Welcome back to the chapter! Before we get started, a little announcement. I have made an account on Wattpad under username CoralLevia5 some time back. And on it, besides a Bang Dream story on there, I have also made a little fanmade gallery for Symphogear. The reason? So you, my dear readers, can get a good looksie at the Gear Users', or should I say Gear Thieves', thief attires~! Note: the characters and/or their outfits are not exactly like the characters they were supposed to be or the same as the original Phantom Thieves. Believe me, I tried on the site I made those characters on. You'll find more information on the very thing right on that info book.

Now then! Onwards to the chapter!

After the fight against the Shadows and Alca-Noise, the group followed Lioness to the theater room she had found earlier. With how she reacted towards most of the Gear Thieves, they had thought she reverted back to seeing them as enemies somehow. Instead, the girls just called her rapier away and demanded that they follow her.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination.

"Is that a VCR?" Skull asked, noticing the object on the table and wanting to do something to change the atmosphere.

"Whoa, there's really one here," Kanade said in slight amazement. "That means we can play that tape we found."

"You guys found a VHS tape, too?" Lioness asked.

"'Too'? You mean... you as well?" Noir asked back.

"Yeah. In fact, it's because of this thing I'm starting to question them," she answered, taking out the tape she had on her. "That's why I'm questioning what really happened in here. So before I play this to you guys, by all means, play your tape first. Hopefully it'll clear up some of my wonders."

Hearing that brought relief to the group, as Joker inserted his tape into the VCR, and the screen started to display the contents.

*VIDEO*

After a bit of statics, the screen slowly displayed the lab the thieves were in before. There, Picora sat at a table, working on some experiment. He mixed some chemicals together, and got a nice reaction from it. The guy brought the chemical to his nose and took in its scent.

"Perfect," he decided, pouring the liquid in a spray bottle and sprayed some of the contents on himself. One more pleasant whiff, and he rushed out of the lab.

As he sped walked down the halls, he looked at the time on his phone. "Shit, I'm going to be late," he muttered, picking up the pace.

"Is that you, Picora?" came a male voice.

He turned and saw a fellow scientist there, one of a higher rank than he.

"S-Sir!" he gasped.

"You seem to be in quite a rush. There's no meeting scheduled, last I remember," the guy said.

"Well, no. None having to do with our organization," Picora said.

It didn't take long for the guy to know what he meant. "If it was anyone else, I would scold them for having the time to fool around instead of doing what they should for the Illuminati. But this... This, I make an exception for. Now hurry along. You don't want to keep her waiting."

A smile formed on Picora's face as he replied, "Yes, sir!" and rushed away.

The scene changed to a cafe. Picora had just arrived and searched around the area, wondering if she is there. Once he found who he was looking for, a smile formed on his face, as he slowly snuck over to her.

"Guess who," he spoke, covering the person's eyes.

She let out a giggle, extremely pleased with the arrival. "You're late, Picora," she said. "I was starting to think you forgot about this."

"For you, my dear, I would never forget something as special as today," he said.

It was then, the woman smelled something nice on him. "What is that nice smell?"

"That would be the fruit of my effort... in making this." He then took out the bottle of content he made earlier. "Made with your favorite scent, too. Happy birthday, Vanessa."

Vanessa had on a surprised expression on her face, one that turned to that of joy, as she accepted the perfume bottle. "You remember..." she happily spoke.

"Of course. Like I said, I would never forget something as special as today."

*PRESENT*

The video ended there, and silence filled the room.

"Well, that explains who that woman in that photo was," Kong spoke. "So she was his lover."

"Amongst other things," Tsubasa stated, to the thieves confusion.

"She was also an enemy. Though back then, she wasn't a part of the Illuminati. In fact, she was tossed away from them," Maria explained.

"Tossed away?" Kanade repeated in a questioned tone.

"We don't know the whole story, but she and two others... Something happened that turned them into monsters and broke them away. They were then found by Tsubasa's grandfather and were used by him to do many cruel things."

While those that didn't know anything about Tsubasa's relative turned to her in confusion, Queen placed a hand on the saddened bluenette's shoulder, knowing the demon that old man truly was.

"If that's true, then it would explain what I saw in this one," Lioness said, switching the tape for the one she had.

*VIDEO*

Picora was out and about on a dark day, walking in the dark woods with a saddened expression on his face.

