"And all's well that ends well," says the camel fleetingly as if nothing had happened. "That's that. Tying up all the loose ends because it seems like you're alive again. But you're not, are you? You're not until you find my essence and make yourself part of me. Because in the end, nothing matters until you find the person that makes you whole again."
Nanoha finds herself lying on the grassy patch in the middle of the clearing again. Just like in the dream. Or was it a dream? Why is she still here?
"Weren't you a bear last time?" she says in bafflement. "Why are you a camel now?"
The camel turns its nose up loftily at her remarks. It seems comically out of place in such a cool environment.
"Appearance changes, but I remain the same inside," it chatters on. "Who can say how your imagination chooses to perceive me? And as to your last question: am I a time traveller? Let me answer that for you. If you are the only human being in the world left alive, and you walk across the desert alone in the world, does that make you a traveller, when there is nothing to see and no possible future? When there is nowhere to travel to?" It turns its head towards her in a rather unnerving fashion, just the way ordinary camels don't behave. "Do you understand what I mean?"
Nanoha yawns. "You're a very bizarre figment of my imagination and I think I preferred you as a bear."
The camel doesn't seem to be listening at all. "I seem a dream to you because you've forgotten me. And now you've woken up, but you're not going to be complete until you contact me in the real world that you know and breathe."
"What do you mean, "complete"?" Nanoha says curiously. "There's nothing incomplete about me or my life."
"Not about your life, Takamachi Nanoha. About your existence." The camel paws at the ground impatiently. "A living being cannot be dead in their past and alive in their future at the same time. You're in a paradox and there's going to be problems until you remember our contract with each other."
Nanoha's eyes widen in alarm. Contract? What was this about a contract? She never...
"I don't like where this is going," she says doubtfully. "Are you sure you don't want to go back to being a cuddly bear?"
Cards filled the hospital room, an alarming number of them. Hundreds of them filled every inch of space available, overflowing over the pitifully small bedside table and onto the floor. As there was scant room to even walk with so many cards around, and with the ward nurses unwilling to throw a single one away at Nanoha's request, the last fifty or so were hung from the ceiling like spinning mobiles. Anyone else would at least have discarded the cards by now, but Nanoha insisted that they all be kept. After all, she reasoned, each and every one of them was filled with love.
Fate was still staying by her side faithfully whenever she had a spare moment, bringing Vivio along to see Nanoha at each opportunity. Since her awakening, Fate had undergone a remarkable recovery of her own. She smiled whenever she spoke, and the stress and nightmare from the past two days had all but been swept away. It wasn't just Nanoha's recovery that had brought her back from the brink. It was the fact that with Vivio, the three of them could continue as a family once more, just like they had always intended.
The overall morale of the TSA had improved drastically as well, with yet more and more Get Well cards coming in until Shamal had to move them into another room. Few had thought that Nanoha's condition was really that serious, since the diagnosis had been quite positive from the beginning, but it felt like the entire base was invigorated now that they had their Ace of Aces back. In many ways it was almost a time for celebration.
"Nanoha, are you sure you don't want to get rid of any of the cards?" Fate pleaded, surrounded by a new mountain of well-wishes. Her daughter was sitting proudly on her lap, poking at each card around her and reading through them tirelessly. "Vivio and I were literally ambushed by them on the way in when they fell off the top of the door."
Nanoha shook her head stubbornly. "How can I show my love for everyone if I just discard their hard work and effort for me?"
Her blonde-haired lover sighed. "They won't expect you to keep every last one. You can show your love for them by doing that brilliant smile you do for me."
Another brightly-coloured card toppled off the seventh pile and bounced onto the bed. Besides it was a steaming pool of liquid which was all that remained of Caro's own brand of melted ice-cream style of cards.
"But I want to keep them," the brunette mage protested. "How would you feel if you spent hours working on a beautiful card for someone and they just threw it away?"
"Nanoha, firstly they did not spend hours – most of them are just bought from Suzuka & Arisa's Celebration Accessories – and there are now six hundred and forty seven of them! This is ridiculous!"
Nanoha blinked up at her and sat up as Vivio crawled onto the side of her bed next to her. She sighed and brought their child into her arms, hugging her into her shoulder. "It's barely a day after I've woken up and we're already arguing," she sighed. "I guess you really did miss me, Fate."
Fate didn't say anything in answer to that, her eyes downcast. She didn't want to be reminded of what had happened back then. The impact of the pain was only just beginning to fade away even now.
"Vivio," Nanoha said quietly to their smiling daughter snuggling up against her, "can I ask you something?"
The young girl looked up at her, one green eye, one red. "Yes, Nanoha-mama?"
