Exoria's eyes flicked open as she held herself in her half-crouched position.

"They are coming," she said under her breath, though loud enough for everyone else to hear in the deadened silence. "There's no mistake."

The others of the organisation paid little attention to her words. For the past day or so, ever since they had captured Vita, nobody had spoken a single word at all. Then again, time passed very differently in this plane of existence so that it could feel like a lifetime had passed without change. The Legion had remained almost motionless throughout, keeping a careful eye on both their prisoner and on Srethis – the lizard had been skulking around the crystal sculpture in which the Guardian Knight had been cage, its head bowed as it hissed at the ground. Only Ungore seemed to have any attachment at reality, and the alien spent most of its time focusing on the monstrous metal arm hanging by its other shoulder, practising at molding it and shaping it into any weapon it chose.

The lights in the sky had disappeared for good. The superior program was no longer communicating with them using the favoured method. Instead...

"We will be moving very shortly," the Legion said, drawing everyone's attention. "The Time-Administration Bureau has discovered our location and will be arriving here very soon. For the purposes of safety, I have disconnected the superior program from the mainframe and moved the Superuser to the Metaworld Sector where a second backup is in progress. The first backup program is already prepared to be initiated as soon as the Bureau sets foot on this plane."

The voice of the superior program rang out again, but not from above. This time it came as a buzz within the ears of everyone seated there.

"Until then," the superior spoke out amidst a crackle of static, "we will be using communicators. They have been set to rupture from within after half an hour – the amount of time it will take you to complete the journey to the Metaworld Sector – and so prevent potentially sensitive information being leaked to the Bureau when they arrive."

Ungore raised its head with narrowed eyes spelling out a haughty sense of resentment. "They're actually coming after us? Now?" Its long fingers scraped the ground as the robed creature reluctantly pulled itself to its feet. "Questions? Maybe, maybe someone's going to ask how they found us? Or wants to blame Ungore for this mess? Anyone?"

Exoria shot a baleful glare towards the creature but made no remark.

"There is no one to blame," the superior program said. "Our client has recently made contact with me personally and explained that the Time-Administration Bureau would come after us whether or not we had captured the Guardian Knight. This is an event that was going to happen. There was no avoiding it."

"The client came back?" Exoria had difficulty disguising her disgust. "After disappearing the way she did already?" She ran her fingers through her dark long hair, pulling at the strands painfully. "Did she say anything else?"

For a moment the superior program seemed to hesitate, then said, "The client also said that we are to keep the Guardian Knight alive. She said it would be of a great benefit to us."

Srethis had kept its head down the whole time, but upon hearing this the lizard arched its back for a second, listening intently.

"Good!" Ungore said with a fierce smile. "Then just leave her here for her companions to find. We're well rid of her."

"We cannot," the Legion countermanded, the frame of its body twisting around towards where Vita's body lay suspended within its icy prison. "Earlier on I took the precaution of checking on the physical health of our prisoner. My findings have been quite peculiar. I discovered that the Guardian Knight Vita is not in a well-enough state of living at all. In fact..." The Legion's eyes may have been mechanical, but there was no mistaking the icy finality which loomed within them right now. "I would go far enough to say that she is on her deathbed."

"What?"

The Legion's eyes shifted towards Ungore. "I have a precise record of the situation in which you, Ungore, took the initiative to rescue Srethis from the Bureau. You opened a time portal into a hospital – the hospital, no doubt, in which Vita was recovering from a sickness. A sickness, in fact, which is common to one of our number here."

For a few moments the others of the organisation just stared at the Legion in bewilderment, not understanding. Then the impact of its words hit them – hard.

"Sickness?" Srethis croaked. "You are saying, Legion, that Vita here has Srethis' sickness?"

"Impossible," Ungore spat. "She looks fine to me. She's encased in ice, Legion. You're losing it. There's nothing wrong with her!"

The Legion turned away from the alien, expressionless. "When she wakes up, you will soon see that my diagnosis is correct. Her vital signs are deteriorating. She is dying from the inside. You will forgive me, Ungore – I took the measure of borrowing some of your medicine to aid her whilst you were inattentive earlier."

"You what?"

"If I had not, she would be dead already. I was able to link it through to her magic field and break the formula down without affecting the ice that traps her inside. No doubt you will be able to communicate with her using the same method when she wakes up."

"She's going to wake up?" Exoria said in disbelief. "Here? We don't want her to wake up! Is this going to happen any time soon?"