'Another failure...' he thought. 'How long has it been since that dreadful day...? I can only hope Vanessa and those two friends of hers are okay...'

He looked up from his musings and saw what seemed like a red beam of light rising from a distance away. He had a funny feeling about the light and rushed to it as quickly as he could.

Minutes into his run, the light had died down, and he made it out of the woods to see a wrecked building down below, still quite far from where he was. Down below, he saw people there, and hid behind some trees. He took out a pair of binoculars and saw Maria there, fighting against Miku.

"Isn't that... a Symphogear User?" he questioned.

Just then, Maria was assaulted by three people, who were familiar to Picora. Especially one of them.

"Vanessa...? She's... alive?" he breathed out in shock.

He then saw Vanessa and two others regroup with Miku, all three having an odd mark glowing on their forehead, but he didn't care about that. He only cared about Vanessa. The longer he stared, the more joy he felt, as a smile slowly formed on his face.

"She's... alive... And as beautiful as the last time I saw her. I have to go back." The guy quickly left the area.

Scene changed to his hideout, where the guy was working on a project, one that majority of the group had a good idea of being.

"Okay... And the result..." He placed the artificial blood he made into the analyzer, and waited for result to come up. After a few seconds, the screen popped up as error. "Damn it! Still no good!" He slammed his hands on the table, furious that he still wasn't getting the result he was looking for, before taking some deep breaths. "I wonder what she's doing right now... I hope she's not on the run."

He turned to the computer he had in the room and turned it on. "The camera in her eye should be working. I wonder what she's doing right now..."

As the camera turned on, he saw from Vanessa's eyes Hibiki and Chris in their Gear Forms facing her. He saw their lips moving, but sadly, there was no audio. Seeing the two fighting his beloved, however, was more than enough for him to be confused. No... more than confused.

"What the hell are they doing...?" Picora muttered. "Why are they fighting Vanessa...? She may be part android but... What the hell are they doing?!"

Since no sound was coming out throughout the battle, in Picora's eyes, in his mind, he saw two Gear Users attacking an innocent soul. Their organization may have been for an evil cause, but not all the members were just as twisted. Despite this... what the hell was he watching?

The battle escalated, as the Gear Users went into their Amalgam, and Chris shot an enlarged arrow at Vanessa. The screen went blank, signaling the woman had her eyes closed, before displaying what she was seeing again. And this time, from what he could guess, Vanessa, along with two others, whom he recognized as the other 'failed experiments' of the Illuminati, were getting dragged into the air. Or to be more precise, blown away. Not only that, Chris had another arrow prepared to fire.

Picora's eyes widened at this. "No... No, don't! STOP!"

The arrow was shot, and the screen turned black. Picora was devastated at this, as he fell to his knees, tears slowly forming in his eyes. "Vanessa... No... Not again..." he spoke, devastated that he was separated by the woman he loved once more. "... No... She couldn't have. She survived from that explosion once before; she had to-!" As he got back up on his feet, he saw the screen displaying something again, indicating that Vanessa was still alive. More tears formed from his eyes, this time of relief, as he looked down and clasped his hands together in a praying motion. "Oh, thank god... She's still alive..."

He then saw Vanessa's vision seemingly zooming out, and the vision turning red for a brief moment. "Huh? What's going on...?" he wondered, as Vanessa's vision started to water, and she seemed to be making her way to what seemed to be an ancient ruins, with a hologram of some guy there. But that wasn't the surprising part, for as Vanessa's hand shot toward the ruins, Hibiki suddenly transformed and struck her fist deep into her abdomen.

Picora felt his world stop there, as familiar red liquid bursted outwards, and the screen turned black... in statics... He took a step back, followed by another, before falling to his butt in complete shock.

"I... That... That's too much..." he muttered out. "That... This is a dream. This is a nightmare!" He shot back up and opened a drawer closest to him. He dug into the drawer, looking for something, anything that can wake him from this reality called 'nightmare'. Eventually, he found a needle, and jabbed it deep into his arm. "Gah!" He endured the pain before ferociously taking it out, and realized he truly wasn't dreaming this at all.

"No... No, no, no..." Picora fell to his knees once more, and cried, this time knowing for sure... He and his lover... will never again be together. "Vanessa..." His sadness slowly turned to that of rage, as he recalled her last moments. "Symphogear... I'll never forgive you!"

*PRESENT*

The others were silent upon what they had seen, for different reasons.