"When you came home from school...did you...was I..." Nanoha closed her eyes for a moment, the words difficult to say. Was I there for you like I promised? Or were you alone throughout the night until you found me again?
"School finished early, Mama," Vivio said happily. "They had to close because the bad guys came. And I wanted to go home and see you because you said you would be home early, but then they said you and Fate-mama were fighting the bad guys. So I couldn't go home for a while."
"But...but Vivio, when you did go home - "
Vivio shook her head. "I got sleepy, Mama. Zafira-san and Shamal-san said I fell asleep so they took me home and tucked me in. And when I woke up I was with you." She smiled and squeezed her arms tighter around Nanoha. "Mama, you were there just like you promised. Don't worry."
Nanoha breathed a sigh of relief. Yes. I did. I didn't want to hurt Vivio's feelings for another day by not being there for her. So I did fulfil my promise to her. That's the important thing.
She caught sight of Fate's anxious expression and turned to her in concern. "What's wrong, Fate?"
"N-nothing," Fate said quickly, smoothing out her features and forcing herself to relax. "It's nothing. It's just..." She held out her arms for Vivio, and her daughter moved back into her lap again, though still keeping a fierce hand on her other mother's arm. "Nanoha, what happened after you...disappeared? Do you remember it at all?"
Nanoha hesitated, and then sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry, Fate. But it's all a blank. I remember...calling out for both of you. The fighting was going on all around us. The last thing I remember was falling to the floor when that...reptile was there..." She tried to cast her mind back even now and failed. Black pinpricks stabbed at her from the edge of her vision in just making the effort and her mind spun for a moment. "And then I woke up in the hospital right here with you. I don't know how much time had passed."
And the recurring dreams about talking animals who never stop talking and keep going on about time travel, she thought to herself. No, I don't need to tell Fate about them. They're probably just side-effects from my encounter. I don't want to worry her any more, not when she was in such a state before. She doesn't say how she was feeling whilst I was unconscious...but I can tell from the way she is right now.
"I guess we should have expected that," Fate said, forcing a smile. "But...maybe you'll remember in time. But it doesn't matter if it doesn't come back."
She leaned close and kissed Nanoha softly on the mouth. Their lips parted as the kiss grew in passion, growing fiercer as their tongues locked and their pulses quickened as one. Nanoha's eyelids closed partway, the desire in her face all too evident as she brought up one hand to take hold of Fate's chin and push her mouth harder onto hers.
"Mama," Vivio pouted, pulling at Fate's arm self-consciously.
Flushing, Fate tried to pull herself away from Nanoha and found it extremely difficult. It was Nanoha instead who eased her face away, gently extracting her tongue from hers, the taste of her lover circulating around inside her mouth.
"No flirting around Vivio," Fate panted, as their daughter rolled her eyes at the two of them. "Okay. I'll remember that next time."
Nanoha laughed, lying back on her elbows calmly. "We'll have plenty of time to ourselves later, Fate. Shamal can't keep me in this bed much longer now that I'm awake."
The red-eyed Enforcer sighed. "She'll probably want you checked up on for at least another few hours. And then Raging Heart needs to be finish its maintenance." She embraced Nanoha tightly for several moments, pressing her body against hers closely, feeling her skin against her own once more. It was a feeling she didn't want to forget again for a long time. "Nanoha, I - "
"Mama," Vivio said in a muffled tone, "you're both squashing me..."
"Oh! I'm sorry, Vivio! Did Fate-mama drop you? I'm - "
"Fate," Nanoha said, looking amused, "maybe you should take Vivio to school right now. It might be safer for all of us."
It was a few hours later on that day when Chrono's scheduled meeting to discuss the next steps of the TSA came about. It was similar to the last discussion where use of videoscreens across the Bureau made inter-departmental meetings much easier, but now things were different. Nanoha and Fate were back with everyone. The three Aces were back in control, and spirits were high.
Hayate had told Fate that if Nanoha wasn't feeling up to being included in the meeting, then she didn't have to. She kept her own feelings hidden; Nanoha's presence here could mean the difference between preservation and destruction. Hayate's gut feeling told her that Nanoha had experienced time-travel first-hand, just like she had, and might be able to give them more answers. Answers and information that could be crucial to what they did next. But Nanoha had refused, knowing that she had missed far too much in these past few days. She needed to know what was going on. Just like everyone else.
Hayate was also very glad to see that Chrono's unnatural suspicion of her own actions had not continued. It was the deceit at the last attack which had driven home his scepticism, but lately he had changed his attitude towards Hayate and become more open and trusting, until it seemed that he would relinquish leadership of the discussion back to her once more. Just like when she had commanded Riot Force 6 with everyone. Sometimes it seemed that none of them had ever left. But now Chrono had returned to the Asura, back to his own duties and responsibilities, and played his part in the decision-making process from there.
