It's the same dream again, but somewhat distorted. The clearing where she first met Yuuno, where everything began and her life was changed forever. Except that Yuuno isn't here anymore, not in this world. The trees don't seem to be real either, not the wind rushing through her hair, not anything. She tries to tiptoe across the grass, feeling as if she's treading on eggshells. With every step the images around her shimmer and waver, as if faltering before the foundation of reality.
"Mama! Mama!"
Nanoha turns around, seeing Vivio rushing over to her in the shadow of the trees, green and red eyes widening excitedly at her presence. But her daughter is running too fast, stepping far too firmly on the fragile illusion keeping the dream together. She trips, falls. And Vivio's body melts into the shadows enveloping the dream, lost forever before the stunned expression on her face that isn't even fully formed.
"Vivio!" she cries, rushing forward to cradle her daughter. But there's nothing there, only transparent wisps of air that fold away into the casual dream world around her. Was Vivio an illusion too? Each and every time, it's her alone, always alone, in the shadow of a past that doesn't seem to exist -
There is a rustling amongst the place where Vivio fell, and a different child rears up instead, looking up at Nanoha curiously. It looks a lot like her daughter, but at the same time is very different. Different times collide, creating different experiences.
"Oh," Nanoha says, understanding again with the accompanied disappointment. "It's you again."
First a bear, then a camel, and now...taking on the guise of her own child. All she knows is that it is somehow linked to time travel and what happened to her. They really do seem very familiar, though. But she wonders...maybe...
"Takamachi Nanoha," the child says. "It seems one of your loved ones insists on awakening me. Maybe by accident, maybe deliberately. I've been waiting for you to remember me, but it seems that maybe you need some inside influence. This is the last time I will communicate with you in this world. From here on, your past, present and future will coincide with each other at one single point, Takamachi Nanoha."
Nanoha reaches out to touch the child, and feels that their skin is burning. No...that's not quite true. She is the one who is burning up. Nanoha looks at her hand, seeing a single word carved on her finger in blue letters where she touched the child. Blue...runes...?
"What is this?" she says warily. "Is it dangerous?"
The child shakes its head. "That is simply proof of our contract, the words that mark you. You have received it before in the past."
"I don't remember any such contract. I don't even remember who you are." Nanoha clings onto the last vestiges of what makes sense to her here at a ll. "Should I?"
The child shrugs and raises a finger, puncturing the air of the dream world itself. Ripples of time gorge out from its touch in all directions, like a droplet of water disturbing a still pool, and the world around Nanoha seems to change and distort dramatically. The grass on which she stands seems to shake unsteadily, threatening to swallow her up just like it did Vivio.
"Follow me," the child says, and disappears into the ripple itself.
Hesitantly, Nanoha does so as the world collapses around her. It isn't a ripple, but more like a portal. A portal in time. Voices and memories flash across the edges of her vision as she follows the child onwards, so that it feels like they're walking side by side in a corridor of her own life. She hears Fate and Hayate's voices around her, urging to wake up. Vivio's plea to her, and Fate's sobs. The sound of fighting, gunfire, and mage spells falling into place. Some of it is very familiar; some of it she doesn't recognise at all.
School. Chatting with Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan. Meeting Fate for the first time in single combat. Training with Raging Heart and enlisting into the TSAB officially, overtaking other rookies and soldiers as she ascended up the ranks quickly into SS-class. The accident that almost killed her. Scaglietti and his combat cyborgs that took Vivio away from her temporarily.
More images following that are unfamiliar. Fighting. War. Friends falling all around her, her heart breaking apart. The images of Fate and Hayate turning coldly towards her as their eyes darken and their weapons lift towards her. Intent to kill as she defends herself.
Is this the future? Or just another illusion?
"Takamachi Nanoha," the child says, "if I were to make a contract with you, I would fulfil one of your wishes and grant you the full use of my powers. I ask you, what would you wish for?"
"Wish?" Nanoha repeats, confused and intrigued by the nature of the question. "I...I wouldn't wish for anything. I'm happy already. I wouldn't want - "
No. I'm not content at all. Because as long as I'm trapped here, Fate and Vivio aren't with me. And if anything happened to either of them...and what could be happening...
"I would wish for Vivio and Fate to be by my side forever," she says at last. "But why do you ask this? Who are you?"
The child nods in satisfaction. "That was exactly what you wished for when you sealed your contract with me last time."
