MGLN: Future Tense

Chapter 12: The Little Things

Xx~~*~~xX

"Were you even thinking when you brought her here!" The speaker's fist slammed his fist down on the wooden table to punctuate his point.

"I thought that was obvious, Jayce," Rio returned evenly, crossing her arms over her chest. "We were informed by our source-"

"Oh, here we go with that again," Jayce groaned, interrupting the other. "Your source that you so far refuse to name, because even you don't know who he is! For all we know, it's the intelligence leak we have!"

"Your disdain for Rio's source has been made quite clear before," another woman at the table stated. "And we don't need to deal with that now. Please, go on Rio."

"Thank you, Thao," Rio offered, grateful; the only other female resistance leader was the only logical one at the table sometimes, despite their clashing ideologies. "As I was saying, my source, who has provided invaluable intelligence in the past which is why my group has been so successful-" she paused to shoot Jayce a look, "-indicated that Seikou would be the key to our eventual victory. He hasn't misled us before, so I see no reason to start now."

They had decided to keep using Nanoha's fake name for now, since it had spread and Rio wanted to make use of the reputation she had developed. Not to mention that explaining the truth would just confuse people.

"Besides, Jayce, the intelligence leaks were happening long before this Seikou got here," the last member at the table, whom Rio knew as Denic, leader of a small resistance group far to the east. "And it's been hitting all of us."

"Except for Rio's little church group," Jayce pointed out. "It's probably that little demon."

"You and your 'Wheeled Warriors' haven't been hit that hard, either," Denric countered. "Only one of your operations was foiled, and you only lost one man and some gear. I had a whole unit get captured because they knew we were coming. And we barely evacuated our hideout in time!"

"Look, this isn't getting us anywhere," Thao interjected. "The truth is Rio's group has had the most success so far, so I think she has some leeway, although I still disagree that the Saint Church should be in the lead about this. People dislike the church almost as much as the Bureau due to the war, so any real victory has to come from the people themselves. If somehow this Seikou is going to be the key to our success, you should put her under our jurisdiction."

Rio grit her teeth; Thao did have a point, but she hated having to set Nanoha up like that. "I'll discuss it with her. But I would like to take her to see my source, first, to see exactly how she is supposed to help us win."

Thao glanced at Denric and Jayce, who both nodded their assent, the latter a bit more reluctantly. "Agreed. You should probably do this soon. Our own spies have let us know that Generals Signum and Vita have arrived on Mid-Childa, and I think they mean to finally put an end to us. Your success against Teana, while commendable, has put us firmly in the limelight."

"We'll set out within the day, and should be back in a few," Rio stated, standing up. "And we'll work out a plan for dealing with Signum, Vita, and Hayate then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to attend to."

She was well aware of Jayce's condescending glare directed her way as she left the meeting room, but chose to ignore it; she knew he was more jealous of her successes than anything else, and so was just looking for a reason to upstage her or put her down.

"[Rio?]" came Corona's voice in her head. "[I have something you need to see.]"

"[Good news, I hope?]" Rio answered, changing direction. "[I could really use some good news about now.]"

"[I'm not too sure, but it might not be,"] the other woman admitted.

Rio sighed. "[I'm on my way.]"

x~~*~~x

"You wanted to see me?" Nanoha asked, knocking lightly on the open door while taking note of the two women on the other side of the workbench.

Corona's goggle-clad head came up. "Oh, yes! I managed to retrieve the data."

"You did?" Nanoha inquired, cautiously hopeful as she entered the workshop, careful to avoid the miniature golems roaming about as they sorted parts and tools. "What does it says about who I'm supposed to meet?"

Rio's gaze appeared both serious and thoughtful. "We did, but there's something we'll have to talk about. Corona?"

The other woman nodded, typing on her holographic keyboard and bringing up a screen with a set of numbers, that Nanoha recognized as coordinates. "This is what we found. And when I bring up a map, this is where they indicate." She tapped a few more keys, displaying the physical location.

