The atmosphere seemed so empty and tranquil without Exoria or the dreaded portal to the Metaworld. For the first time in a long time, Vita felt that she could finally relax. Red Scorpion's plan to take her back through the portal had been thwarted with the help of her own friends, and she and Subaru had succeeded in defeating a formidable opponent. Nanoha and the others would surely be nearby, and Signum was definitely in the area.
"She got away," Subaru said heavily, slumping down to rest on the ground wearily.
Exoria? It was probably just as well, the Velka Knight surmised. With the Time Mage gone, there would be no more portals (or at least she hoped so), and Vita doubted that even Nanoha would have trouble getting any sensible information out of the girl even if they did manage to arrest her . Despite her capable powers of time travel, Exoria wasn't going to cause much damage on her own. She had seemed keen enough to get away from all of them.
Something about Exoria's last words worried Vita, however. The Time Mage had mentioned as she disappeared through the portal that she was going back to a person called Yagami-sama...someone with exactly the same family name as Hayate. True, there were a lot of people in Japan who were called Yagami, but to coincide with the fact that Exoria had also tried to kill their own Hayate before...
But what was the use of getting worked up about that now? There was no way to follow her, and even if there was, Vita had had enough of portals for the rest of her considerably long life. More than anything, she just wanted to see Hayate again.
"Did you have a plan for what to do after you rescued me?" the Guardian Knight asked a battle-weary Subaru, glad that everything seemed to have calmed down now. "How are we getting back to the Bureau?"
The blue-haired girl looked up at her thoughtfully. "Nanoha took us here through a portal. I guess we'll probably be going back the same way."
Vita's face fell. "Another portal? I've had enough of them for a lifetime." Shaking her head, the Guardian Knight turned towards the rock pools, where the damaged cyborg of Red Scorpion had fallen. "Also, what are we going to do with - "
She stopped dead in her tracks as the Legion slowly sat up with a grinding of gears, pieces of its face peeling off as it moved to its feet. With its body armour completely destroyed, and both arms put out of action, it shouldn't be able to function at all. And yet something moved within the cyborg, something that was undeniably inhuman, forcing the creature to its feet. No trace of magic remained within the Legion's vicinity, no weapons were armed, and the powerful magical field from before had long been snuffed out...and yet...a source of danger still thrived...
"Our name is Legion, and we are many."
The sound was that of multiple voices, each echoing in harmony with the others. It came not from the Legion's mouth – there was no longer any mouth, not now that its entire face had been virtually obliterated – but from deep inside its chest. Something still lived within the combat cyborg, moving the Legion's body on its own, re-wiring its circuits and modifying it from the inside...
"You may destroy one of us," the multiple voices chanted, as the Legion's main body twisted round and an emerald light glowed across its ruined shoulderpads, "but you will never overcome the combined might of the true Legion. Together, we are strong. May the enemies of our creator, Yagami-sama, fall before us."
The voices died away as the green light continued to spread out over the Legion's body, a new layer of skin and armour forming over the cyborg's vulnerable circuits. A second repair program was in operation, carefully glazing over the Legion's ruined face with the expertise and proficiency of a surgeon as the visual circuits and voice box were replaced.
Are you kidding me? Vita swore under her breath.
The Legion stumbled forward upon newly-formed supports, eyes flicking open as if it were awakening from a deep sleep. On either side, the repair program was attempting to recreate its lost arms, but without much success – there were only metal stumps left sticking out of the cyborg's shoulders. Eventually, the program simply terminated, unable to be of any further use to the partially-healed lifeform standing shakily in the middle of the room.
"Life-support procedure utilised," the cyborg reported. "Reconnection modules available for further regeneration: zero. Weapon systems status: extremely unstable. Armour status: severely weakened. Cognitive circuits are back online. Transferring lost memory states to auxiliary power module."
Vita and Subaru looked at the Legion with mixed feelings. The fact that it had somehow managed to get back on its feet and repair itself, again, was already bad enough. "Life-support"? Was that what those voices had been? A last-minute pull back from the brink of death for the cyborg? Just as long as they never came back...
At the same time, the Legion didn't appear physically to be as much of a threat this time. The extent of the damage done to it had been tremendous; the repair program had only managed to bring the cyborg up to a basic functioning level. Gone was the metal armour and destructive weapons; instead, all had been replaced by human skin, flesh and bone which covered the surface of the Legion's body. Unless it resorted to magic, the cyborg's attack and defence was likely to be that of its outward appearance – a normal human being.
