Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

-14 – Reality Fails-

Journeyman Turo was more than slightly worried. Lord Protector Yosho had entered the chamber of the Masters of Vision to a full conclave over three hours ago, and while the chamber was heavily shielded, the dull roar of raised voices and shouting had been occasionally audible through those shields. While the Lord Protector was a part of the Masters himself, and one of the more respected and powerful members, today he had been summoned to testify, rather than the usual 'summoned to conclave', which was never a good sign.

When the chamber finally opened again, Turo shoved off the wall he had been leaning against and stiffened to attention as the ornately carved and enchanted double-doors cracked open silently. He stayed there, staring at the far wall and carefully not looking at the lone man coming out of the cavernous chamber beyond, until Lord Protector Yosho stopped in front of him. He missed Yosho's slight smile, and almost flinched when the Lord Protector rested a hand on his shoulder.

Yosho waited until Turo looked at him, "Relax, young one. No need to observe the formalities on this side of the door."

Turo nodded slightly, since he could not salute properly without striking Yosho, "Yes, Master Adept."

"Come," Yosho continued, "walk with me. I have much to do, if we are to preserve our people from the Masters' foolishness. Szash's impromptu inquisition has resulted in precipitous movement, movement we are not ready for."

"Is it about the anomaly, sir?"

"Yes. We're going through it, within a day. A day!" Yosho's tone made the last word a curse, a tone that was viciously angry as he continued, "Szash convinced them she and the Guard can hold against whatever we find out there, against anything at all. Never mind that only three Seed responded to the activation and recall, never mind that one was badly damaged despite what should have been a completely unnoticed passage, never mind that we know nothing of what is beyond that anomaly!"

"It can't be that bad, Master Adept," Turo suggested, "the real-world effects of the rebel's sabotage must have been cataclysmic. I remember some projections, and most of the rebels' mages probably died when the magic faded. With no one to train their children, and no records likely to survive the cataclysm, how can those children hope to threaten us?"

"Projections, estimates, assumptions," Yosho snorted, "the idle thought experiment of some academic who has no way to find out if his assumptions are correct or not." He shook his head, "No, Journeyman, there is no way to know what lies on the far side of the anomaly. The Seed really only confirm that it is the Homeworld, perhaps a later colony. As for training 'the next generation'... we could very well be heading right back into the cataclysm itself. Remember where we are. Time holds no sway here, it progresses for us only because we will it to, need it to. That does not mean it flows here as it does within reality's comforting embrace. We are going in blind, and those frightened old men are too scared of where we are to wonder if they are taking us someplace worse."

Turo was actively frightened now, not so much by his superior, as by the situation. He had worked for the Protectors ever since passing his Journeyman's exam years ago, and had never seen or heard of Master Adept Yosho being so visibly upset. Admittedly, as a junior member he had relatively little official contact with the Lord Protector, but there were only a hundred Protectors in the entire city, as opposed to the thousand or so in the Guard. To think that getting out of this limbo the rebels' saboteurs had imprisoned them in was enough to frighten the Lord Protector was beyond scary. But whatever it was, it was their responsibility as Protectors to defend and preserve the people of Al Hanthis, against any threat. "What can we do, sir?"

Yosho stopped cold at that, giving him a studying look. After a second, the Master Adept gave him a slight smile. "Good man. But it's not as bad as you think. We cannot prevent the Masters from carrying through with this foolishness, but we can prepare our own people. Come, we have a day, and cannot afford to waste any of it.

"I'll be putting together a briefing, as much information as we have available. While I do that, I'll need you to find and bring in all the Protectors, on-duty or not, retired or not, all of them. Some of them will argue, don't let them. This is an emergency situation, and we need everyone we can get. Except the cross-assigned. Tell anyone in the Guard to report there for duty. Everyone else, though. Don't take no for an answer. Also, make arrangements for meals, especially high-energy food, in the Protector barracks for at last a week. We're going to have to go for several days straight with no rest, just to secure the city after this stunt. We'll need to keep people calm, keep them in the city..."