"All right, I think we're all here," Hayate announced. "There's too many of you. If you could just let me keep track for a moment? Chrono-kun, Yuuno-kun, Subaru-san, Tiana-san, Erio-san, Caro-san, Fate and...Nanoha. Okay. There's too many screens or I'd have invited the Wolkenritter too. Tiana-san, why are you in the wrong room? Didn't I tell you to stay in the same room as Subaru so that you could fit on the same connection? Never mind. Caro-san, the callsign for attendance is the wrong one you're pressing. The signal is showing that you're Vice-kun. You've put on the wrong videoscreen. That doesn't connect to central control. Shari, could you help me out here? Yes...yes...thank you. Thank you so much. No, Erio-san, your data influx is streaming in backwards for some reason. I think you're using the 12.3 upgrade and our systems all use the 13.8. Shari? No, apparently it isn't. Wait. Hang on. Shari, I'll let you take over. Hang on."
Fifteen minutes later:
"Okay, I think we've got the hang of it now. Okay. The computer says it can't recognise you. Erio-san, my connection claims that you're Vita."
"I'm not Vita," Erio said from the other end.
"I know. I know you're not Vita. But these computers won't fix my upgrade." Hayate sighed heavily. "If you could all just bear with - "
Chrono exploded. "Are we going to start or not?" he demanded. "You can hear and see all of us just fine, can't you?"
"Yes," Hayate said nervously, "but I wanted it to be perfect for Nanoha's first day out of hospital."
"But I'm still in hospital," Nanoha called into her own communicator, sitting up in her hospital bed. "I'm speaking from here."
"Nanoha-san, you're okay?" Subaru said excitedly. "I sent you so many cards!"
"So did I!" Caro exclaimed.
"And me!"
"And me!"
"And m - "
"Will all of you be quiet?" Chrono cried down his line. "I haven't got all day for this. Nanoha, it's great that you're up and about."
"I'm still in bed, Chrono-kun," Nanoha said.
"Then it's great that you're up and about in bed. Hayate. Please. Stop trying to correct the computer."
"But Chrono-kun, it keeps trying to change my desktop wallpaper," the short-haired mage pouted. "I had a very special one of Nanoha and Fate together and it keeps changing it to Hello Kitty."
"Never mind your wallpaper! Your wallpaper is not the point here! If you can connect to us just fine, then just start the meeting!"
"Does it still think I'm Vita?" Erio said anxiously.
A further five minutes later, and following much keyboard-tapping to satisfy Hayate, they were finally able to get down to business. They first spent some time filling in Nanoha on what had happened since her disappearance, just to bring her up to speed. Nanoha had heard much of it from Shamal and the other nurses and doctors at her ward, but it was good to hear it confirmed out loud again. Srethis' capture. Hayate forced into the past and then re-appearing just as everything died down again.
The mention of time-travel rang warning bells in her mind, alerting her to possible danger. The strange dreams she was having could not be a coincidence. As she listened intently, Nanoha realised that the others were looking to her – for guidance, for support, for hope, but also for answers. But I don't remember anything. I don't know if I can give you those answers yet.
"Nanoha," Chrono said as they finished recapping everything that had happened since then, "We want you to know that nobody expects you to suddenly have the answer to all of our problems just because you've woken up. It would be nice if you did, and if you could shed any light on our current situation, then that would be fantastic. But it's fine if you don't have anything for us."
"Yes," Hayate chipped in, nodding. "We won't hold anything against you. And it would be unfair to expect miracles right now. After all...we were really worried about you." She didn't look at Fate. "And all this must be a shock to you. Talking about time travel and all sorts." Hayate gave a short nervous laugh. "You probably think I'm crazy for bringing up such wild ideas."
Nanoha gazed at her knowingly. "No," she said slowly. "I don't think you're crazy. I think you're brilliant. All of you." She felt Fate's hand in her own, and squeezed tight. "And I don't think I could have made it this far without your help." I won't tell them that I don't remember anything, not yet. Despite what Hayate and Chrono say, everyone's looking to me for answers. And maybe I actually do have the answers...locked deep inside my mind. I don't want everyone to worry about me any more than they have to. "So, Chrono-kun. Let's hear what you've got."
The blue-haired admiral nodded swiftly. "Yes. Firstly: the case of the Lost Logia that was stolen from the vaults. Yuuno-kun, if you could fill us in?"
Everyone looked towards the green-eyed archaeologist on the central screen, communicating from the Infinity Library. He looked slightly self-conscious at being the centre of attention for once, but then drew himself up excitedly.