Nanoha's brow furrowed. "I'm not sure what's there, but it looks like deep in a mountain range to the north."

Once again, she noticed Rio and Corona glance at each other, before the former turned back to address her. "That's in the general area where our oracle is."

"Oracle?" Nanoha questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"The reason we knew to look for you, and the reason we've been able to survive, is due to the oracle," Rio explained. "Shortly after the war, Corona and I received a strange message through secret Church channels to head up there, where we found a holographic image of an old man who gave us intelligence that helped us plot our guerrilla strategies. It's crazy how accurate his information is, almost like he can see the future. He never told us who he is, but twice a year, we make the trek to receive information per his instructions. No one else knows this, except Agito. The last time we were there, he told us to look for a woman fleeing the Bureau, a powerful mage who would be the key to victory; we've been keeping an eye out ever since."

The way Rio described it triggered something in Nanoha's mind. "Do either of you know about Carim's special magic?" They both shook their heads, confirming that they didn't; even back in her time, Carim's special skill was kept very top secret, except to the top brass at the Bureau. "Twice a year, she is able to make a prophecy regarding the future of Mid-Childa. She might be this oracle."

"And she's pretending to be a man, then?" Corona questioned, confused. "We were military commanders on her side in the war; why would she hide from us like that, and not tell us?"

"I'm not sure," Nanoha admitted, realizing that it was rather strange. "Perhaps she feels she needs to be as secretive as possible. But it sounds like she might want to meet with me, and If I go there, I might be able to find out what I'm supposed to do at least. If she's had a specific vision of the future, she might know what I'm supposed to do. Or at least, the reason Jail cloned me."

Rio allowed her grin to show. "I was hoping you'd say that. We can leave in a couple of hours, if you're ready to go then, and we can discuss some things on the way as well. It'll just be me, Corona, Agito and you; Givo can't come. The Oracle has said we three are the only ones he will see, but he should see you, too."

"Understood," Nanoha stated, heading back towards the door. "I just need to retrieve my pack from Vice's house and I'll be about ready."

"Oh, Nanoha, wait!" Corona said suddenly, causing the other woman to pause and turn back as she tossed the amulet at her.

Nanoha caught it easily. "Oh, thanks!"

"Alright, meet back here in an hour, and dress warmly!" Nanoha heard Rio call as she headed out the door, but her thoughts were focused on what lay ahead of her.

With any luck, she'd soon find her purpose, and the thought lifted her spirits more than she expected.

x~~*~~x

It was easy enough for Nove to slip out of Clanagan undetected, thanks to Quattro's preparations. And if the #4 cyborg held up her end of the plan, Hayate would never know Nove was gone at all; Quattro was supposed to be providing the illusion that Nove was still around.

"They'll never suspect you're gone! I can make sure that Hayate thinks you're still around. Just slip out as Signum and Vita deploy, rescue your sisters, and return. Simple!"

[Ha!] Nove laughed to herself as she traveled under cover of night using her purloined hoverbike. [Nothing is ever that simple.]

As she left the ocean and reached the land on the other side, the main reason for grabbing a hoverbike, she knew she couldn't entirely trust Quattro. After all, Jail had, and look where that got him. Even as far back as the JS incident, she had revealed her nature as one that didn't care at all what happened to her sisters, which was the biggest reason Nove was hesitant about this.

But she also realized she didn't have a choice. If she didn't do this, Dieci would probably try to, and it was also true that Hayate might not quite care about their retrieval; Nove learned that Hayate had indeed ordered the destruction of Rio's group and the Nanoha clone as top priorities, once again following her standard MO for dealing with problems: The ends justify the means.

Of course, Nove understood that, and it was an ideal the Nakajima sisters agreed with in spirit; to protect the remains of their family, they'd pay any cost. They had lost too much already to risk the forfeiture of anymore of them, so this was something Nove had to do.