"Yes. Seven minutes from now." The Legion's voice had returned to its cold and logical state, concerned only with the statistics. "The facts are irrefutable. She has the same illness as Srethis does, and so she will die without the medicine that only Ungore can provide. If we leave her here, then the Bureau will take her back and she will perish at the hands of her incapable allies. We have no choice but to take her with us to the Metaworld Sector."

"We must leave now," the superior program said sharply. "The Bureau have succeeded in opening a time portal here. The client warned me that such an event would happen, and so I ordered Exoria to introduce a significant delay into where the wormhole could coincide with its destination. If the Bureau attempts to pursue us, they will be re-directed into a separate level of this plane of existence. They will still be contained within this world, but..."

"But it will take them a few hours for them to reach where we really are," Exoria nodded, understanding. "There's just one flaw in your plan. There is no portal that leads to the Metaworld Sector any more."

It was true. The Metaworld Sector was a safe haven beyond the time-restricting limbo of their current location, and served as a much more convenient base for their operations. Here, time was condensed so that magic was hard to manipulate – at least at the surface, anyway. You couldn't even fly here.

But there was no portal leading outside. A portal to Mid-Childa or to one of the other many worlds was simply done. But a portal to Metaworld...it required a lot of proficiency and magical ability to craft a wormhole within another wormhole. The only reason that the superior program was able to exist from inside the Metaworld itself was because her core had been transferred there at the very beginning. Back when this had all started, when Red Scorpion was first created.

"Correct," the superior said. "That is why, Exoria, we need to make a portal first."

"Make one?" She couldn't imagine Ungore capable of such a thing. The little cretin could barely make a normal portal. "Ungore could never - "

"Again, correct. Ungore is not going to be making the portal. You are, Exoria."

"Me?" she spluttered, almost choking over the mere notion. "A portal into Metaworld? You can't be serious! Do you know how much time and magical power will have to go into such a feat? I'll be drained! Shredded! Lifeless!"

"And if you do not, and the Bureau catch up to you," the Legion intoned, "you will also be dead. Our superior has chosen you – no, Oguba has chosen you. You are the most talented among us with Oguba's power. The power to create a portal to the Metaworld is well within your scope as a mage. It will not be enough to open up a normal portal to one of the many worlds out there. If the Bureau can open up one of our portals, they can open up a thousand. They will follow us. But a portal to the Metaworld is very different; they will never be able to follow us there. We will be able to continue our operations in safety. And the safety of the organisation is crucial to all."

"You shut up!" Exoria yelled at the creature. "You're just a mindless slave of the organisation! You never took on Oguba's powers, you do not know how much energy is required here! If this backfires, it could take all of us with it! You call me crazy and then take light of time travel in this - "

The superior program wasn't listening. The Legion wasn't listening. Srethis had stopped listening a long time ago. No one was listening to her. She felt tears of frustration seep out of the corner of her eyes, and her hands curled into claws, ripping at the dirt at her feet. They didn't know, she told herself, they didn't know just how -

Ungore yawned nonchalantly. "You'll live."

"Our plan is clear," the superior announced, cutting off Exoria's prolonged cries. "Exoria will need as much time as possible to set up the portal. She will be the first to go, for preparations. Ungore and Srethis, you will escort the prisoner with you and prevent her from escaping. As much as it pains me to do so, we are forced to take her with us. The client made it quite clear to me that the Guardian Knight Vita is to be kept alive. Though I cannot pretend to understand her reasons, we must follow through with them. Our contract is still not yet at an end. And, my Legion...you will take the defence. Stay at the rear of our group and prevent anything or anyone coming through."

"We will be a few hours ahead of them," the Legion said. "They cannot use their magic properly on the surface. It will be impossible for any of the Bureau to catch up with us. It will only take us half an hour to reach the portal and gain passage to the Metaworld. Success is assured."

"If there's even a portal when you get there," Exoria muttered under her breath venomously. She could tell that nobody was listening to her, however.

Ungore sighed and stretched to its full and considerable height. The dead arm did not move, of course. "Question," it said out loud.

"Yes?"

"Grylmark. He hasn't bothered to turn up, as I'm sure you've noticed. Again. We going to leave him here?"

The superior program's voice was silent for a moment.

"I have spoken to our client about Grylmark's behaviour," she said at last. "She has told us that we should trust him. However, his lack of attendance and insufficient capacity for trust are not merits that we value highly..."