"Absolutely," Yuuno said, his hands overflowing with notes, streams of data dashing across his own monitor. "And, I have to say...this is quite a discovery. The missing Lost Logia is directly linked to Hayate's requests for research into time-travel! In fact, it is quite possibly the only link to time-travel that exists in the entirety of the Infinity Library." He frowned, looking down at his notes, his voice drifting into a low murmur. "And, to be honest, that seems strange to me, because if ever there was anything even remotely linked to time-travel, the TSA would have discovered it long ago and definitely promoted it...but here we are, with the information in our hands..."
"Yuuno-kun," Fate urged gently, before the researcher went into his own little world again.
Yuuno jolted out of his reverie. "Yes. Oh, yes! The Lost Logia." The excitement grew in his eyes once more, but in a controlled fashion. "Listen well, then, everybody. My information on the artifact is unfortunately not a hundred percent complete, but it is the best I have."
The others of the meeting waited with baited breath as Yuuno drew up the archived information from the screen in front of him.
"It is known as Oguba," the archaeologist started, wrapping his hands together in front of him. "That is the name of the Lost Logia that was found missing from the vaults. As for its abilities, Oguba is very similar to a Jewel Seed, but not identical. Like a Jewel Seed, it grants a specific wish of its user. However: it is written here that Oguba will grant one wish in exchange for time energy." Yuuno scratched his head in slight bewilderment, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know what that part means, to be honest. There is no mention of it, or any definition whatsoever, in the archive backlogs of the Lost Logia or of the Jewel Seeds." He cleared his throat, pushing the bridge of his glasses higher on his nose. "To be more precise, the Lost Logia known as Oguba will grant the wish of its user, but as I understand it...it will consume the time energy of the user in return."
There was a stricken silence upon the rest of the others upon hearing this, and faint murmuring and whispers among them about what exactly this could mean. The forwards were flushed and confused, Chrono's expression suggested that this was exactly what he didn't want to hear, and Hayate was looking at everyone triumphantly as if about to burst out and say I told you so.
Nanoha, for her part, felt a cold feeling in her gut at Yuuno's explanation. Oguba...sounded familiar. Very, very familiar. She didn't get a good feeling from it at all. And if their enemies had taken hold of something like that, and were able to use it...
"So it allows you to travel through time?" Hayate was saying enthusiastically. "Is this what - "
Yuuno just looked at her, confused. "No," he said slowly. "I didn't say anything like that. It...seems to do the opposite. If your wish was to travel through time, then Oguba would surely do that for you – but so would any of the Jewel Seeds. The difference is in the price you pay for doing so."
Hayate's face fell. Obviously this wasn't what she had wanted to hear.
"But you must understand that this explanation is still imprecise," Yuuno amended hurriedly. "There is surely more to the abilities of this Lost Logia. Perhaps there are conditions on just how far it could be used, and certainly how this "time energy" is represented."
I'm pretty sure I know exactly what it means by time energy, Nanoha thought, the cold truth dawning upon her. It's what happened to me after I blacked out. And if I ever remember what happened, then I'll know just how much Oguba is involved.
"This is still pretty complicated," Tiana said. "Hayate-san said the girl called Exoria was using time-based magic...so why would they need to steal Oguba?"
"We don't even know what time-based magic is," Chrono said darkly. "This sounds like something out of fantasy. But the Lost Logia could permit such a thing, couldn't it, Yuuno-kun?" The green-eyed archaeologist nodded in response. "Yes. But if they were already capable of such abilities as travelling through time...like Tiana-san says, they wouldn't need Oguba."
No, a voice in Nanoha's head piped up, this is time travel we're dealing with here. Events are not in order. Imagine if Oguba had already been stolen.
The realisation of such a thing brought the cold feeling back into heart, and she renewed her grip on Fate's wrist. Her lover looked at her in alarm for a moment, but Nanoha shook her head, indicating that everything was fine.
"Are you positive that you don't have anything else on time-travel, Yuuno-kun?" Hayate said beseechingly. "Anything else would help."
"I have no more concrete facts for you, I'm afraid, Hayate-san," Yuuno replied apologetically. "All I do have are myths and legends...and they all point to one thing which none of us want to delve into right now."
"And that is?" Chrono asked.
Yuuno hesitated for a split second before answering. "Alhazard." Seeing the wary and fearful looks being exchanged within their group, especially in the hospital room where Fate and Nanoha were communicating from, he went on to say, "But don't worry. That's all they are – myths and legends. The TSA verified a long time ago that Alhazard does not exist in any shape or form."