But as she glanced skyward and noted the lack of transport ships overhead, she wondered: [Where were Signum and Vita?]

x~~*~~x

Nanoha took a deep breath to steady herself, then entered the room, nodding at the guards who allowed her entrance. "Hello, Teana and Wendi."

The two were still in cells next to each other, still bound, handcuffed, and blindfolded, but Wendi proved their spirits still remained. "What are you doing back here? Come to gloat?"

"I'm going to be leaving soon, but I wanted to see you both one more time before I left," Nanoha explained. "And to give you a partial answer."

Teana's head came up slightly. "Answer?"

"About our methods and ideology," Nanoha explained, then sighed. "I may know the right thing to do, and maybe your actions, along with Hayate's, were necessary. I can't presume to judge you since I wasn't there. But I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to fulfill both our wishes, to make Mid-Childa and the worlds under the Bureau both free and secure."

"Good luck with that," Teana told her flatly.

Nanoha allowed a small smile to form. "Thanks, but I have one more thing to say. While you felt your actions were necessary, you have to decide whether it's worth lowering yourself to your opponent's level. Because once you do, there isn't much that separates you two, and then you lose what you were fighting for." She paused, as if expecting some response, but didn't receive one. "And I promise I'll be back; I won't give up on either of you. Rio's given me her assurances that you won't be killed while I'm gone, as long as you don't try to escape."

Teana chuckled. "We'll see about that."

Nanoha shook her head, then left the prison cave, figuring that it wouldn't be that easy. Teana and Wendi had both lived difficult lives, seeing their loves ones ripped from them; they weren't going to be changed by words, or by being defeated in a simple fight. She didn't know what it would take, but in a way it was a litmus test for her, too; could she change them at all? Or would harsher measures be needed, the likes of which Hayate had apparently come to see as necessary?

It scared Nanoha to realize she didn't know.

"So you're leaving?" came a young male voice in a mildly accusing tone, catching her off guard and jarring her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, Givo, I was about to go looking for you!" Nanoha told him, noting the young man leaning against a wall a short distance down the tunnel from the prison. "I have to leave for a few days, but I should be back within a week."

He shrugged, but kept his position against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. "I was wondering if you were gonna run out on our deal. You're still going to train me, right?"

She nodded. "When I get back, I'll resume training you. In the meantime, I've arranged for you to join the rebel's training group for a bit. You should be able to pick up some things, and we can go over it when you get back."

The young preteen seemed to accept that. "Alright, a week then. If you're not back by then, I go looking for you, okay?"

Nanoha smiled. "Agreed. I wouldn't expect anything else from you."

x~~*~~x

"Here's the latest report from the team three," Vita declared, putting up a screen in their forward base of operations. "No sign of anything to the west."

"And we know they aren't in the Occupied Saint Church Zone," Signum added, studying her own map. "We have even more troops there to monitor dissent, so if they had slipped in we would have known about it."

Vita leaned back in her chair and stretched. "They couldn't have gone too far from Farhaven, based on their best mode of travel, so where..." She sighed as she trailed off, giving the control panel a light punch in frustration. "Are you really okay with this, Signum? This is is Nanoha we're talking about."

"Hayate told us she is a clone, and with her power, she could be quite a threat," the Wolkenritter general replied. "If Hayate commands it, that is what we do. Feelings do not enter into it."

The hammer knight gazed over at Signum, then shook her head and returned to her screen. "Man, I never thought I'd hear myself get so sentimental, but... sometimes, I wish we could go back to the old days. You, me, Hayate, Rein, Shamal, Zafira, and Agito. Just us as a family. But everything is different now, even you. Or maybe it's just back to the really old days, I suppose. I think-"

She was cut off as sounds of a scuffle came from outside, Signum sprinting to the door and throwing it open, taking note of the two guards laying face down in the dirt. Curious, and with Levanteinn drawn, she stepped out and glanced around, but she couldn't see much in the darkness or through the tree line.

"General Signum!" came a male call as a squad of soldiers came running up. "We heard something; are you alright?"