It stops in the swirling corridor of time, turning to look up at Nanoha with Vivio's eyes, bringing the palm of its hand just in front of its face.
"I am Oguba," it says in a voice of softest melancholy. "I was born from a dimensional distortion in the time-space continuum and sealed within a Lost Logia along with my powers. And a long time ago, Takamachi Nanoha, you contracted with me to save more than just your own life." It turned its face away, devoid of emotion. "I will lead you to my power in the real world, Takamachi Nanoha. Once you hold me in your arms...you will finally remember."
The name unnerves her. She hadn't been expecting this.
"Oguba?!" Nanoha exclaims. "But that's impossible. Oguba is the name of a Lost Logia. How can you possibly be..."
How could any of this be possible, indeed. And yet, something in her companion's voice sounds ever so familiar. As if she should already know this.
"I have so many questions," she says urgently.
"And I will answer them for you," comes the reply. "When you wake up. In a sense, we are both sleeping in a dreamless nightmare. But it is time for you revive me in your own world and hold me once more."
Wake up? The images of her past, present and future swim past her in an ocean of memories. How am I supposed to wake up when I don't even know how I got here?
"Yes," the voice of Oguba says softly as if reading her own thoughts. "It is time to wake up for the last time. Now."
Her eyes didn't open to dismiss the dream because they hadn't been closed in the first place. Instead, Nanoha felt the whirling mass of greyness at the edge of her vision fly into a frenzy as the child's touch on her arm brought the world into intense focus all at once. Colours blazed into focus. At first everything was dark, but as her eyes began to adapt...familiar sounds and noises caught her from all around.
She was back in the TSA. Shari's voice was calling something out to all mages on duty, perhaps special orders from Hayate. High alert? Was the TSA under attack again? In any case...
"Nanoha?"
It was Fate's voice, filled with anxiety and worry. The sound was close, very close, but try as she might, Nanoha couldn't make out any shapes or figures at all. Everything around her seemed to be very...grey-ish. There were colours too, but they seemed to shrink back into the background.
"Nanoha, where are you?" Fate cried, the sound of her boots rushing around the corridor resounding through the walls around her.
I'm here! Nanoha wanted to tell her, but she still couldn't make out where she was. She could sense that she was somewhere in the Bureau. Not near the perimeter or even the hospital...it must be somewhere deeper inside...
Do not worry, came a voice inside her head.
With a shock, Nanoha realised it was the voice of the time-traveller in her dream. The bear, the camel, the child...the one who claimed to be called Oguba. They were speaking to her telepathically.
Go and greet her, Oguba said silently. You are trapped in the wall. Use my powers and move out into the open to see her.
I'm in the wall? Nanoha was dumbfounded. How could she possibly be in the wall? People didn't just move through walls!
You hold my power in your grasp, as per our contract of several years ago, Oguba continued almost ceaselessly. You should know that standard solid materials are no barrier to those who harbour the highest potential of time-travel itself. Move through the wall. Now.
It still sounded crazy in her head, but Nanoha didn't think she had any other choice. She didn't feel trapped in the wall. How had she got there in the first place anyway?
Taking a deep breath, she pushed forward into the dull greyness ahead of her and her entire body slid out through the walls of the TSA Engineering Division as if they weren't there. Light exploded from all angles, blinding her, but then faded quickly. The corridors and signs were familiar again once more.
She was in the inner laboratories where all the mage devices were held for research and development. That was one good thing that had happened so far; at least she knew where she was now. But Nanoha's other senses were also grabbing hold of the situation too. The whining alarm going off in the distance which meant that there was an intruder in the TSA, for instance. The fact that the entire division appeared to be deserted, as if all of the engineers had been urgently called off somewhere all at once.
Another thing was that she was still in her hospital gown. That fact made even less sense to Nanoha that anything else right now. As if she had just gotten out of her bed, left the hospital, and walked all the way over here. Yet Nanoha didn't remember doing anything of the sort.
Hesitantly, she stepped into the empty laboratory, not knowing why she did it. It was almost as if she felt a force pulling her towards it, guiding her to her next step. Not pushing her or forcing her against her will, but persuading her that this was the right course of action.
"Nanoha?"
She turned around to see Fate standing there, breathless yet relieved to see her. Nanoha reached forward to hug her, but at the same time detected an familiar sense of wariness emanating from her lover.