00000

Niranjana frowned slightly as Allina kept going past their usual study table in the library, heading up the stairs without a word. In a way, that was 'normal'. It was Wednesday, and every Wednesday afternoon Niranjana helped Ekavir study between classes and dinner. Then Niranjana would find Allina and remind her it was dinner time, and they would go over notes and plans while eating, then continue in Niranjana's room. She still refused to spend any time in Allina's room unless the Brazilian had cleaned it that day. Normally on Wednesdays Allina would stay with her until Ekavir showed up, a couple more minutes of quiet company. But this time, Allina just walked off, without a word or even a glance.

Going after her friend was possible, but Niranjana knew her very well by now. Allina would ignore any questions first, then brush them off, then respond with some excuse about being in a 'lonely mood'. Usually Allina's willful obtuseness was endearing, another cute expression of her geekish inability to interact with anything more emotional than a computer. Recently, however, Allina's refusal to actual say what she was feeling was getting annoying. Niranjana was not worried about what Allina would say; she was just tired of waiting for the other girl to say it.

"Sempai?"

Ekavir's appearance at her side surprised her, making her start. "Ah, sorry, Ekavir, I was distracted."

He gave her a slight smile, "I know sempai."

"Listen," she cut him off as he tried to continue, "I know we usually study today, but... could we reschedule? I need to talk to Noriko, and the sooner I catch her, the better."

He looked rather more disappointed than she had expected, "Ah... okay. I kinda needed to talk to you about that as well. I've sort of been... drafted... into keeping Laura and Mercedes from killing each other while they work on illusions his afternoon."

Niranjana giggled at that, picturing the wreckage those two would leave in a workroom. "I cannot speak to Mercedes but, if you want help with Laura... ask her how to do something impossible. You won't be able to figure out how she does it, but figuring it out will keep her busy for a while."

He looked confused, "something impossible?"

"She's the only one of us who has figured out any form of teleportation," Niranjana told him, "and she has two. One of them Aria-sensei insists should not work the way it does, and one she insists is flat out impossible. So ask Laura how to do something impossible."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, "but I need to get going. They're meeting now, and Lotte-sensei'll be rather unhappy if I let them blow up a workroom."

She watched him go, becoming a little worried as she thought it over. She could see him keeping Mercedes calm, but only Noriko and Signum had ever really managed that with Laura. 'Lotte-sensei? Ekavir says he is supposed to help Laura and Mercedes. Is that wise?'

Lotte's mental chuckle was a disturbingly amused, 'He'll be fine, 'Jana-chan.'

'Please do not call me that,' Niranjana interrupted. That was for Allina, at least since the summer. 'This is Laura we are speaking of, sensei, and Mercedes. Yussef at least keeps himself under control, but Mercedes...'

'Ekavir's there because he punked off to me in class today,' Lotte replied, 'Nothing I couldn't handle, but not something I want to encourage. So he gets to baby-sit the harpies while they work out their differences. It won't go too far. Signum is monitoring the entire session remotely to be sure of that.'

'If you're sure. I just... it would not be pleasant to be in his shoes right now, especially given that he is a first year. We're used to her, he's not.'

Lotte chuckled again, 'Girl, none of you is that weak. You should've heard Didier yesterday putting Chen-chi in her place. Boy's quiet, but he only moves when he wants to. Ekavir's the same, so are all of you. Besides, I'm thinking of making Laura course-credit. Spend two hours locked in a room talking magic with her, if you're sane when you come out and neither of you is dead, you pass! Hayate-sama doesn't like that idea for some reason.'

Niranjana sighed and shook her head at Lotte's 'idea', before letting it go. Ekavir would have to look after himself, though it should not be too bad if Signum was keeping an eye on it, so that left her free to seek advice on her other problem. 'Do you know where Noriko is, sensei?'