"And yet," Hayate countered bleakly, "the same could be said for time-travel."
Nanoha felt it was time for everyone to stop being so tense. They had enough to deal with already. How stressed must they have been when she was unconscious? "Everyone, please," she said, as all eyes turned to her. "Alhazard isn't what's important right now. The issue is the theft of Oguba and the people who attacked us recently. Let's focus on that, okay?" She turned to Chrono expectantly. "Chrono-kun, do we know anything about who or what we're dealing with?"
A brief nod from the blue-haired admiral seated in the Asura, a moment's relief with a renewed sense of direction. "We know three of the enemies that we're up against. Unfortunately, we have only been able to analyse one of them up close. That would be Srethis, the reptile that Fate-san captured. There was no available file of them on our entire database, so our information is limited."
"The other two who attacked us escaped, as you know," Hayate explained. "One was Exoria, the girl who tried to trap me in the past. She called herself a "Time Mage"when she spoke to me. As for our last opponent..." She motioned to Subaru and Tiana on the other line, who were communicating from their own quarters
Subaru raised her face to the videoscreen, raising her voice to be heard better. "Tiana and I fought a man who called himself Grylmark the Third," she said. "A summoner and an illusionist."
"I'm sorry?" Nanoha said incredulously. "How you can be a summoner and an illusionist? You can't do both or one of your skills will suffer in the process."
Tiana shrugged. "Grylmark was succeeding in both areas when we found him. He was responsible for the summoning of the monsters which acted as a decoy against the vaults when Oguba was stolen, and used illusion spells to avoid capture at the same time."
What a mystery, Nanoha thought. One of our opponents can already travel through time, another can use powers that he shouldn't physically be capable of – at least not in one lifetime anyway – and the third is unknown throughout all planets under our jurisdiction. And there could be more of them. We need to be ready. The Bureau can't afford to be caught by surprise again.
"Okay then," she said, trying to think. "So what about Srethis? I take it you questioned them?"
"Yes, but we might as well have not bothered," Chrono replied falteringly. "Srethis constantly behaved as if it couldn't remember, or its answers were extremely vague. If we pushed it too hard, it wouldn't respond for hours." He looked faintly disgusted just thinking about it. "In the end, we didn't get anything out of them. But maybe you might have better luck, Nanoha."
And then, just moments after he finished speaking, Nanoha felt Chrono speaking to her telepathically inside her head: Nanoha, I need to speak to you about Raging Heart. We've covered everything else, but the forwards probably don't need to stay to hear this.
I understand, she replied. Out loud, she said brightly, "I think our strategy is clear for the time being. Subaru, Tiana, Erio and Caro...I know you have training to do." The forwards nodded as one enthusiastically. "You should be off then before our voices bore you to death, right?"
"You aren't boring, Nanoha-san!" Subaru said devotedly. "I could listen to you all da- "
Tiana shot her blue-haired friend a fierce look and she quickly shut up. "I guess we need to go then," she said quickly. "I hope you get better soon, Nanoha-san!"
"Me too!" Erio chorused.
"And me!" Caro joined in. "Did you get my card?"
"Yes," Fate said placidly. "Yes, we did."
"It's the one with - "
"Yes, Caro," the blonde Enforcer said patiently. "It's the only card which melted. Nanoha and me could recognise it anywhere."
"Oh." The summoner's face drooped upon hearing this. "I'll send another one then - "
"No, no," Nanoha intervened quickly. "You don't need to. It was a beautiful card and I loved every drop of moisture that oozed from it."
"Posthumously," Fate sighed quietly under her breath.
The four forwards disappeared from their individual videoscreens as they left the conversation, the connection going dead at each terminal. Yuuno mentioned something quietly to Chrono, and the admiral nodded as the researcher also left the meeting, making his excuses about lots of work and research to do. Soon, the only people left in the group were Chrono and the three Aces themselves.
"How are you feeling, Nanoha?" Hayate asked seriously. "Are you really as okay as you look?"
Nanoha nodded. "Partial memory-loss, but I really am fine."
"That's good to hear," said Chrono, his eyes hard, "because I have some bad news for you, Nanoha."
Uh-oh. There's more? She tried to steel herself for it, feeling Fate lean in close to her, and immediately felt better. "What is it?"
"Raging Heart," the blue-haired mage said uncomfortably. "According to Mariel, it's asking for parts and components that...we don't have." His expression was troubled. "And if we don't have the parts, then you won't be able to use Raging Heart at all."
Nanoha tried to calm the sudden tremor in her voice. "Parts?"
It was not an unfamiliar situation to her. Raging Heart had not asked for new parts since...since the Book of Darkness incident...