"Dude... What happened there...?" Skull dared ask.

"That's what I want to know. While it did explain why he called you girls murderers, I feel like there's more to what he saw back there," Lioness said, looking to the Gear Thieves, as did Kanade, Serena, and the rest of the thieves.

"Hibiki... What happened in that video?" Joker asked.

The girls looked at each other, knowing full well they should explain what happened to them.

"Remember what we said about how they were used by Tsubasa's grandfather? Back then, they were only half monsters. But, by the time we brought justice to that disgusting man, not only were they forced to become full monsters, their loyalty had shifted over to another, who caused them to be the monsters they were," Maria began.

"Things happened after that, but the battle he saw? It's not what he thinks," Chris said then. "For starters, that battle was on the moon. A hole was made in the ceiling, and I shot an arrow to block that hole."

"You mean you were saving them," Pixie pieced together.

"Wait, you were on the moon?!" Panther asked in shock.

"It's a long story," Shirabe simply said.

"Okay. And Hibiki's punch?" Lioness asked.

"Vanessa-san... She was being controlled by the enemy that time..." the brawler answered. "She was being controlled to start something terrible, and asked me to... to use my fist..."

Lioness didn't need her to say any more. She knew how stupidly pure the Gungnir User was, after all. "I see..."

"But she didn't die from that- death," Kirika added.

"That's right. She barely lived through that. However, as we needed to return to Earth, Noble Red used the last of their powers to send us back, and thus in turn... passed away," Tsubasa said.

"So that's what happened..." Queen spoke.

"And this guy misunderstood it all," Kong said.

"But, if we tell him what really happened, won't it fix everything?" Serena asked.

"With how convinced he is about what happened, it won't be that simple," Pixie stated.

"She's right. I highly doubt he'll truly listen to reason once we find him," Fox added.

"But there's still one thing doesn't make sense," Mona then spoke up. "Seidr. How did he get his hands on it? With how dangerous it is, it should've been locked up some place only the government would know. How did it wind up in his hands?"

"That's true. And from what Elfnein had said, that last incident couldn't be that recent," Sophie pointed out.

"I think I know where we can get answers for that," Lioness informed. "I found a study room earlier with a computer. It needed a password to get into, but I bet we can get some information from it."

"Who needs a password when you have a hacker?" Oracle said in a smug tone.

"Then that's where we're going," Joker decided. "You remember where it is?"

Lioness nodded and led the group out the room. As they left, Hibiki looked down with a saddened look on her face. It never occurred to her that her enemies had people they once held dear, especially if they were still alive and cared about that person.

"What's wrong?" Joker asked, he who noticed the girl's expression and slowed down his pace to match her's.

"I just wonder... if this is okay," she answered.

"What is?"

"He wants to stop us, to hurt us, because he thought we killed Vanessa. While I am partly responsible, I still..."

"Did she say anything?" Joker then asked. "You said Vanessa asked you to use your fists. Did she say anything else then?"

"Well... She said I protected her pride," Hibiki recalled. "When she was controlled to insert Shem-Ha into the ruins, she said my fists protected her pride. But even though... it was too late, and Shem-Ha got what she wanted. She almost blew us up in the ruins on the moon, too, when Vanessa-san and the rest of Noble Red used the last of their strengths to send us back to Earth. Vanessa-san said it was an act as a monster's curse, to show us that our world is beyond saving. But, I told her what my dad once told me; that a curse can become a blessing. They say it was to show us that we can't save our world, but it didn't change the fact that they helped us. I think it was then... they realized we never saw them as purebred monsters, but humans who went on the wrong path, and thanked us for still thinking them as humans, when no one else did."

"Then there you go. Even if it means fighting him the next time we see him, we'll make sure he knows of the truth. I'm sure that's what she would've wanted, isn't it?"

Thinking on it, Hibiki knew Joker was right. Vanessa and the others may have passed on, but they left without regrets. If anything, they left with a 'thank you'.

With that in mind, a smile formed on the Gungnir User's face. "Thanks, Joker!" And with it, a boost in speed.

Joker only smiled back, as he too picked up the pace.

Soon enough, after sneaking past some enemies and taking out some along the way, they arrived at the study room Lioness spoke of. Once they arrived, Oracle took a seat at the computer and worked her magic. Of course, it didn't take long for her to get in.

"Okay, I'm in," she announced.

"That's fast- death!" Kirika gasped in shock.