'Somewhere on campus.'

Niranjana rolled her eyes, 'Thank you, sensei, I'll find her myself.'

'Sorry,' Lotte actually sounded sheepish, 'I meant, she's out on the grounds, not in any of the buildings. I think she's talking with Hayate-sama, they like to have their little chats out in the woods.'

'Thank you, sensei,' Niranjana repeated more sincerely, then let the connection fade. If Noriko was talking to Hayate, there was no telling how long they would be. There was also no predicting where Noriko would go after that conversation, since that depended greatly on what they were discussing and what decisions that conversation lead Noriko to make. No help for it, she decided, I'll have to catch her at dinner.

This left her free for a while, and at odd ends. Studying was possible, of course. With Ekavir off keeping Mercedes and Laura off each other, she could finish her own reviews quickly. Over the past year, however, she had come to appreciate having company while she studied. Allina is going to be annoying about this, she thought, hefting her bag again, but better her than alone.

She turned to head up stairs, but stopped at seeing Esmeralda. The Spanish girl was standing at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on one rail, looking about with an expression halfway between scared and confused. Moving over, she rested a hand on Esmeralda's shoulder, "What's wrong, Esmeralda? Forget something?"

Esmeralda shook her head slowly, still looking around, "I... I don't know. I just... suddenly feel terrified, for some reason. Like going out on stage for the first time, only worse. But there's nothing here. I mean, I may talk about how you second years are 'scary', but... this is real. And it's getting worse."

"Worse?" Niranjana looked around herself, but library was its normal afternoon self. The twins were at one table, Marcel sitting with Yussef and Luke at another. There was no sign of anything the least bit frightening, let alone 'terrifying', even if the twins were fidgeting a little more than usual. "Did you feel like this when the Seed attacked?"

Esmeralda shook her head, "No, I was just surprised, then, until it was all over and Hayate-sensei brought those things through. This is... I don't know." Starting to sound panicked, she demanded, "What's going on?"

Niranjana could only put an arm around her shoulder and try to reassure her. Wonderful, I have no idea what to tell her, and Noriko's busy with Hayate-sensei. Is she stressing over something personal? Is Laura playing another prank? What's happening... well, logic. She's scared of nothing. Either it's something real that we can't see, or it's in her head. Either she's having a panic attack over personal issues, or someone's trying to frighten her. Exterior threat or prank, those would be from outside. "Has Lotte-sensei taught you much of shielding yet?" Esmeralda nodded, shivering now. "Build one, wrap yourself in the strongest, most comprehensive shield you can."

Esmeralda nodded, and made a good attempt, but it was plain her fear was overriding her control. Niranjana felt the shield form, felt it push her arm off Esmeralda's shoulders, but it was thin and unsteady, not enough to prove if the fear was internal or external. So the Indian girl built one of her own, just as comprehensive, around the pair of them. That seemed to work, as Esmeralda visibly relaxed.

'Something going on, girls?' It took a second to realize that Tai-yu's voice was telepathic; she had not shown that ability before. 'You're not supposed to be practicing your magic outside of the workrooms.'

'Ah, apologies, sensei, but something seems to be channeling fear into Esmeralda. The shield was to see if it was external. I think someone might be playing a prank.'

Tai-yu answered a moment later, appearing at the edge of the shield as a hazy figure, 'I'm not getting anything from her, can you reach her?'

'None of the first years can use telepathy yet, sensei. But I can tell she's calming down. Definitely external.' Niranjana paused, then asked, 'could we move to a workroom? If this external source is far enough away...'

'Go ahead. I'll have Shamal-san join you shortly.'

Esmeralda's shield flickered and vanished. While the girl still looked scared, she no longer looked ready to flee, but was instead grimacing at Niranjana's shield. "You're doing this all on your own, aren't you? Two of us at once, and you're chattering with Tai-yu sensei. Can I be you? Just for a day or hundred?"