"I am fine, but search the area; we may have an intruder," she commanded them, to which they responded by saluting and heading off in different directions.

She glanced down at the two unconscious soldiers, now seeing the piece of paper taped to the back of one, while also taking note of some small grooves in the dirt. Curious, she sheathed Levanteinn and then bent down to pick it up while running her fingers through the dirt grooves, raising them to sniff lightly.

[Oil,] she deduced. [The kind used to reduce friction among moving parts.]

"What is it?" Vita questioned from behind her.

Signum opened the piece of paper with her other hand, then gave it to Vita after looking it over. "A possible lead. Go check it out."

"Location of the rebel base?" Vita questioned, reading it, then turning around to head back in. "I'll see where these coordinates are exactly."

Signum waited a bit, eyes scanning the immediate area, then she sighed and spoke to the darkness. "If these coordinates check out, my thanks to you will be to not report you for leaving Clanagan. However, I suggest you head back there, as I may not be so lenient again."

x~~*~~x

Nove cursed from her spot high up in one of the larger trees, wondering for a brief moment how Signum knew it was her, but then realized her skates left a track in the dirt; there wasn't much else that would leave that kind of sign.

She sighed, wondering why Quattro hadn't told Signum where the rebel base was; perhaps she assumed Signum knew, but after listening in, Nove realized they were still searching. So she had to point them in the right direction to speed this up.

Shaking her head, she realized she couldn't worry about that now; she had to beat them to the location and get in position so she could use their assault as cover to get and rescue her sisters. Activating her Airliner IS, she quickly sped back to her concealed hoverbike.

x~~*~~x

Muted images and various lowl-level sounds, words and phrases continued to flow past against a shifting green background as the two descended, reaching deeper into Nanoha's mind.

"Feel anything yet?" Agito asked, turning to see the almost ghostly image of her companion next to her.

Nanoha shook her head, finding it a bit weird to see Agito the same size as her. "I don't feel any different. How long will this take, do you think?"

It was something that Nanoha was uneasy about for some reason, but deep down she knew she had to do this. If there was any subconscious programming in here, she had to find it and deal with it; she couldn't take the risk of losing control at a critical moment, and better to do that before she got to the oracle. What if Jail knew of him/her, and that he/she was the reason for Rio's successes? No one would expect Nanoha to assassinate him/her, would they? But then again, the Oracle seemed to be the one who gave Nanoha's genetic material to Jail, and knew she was coming, so wouldn't he/she expect it?

So she was taking this time while they were camped out to allow Agito to do a bit of exploring. Still, Nanoha cleared her head and refocused, realizing she couldn't really postulate about the "why" right now; she had to concentrate on the present and deal with the reasons afterward.

"Not too sure, as I'm not too familiar with this," Agito admitted. "Rein tended to do the mind searches. She taught me the basics but I only did it a couple of times; it always made me uneasy, especially since the humans never subjected themselves to it willingly." She shook her head as if throwing off an unpleasant memory. "But there's only two ways I can find subconscious programming; first by bombarding your senses with images and sounds, seeing if you have a reaction."

"And that's why Rio and Corona are standing by outside, having my body bound, ready to control me should I react," Nanoha stated, understanding that part. "What's the second?"

"If there are any parts of your mind that are heavily guarded, that might indicate programming that is trying to protect itself," Agito explained

"Might?" Nanoha questioned.

"It could also just be memories or feelings you are suppressing," Agito replied softly, and Nanoha almost thought she saw a bit of nostalgia appear on the little demon's face. "Rein ran into that a few times. Humans have a tendency to bottle up things they don't want to face or acknowledge. Even if you consciously say you'll let me see everything, your subconscious desire can overpower that."

"You miss her, don't you?" Nanoha realized, feeling a wave of emotion wash over her; the unison worked both ways. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't pry, but I could just feel it."

Agito shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't really matter; some things have to be put aside if we're gonna do this. We didn't always get along, but our rivalry gave me something... I don't know how to put it." She shook her head. "But she's not Rein so much anymore."