"As expected from the girl who hacked into SONG," Shirabe stated.

"So what's in there?" Kong asked.

"Looks like diary entries. Though there are some I can't access," Oracle answered.

"Let's start with the first entry we can read and make our way down," Lioness suggested.

Oracle nodded in agreement to that and opened the first entry they could read.

"Today, Vanessa is researching that Faust Robe technology again. From what she had learned last time, this technology is something akin to that of Symphogear, only the source of its power isn't a song. That being said, a relic isn't really needed as a source of its power. Once Vanessa finds out the true potential of this power, she'll undoubtedly get a big promotion for this. Maybe even get the chance to use the system herself. Just kidding; Vanessa isn't that kind of woman. Still, she'll be doing a lot for the organization, and her parents will especially be proud of her. I already am."

"That's the end of this entry," Oracle said.

"So this is still back when she was still human..." Chris spoke.

"What's the next one?" Pixie asked.

Oracle opened the next entry upon her request.

"How could this have happened...? This was never suppose to happen... During her research on the Faust Robe, an accident had occurred. One that almost took Vanessa away... Thankfully, I was with her long enough to pick up on some engineering techniques, and with the help of a few others, used the very Faust Robe technology she studied to save her life. However... not only was I banned from ever seeing her again, Vanessa stripped from every accomplishments she had achieved in our organization, and was instead used as a test subject in various experiments. I tried to convince her parents, who gave the order, to reconsider their decision, as this was their very own daughter they were disowning. However... it was all for naught. In the Illuminati, perfection was everything. Though she did not seem perfect any longer to the other members, especially her parents, in my eyes, she's still the same Vanessa I know and love. Thankfully, as I was assisting in... piecing her together, I also implanted a bit of Vanessa's own invention into her. One that would allow me to see what she sees. The only downside to this would be that I can only see what she can; I can't hear what she could hear. In all honesty, though, I much rather prefer that, as I don't want to be haunted by her painful screams in my sleep. Just witnessing the pain she had to go through was hurtful enough. If only there was something I can do to help her..."

"He... really cares about her..." Miku said in sympathy.

"There are still some more entries," Oracle informed, opening the next one.

"I have a chance to free Vanessa from her suffering. I overheard this from the higher ups, but the only reason she and the other two test subjects were considered imperfect and failures was because they had to be supplied on exceptionally rare blood. This blood is known as RH xxoyle_formula, and it's found in one in 1.4 million people. If I can somehow create this blood or a perfect replica of it, Vanessa would no longer need to suffer from all those experiments. She'd be free from it all. And while I'm at it, I'll try to make enough for those other two, as well. They helped her endure all those 'tests', after all. It's the least I can do."

"So that blood... really was for Vanessa-san..." Hibiki spoke.

"And from what we saw in that video, he never succeeded in making it," Panther stated.

"Nor did he come close to," Pixie added to that.

"Are there any more?" Joker asked Oracle, who nodded and played the next.

"This has to be the worst thing that could ever happen. Our leader was defeated by those Symphogear Users! The Illuminati is collapsing, and members outside the hideout are getting arrested. It's only a matter of time until all of us here are met with the same fate. But I can't be caught now... I have to get this blood ready! But... I know I can't finish this in time... For now, I have to find a way to free Vanessa and her friends, and escape from here. If I play this right, I won't get captured. I can only hope they can escape as well... Vanessa. I promise you, I will have the world accept you."

"That's the last one," Oracle ended.

The group was silent, especially the Symphogear Girls, as they slowly took in the entries. To think, all this time, Noble Red already had someone who was willing to do anything for them. And yet, they never knew... Not only that, but it was practically because of them that...

"We..." Tsubasa spoke. "We can never change the past, but we can still forge the future. We promised to carry on Noble Red's wishes as though they were our own, and we will uphold that promise."

Those words snapped the rest of SONG Gear Users out of it, as they looked on with determined expression in their eyes.

"She's right. What happened back then happened; there's no changing that. But even so, we can still make up for those mistakes in the future!" Hibiki agreed.

"That's the spirit! You can't let these things get you down!" Skull acknowledged.

Lioness, on the other hand, placed a finger on her chin in thought. "Hmm..."

"What's wrong, Lioness?" Queen asked.

"I just can't help but wonder still... Where did Seidr come in? And more importantly, we saw some lookout Shadows taking people's wishes earlier. Assuming this Jail was created out of vengeance towards the Gear Users, why take other people's wishes? Something is not adding up," she stated.