Ungore waited patiently, drumming their fingers of their one hand upon their other dead arm.

"Very well," the superior said reluctantly. "We cannot stand for this anymore. If we come across Grylmark on our way to the Metaworld Sector portal, we will relay this message to him: he is no longer a part of our organisation. We will not attack him unless he is directly hostile to us, but he is no longer our ally. Trust is extremely important among our organisation. If we cannot trust, then we cannot ensure success."

"Good," Ungore said with a sinister grin forming across its face underneath the hood. "I just can't wait to tell him." He twisted his other arm round in its socket experimentally, then wound it back again. "Now let's get out of this place already."

Nanoha felt hard ground pushing back against the hilt of Raging Heart as she lowered the device downwards for support. Although the blackness and screaming from before had dissipated, the after-effects would remain for some time. The rocks beneath her feet served as a foundation to keep her energy grounded as the tide of savage vibrations surging through her hands and feet began to slowly fade away. A consequence of using Oguba's magic, she had assumed between gritted teeth at the epicentre of the vortex, but the process had still seemed very...different from what she had expected...

"What just happened?" Subaru said weakly, rising to her feet where she had fallen a short distance away. "Where are we?"

Quickly, Nanoha took a headcount as the others around her stirred woozily, slowly getting to their feet. If anyone had been left behind, or even if Hayate and Vivio had been taken through with them, she would not be able to forgive herself. If Red Scorpion had been waiting for them right here with weapons drawn and claws unfurled, they would all have been wiped out in an instant. She wouldn't have been able to prevent that, and the thought of that ate away at her confidence as she mulled it over in her own uncomfortable silence.

However, she could see now that everything appeared to be fine with their party. Fate, Signum, Subaru, Tiana and Erio – everyone had made it through. Somehow. Minimal injuries and very superficial bruising, but nothing a mage of the Time-Administration Bureau couldn't handle.

Raging Heart – or perhaps more accurately, Oguba – was smoking slightly at the edges, a scythe of black mist curving around its length. There was no mistaking that there had been something wrong with how the portal had opened. Signum had witnessed how Ungore had opened a portal before – nothing of this nature had happened. You simply cast the appropriate spell, and the portal would respond to your command. Not the method of Oguba possessing Nanoha's body and chanting high and loud as the power around them rose to a critical level, as if summoning dark forces before them. What was going on?

"You may be disorientated from your journey through the portal," Oguba said through Raging Heart in a static tone. "You have my assurances that when I re-open the portal again for your return, it will not be so chaotic."

"You're saying we have to go through that again?" Tiana asked, holding her head numbly just behind her pigtails. "I don't think this is how Red Scorpion travel through time..."

Signum shook her head disapprovingly. "I am not enthusiastic about undergoing such a journey again. We could have been killed."

"And I don't remember Hayate and Rein mentioning about any of this when Exoria took them back to the past last time," Fate said, her voice lined with her own suspicions. "This all felt extremely...unstable."

"You are no longer in any danger," Oguba said, with calm insistence. "Exoria and Ungore have had the benefit of practise, training and a significant quantity of time available to them in which they have been able to perfect their techniques. Their contracts with me are complete. They are able to use my power without such hassle. However, I released my magic through Raging Heart and so a conflict did arise. When the portal opened, I was not able to focus my powers sufficiently to prevent you all from being sucked in forcibly."

"You could have warned us about this," Nanoha said, fanning Raging Heart rather flamboyantly in an effort to stop smoke from coming out of the other end. The device almost looked as if it were on the verge of combusting on the spot. "There is no point in us locating Vita only to end up perishing in the process."

"And what about those words that you made Nanoha-san say?" Erio protested. "What kind of spell was that supposed to be? It was longer than one of Caro's summoning spells..."

The Lost Logia suddenly seemed to tire of the constant questioning. Its tone began snappy, brisk and impatient, despite the medium through which it was speaking, catching the others by surprise.

"Enough of this," Oguba said sharply. "I have brought you through the time portal to the land of limbo where Red Scorpion resides. You stand upon the surface of a plane of existence in which time energy is constantly being swallowed up and devoured, whilst simultaneously being replenished from countless portals in the known universe. With every force occurring through time, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Equilibrium is maintained. This is one of the most important laws of the universe, and space and time are no exception.