"Nanoha," Fate said cautiously, "is something wrong? Are you all right?"
Are you all right?
Somehow, the question didn't seem to Nanoha as if it meant what it usually did. The way Fate said it now was more to the point. More directed in...an outward way. As if there was something about Nanoha that unfazed her right now.
"What...what happened?" Nanoha whispered, ignoring the attracting force guiding her into the laboratories right now. "How did I get here? Have I...?"
"You don't remember?" The concern in Fate's face deepened further. "You walked here by yourself, Nanoha. You walked through...through the wall, somehow." She shivered. "You were chanting strange words and those runes were covering your body again..."
"Runes?" Nanoha repeated.
Fate nodded. "Yes. And they're still on you right now."
The brunette mage unfolded her hospital gown just enough to bare her left arm and shoulder. Blue letters adorned her flesh, illuminated in the bright light. The same letters that had marked her skin when she had touched the child in her dream...
Except now they were all over her body. They were dancing all the way down to her hip and beyond, across her arms and legs...she didn't have a mirror to check her face, but the look in Fate's eyes was enough.
Oguba said that the markings were harmless. That they were only proof of the contract...whatever that meant. Should I trust him? I don't anything about him at all. But for the time being at least...
"I think they're just writing," she said, trying to calm down the blonde mage. Nanoha smiled, not wanting to cause any further upset. "It's not a disease or anything. You won't catch it by touching me."
"How do you know that?" Fate sounded genuinely hurt. "Everytime they appear on your skin, you do something irrational. Shadows come out of your body. Your skin goes cold. You sleepwalk and walk through walls. You start to – to di - " Her voice choked off a sob; she couldn't say it. "How can you be so calm and - "
Oguba's voice was a buzz inside her head which filtered out Fate's words. Forget about her, he said. Go into the laboratories. It is time for you to receive my power in physical form, as I promised in our contract.
"Fate..." Nanoha didn't know how to calm her down. She wanted to hug her, but the symbols on her body seemed to be scaring the Enforcer away from her altogether. It wasn't fair. "Fate, please listen. I know you're frightened and confused. So have I, ever since I woke up. But I haven't changed on the inside." She took a step forward, her fingers closing over Fate's wrist impulsively. "I'm still your Nanoha, and I always will be."
Fate's lips brushed against hers for the barest second as she held her in her arms. Yet the look in her eyes showed that she still wasn't entirely convinced. Her gaze shot liquid anger onto the sight of the runes on Nanoha's skin. As if they were a barrier between them.
"I've been doing something in the last few days," Nanoha said to her, holding her eyes fixed against her own. "I've been communicating with someone who might be able to bring my memory back. They've been saying a lot of strange stuff, but they also say that the runes are harmless."
"Then they are lying," Fate retorted bitterly. "Since you seem to trust them more than me, why don't you show me who this person is?"
With a heavy heart, Nanoha turned her face away from hers and regained the pull on the attractive force from before. Pulling her towards the laboratory. She stepped inside, feeling the fierceness of her lover's suspicions on her back. She bore it and walked through the aisles of countless mage devices contained within the laboratories, not quite sure what she was looking for.
And then Nanoha saw it. A single red gem in a test-tube at the end of the row in front of her, where the newest additions to the department had been received.
Raging Heart.
"What are you doing?" Fate asked, not without a level of coldness. "What do you intend to do?"
Nanoha reached out and lifted Raging Heart into her hand. As the jewel made contact with her skin, the blue runes melted away completely, disappearing into the night air once more. She turned her face to Fate, clean of any possible writings or contaminations at all.
"I have brought Oguba with me," she said. "The runes you saw were the mark of Oguba. And I'm going to make his power flow through Raging Heart so that I can fight again together with you, Fate."
The scene before them on the surveillance cameras in the control room was a familiar one, bringing with it a sense of déja vu. As before, the attackers were hideous mutations that were made up from several different beasts, differing in size, strength and ability from each to the other. And as before, it was quite obvious to see that they were a decoy. Even the low-level mages on guard were able to detect the huge scale of illusion magic employed here.
However, Hayate knew that this time the TSA had two key advantages over the enemy. Firstly, their opponent's forces were not concentrated all in one place like the assault on the vaults when one of the Lost Logia was stolen. The creatures were all spread out across the perimeter where mages and troops were already on active duty, allowing the Bureau to be able to take care of them easily. And still, a lot of them were illusions. As a result, Hayate didn't need to send the whole of the Bureau's troops to deal with it, because the perimeter guard was already doing a good enough job in repelling the invaders.