"What do you mean?" Nanoha probed, curious as she kept trying to glance at every image to see if she reacted; perhaps she could help Agito in some way, as repayment for her help in this.

"It's one of the reasons I set the time limit for unison," Agito answered cryptically. "After Shamal and Zafira died, Hayate and Rein spent all their time together; they were rarely apart. At first, we thought it was just grief over losing people they cared about, but we soon learned they were practicing to stay unisoned for longer and longer periods of time. When I left, I don't think they ever really separated for more than a few minutes at a time."

"And that's bad?" Nanoha questioned. Other than the fact that they bonded over a shared grief, she couldn't see why.

"It's hard to explain," she admitted, sighing. "Part of my programming warns me that it's a danger if two beings are joined as one for too long, because you can lose you who you are. If one personality is stronger, the other suffers. If it's the unison device, than the master loses control and takes on the appearance of the device. But if the master is stronger, then the device loses all sense of self, becoming just an extension of the master, almost unable to act on her own anymore."

Nanoha noticed Agito trail off, not mentioning the third possibility. "What if they are equal?"

"They blend, almost becoming like one being, each losing parts of themselves, which is mostly what happened with Hayate and Rein," Agito replied softly. "The changes happened gradually over the years, but their personalities did a bit of blending and Hayate and Rein occasionally spoke at the same time, referring to their combined self as 'we' or 'us' instead of 'me' or 'I'. She doesn't do it all the time, just mainly when she gets emotional. It's like they forget they are two separate people sometimes. But by the time I realized what was going on, it was too late and they wouldn't listen to me. I 'm afraid one of these days they won't be able to separate at all."

[No wonder Hayate changed so much,] Nanoha thought to herself, realizing that might have been a large reason why she changed the Bureau so much into what it was today.

"Hold on, what's that?" Agito wondered aloud suddenly, pausing.

Nanoha stopped next to her, looking around. "What's what?"

Her guide turned to look at her, gesturing towards a spot between images that was just part of the shifting green background. "You don't see that? The black mass that almost looks like some dark clouds?"

Nanoha squinted, concentrating, almost thinking she saw something for a moment, like a thin shape at tickling the edge of her vision. "Almost... maybe..."

Agito began to float closer to it. "That's a sign it could be something you are hiding from yourself, which could be an indication of programming. Let's take a look... whoa!"

Nanoha watched the little demon suddenly duck and weave, as if avoiding shots that were being fired at her, but try as she might, she still couldn't see them. "Agito!"

"Damn it, it's not letting me get close," the unison device stated, grimacing as she floated back up. "If we're gonna expose it, I'm going to need your help. Things like this won't want to really harm you, because if you die, it dies. And it needs you alive; pure self-preservation."

Nanoha nodded, and floated in front of Agito, listened to her directions as she flew in the direction indicated. Her skin began to tingle, hairs standing on end as if fear itself was engulfing her, making her want to run away; but she grit her teeth and continued on, not willing to let it take over. Eventually, she saw what Agito had described, a mass of roiling black clouds; taking a breath, she reached out her hands and began to part them.

And then it exploded.

x~~*~~x

Rio and Corona jumped up as Nanoha suddenly screamed, her bound body suddenly struggling and arching from where it lay a short distance from their campfire. The two quickly moved over and knelt down on either side.

"Help me reinforce the binds!" Rio declared, thrusting her hands out, palms open.

Corona mirrored the action, biting her lip. "It looks like they found something after all."

Rio stared as Nanoha's body suddenly took on a pink glow, and then the glow shattered as her body activated it's barrier jacket. But it wasn't the white one Rio had seen before back at the battle of Farhaven; this one was black with red lining. What's more, black marks appeared along the exposed parts of her skin, almost like she had just been singed.

"What the hell is going on in there?" Rio wondered aloud.

x~~*~~x

Nanoha flew backwards a short distance, covering her face with her arms. Once she recovered and the smoke cleared, Nanoha found herself staring at... herself.