"The world you stand upon now is one which you must tread upon with extreme caution. With the compression of time energy, you will find that your magic is limited and contained upon the surface. If you go deeper within, you may find holes and gaps in time through which energy is consumed and drained away. If you are lost within such gaps, you will be lost within time infinitely; time energy will be devoured from yourselves and your existence will be removed from the history of your world in its entirety." Oguba's words brought alarm and mild fear to the rest of the rescue party as they gathered around Raging Heart to hear more closely. "That is why I advise you all to tread with the greatest of caution. With one step, you could be lost forever, and those that knew you would never notice the difference. They would not remember you, taken from their lives."

For a moment, there was troubled silence amongst the group at hearing this. There was more at risk in this strange world, where life and death could so easily spiral away into the difference between survival and being removed from history forever. Signum, however, seemed unperturbed, shrugging off the warnings as if they were nothing.

"We knew the risks of coming here," she said, Laevatein's blade unsheathed at her waist. "Of course we'll have to keep our guard up. Vita's life depends on our actions from here on out."

Nanoha paid close attention to how the other forwards had acted to Oguba's words. They seemed fearful, certainly, but they were no longer rookies. She needed to be able to depend on each of them, and if anyone panicked later at the worst of times then it was important that she know who was dependable and who wasn't. But she need not have worried about them – after all, each of them had proved themselves time and time again, both to the Time-Administration Bureau and to herself. The fact that Vita was involved also made this a personal matter for each of them.

"All right, then," she said. "Let's take a look at our bearings."

If she had to be honest, however, there wasn't much to look at. The scene in front of them was that of a wasteland - a dead planet where nothing grew, nothing thrived, nothing existed. The ground they walked on was hard and barren, extending off into the distance for miles and miles as far as the eye could see. A world of limbo, Oguba had called it. Nanoha kept an eye out for any of these holes in time that Oguba had warned them about, but as far as she could see everything just looked perfectly normal. That is, a perfectly normal barren wasteland where nothing had grown for a long, long time.

And yet...there was evidence of more than that. She could see glimpses of what looked like ruins in the distance – twisted pieces of broken structures, melded together with alien-like materials as they gradually crumbled apart and wasted away through time. The evidence of civilisation. Man-made facilities, no longer used, no longer lived in.

Without taking a single step, Nanoha could tell that people had lived on this world once. In a land where time was devouring the environment. If there was one building, there would be more, many more. And Red Scorpion could be hiding in any of them, waiting for them, lining the place with traps...

"It'll take us forever to scout out this place," Tiana said nervously, staring out over the bleak landscape.

There was no sun shining in the sky to guide their way; the only light that came was from the twilight glow which surrounded the entire plane, blanketing the world from above. There was a very unnatural and artificial feel to it. The whole place felt engineered for a sole purpose, like an experiment in a laboratory or another piece of machinery on the workbench.

Nanoha raised Raging Heart upright in her right hand. Though it was fundamentally Oguba inside her device now, the magic she had at her disposal was undeniably her own.

"Wide Area Search," she commanded.

What she expected to happen was for Raging Heart to send out tracking probes in each direction to scour the area. What she did not expected to happen, and which irrevocably did happen right then, was for her vision to be altered completely in that one moment. She felt the black mist inside her device flowing into her, tapping into her mind and changing the way she saw the environment around them. The blue alien symbols spread out across her skin, flickering across her body at lightning-speed, barely perceivable -

In the blink of an eye, she felt herself change. She was no longer a mage of Riot Force 6, but a force ascended; she was a deity watching over the ruined landscape with a thousand eyes at every corner, every single minute detail maximised into definition for her perusal. The entire world was laid bare to her eye. At every point of the land she could detect the imprint of a living creature and calculate how long ago it had been there, who it had been made by, here the tracks would lead...the world before her was hers alone. Hers to watch over. Hers to rule and enforce her own laws, so never again would anyone become like -

"Nanoha?"

The godlike vision in front of her disappeared in a flash as the mist withdrew from her fingertips, hissing at the sound of Fate's voice. Dazed, Nanoha shook her head, trying to clear her mind. For a moment...she had been a part of something colossal and much, much greater than herself...

"Nanoha?" Fate said again, laying a hand on her elbow, concerned. "You've been standing like that for ages."

Angrily, the combat instructor turned Raging Heart to face her. She didn't like being used like this.

"What did you just do to me, Oguba?" she said testily. "Raging Heart didn't respond. You did."