Their second advantage, of course, was that they had Nanoha with them this time, even though she may still be combat-incapable at the moment. And they had her, Hayate. The former commander of Riot Force 6 allowed a smile upon her face at the thought. Now was the time to strike back, although it still bewildered her as to why their adversaries were all over the place right now. Maybe something had gone wrong with them that they weren't aware with? Confusion with their loyalties, perhaps?
The screen flashed in front of her as the four forwards opened up channels with her. Finally. Hayate turned their attention to them at once; now they could put their plan into action.
"Subaru-san, Tiana-san, Caro-san, Erio-san," she greeted them all. "You're all here. I'm going to give you the details quickly, because there isn't much time. There's been an explosion at the hospital where Vita was held. Because all of the surveillance there has been wiped out, we think there's a possibility that one of our previous attackers is there. One of Srethis' allies, that is. We don't know why they would attack the hospital, but if we can capture them then they could be an important lead to us in the TSA's investigations into what's been going on.
"Secondly," she continued, "you probably know about the similar attack at the perimeter. It's a decoy, and the Bureau can easily take care of it on its own, but that still means that someone is directing the attack. And they could be nearby. If we can capture them too, then that would be a definite bonus for us."
Tiana's gaze was fierce. "The mutants from last time," she said, nodding knowingly. "A mixture of summons and illusions. It's the man from last time: Grylmark."
"I've already been detecting summoning magic," Caro confirmed. "But not as much of it as before. If Tia's right, then it sounds like more illusions than summons."
Hayate nodded. "And it shouldn't be as difficult as the first time. Here's the plan: I want two of you to investigate the incident at the hospital and arrest whoever's responsible. The other two of you need to find out who's directing the attack at the perimeter. Whether it's this Grylmark person or someone else, you are to do everything in your power to take them into custody."
Her blue eyes flicked towards the young summoner girl on the right screen. "Caro. I'm allocating you towards the second group. With Fried, you will be able to cover a wider area more efficiently and further your chances of locating the culprit. Besides, if it's the summoner from last time, then your own summon magic will be very useful in detecting them." The red-haired girl nodded in affirmation, her own orders clear. "I assume you want Erio to come with you too - "
"Hayate-san - " It was Tiana which spoke, moving forward with greater urgency. "I have a request. I would like to accompany Caro in the second group."
Surprise showed faintly in Subaru's eyes at this; apparently she had expected Tiana to want to fight alongside with her instead. "Tia?" the blue-haired mage said questioningly. "Are you...?"
"I fought Grylmark before," Tiana said determinedly. "And he escaped from me. I want a chance to settle the score."
Hayate hesitated, showing a moment of concern for the sharpshooter. "Are you sure? You had Subaru with you last time when you went to the vaults. You don't have any combined attacks with Caro, not like you do with Subaru, so you'd be at a disadvanta- "
The sharpshooter was having none of it. She shook her head stubbornly. "Please let me go with Caro in the second group, Hayate-san. Grylmark uses illusion and summoning magic. We should fight him in turn with an illusionist and summoner."
The commander of Riot Force 6 sighed. Once Tiana really set her mind on something, it could be extremely difficult to persuade her out of it. But this could be a life-or-death situation – if she let Tiana go and anything bad happened to her, then...
Hayate quickly re-evaluated the situation. The TSA wasn't in any real danger, after all. It was going to be different this time. She would have wanted to go personally, but her leadership was required back here in the control room. And besides, Fate and Nanoha has always trusted in Tiana's skills.
"All right," she said at last. "Tiana and Caro will go with the second group. Subaru and Erio, you will be in the first group investigating the disturbance at the hospital." Pairing Subaru with Erio. Hayate really hoped she wouldn't regret this. "Everything clear? Then move out!"
The two members of the Wolkenritter who were still standing up stood amidst the debris of what remained of Ward 4X. Somewhere behind them, Signum was still buried under a mound of stone and plaster. But neither of them could turn their backs on their enemy now. They had to keep their eyes front and make sure that neither of their opponents escaped from the Bureau. If Srethis escaped, they would have lost their only lead and would be back to square one.
Vita gave Graf Eisen a few practice swings around her to warm up her muscles. To her distress, the weapon seemed unnaturally...heavy. A lot heavier than normal, and unresponsive to her will. As if there was still something wrong with it. But now was not the time to worry about that.