"Hello!" the other her declared with a grin. "Thanks for freeing me!"

Agito picked herself up. "Freeing you? Weren't you protecting yourself?"

Nanoha raised an eyebrow in confusion; it looked like her, but the barrier jacket was black instead of white. "Who are you?"

"I think that would be obvious," came the almost-bored reply from her double, lifting her hands and firing. "You can die now, though!"

Nanoha barely got out of the way of the crimson beam that looked much like her Divine Buster, except for the color. "Wait, if you're me, why are you attacking?"

"You're really slow, ya know?" her doppelganger intoned, then giggled as she fired again. "But when you're dead, it won't matter."

This time, Nanoha met the attack with one of her one, the two beams crashing into each other; but hers was being slowly overpowered. "If you're the programming, what is your goal?"

There was no immediate response as the clash continued, forcing Nanoha to jump out of the way as her attack was finally conquered. She summoned several orbs, but her lookalike was gone. [Where...?] She turned as several crimson orbs smacked into her position and exploded.

"Nanoha!" Agito called, launching her fireballs on the double.

Nanoha managed to weather it and shoot out of the smoke cloud, loosing her orbs in response. The combined fire put the lookalike on the defensive as they advanced, at least until a bind ensnared Agito.

"A trap!" Agito growled, struggling to free herself.

"Please tell me you're bright enough to figure out what happens next?" the double declared with her left hand raised, forcing Nanoha to pause, noting the orbs hovering around Agito.

Nanoha executed a Flash Move, appearing in front of Agito and shielding the little demon's body with her own, her face firm as she stared down her counterpart. "You don't want me dead, which is why you won't fire those lethal orbs. I've been noticing which of your attacks are lethal, and which aren't. So who or what are you?"

"Gah, you really are dense!" the doppelganger complained while the raising her right hand, palm open, another large beam exploding forth. Nanoha quickly formed a protection barrier around them both, blocking it, knowing that if she dodged it would be Agito who would pay the price.

"Nanoha, something's wrong, I don't think that's any kind of programming," Agito told her, slowly breaking the binds. "She said we freed her, and subconscious programming wouldn't have been trapped like that. Your subconscious was managing to hold her before, so you need to trap her again!"

Nanoha grit her teeth as cracks began to appear in her spherical barrier."How? She seems stronger than me."

"We combine our powers," came the answer as more cracks appeared in both the barrier and Agito's bind, but it was a race to see which would go first.. "I'm almost free..."

The barrier exploded, causing the duplicate to pause as the smoke began to clear, ready to send in the orbs she was holding back. But her eyes widened a bit as Nanoha emerged, her hair fiery red and her white barrier jacket now with crimson lining. The doppelganger fired the orbs anyway, but Nanoha was gone, fiery binds wrapping themselves around the lookalike's body as Nanoha reappeared.

"Now, focus on restructuring the cage!" Agito told her as the double slowly broke the binds.

The black mass of clouds appeared and rolled in as Nanoha concentrated, surrounding the impersonator, who sighed in frustration. "Phooey. Oh well, you'll be back. Be seein' you..."

Nanoha's last image of herself was the duplicate smiling evilly at her, as the last of the cage of black clouds was reformed. Then Agito canceled the unison, and ended the session.

x~~*~~x

"What the hell happened in there?" Rio demanded to know as Agito phased out of Nanoha, the latter blinking her eyes open.

"That's what I want to know," Nanoha agreed, rubbing her head after the two women binding her released their spell, noting her clothing had returned to normal. "That wasn't any kind of programming?"

Agito floated down into Rio's hands to rest. "No, I don't think so. You hold back some when you fight, don't you, Nanoha?"

The woman sat up and nodded. "I don't want to hurt people if I can help it, so I put extra effort into my spells so they have just the right effect."