Niranjana smiled slightly, recognizing frustration rather than actual jealousy. "I build my shield as a self-reinforcing structure. Notice how it's not smooth, but a collection of angles? Luke showed me, each angle buttresses the others, creating greater strength for less energy. I still supply the energy, but the structure makes it more efficient. You will have to stay close to me, however." She took Esmeralda's hand and started pulling her towards the exit, "I'll explain as we walk, we'll see if I can't show you how to do it once we're in a workroom, shall we?"

Esmeralda hesitated, then nodded. As they walked, however, instead of asking about the shield, she asked, "Any idea what's going on?"

Niranjana shook her head, "Only that the source is external to you. I do not recall having read anything of sending emotions magically. Oh, there is usually some bleed through in telepathic communication, but face and posture still convey more emotion than that. Whatever it is, it is beyond me, which is why Tai-yu-sensei is getting Shamal. Speaking of which," 'Aria-sensei? Esmeralda is having some sort of odd magical trouble, and we're going to meet Shamal-sensei in a workroom. Could you meet us there, as well? If Shamal-sensei doesn't mind?'

'Ooh, a challenge,' Aria answered a moment later, 'Just let my pry myself away from my sister, I'll be there.'

"I can still feel it, just not as strong," Esmeralda continued in a thinking tone. "It's clearer, sharper. Something's... off, dangerous. Like watching a car crash... or being in one of the cars when it crashes..."

"Perhaps you are a sensor, like Laura, able to detect things farther away than most," Niranjana offered. "She is very sensitive, magically speaking. Signum-sensei had to place special shields on her dorm room last year, when the sensitivity became too much after February. You may just be reacting to the Circles' battles, or perhaps the training has woken your sensitivity enough to sense Egypt. Laura still complains about the null making her sick from here, sometimes."

Explaining Laura's sensitivity took a while, mostly due to the fact that Niranjana was uncertain how much to reveal. Lotte had demonstrated in class, and the September mission to Egypt had proven, that as useful as it was, it was probably Laura's biggest weakness, and Laura was rather touchy about that. She had pitched a fit when Lotte ambushed her in class, and so far as Niranjana knew, only discussed it seriously with Signum. So she was hesitant to go detailing it to anyone, even a fellow student.

The workroom shields proved slightly better than Niranjana's personal shield, though worrisomely, they did not completely block the effect, whatever it was. Shamal and Aria arrived before they could do more than note that, and after a brief review, Shamal pulled Esmeralda into a trance. The two remained there for several minutes, before Shamal woke with a frown, Esmeralda blinking and wavering a little.

"Well, that is very interesting," Shamal said. "You do not have Laura's defined ability, Esmeralda, but you are more sensitive to magic. I would say it is a reaction to beginning your study of magic. Like working out with your muscles, initially your muscles become sore and sensitive, but continued exercise 'toughens' them. This is similar, but your sensitivity is being aggravated by something. The fear, I would hazard, is a psychological reaction to sensing something that you can't explain or describe, but know is 'wrong', which is where things get interesting. Aria, could you please fetch Laura? Esmeralda is reacting to something our own sensors are having trouble pinning down, and I want to see if she is aware of it, or can provide more information."

"She's on her way," Aria said. "I stopped there thinking Esmeralda might have the same issue, but she was in the middle of an exercise with Mercedes." The cat-woman smiled slightly, "Poor Ekavir looked ragged, I think he was contemplating tearing hair out – his or theirs."

"Thank you," Shamal nodded. "Well, until then, shall we work on your shields some more, Esmeralda? Niranjana, if you would be so kind..."

Laura arrived a half hour or so later, looking a little green around the gills. She did not move with her normal energy, and when she closed the door the workroom she hesitated. Then she opened and closed the door, and the room's shields, a few times, as if testing something. When she did walk over to them, she shrugged, "I think I need more shielding practice, Shamal-sensei. I can feel the Egypt mess again. At least, I can when I'm out there."

