber color, with six luminous wings forming a circle behind his back, and the coat of arms of the Imperial Empire Misurugi in the center of the chest.

To ride him, like Embryo used to do with his Hysterica, there was a man with a katana and a uniform of the Ancient People.

"I cannot believe ..." said Tusk, dumbfounded and speechless as everyone. "... Are those inhabitants of the Other Earth !?"

Since when were the inhabitants of the Other Earth was able to open the singularities without Embryo's help?

The newcomers, initially, did not move, remaining near the gate, but Ange and his companions were well aware that such a deployment of forces could not bring anything good.

Slowly, the golden ragna-mail reached the frontlines, and with the eyes of the mind Ange was able to see something in the eye in the soldier sat on it, as a kind of silent order, and his companions immediately charged in any direction.

"I knew it!" Growled the girl. "Ready to fight, quickly!"

Since they had become familiar with the new ragna-mail and the Villkiss's new abilities, Ange, Sanya and Hilda was almost unbeatable, and the same was for Vivian and Tusk, even if they were using normal para-mail.

However, those new opponents proved to be really deadly; planes and helicopters were firing incessantly, flying in all directions to escape the onslaught of dragons, while the black para-mail covered them with deadly accuracy.

The strange thing was that, while most of the para-mail fought, some of them remained at low altitude, intercepting the bodies of dying dragons tumbling into the sea and stinging them with some sort of tentacle needles; these, emerging from some sort huge container carried as a backpack, seemed to suck their blood and guts, reducing them to whitened mummies.

When Vivian noticed it, she lost her head.

"Let my friend alone!" He shouted bearing down upon them, beside himself with rage.

"Vivian, no!" He tried to block it Sanya

A para-mail tried to block her way, but she swept away with one stroke of his boomerang, attacking and destroying two of the binders with a second launch.
She was about to take down other two, when a strange glow coming from above drew her attention, but it was too late; a moment later, her para-mail trembled, almost dropping her out of the seat, and when she opened her eyes she saw that now, instead of the right arm, she had only a perfectly sawn stump, spurting smoke and sparks.

The young soldier with the katana was there, at his feet, on the rubble of an old skyscraper, partially unsheathed his sword and looking down, almost invisible behind the red visor of the helmet.

"Go!" He ordered in a young but deep voice, and the two gatherers immediately obeyed, disappearing over the portal.

Amazed but not tame the girl tried to grab the assailant with her remaining hand, but this one, till the last, remained still.

"Useless." he whispered.

Again, all happened in the blink of an eye; the young man seemed to disappear, and a moment later he was standing on the head of Vivian's para-mail, while the other arm fell into the sea irreparably severed.

It was more than any machine could bear; fortunately the para-mail didn't explode, but Vivian watched in horror as her machine deactivating itself, then helplessly fall down without power.

"Vivian!" shouted Hilda seeing her friend disappear beneath the surface.

When she tried to help her, however, she found her way blocked by the crimson para-mail, so similar to hers, that after avoided both two slashes and a shoot flew charged against her, forcing Hilda to create a shield to defend herselves.

Then Tusk tried to rescue Vivian, but thanks to his senses soldier the boy successfully perceive the threat that was coming against him him, moving in time and saving his life.

Giving himself the thrust on the head of Vivian's para-mail, the soldier in the black suit literally flew against him a few moments, being taken by the black para-mail after have concluded his attack; it was then that everyone could see a young woman driving the vehicle, short black hair and impassive, almost lifeless gaze.

Her suit was black as the para-mail she was driving, but it also had some sort metal plates similar to the scraps of an armor.
Ange, seeing the vehicle, was ready to shoot it down with a single shot, but the golden Ragna-mail, that all this time they had remained on the sidelines, suddenly attacked, fanning a pair of swords that, with a simple contact between the ends of the handles, transformed themselves into a lethal double-blade bow.

"I'm not so childish to be defeated by some sort of things."

Nevertheless Ange was forced to withdraw, occasionally responding, but the enemy Ragna-mail kept on fighting and striking.
"Ange!" cried Salya speaking to his aid.

The pincer attack forced the Ragna-mail to give up the assault, and thanks to Salya's soon it found itself in disadvantage.

Three of his companions come to its aid, small fish surely, that Ange and Salya managed to put down with little effort, but in the time it took them to get back their attention on their main target this one had already moved a mile away, stopping in the middle nowhere as petrified.

Ange was wondering the reason for this strange behavior, when a strange litany came through the radio; a song. And her whole body froze in dismay.

...

始まりの光 Kirali…kirali
HAJIMARI NO HIKARI KIRALI… KIRALI
終わりの光 Lulala lila
OWARI NO HIKARI LULALA LILA

返さんel ragna
KAESAN EL RAGNA
砂時計を
SUNADOKEI WO
時は溢れん
TOKI WA AFUREN
Lulala lila

幾億数多の 命の炎
IKUOKU AMATA NO INOCHI NO HONOO
するり堕ちては星に
SURURI OCHITE WA HOSHI NI
流れ流れては美しく
NAGARE NAGARETE WA UTSUKUSHIKU
また生と死の揺りかごで
MATA SEI TO SHI NO YURIKAGO DE
柔く泡立つ
YAWAKU AWADATSU

...

Two guns appeared on Ragna-mail's shoulders, shouting a terrific amount of energy; its allies, aware the situation, had already moved, but several dragons found themselves invested by the power of the shot, being vaporized.

Even Tusk managed to escape just for a second, but Salya was not so quickly, remaining paralyzed at the sight of that destructive wave reaching her.

"Watch out, Salya!"

Ange was able to shoot at less than half of her usual power, but this fortunately proved to be enough to stop the attack and delete the attack, however taking several damages to the Villkiss.

And, as happened long ago, the clash of opposing forces seemed to awaken something in the mind of the girl, recalling memories of days gone by.
And again, she was amazed for what she saw: they was the lost memories of a happy, or perhaps terribly hypocritical existence, when everything was simplicity, elegance, luxury.

How was that possible?

The clash between the opposing energies of different Ragna-mail seemed to awaken common memories of both drivers. Who could ever be aboard that damn thing?

"Ange" cried Tusk seeing Villkiss feeling the pinch. "Are you all right?"

"You ..." she growled. "Who the hell are you?"

That voice she actually heard singing seemed familiar effectively; but it was only when she heard it again, cold and severe, that she began to understand.

"You surprise me. Have you forgot me at the point that you don't recognize my voice either? "

Rows of sweat appeared on her forehead, her hands shook stronger around the controls, and an uncontrollable tremor ran through her entire body.

"This... This cannot be ..." she stammered with eyes bulging.

Slowly, the Ragna-mail enemy approached again; the cockpit at the center of the chest opened, and a slender but strengthened body emerged from inside, put in evidence by the suit and embellished with a thick blond and well collected hair.

But most of all, it was the eyes to upset and silenced Ange.

Those was not the eyes she remembered, neither for the color, become red, or for the might inside them.

"It's been a long time, sister."

"Sy ... Sylvia !?"