Fate said thoughtfully, "There can only be one reason why your device is asking for an upgrade, Nanoha. Chrono-kun, are the parts involved anything to do with...?"
"Yes," Chrono said immediately. "Mariel sent me the list. Every component mentions Oguba in its description. Leading me to believe..." He paused for a few seconds, swallowing. "Nanoha, I think the missing "parts" are all parts which belong to Oguba."
I don't remember what happened to me whilst I was unconscious. I blacked out. But Raging Heart was with me. Raging Heart would know exactly what happened, because of its nature. It might not be affected like I was. And if it knows the truth...
"Oguba?" she said in disbelief, trying to piece all this together. "You're saying that Raging Heart is asking for parts out of a Lost Logia? And such a dangerous one?"
"Well, it's not like we have Oguba anymore," Hayate remarked. "Not now it's been taken from us. We can't meet Raging Heart's requirements in any case. But you're right, Nanoha. Using Oguba just to upgrade a mage's device could be lethal." She shivered. "It would be like if I were to feed a Jewel Seed right into Reinforce..."
"We can't do anything about it now," Fate said softly. "If we're attacked again, we'll just have to face them without Nanoha." She smiled faintly. "We can protect her."
"But..." Nanoha stammered, when she felt the blonde-haired mage push two fingers against her lips to hush her. Frustrated, she lay back in bed, feeling pretty useless. It was wonderful to be back with everyone, but not being able to transform? Raging Heart didn't need Oguba's parts that badly, did it? If she just sat down and talked to it...
"We'll be fine, Nanoha," Hayate assured her warmly. "Don't worry."
"I am worrying! You're up against enemies that no one fully understands, I've lost my memory, we might be under attack by time-travelling aliens, and I keep having - " Nanoha managed to stop herself from telling them about the dreams just in time. Fate's hand in her own was still warm, still clinging on to her and forcing the world into focus around her. "Is there anything else that I need to know?" she said finally. "Anything at all?"
She caught the three of them exchanging worried glances, and her hackles rose. They were hiding something for her. She knew they were only doing it so that she didn't feel any more threatened, but Nanoha wanted to know. There were enough mysteries surrounding them as it was.
"What is it?" she said sharply. "Tell me."
Fate glanced nervously at Chrono and Hayate, who shook their heads. She tried to meet her lover's fierce gaze, but it was obvious that she was finding it difficult. "There were marks on your skin when I found you, Nanoha."
"What?"
"Blue runes. Writing. They're gone now." There was a mix of desperation and rising panic coming from the blonde woman in front of her. "Please, Nanoha...you have to keep it together. I need you to. I'm..." I'm lost without you, she wanted to say.
This wasn't helping Nanoha feel any better. "Runes?" she repeated in alarm. "And what do we do if they come back?"
Chrono was losing patience. "You asked us to tell you," he said irritably. "And really – there's nothing to worry about, Nanoha. Calm down. We've got everything under control. If our enemies attack again, we can fight them off just like we did before. If you can't transform without Oguba's parts, then we'll just have to take Oguba back from the people who took it. It's pretty simple."
Nanoha eased her arm tighter around Fate's, calming her nerves just slightly. "It's not simple at all," she sighed. "But I trust you, Chrono-kun. You should do whatever you have to do."
I didn't expect this to happen, she thought as she hung onto Fate. The temporary loss of Raging Heart had felt really crippling. If she couldn't transform, she couldn't fight, and if she couldn't fight...she couldn't protect Vivio. That was the part which frightened her.
I wanted to wake up with Fate and Vivio by my side. And I did, but I didn't want all of this as well. Everyone needs me more than ever, and for the second time in my life, I'm not able to help. It's the feeling of uselessness that can kill you. But I need to trust in my friends. And value them. If I don't do that, then there's no point in any of this at all. Her face shook with determination. That's all I need to do for now.
The three most active members of the Wolkenritter sat gathered around the hospital bed in Ward 4X. It was a very unique ward, in the sense that no other hospital ward had an entire floor to itself, nor was surrounded by thick impenetrable steel walls, nor required two sets of security checks to access through a dual-locked sealed bulkhead.
Vita watched as Shamal dressed the wounded reptile's wounds, her brow knitted in concentration as she attended to its most urgent needs. Anyone could see that the creature was in bad shape, but since Shamal hadn't hit red-alert and called for every surgeon on duty to back her up, it was safe assume that Srethis wasn't going to drop dead any time soon.
"Are they okay?" Vita asked. The lizard fascinated her in ways that she couldn't explain. From the scales covering its body to the broad wings that now lay folded up across its back...what was it? Could it be an experiment of some kind? If so...