"Vita," Shamal murmured to her, so that their opponent couldn't hear them, "I can only do defence and support magic for you, but it's the best I can do. The rest is up to you."
"That's fine," the red-haired mage replied. "But don't go out of your way to get yourself hurt, Shamal. There's still a hospital of people who need you alive." She stepped forward determinedly, wielding Graf Eisen in both hands tightly. "Ready?"
"Ready. Commandment Chain!"
Multiple strands of energy shot towards Ungore to wrap tightly around the alien's limbs. The creature regarded them with interest but made no effort to break them. Shamal increased the pressure of the spell, and the alien grunted with faint exertion.
Vita was already moving, swinging Graf Eisen in a long circle from behind her, building up speed and potential force. Ungore made no attempt to dodge, watching her silently with a vague hint of amusement. Angrily, Vita brought the hammer round in a powerful uppercut which slammed upwards and slammed into the base of the alien's chin. Ungore's entire body was jolted off the floor as its head was smashed into the ceiling of the ward. Cracks spread out in all directions across the plaster with the impact.
For a moment, Vita hesitated, fearing that the rest of the upper floor was going to cave in on them again, but nothing further happened. She pulled Graf Eisen from Ungore's body as the alien slumped to the ground with a solid thump.
Slowly, Ungore came to its feet again, shaking its head woozily. It flexed the three fingers on its active arm, breaking easily through Shamal's binding spell, and rubbed its chin painfully.
"Mmm," it mumbled. "That's not very good." Its eyes flicked open all at once. "Hunzichille Prime!"
"Wind Shield!" Shamal shouted.
The protection spell shot up a split second before Ungore's explosive attack made impact, shattering it in an instant and forcing its way through. But that was more than enough time for Vita to get out of the way, rolling around the edge of the dissolving barrier and smashing Graf Eisen's metal tip down onto the back of Ungore's head.
Lightning-fast, the alien twisted out of the way and gripped the side of the hammer, almost pulling it out of Vita's grip entirely. It let go suddenly and tossed it into the wall, along with Vita, hitting it hard. As Vita struggled to get up, Ungore moved towards her and shot its hand forward towards her throat -
"Raketenform," Graf Eisen echoed, responding to her will and sense of danger. It transformed swiftly in readiness to her own conscious intent. "Panzerhindernis!"
The magical barrier swept up at the alien and repelled it back a few feet. Surprise registered on Ungore's face, a new spell forming in its hand, words chanting and beginning to take shape -
"Raketenhammer!" Vita screamed, whirling Graf Eisen's Missile Form around her head and smashing it down into Ungore's side. This time, real pain showed on the creature's face as a crack resounded across the side of its body, the impact sending it spinning into the other side of the wall and almost sending it through the other side.
Silently, Srethis watched from the corner, unnoticed for the time being, face raised towards Vita in what seemed to be admiration.
Vita sat in a low crouch over her weapon, breathing heavily as steam came off the hammer. That wasn't right. She shouldn't be worn out just from a medium-level attack like that. Either Shamal was right and she really hadn't recovered yet, or there was something really wrong with Graf Eisen...
She turned to Shamal with a victorious smile. Their opponent had been a tough nut to crack, but she'd finally gotten through to -
Soft footsteps echoed behind her and Vita turned around to see Ungore stepping out from the smoking crevice in the wall, rubbing its shoulder achingly. She couldn't believe this. It was still on its feet?
"Ow," Ungore complained.
Great, Vita thought. I guess I'm going to have to get serious then. And here I was hoping not to cripple Graf Eisen too much -
She stopped when she saw the state Ungore was in. The alien's body had sustained minor wounds in general, but it was the arm on its side that made her stare. The limb had received the full brunt of her attack – and it was barely hanging onto the creature's shoulder at all. A few strands of skin and bone were all that connected it. The rest of it was simply destroyed.
"Are you still going to fight me like that?" Vita said, appalled.
Ungore gave a wry chuckle and moved forward in a zombie-like manner. It looked like it was going to fall over with the next step.
"If you come any closer," Vita said, "I will be forced to put you down. Give it up. You're finished."
The alien shrugged, its feet shuffling forward.