"That is true," the Lost Logia replied. "The spell you requested of Raging Heart was one which I could carry out much more concisely. I have amplified the power of the spell to transmit directly to your mind the information requested: a map of this entire world. Human minds, however, are severely limited and so I was only able to give to you a map of the surrounding region - "

"I never said you could do that! You said nothing about connecting directly to my mind like that!"

"Regardless," Oguba pressed on ceaselessly, "you now have the information you seek. There are scores of ruins dotted across the landscape, but bereft of life at each point. There is, however, a great surge of magical power erupting from the north-east which I would advise only the most powerful of your mages to investigate. Secondly, there is a powerful life-source directly to the east, within the nearest ruins. I believe it is there where you should start your search for - "

"I'll tell them, thank you," Nanoha said irritably, lowering Raging Heart against the dead soil once more. She couldn't help but feel disturbed at how Oguba was handling his new seat of power in the party. He had only supposed to be there to help them open the portal, and now he had taken over Raging Heart's operation completely, changed her spells, and was giving out advice to the rest of the group? What was the meaning of this? This was not how a Lost Logia should act, not a being with no emotion and only simple programming.

"Just as Oguba said," she said to the others, suppressing the urge to glare at the Lost Logia, "there are definite signs of life to the east. But they are faint – it seems there are only one or two individuals there at most. If Vita's there, you all need to be prepared."

The forwards nodded, each of them eager to set out and be the first to sight the first signs of action. There was still a tingle of excitement in the air, despite the initial atmospheric tension, and Nanoha didn't see why she should disrupt it. An alien world, a new region full of surprises and dangers at every corner – it would be normal for Subaru or the others to want to get started immediately.

"And the surge of power to the north-east?" Signum queried, not missing anything. "Who will be investigating that?"

Nanoha met her eyes. "I will."

Before anyone else could protest, she went on, "Red Scorpion would not focus all of their manpower at one single point. They are working from a set location, and if we can hit them at their core, then they should fall apart easily from there. This surge of power seems to be a good sign of where this central power is located.

"However, when I saw the landscape through Oguba's magic, I felt something very familiar...something very similar to Oguba, in fact. As if Oguba's magic is being drawn directly towards it. And that's why I'm going to be the one to check it out."

She looked expectantly towards Fate, Signum, and the three forwards. "Our main objective is to get Vita back. So I want the rest of you to head over to the ruins to check for the life-signs that Oguba detected. If there's any resistance from Red Scorpion, don't hesitate to use force." Nanoha turned her gaze towards the north-east – as she pointed Raging Heart in that direction, she could feel a slightly pull at the mist that surrounded her device. There was definitely something there. "I'll investigate the power surge. As soon I'm able to, I'll rejoin the rest of you."

"Sounds like a plan," Signum said with a shrug. "But do you really intend on going there alone?"

Fate smiled. "Nanoha won't be alone."

"Exactly," Nanoha agreed, "because I'll be accompanied by Raging Hea - "

She stopped in mid-sentence and stared at the blonde mage for a moment. Her new fianceé, at that. Did she really mean...?

"Fate - "

"You really thought I was going to leave you to run into dangerous territory by yourself, Nanoha?" the Enforcer asked kindly. "With no one to look out for you?"

Nanoha flushed slightly at the edges of her cheeks. "I can look out for myself."

"Can you really?...Signum, you and the others had better get going. Nanoha and I will catch up with you later." Fate brushed the edges of her fingertips against Nanoha's arm. It was a very slight movement, but her touch sent a tingling against the other woman's skin, and she winced, trying not to let it show. "Good luck, everyone."

Signum bowed her head as she turned to leave. "And to you as well, Fate-san."

Within a matter of seconds, Signum and the other forwards had set off to the eastern ruins to begin their search for Vita, leaving the other two mages behind at the site of the closed portal. Swallowing, Nanoha turned to the other woman to say exactly what was on her mind, but she didn't get the chance.

"W-what are you doing?" she protested as Fate linked arms with her tightly and pulled her along with her at a brisk walking pace.

"We're going to investigate the surge of power, of course," the blonde mage said in an obvious tone of voice. "Together."

Nanoha drew herself up and managed to muster some kind of defence as she was propelled forward in a half-stumbling fashion. "Fate, you don't have to come with me! Oguba's power is attracting Raging Heart to the source. That's why only I can do this! That's why I was going to ask you to go along with Signum and the others to - "

Fate stopped suddenly in mid-step and pushed her mouth onto Nanoha's in a hard kiss which melted onto her lips within a few seconds. She slowly pulled away, tasting her lover as she dragged the seconds out, sucking slightly at the edges of her mouth and savouring the last vestiges of her saliva. Nanoha gasped for breath, caught unawares by the suddenness of the kiss.