"That's partly what she was, then; a part of you that doesn't hold back at all," Agito deduced. "Also, probably the darker impulses that I see a lot of humans struggle with. You subconsciously contain them, and do a pretty good job of it - better than most, I'd say - but it's there all the same." She shook her head. "I need to take a break before we continue."

Nanoha watched her float away, then saw Rio nod at Corona and stand up to follow the path Agito took out of camp. But the cloned mage could only afford the barest of amount of her attention on that and the canteen that a smiling Corona offered her. Nanoha thanked her, then took a drink to quench her thirst as she tried to let her mind go blank for once.

But her attempt failed; as she was now keenly aware of something else inside her, and it almost disturbed her more to realize she wasn't too troubled by this latest revelation.

x~~*~~x

"What is the matter?" her opponent inquired. "Are you not up to the task?"

Anger twisted Agito's face into a scowl as she wiped her lip and grit her teeth, shakily regaining her feet and floating upwards again. "This is wrong and you know it! I only wish I had seen it sooner. Please, we need to stop this before we betray-"

"I must serve my mistress," Signum declared, her voice solemnly. "If you would stop me, you'll have to do better than that.

She leapt, sword aflame.

"Something else is bothering you, more than just whatever you experienced with Nanoha," came Rio's voice as Agito sat on a rock next to the stream, breaking the latter out of her thoughts.

"Ah," Agito affirmed softly, not looking up. "I am reminded of that day I almost died, and you came upon me in that forest clearing. If it hadn't of been for you..."

"You can thank the oracle, who told me to be there," Rio replied, grinning a bit as she sat down on the grass next to the unison device. "I was surprised to see you two fighting, as you both were a pretty strong team during the war; I didn't think it likely you'd turn."

"What the hell are you doing?" Rio accused, blocking the fiery sword strike by clapping her equally inflamed hands on either side of the blade.

"This is not your concern," Signum told her. "Move."

"Attacking your own compatriot?" Rio questioned with a growl, pushing the sword away and forcing the Knight General back. "That's something I can't forgive!" She jerked a thumb at her own chest. "I'm supposed to be the enemy, so if you have some problem with her, take it out on me!"

Signum was silent a moment. "As you wish."

"The darkness I saw inside Nanoha..." Agito started to say, then trailed off. "It scares me, because I see what it did to Hayate, and how she dragged Signum and Vita down with her."

"It's in all humans, me included, if you remember," Rio stated softly. "But I handled it, although a lot of people couldn't."

Rio panted, her body aching all over from the cuts, gashes, and blows she had taken. But she was a bit better than her opponent at least, who was trying to pull herself up from the crater that her body had just created thanks to Rio and Agito's unisoned Meteor Rush.

"Give... up... yet?" Rio panted the question out, hoisting the large boulder above her head with both hands.

Signum barely managed to raise her body part way, blood leaking from her lip as they curled upward slowly. "What... are you... waiting for?"

Rio hesitated; she had done things in the war, but that was over now, and finishing her off now would be more like an execution.

"[Rio, please,]" Agito's tired voice came from within. "[I don't have to strength to do it myself.]"

"[But isn't she your friend?]" Rio asked, startled. "[She's beaten. So why...?]"

Signum's hand slowly crept towards her cracked sword, laying nearby. "Agito... you know what... I will do..."

"[JUST DO IT!]" Agito cried from within, tears in her eyes as she raised her hands from within and set the boulder on fire. "[PLEASE!]"

Rio cursed as shouts came in the distance; their little song and dance had finally drawn the attention of Enforcers, and it was now or never. Growling, she tossed the huge, flaming object down.

And noted the odd, small smile on Signum's face a second before the object crashed down and exploded. Then she was fleeing as fast as she could, Agito crying inside her.

"You're the only person I told," Agito spoke softly, and then her voice turned firm. "If she is still alive, I have to kill her once and for all. I can't let her stain her hands with blood anymore. It's the only way to redeem her honor, and the only way Zest will rest in peace."

The two sat there for awhile longer in silence, nothing more needing to be said.

Xx~~*~~xX