Shamal frowned at that, "You're certain it's Egypt? Zafira has detected some sort of dimensional disturbance, and he's studying it with the sensor network, but he cannot localize it. The sensors report it all over the planet, even out into space some distance."

Laura nodded slowly, "Fairly sure, yeah. Feels like Egypt did when it happened, it's coming from that direction, I think. What's up?"

"Esmeralda reacted to something in the Library. She's a little more sensitive than she should be – work stress, essentially – and whatever she's feeling, her subconscious interpreted it as something to be very much afraid of. It's the same thing Zafira is tracing and you are feeling." Shamal paused, thinking it over, then nodded sharply. "Laura, go warn Yussef. Nothing is happening now, but don't get too engrossed in anything. Once you've done that, go out to the training circle, and try to trace this disturbance you're feeling. As much information as you can get on it, please. Location, strength, effects, timing, anything.

"Niranjana, stay here and work with Esmeralda on her shields. If she can generate a shield that will let her function but keep this effect from disturbing her, she should be fine. If not, we'll see about shielding her room. Aria, Lotte is already checking the other first years in the Library for me, please check in on Ekavir and Mercedes.

"All of you, if anyone asks, tell them, but please make it clear that there's nothing wrong as of yet. Just a disturbance that we want to be cautious of."

"Hai, sensei," Niranjana said.

Laura just sighed, "Oh, sure, give the sick girl the hard work. Don't mind me, I'll just go work myself into the grave, wear myself away..."

"That would be more effective if you were not smiling so brightly, Laura-chan," Aria countered with her own grin. "Come on, let's get moving."

Niranjana and Esmeralda worked for another hour or so, slowly building Esmeralda's shield. She was better than Niranjana remembered being last October, due to the sessions Noriko had held before the Kyoto trip, but not quite where Noah had been. Still, the self-reinforcing structure was trickier to build than the basic shields, as the energies had to be precisely arranged and balanced or the shield would be too weak to withstand any disturbance.

She was so engrossed in working with Esmeralda that she managed to forget all about her earlier worries, until the door opened, and Noriko slipped inside. "Sorry to interrupt, girls, but Hayate-sensei wants to see you, Esmeralda. Can you get to her office?"

"I think so," Esmeralda said, "if my shield holds up."

"Go ahead," Noriko told her, "Niranjana and I will be right behind you, we'll catch you if your shield fails." Noriko waited until the Spanish girl was out the door before smiling at Niranjana, "Lotte-sensei said you were looking for me?"

Faced with the moment, Niranjana felt herself suddenly embarrassed and hesitant to talk about it. Her problems with Allina were personal, after all, and not really all that bad. "Um, actually..."

Noriko's smile shrank slightly, "I understand if it's personal, Niranjana, but I promise you, I'll never tell anyone else without your permission."

Niranjana hesitated a few moments longer, waiting until they were walking up the stairs, then very hesitantly began explaining. It seemed so petty and minor when she laid it all out in words, hardly worth bothering Noriko with. But at the same time, Allina's odd behavior was confusing, and worrisome. So she told Noriko as much as she knew, trying to explain why she was so worried about it all, before finishing, "Can you help, Noriko? Please?"

Noriko, who was frowning slightly by that point, nodded slightly, "I think that's going to be a yes and a no. I think I can guess what's going on with Allina, but as for how to go about fixing it... the best I can offer is some suggestions. Something this sensitive, as delicate as your relationship, I've never dealt with it before myself. I've got some suggestions, of course, but you're going to want to be careful. That's going to be key.

"I think the problem is, Allina's talked herself into a corner, and she may not even realize it. You know how insistent she's been since February that you two are 'just sisters'? That reaction to her mother's teasing, and to the rest of us teasing you two? I think a lot of that is her trying to convince herself of that. She's scared of how she feels, how you feel, scared she might be misinterpreting one or the other, scared that if she's wrong, she'll hurt you and lose what she's already got. See what I mean?"