Well if that's the way you want it, Vita thought, and unleashed Raketenhammer once more. Graf Eisen whirled around her head several times, screaming towards her opponent, its acceleration and power reaching maximum. It shot towards Ungore and hit the creature dead-on, forcing them back as -
This time, the impact hit Vita instead as Graf Eisen struck something a lot harder than just flesh and bone. Like hitting steel, or titanium. The force of it rang through her entire weapon, and she staggered back from the momentum.
What the - ?
And then she saw that her hammer had been parried by another weapon. A long staff-like weapon that Ungore held in its other hand, which was discoloured and bent, which ended in three fingers and...
Is that its arm? Did it just parry my attack with its arm?
No, there was no doubt of it. The steel-like weapon that Ungore had blocked Graf Eisen with was...its other arm. The one which never moved or responded, and acted like it was broken. Except that...the arm in question was no longer connected to a shoulder.
It just ripped its arm off and used it to block Graf Eisen's attack. How...how is that even...
"Interesting, isn't it?" Ungore rasped, pushing forward the misshapen weapon in its hand and spinning it expertly. "My arm has been dead for many years, but that doesn't stop its usefulness!" It laughed madly. "Their faces! When they see it! Replacing bone with metal as it erodes, making the flesh harder as it connects into my body...until...there is nothing that can break it!"
"Are you crazy?" Vita spluttered. "Isn't that just a bit gross?"
The alien held up the arm-weapon above its head, magical energy flowing into it. Wicked spikes sprang from each end, whipping around the air, each with a life of its own.
Uh-oh.
"Srethis, now is the time to make your escape," Ungore said. "I will kill this midget."
The reptile nodded, its scaly feet stepping towards the hole in the other wall.
"No!" Shamal said sharply, emerging from their opponents' blind side. "I won't let you. Commandment Chain - "
Ungore flicked the end of its weapon towards her from a distance. A massive output of energy slammed into her, throwing the medical mage off her feet to land against the heap of rubble at the end of the room. Shamal groaned and lay still.
"Now for you," Ungore said, turning its gaze back towards Vita. It had seemed dead upon its feet just seconds ago, but with the appearance of its...arm...it seemed invigorated. Vita had a few theories of her own as to why that was, but the most likely was that their opponent had been faking it.
I need to finish this quickly, Vita thought. Before Srethis really does escape. It's all up to me now. Go to full power and just wipe out this clown who keeps pulling off their limbs.
"Gigantform," she intoned, raising Graf Eisen up to attack.
In response, there was a melodramatic lack of transformation. Vita waited patiently for another moment.
"Graf Eisen?" she hissed urgently. "Now is not the time to - "
"Warnung," her device said, crackling with static. "Schwacher lesistung."
Low power? How could she be low on power? Unless something had forcibly drained Graf Eisen to the point in which it could no longer function properly. Vita didn't think there could possibly be a worse time for this to happen.
"Raketenform?" she tried.
To her horror, Graf Eisen failed completely and shrunk down to its Standby Form, incapable of any combat whatsoever, down to the tiny little hammer hanging around her neck. She was defenceless and vulnerable once more. Dead meat.
Ungore raised its own weapon, its eyes flickering as it saw her powers disappear. There was nothing but malice, ill intent and a complete lack of mercy. It wasn't going to let her live by any means.
"Hunzichille Beta Excelion," it whispered, and whipped its dead arm forward, spikes curving across the air as purple energy flowed around the length of the staff, sharpening it and transforming into razor-edged metal, slashing through the air towards Vita.
There was no avoiding it. Vita searched desperately for a means of escape, but there were none. The spikes and energy were overflowing around her from every angle, cutting through the air itself and forcing her into the corner as they came right towards her face to pierce her through and put an end to her for the last time -
And then the sound of feet moving, a blade curving across the air in front of her -
"Purple Lightning Flash!"
The energy dissipated around her, spikes parried off the length of Laevatein's flaming blade. Vita blinked upon seeing the tall pink-haired swordswoman of the Wolkenritter standing in front of her in a defensive stance. Blue eyes locked with those of the alien which had almost put an end to Vita, burning with a fire within.
Signum!
"Are you okay, Vita?" the swordswoman said, not keeping her eyes off her opponent.
The red-haired mage took a deep breath, trying to will away the sense of death that almost claimed her just now. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."
"Srethis is escaping," Signum said. "Go and stop them before they get too far. I will take on this creature." She slowly rose to her feet, Laevatein's blade burning intensely. "Go, Vita. Now."