When she mentioned it, it was true. The thieves especially knew something was wrong about this case. The previous Kings they had faced had stolen others' wishes and made them act as though they had undying loyalty for them. With how things are going here, what was different about these wish abductions?

"There might be more we haven't discovered yet. Let's keep scouting around this tower," Mona suggested.

The others were in full agreement, and left the room.

After some time of traveling up the tower, the group made it to the peak. There, they saw a couple of lookouts with a pile of familiar pink gems before them.

"Are those...?" Maria spoke.

"The stolen wishes," Sophie identified.

"Is this all of them?" one of the lookouts asked.

"That we've gathered so far, yes," the other confirmed. "More are still being collected."

"Good. Get back to it."

Just as he said that, the gems suddenly dissolved into cloudy particles and floated up... to a big, pink cloud-like light above them.

"What is that?!" Chris gasped, being careful with her voice as to not alert the Shadows.

"Those are wishes in their true form," Mona said.

"True form? Not the gems?" Shirabe asked.

"Human emotions don't have a physical form in the first place. They take the shape of gems because of their cognition that their wish is being stolen by the Shadows," Pixie explained.

"I see... Wishes are quite important to us as people, and would be equated to a treasure. And the best symbol of a treasure are jewels," Tsubasa summed up.

"But why did they turn back to that cloud?" Kanade asked.

"Because those wishes now belong to the King, in this case being Picora," Fox replied. "They took form of the jewels because the original owners thought their wishes were being stolen. However, the Shadows transferred the wishes to their King, who doesn't think the wishes will be taken."

"And it makes things all the more confusing," Lioness said.

"She's right," Joker agreed, causing the Gear Thieves turned to the two in confusion.

"How so?" Hibiki asked.

"Look at how big those wishes are," Queen spoke, she and the rest of the thieves catching on to what they were referring to. "Even if the erosion was sudden, even if the Shadows did collect a number of wishes from many people by now, for it to grow this big in such a short amount of time is suspicious."

"The Emma App doesn't even exist in this world, and it was the method how the Kings in our world were able to gather the victims' wishes," Noir added.

When they pointed things out that way, it was odd to the girls as well.

"So you mean... This has been going on for a while for him?" Serena asked.

"Has to be. The only question is 'how', when the Metaverse and the app never existed here in the first place," Oracle said.

"We haven't even seen any sign of Picora or his Shadow on the way up, either," Panther pointed out.

"And this place isn't a birdcage, either. We could've gotten something else, but looks like this is just a dead end," Lioness added.

Skull looked at her with a judging expression. "You say that... but in truth, you just want me to be shocked, don't you?"

Those words caused the Gear Thieves to turn to the pair in confusion.

"Eh? Birdcage? Shocked?" Miku repeated in a questioned tone.

"Don't mind it," Oracle instantly said.

"But in any case, what now?" Maria asked. "It doesn't look like we can proceed any further."

"Now, we do what Phantom Thieves do best," Kong spoke, a hint of excitement in his voice. "We send a calling card."

Now that brought on more bewilderments to the girls.

"A calling card?" Tsubasa repeated.

"Oh... Oh! I know this one- death! It's when a thief informs their target they were going to steal something before they actually steal it- death?" Kirika asked.

"The very same one," Kong validated.

"But wouldn't that ruin the purpose of stealing something?" Serena questioned.

"And what does a calling card have to do with this?" Maria followed.

"Remember what we said about cognition giving the wishes a form? By sending a calling card, not only do we warn the enemy that we'll be stealing the very wishes he took, but those wishes will return to their solid form," Pixie explained.

"Wait, really?!" Hibiki gasped.

"However, we have 24 hours before the effect of the calling card runs out. In other words, we have one chance to get those wishes back," Mona added.

"And while we're at it, since Picora will know we will steal those treasures, he's bound to show up after we send that calling card," Skull added on to that.

"Sounds like this calling card thing plays a massive role here..." Kanade stated.

"Indeed, it does," Fox confirmed.

"For now, let's head back to base. We practically already have our infiltration route. Now we just got to figure out how we're going to get the calling card to him," Lioness said.

"As she said. Let's head back." At Joker's call, the group returned back to base.

Unknown to them, however, they were being watched by one other individual.

"Just a little more... And all will be in place~"