Niranjana nodded slowly, "I think so, and I guess that was what I was thinking but... I can't believe she's scared of me! I'd never hurt her!"

Noriko nodded, "I know that, she probably knows that, but there are always mistakes, right? Niranjana, I know you're smart, but you spend more time thinking in terms of circuits and programs than people and emotions. The rest of us have been watching you two since last year. You're cute together and all, but Allina's definitely afraid of going further. Whether she's afraid of being hurt or of hurting you, I can't say, but she's afraid. You have to admit, it's a scary prospect, going 'official' with someone, especially with another girl. Just because it's publicly accepted in the West doesn't mean it's safe or comfortable. Think about how your family would react."

Niranjana actually flinched at that. Her mother and father were not 'strict traditionalists' by any measure, and she had heard her father speaking out at family and neighborhood gatherings against some of the harsher traditions of India. But she knew without a doubt that both of her parents would explode at the idea of her 'liking' another girl, doubly so since the girl in question was anything but Hindu. That had been her first thought on hearing Allina's mother's joke the year before, even as that 'joke' started her thinking it might have not be a joke. No, her parents would not react well, not at all. "I see what you mean, Noriko. But... what can I do about it? I don't even know how to start a conversation about... well..."

"This is where I'm going to have to plead ignorance. I've got some ideas, mind you. I've watched other people courting, asked some questions of Hayate-sensei and my mother, but," she chuckled slightly, "I'm a little short on experience here myself. The one thing I am sure of is, you have to be careful. It would be very easy to move too fast, to move too slowly, to misinterpret, to say or do something wrong. Look at Laura and Mercedes. One misunderstanding at the start of the semester, and now it's escalated to the point that those two are worse than Laura and Yussef ever were. I think they might even cross over into outright enmity if they keep going. So you have to be careful.

"Other than that, I'm afraid my best suggestion is... talk to her. Tell her how you feel, like you just told me. Make sure she understands both how you feel about her, and how nervous you are. Remember, she's got just as little experience with all of this as you do, and that's part of her problem. So talk to her, be honest, and be careful. Allina's pushy, so you're going to have to push back, at least a little. I know you usually pull the social-aikido route of turning her own energy around to the right course, but this time I think you're going to have to push her, just to get her to admit there's more going on than 'sisters'. But remember, above all..."

"Be careful," Niranjana interrupted. "I see what you mean, Noriko, and thank you. I... need to think about it some more... but... thanks."

"You're welcome, Niranjana-chan," Noriko rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Always glad to help. Now, let's see how well..."

"Noriko!" Laura's shout from halfway across the quad was a surprise, the sight of her rocketing across the campus in her armor was downright scary. "Riko-chan, get everyone together! Egypt's going critical!"

00000

"Mother Night! What is it with this planet and not following the rules?!"

Reian almost laughed at Admiral Aignu's comment, but he was too junior and knew it. Still, the small part of his mind that was still functional through the shock and awe was duly impressed at her ability to sound so annoyed at a moment like this, when all he was conscious of was terror.

The null Reian and his fellows had been monitoring for the past seven months or so was no longer a flat and boring expanse of nothing. In the growing post-dawn light, tendrils of wild energy were flaring out of it, launching into the sky like a sick inversion of lightning. More energy raced and crackled along the null's edges, scorching the desert sand and lashing out about them. The off-duty circle mages had been woken up when the disturbance was first noticed, and now every functional mage at the site, Circle and Bureau alike, was struggling to maintain one or more of a multitude of shields around the camp's core structures and vehicles, sheltering them from the storm as best they could.

No one could get any closer to the null, and no one had paid it much attention before the ritual circles all collapsed. Even then, they had all been more concerned with the suddenly unconscious mages than a spot of nothingness from which no danger could threaten. Then they had felt the first shifts of energy, the fabric of reality warping and stretching around the null. By the time they realized it was coming from within the null, the dislocation had been in full fury, and all any of them could do was hunker down and try to protect themselves from the chaos. The dislocation was interfering with everything, teleports and telepathy included, even the locals' radios and generators.