Shamal cast her a disapproving look which suggested that she still wasn't happy about Vita leaving the hospital early. "For now, yes. I've treated their injuries and given them a small dosage of morphine so they can sleep it off. Srethis just needs some rest."
" "Srethis"?" the red-haired mage repeated.
"That's their name. They were one of the people who attacked the Bureau whilst you were still sick. I guess you wouldn't have known, Vita."
Vita stared down at the reptile with mixed emotions. She had helped an enemy? Maybe it hadn't been the best decision back then, but...
"They must have tried to escape," Signum said with a measure of hostility in her voice. "I was there when Fate-san brought them in, and again when Chrono-kun moved Srethis to the high-security detention cells. The only way it could have escaped was if it made a break for it on the way there. If anyone was killed in the process..." She let the sentence hang in the air.
Vita let her breath out heavily. So she had really aided a dangerous criminal? What had they done? "Shamal, you said they were going to get better?"
"I hope so," the medical mage replied.
It wasn't quite the response that Vita had expected. The blonde doctor had seemed so efficient and in control of what she was doing, even with dealing with the injuries of somebody who wasn't human.
"You mean you don't know?" the red-haired mage said in surprise. "I thought you said - "
"I said that they'll be fine for the moment. It's the future I can't predict. No one can predict the future." Shamal took Srethis' wrist gently, feeling the pulse that echoed within. "To be honest...I'm very worried about their condition. According to the report, Srethis has very good regenerative magic at their disposal. They should be able to heal such injuries on the spot."
"Srethis is an enemy of the TSA," Signum said. "Their actions almost caused us to lose Nanoha-san."
Shamal's red eyes were filled with sympathy. "No, Signum. As long as they are inside my hospital, Srethis is just another patient. I will give them as much care as consideration as to every patient of mine, no matter where their disposition lies." She laid the reptile's wrist back across the side of the bed as it stirred slightly. "I have a feeling that either Srethis wasn't able to use its restorative magic to heal itself, or..."
"Or what?" Vita said suspiciously.
"Or the wounds were internal. The real danger being from inside its own body. I found some evidence of that from my own check-up of Srethis' body, but..." Her face spoke of self-disappointment. "They're not human. I don't know what to give them to help them get better. What might be an elixir to us could be a poison to Srethis. I was taking a gamble with the morphine, but they seemed in so much pain."
The lizard on the bed moved its head as she finished speaking, its arms brushing achingly at the sheets. It coughed mildly, swallowing and breathing the air in deeply. Signum quickly put a bit more distance between herself and the bed.
Then Srethis' eyes flicked open and stared directly at Vita, who was sitting closest to it. The red-haired mage returned the stare, not really feeling repulsed or threatened, gazing into those dark-green pupils with interest. The lizard's eyes widened with surprise and recognition.
"You," it whispered. "You ssaved Srethis' life."
Vita shuffled her feet awkwardly, but didn't look away. "You weren't going to die."
"No," Srethis said, pushing itself against the bedstead, "Srethis wass. The other Bureau agentss, they were going to kill Srethis. But Srethis knew. Srethiss ran."
"Kill?" Signum said in bewilderment from the other side of the room with a frown. "Don't talk nonsense. Nobody was trying to kill you! We want you alive in case you can actually help us!"
Srethis didn't even look over to the swordswoman. "No...no." Its voice sounded weak and faint, as if it were calling from a far-away place. "Bureau agentss do not know. By keeping Srethis here, they are ssentencing Srethis to death. They offer food and drink...but Srethis does not, does not feel hunger or thirsst..." It bent its neck low, swallowing harder. "There is only the medicine now. Otherwise..."
Shamal knelt close to the bed quickly. "Medicine?" she asked. "What medicine is this?"
The lizard eyed her distastefully, a leer staining its upper lip.
"I'm a doctor," the medical mage said. "I want to help you."
Srethis gave a hard laugh in response. "Even if that iss true, Srethis' medicine is beyond your human handss. You will never find it if you ssearch the universe, ssearch all of sspace and time itself..."
"And what if you're wrong?" Vita said shortly. "What if we can find this medicine of yours?"
She still didn't why she was helping the reptile. It could have been a murderer for all she knew. Maybe it was Hayate's goodwill to her from the day they met, rubbing off on her. But some part of her felt like not doing so would be condemning Srethis to death.
Apparently, Signum was sharing similar thoughts. "What are you doing, Vita?" the tall swordswoman enquired with hard eyes. "You're going to help one of our attackers? What are you going to do when they turn on us and threaten to bring the TSA down from within?"