"Number one: you don't have to let all of your decisions be made by a Lost Logia which doesn't know any better," Fate said quietly. "And number two: I do have to come with you. I want to do this with you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. So shall we get moving?"

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Erio asked.

The four of them had been walking nearly ten minutes towards the faint life source as directed. So far, there had been no sign of the ruins or anything at all – nothing but the broad expanse of the wasteland around them, stretching out as far as they could see. Yet they could sense too that they were not alone. The presence of another living being was quite detectable by all of them by now. Faint traces of magic lay in the air, whispers that laid a trail for them to follow. It didn't feel like Vita, but it was a start.

"Nanoha-san and Fate-san?" Signam said lightly. "Of course. They'll be fine with each other."

"Will we be okay?" the young mage said uneasily.

Subaru and Tiana looked at the red-haired boy doubtfully for a moment. Was Erio losing faith in their skills? Was he saying that they might not possess the power to take down any members of Red Scorpion that they encountered?

"I mean to say that if Nanoha gets hurt, or if we somehow lose her," Erio explained, "then Oguba isn't going to be with us anymore. Which means we won't be able to open up another portal. Which means we won't be able to get home, and we'll be stuck here."

"Erio, I don't think that's going to happen," Tiana said in a reassuring tone. "Nanoha isn't going to be defeated out here no matter what she faces. Not with time travel and a Lost Logia on her side. If anything goes wrong, she can surely use Oguba to find out where we are."

"Our opponents have time travel on their side as well," Erio pointed out worriedly. "And they seem to be better at using it."

Signum sighed. "There really is no cause for worry, Erio-san. Chances are that we won't even find Red Scorpion here. It would be very easy for them to just use a time portal to escape to somewhere else, and we would have very limited means of tracking them. But if Vita's alive then they would probably just leave her here for us. It's not like there's anyone around here anymore."

If Vita was still alive. The thought had preyed on her conscience but all things considered, Signum knew they had to be optimistic. And realistic, when the situation took a turn for the worst later. She really hoped it didn't come to that. But still, it was not easy to kill a member of the Wolkenritter – they were still living magical programs rather than humans, and Signum even hoped that Red Scorpion had lacked the means to kill Vita and left her here instead...

"Wait!"

The voice was Tiana's. She held her hand up quickly, poised in a crouched position. Just ahead of them, the landscape had given rise to a mound upon which stood a set of stone pillars, crumbling and falling apart on the spot. They were still within a hundred yards from their position, but they could see that the pillars had been built around a raised platform, on the top of a set of several steps, rising up above them.

Could this be the ruins that Nanoha had told them about? The source of the life signs that would be their first clue on this mission? A twinkling light winked out at them from within the darkness before them, but it could just be the reflection of the glow around them upon glass...

"It looks like an altar," Subaru whispered, as they all dropped down quickly to huddle underneath the small hill.

"It would be an excellent position to defend from," the Velka Knight mused. "From the top of those steps you would be able to see your enemies from many miles away. We should not rush in. "

"I can feel it now," Erio said excitedly. "The magical field. It's coming from right within those ruins!"

Slowly, the four of them made their way across the ground towards the ruins of the altar. The sparkling light at the top of the steps began to grow brighter and more pronounced as they approached it. As they came closer, the group came upon clumps of shattered rock laid out around the altar in a circle, as if from the remains of a building from many generations ago. The ruins looked like they would collapse as soon as you tried to touch them.

Strangely, although they were almost on top of the ruins by now, the magical field coming from the life source was still just as faint as ever, as if they had come no closer towards it. Tiana felt a strange familiarity coming from the ruins which made her uneasy, but she could see that the others were keen to press on and investigate. Maybe it was nothing. She shrugged off the feeling and stood with the others just inches away from the strange circle of stones.

There are had been no sign of attack and the life source had still felt as distant as ever. Hesitantly, the four of them stood in open view, mindful that anyone in the area had still not detected them. Nothing happened, and they began to relax a little.