Reian himself was in the front line, his device shivering in his hands, Admiral Aignu right behind him as part of the second line. Reian had gotten the first line simply because he was most comfortable with the locals, despite the distrust and outright suspicion. That made him the apex of the defense, holding the most exposed and toughest position, with Circle mages lined up to either side of him, just inside the layered shields. He was actually rather proud of that, because it was the toughest position in the defense, and he was doing rather well so far. On the down-side, the post gave him a front-row seat for whatever was happening, and at the moment things seemed to be heading down hill, for amidst all the wild energy and twisting chaos of a full-blown dimensional dislocation, something was moving in the null, coming out of the null, in blatant ignorance of every rule and law of magic Reian had ever learned.

Through the swirling mass of energies, Reian could make out structures, pushing slowly through the null into normal reality. They reminded him of tower-tops rising out of fog, save that these wavered and shifted even as they rose. Sometimes perfectly straight, sometimes fluctuating and wavering, sometimes growing or shrinking, sometimes shattering into discrete sections and portions that were separate but nonetheless the same.

More and more of them became visible all the time, and he realized they were arcing away from each other, as if whatever they were attached to was wider than the null and squeezing down to fit through it. But the mad dance of energy around the null was worsening as well, and long before the full structure came into view, he was forced to look away, unable to see through the churning madness of energies and the density of his own shields.

He had no idea of how long the strain and insanity lasted, but it felt like hours, days, before the cascade of energies battering at his shields finally ceased. They cut off abruptly, one moment a raging torrent, the next gone, and the cessation of effort snapped his tired control. He felt a moment's shame as his shield disintegrated and he fell to his knees, until he realized he was better off than most. The Circle mages were staggering to the ground and falling completely, half of them unconscious from the strain. He was so tired it took a while to realize that the harsh local sunlight was missing, and he looked up to see why. There was no trace of the null any longer, just a wide flat swath of desert, not even dunes to disturb its level surface. But above him, shading the entire region from the sun, was what he could only call a wonder.

Floating in the air almost a kilometer above was a cyclopean structure, spread wide over more area than the null had occupied. It was patently artificial, metal and plastics and glass everywhere. There was a central platform structure, but from that depended a wild mass of structures, small and large, sprawling and towering, seeming ready to fall to earth. He could see lights and motion, energy crackling along some of the structures, objects moving along the outer surface like vehicles. He called up the zoom on his scout-goggles, and spent a time scanning the huge construct. He thought he saw faces, people, in some of the windows, but the angle was bad and he could not be sure.

Until he reached the edge of the platform. There, just under the lip of the platform, he noticed a series of small domes randomly spaced around the perimeter, and focused on one. Maximum zoom brought it into sharp relief, and he felt his heart stop for a moment. The dome was transparent, apparently filled with some liquid in addition to its occupant – a quiescent Seed of Leviathan.

"Gods above," Reian said, scanning along the perimeter, "there are hundreds of them."

"Why pray to your gods, heretic," Hassed rasped, on his knees but back still ramrod straight as he stared upwards, "they're floating there above us. Go and talk to them yourself."

"Those aren't the gods!"

"No," Hassed spat, "they're demons. Look upon the city of Atlantis, heretic, source of all your power. Creation is doomed."

"Admiral," Commander Tessai, leader of Aignu's Field Mages, sounded tightly controlled. "Straight up, two degrees to my left, four degrees forward. The domed structure with three prongs arcing energy."

"What about it, Tessai?" Aignu sounded as tired as Reian felt.

"It's a Lost Logia, ma'am, Class Two restricted, highly dangerous. I was part of a team out towards Hykon sector a couple years ago that came across one. Some damn fool tried to use it as a power core. It blew up, full dislocation, killed over a hundred people, took us six months to fix it." Tessa paused, then continued, "And I can see another one, ma'am, about five degrees around the circle. Another further around, I'm guessing there's a full ring of them. Ma'am, if one of those goes..."