"Srethis will no ssuch thing," the reptile hissed, pulling itself into a seated position. "Srethis is cut off now from itss organisation. No part in anything anymore, save the inevitability of death." It closed its eyes for a moment, hunched up over its healing stomach wounds. "Srethis perhapss hoped that its one friend would come and help rescue Srethis, but only - "
There was a crack as every light in the ward went out at the same time. The entire room was plunged into darkness, the steel walls closing in around them and devoid of any other source of light. Stunned, the three members of the Wolkenritter whirled around expectantly. This was no sudden power failure.
Signum and Shamal transformed in an instant, the light of their weapons casting an eerie glow around the entire room. Vita made a brief attempt, but it was no use – Graf Eisen was still not responding. It had picked the perfect time to malfunction, she could say that much.
"What's going on here?" Signum snapped, Laevatein tense by her side. "Is the power down all over the hospital?"
"I don't know," Shamal whispered, her eyes watching the shadows. "Srethis...?"
The reptile remained silent, its emerald eyes filled with mystery.
"Vita?" Signum said tightly. "Why haven't you transformed?"
The red-haired mage steeled herself for this. "Because - "
All of a sudden, every light came on again at once, and vision returned in an instant. It wasn't the only thing that returned. The crackling noise from before had increased threefold as black sparks shot between the panels of the opposite wall at Srethis' bed.
And then a whirling vortex of darkness opened out of the wall, sparks crackling out of each side, and a tall, lean creature stepped out with magical power brewing at its fingertips. It regarded each of them for a moment, and then its eyes shot to Srethis lying wounded just inches away. Recognition filled its face, distorting its features wildly, relief and pleasure zig-zagging across it.
If Srethis had seemed a foreign creature to the three of them before, then it was nothing compared to who stood before them now. Because the newcomer was undeniably alien in every single way. They stood as tall as Signum, dressed in a non-sensically multi-coloured array of garments which covered it from the neck down. A velvet hood covered the top of its head, and a silky scarf was wrapped around its mouth.
Hooks and curved spikes covered its shoulders and back, which broke through the cover of its clothing, and as it moved its arms, the spikes flexed too, as if connected to the same muscles. It was barefoot, but those feet were a fiery-red and looked disturbingly human-shaped. As for the arms...one of them hang limply to the side as if it were broken. The other was fiercely muscled and ended in three fingers and a thumb, all of which had the same hooks and spikes standing out across its body.
The alien blinked eyes the colour of blood as it saw them, wide, emboldened.
"Oh. Hey!" it exclaimed. "Finally. Finally finally!" It picked up the limb arm with its good arm and waved it at the lizard lying on the bed. "Good to see you, Srethis. Oh, but it is so good, like you wouldn't believe! And it looks like no one's been giving you your medicine! Well, we should remedy that, shouldn't we?" Its eyes narrowed as it glanced furtively around the room. "Did you see? Did you see what I did there?"
Signum took a step forward, the shadow of surprise gone from the room. "Who are you?" she demanded. "How did you get in there? Are you one of Srethis' allies?"
The alien raised its arm. "Chronological Time Switch!" it roared.
Unprepared to be attacked so soon, the other three members of the Wolkenritter immediately held their devices up to defend themselves, protection spells forming around them in a second. Vita dived to the floor in her hospital gown to avoid getting hit -
A few seconds passed before they realised that absolutely nothing had happened.
"Oh, great," the alien said disappointedly. "It didn't work. I knew it wasn't going to work. How can I say I didn't? Because I used too many time spells on the way in. Did you have to move dear Srethis around so much? Do you know how many time spells I had to cast just to try and find them? Well, there goes the escape plan." It tried to throw up its hands, but one of them didn't move, so it settled for throwing up just one. "Blah! Blah! Stupid. You aren't going to let me and Srethis just walk out, are you?"
"Excuse me," Signum said angrily, trying to get a word in edgeways, since the creature seemed to be arguing with itself at the same time. "Will you answer my question? Who are you...and what are you doing here?"
The aliens red eyes blinked at her rapidly. "Oh. Ohh! That's good, I tell you. Well done! Do the show, take a bow, and let me introduce myself. Of course you'll let me. I said, didn't I?" It took hold of its limp arm, and half-bowed, holding onto the hood to stop it falling off. "Okay! That's all done. So?"
"Will you stop talking like that?" Vita demanded, desperately trying to transform and failing.
"Oh, of course!" the alien exclaimed. "I'm getting to that. Why, let me introduce myself! Again! I am Ungore, sole survivor of the Hunzichille Beta Catastrophe, and servant to Oguba. Now, perhaps you should give Srethis back to me or I will have to kill you all." It held each of its three fingers up in the air. "With theeese fingers! So answer quickly, because I'm on a time limit here!"