And then they saw it. They saw what was causing the sparkling light from the top of the altar. It was the reflection of light upon crystal – beautifully-crafted shining alone on a pedestal within the pillars, suspended by magic and floating in mid-air where a ring of mystical lights kept it locked securely into place -

Crystalline ice. A giant block of ice caged between the pillars, containing a wide-eyed living creature inside, a small girl with fiery red eyes, beating helplessly at the prison that held her -

"VITA!"

"Help me!" Vita cried, hitting the ice from inside with growing desperation. She was in her civilian form and it was likely that she was unable to transform. "Get me out of here!"

Heedless of danger, Subaru and Erio rushed forward to help. The life source they had been searching for had been Vita, trapped in the ice, and with no other signs of life in the area it was safe to say that there were no enemies lurking in the darkness. The two forwards raised their weapons high above their head, ready to use all power at their disposal to smash the ice apart.

Tiana realised that although her immediate instinct had been to help Vita, something had held her back, stopped her from moving a single step forward. Nothing sinister or magical...but her sixth sense, telling her that something was out of place here...

"Help?" Signum repeated, drawing Laevatein out in front her, her face cold as steel. She took a step towards the altar, her hands gripping the hilt of her weapon so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. "Help you?"

Illusion magic, Tiana thought. Now she knew the familiarity of the life source. That was it. Usually she sensed it immediately, but someone had come here in advance and wrapped it up with a combination of other spells which had...no, wait...

"Signum, what are you doing?" Subaru said in alarm.

"Step away, Subaru." The Velka Knight stalked towards the top of the steps, her face brimming with fury. "I am insulted that the likes of Red Scorpion would think to use Vita like this against me. It is obvious they do not know much of the Wolkenritter."

"Signum?" Vita's voice cried out from within the icy prison. "It's me, Vita. Are you going to get me out of here? Help me - "

The pink-haired Velka Knight raised the sword horizontally in a unique fighting stance, eyes narrowed. "One thing you should know about Vita, if you know her at all," she breathed, "is that Vita does not ask for help. She wouldn't plead for us to release her. I think very little of your illusionist' skills, Red Scorpion..."

Warning bells rang in the back of Tiana's mind as Signum whirled the sword around her head. The illusion magic was detectable, but something else...something which had been bugging her ever since they had sighted the altar. The life-source? She attempted to track onto it right then and realised with horror...that it was burning, blazing in front of her...

"Signum, NO!" she shouted.

It was too late. Laevatein came down and shattered the ice in a single blow. The image of Vita inside flickered once, crackled as electricity through her, and then turned into the rotting skull of a long-dead corpse, a sacrifice upon the altar.

And then blazing beams of fiery energy shot between the pillars from every angle, criss-crossing into an infernal matrix which screamed down the steps of the altar, roaring across the length and scale of the ruins into an impenetrable web which curved all the way down into the hard barren earth, stopping just a few inches in front of Tiana's foot.

Signum, Subaru and Erio froze as the fiery web revolved slowly around them, caging them into the centre of the altar. Angrily, Signum kicked the remains of the ice crystal aside and attempted to strike out at the beams of energy flooding across the web, but to no avail. Her weapon almost bent from the backlash, despite it being composed of fire as well.

A trap. The illusion of Vita had been a trap to lure them into the web of fire. Desperately, Tiana fired Cross Mirage several times at the cage, but each time her shots were deflected away by the beams of energy, sucking up the magic in her bullets and absorbing them completely. In fact, her shots were strengthening the prison. Helpessly, she watched as her friends darted about frantically inside their claustrophobic position, trying to find some way to get out.

"Tiana!" Subaru called out, wide-eyed. "Are you okay? You didn't get caught inside?"

"I'm fine!" she yelled back. If something like this had happened a year ago, she would have found herself panicking. But not this time. "Don't worry! I'm going to try and get you all out of here!"

"You will not," said a voice from just ahead of her. A voice she recognised.

She turned to her right to see the tall, pale form of Grylmark the Third stalking towards her. His body was bathed in a red magical field, the same magic which coated the fiery web around the altar. Grylmark. He had been the life-sign that they had sensed. Not Vita. No, Vita probably wasn't anywhere near this place...

Grylmark's features twisted into a thin smile as he flexed the muscles of his left hand. For a moment, the energy beams trapping Signum and the others grew more concentrated, glowing with a brighter fire as he increased the amount of power surging through them.

"I was looking forward to seeing you again," he said maliciously, "Tiana Lanstar."

A/N: Expect the fights to be starting from the next chapter onwards.