"The rest will," Aignu said, "and we can kiss the universe goodbye." She swore again, rather more colorfully, then told them, "I still can't get a signal out, can't teleport. We're under a barrier, a strong one."

A shiver of magic and motion drew Reian's attention upward, to find five men and women standing in the air. They carried no devices, but he could feel the magic around them, gathered and focused. One of them drifted lower, and Reian realized how the Circle strike force must have felt when he and his superiors returned from the Shiva after the Seed attack. There was nowhere to go, and, if the number of mages now floating away from the city overhead were any indication, fighting would be useless.

One of the five closest shouted something, but Reian could not make it out. It was obvious what they wanted, however. Aignu ordered, "Safe your devices, people. Don't surrender them, but don't use them. Fighting will only get us dead now, but we don't necessarily have to fight these people."

Hassed snarled at her, "We will never surrender..."

"Shut up," Aignu snapped, "I am not risking my people's lives for your vendetta. The Bureau will handle these people, and do it safely. You try anything, you're going to get dead, at best. At worst, you screw up here, even as weak as you are, and you could cause another Al Hazred disaster. Fight now and die, or exercise a little intelligent patience and get your boss some information he can use beyond 'the demons are back'? Your choice, but I'll fight you to keep my people safe, and you will lose."

Hassed almost attacked her for that, but Aignu managed to reach him, put a hand on his shoulder. "Major, don't. You aren't strong enough to make it worth the sacrifice, not now. Give it a few days. These people can't have any idea what we can do, we'll surprise them, even if the Bureau can't get us free. But I'm not ready to die here for no reason. Time will give us back our freedom. For now, we don't have a choice." She backed away from him, her device fading into its pendant form, and sat down heavily. "Safe your devices, people, lay down your guns, and be patient."

00000

CrimsonDX: yep, Cid-chan last chapter, Niranjana this chapter, and here's the 'something'. Still got some things to go before the reveal is totally finished, though. Thanks for the review!

Pfeil: Hughes was a last minute addition, mostly because it took me that long to figure out how he would handle both Hayate's response (Akira) and his own. The details with Didier were my own impressions of watching Cidela in action, though his reaction is representative. I keep finding myself overstating Cidela's problems with control, though – the scene last chapter took three tries, and then I had to trim it back to what was posted... Feel free to nitpick, I make no claims to perfection. Both errors you spotted have been corrected. As for the multiple characters, thank you for the compliment. Characters are what I have fun with, though I think I have too many at present. I need them, for the structure and symmetry, and for certain plot events later, but keeping them all fresh and distinct is proving difficult. Fun, though.

Kell Shock: Thanks for the correction, it's fixed! Hassed's 'source' is a little more complicated than true precognition, but here's what was giving him nightmares. Only question now is, why? His own prejudices, true expectations, someone else's reactions...? We'll see.

notcroaker: Things are starting to move, most of the setup is now down (took me long enough, I know:). Akira's response to the Dogs was rather carefully choreographed, like most of what he does, and all sorts of fun to write. Esien's call and the history of Atlantis and what they left behind are (obviously) going to be important parts. My idea of what happened to them is, in large part, responsible for the first scene of the prologue, with Atarsamain. Reian is very much supposed to be a 'junior officer' still learning the ropes and, like Yuno, has had to revise his Bureau-inspired opinion of the Circles. He and Admiral Aignu's crew still have a serious role to play.

Advent000: To some extent, you are right that the Dogs are not taking Hayate seriously, but they are reacting to her with a political, rather than personal, view. Politically, there was no real reason for her to interfere in their efforts to eliminate the Revenants, as the Revenants are more immediately dangerous to her. Unfortunately for them, Hayate tends to respond from a more personal viewpoint of keeping all her enemies under control.