"I don't want to fight this guy again," Subaru murmured. "It keeps getting up. I just want to go home."
"Sometimes it isn't our choice to make, Subaru," Vita replied grimly, tightening her muscles in preparation for another round. "We can still do this." I knew I should have used Giganthammer after all, she thought inwardly. But I underestimated our enemies, and now look at the result.
Abruptly, the Legion's head lifted up to fix only partially-repaired eyes upon them, seemingly unconcerned that its body was now an armless torso.
"The portal to the Metaworld Sector has been destroyed," the cyborg said. "It is imperative that I gain passage there immediately, with or without the Guardian Knight. The superior program is in dire need of my assistance." Its stance towards them, surprisingly, was not one of aggression. There was no note of intimidation or threat within its voice: the Legion just seemed to be stating the faces. "There is no longer any point in fighting you, not unless I receive such orders from the superior program to overrule me. Depleting my own resources and defeating you will not gain me access to the Metaworld Sector."
The two mages frowned and looked at each other, unsure whether they could relax or not. It was getting harder and harder to tell. In Vita's mind, for the most part, the majority of what the Legion's word had just gone over her head. Was the Legion calling a truce, or did they still intend to take her prisoner back to the Metaworld despite all that happened? With no portal, their adversary couldn't possibly have much choice...
"You're not going to fight us?" Subaru guessed. Relief filled her eyes as she dropped back against the floor again with a sigh. "In that case - "
Vita wasn't falling for this. The Legion had almost killed Subaru on more than one occasion, and even if it was wounded and non-hostile towards them now, it was still a dangerous enemy. She had no idea what the cyborg planned to do now that Exoria had deserted Red Scorpion, but if the two of them let the Legion walk away then it would be a mistake. There was no doubt in her mind about that. Besides, there was no telling when the cyborg might change its mind and turn on them when they least suspected it – or even if it was still interested in taking Vita away...
Ignoring the pain of her wounds, she straightened up as best as she could, not releasing her grip on Graf Eisen.
"Legion, I am placing you under arrest by the Time-Space Administration Bureau," she said formally, "for crimes including the death of an elite Bureau member, dealing in grievous bodily harm to multiple Bureau officials, kidnapping me of all people and - "
"Vita-chan, can't this wait?" Subaru said painfully. "I really don't want to end up fighting them again - "
The Guardian Knight paused for a moment to turn to the blue-haired forward. "Subaru, the first thing you learn in these kinds of situations, especially when you don't know how long it will ne until back-up arrives, is to keep all your bases covered - "
She was still speaking when the portal appeared right in front of them, sucking the air from her mouth and rendering her speechless, a giant vortex that threatened to pull both mages away from the world forever. With a yell, Vita leaped back as far as she could possibly go as Subaru gaped at where the portal had appeared.
A portal? How could...?
Another similar portal opened up at the left where Subaru had initially busted through the wall, followed by another whirling gateway right next to it. The Legion spun around towards them, apparently just as bewildered by this new development.
It's not the Legion doing this. It can't be. Did Exoria come back? Is she -
Then three more portals appeared higher up, near to the ceiling. Mere seconds later, they were joined by several more in mid-air, each varying in size and strength as they began to fill the entire room, some appearing inside the wall and sucking away at the rock and stone, shaking the entire chamber until the two mages feared that the place would cave in upon them...
They're everywhere! Vita's cry was a silent yell inside her own mind. She felt Subaru fall back in fear, separating from her amidst the chaos. What's going on? Even Exoria couldn't do this!
And still the gateways of time continued to multiply at a faster rate, draining water out of the pools until they were sucked dry, shifting the floor aside as multiple forces from several angles wrenched at it powerfully in different directions, changing the flow of the wind and creating an internal storm of their own...
She saw one of the larger portals open up inside the lower wall, near to where the Legion was standing in a daze, and recognised it only too well as the passage to the Metaworld. Vita never found out why that particular gateway disturbed her so much. It was something subtle in the way the energy moved around the gate, how it orientated itself from the rest of the flow...perhaps it was something to do with how time existed within the Metaworld. Vita, thankfully, never got the chance to find out. She would never enter the Metaworld.
The Velka Knight watched as the single huge portal opened up wider around the cyborg and sucked the Legion within into the Metaworld Sector, closing up just seconds later. It was the only one which closed up: dozens of portals continued to open around them, a maze of disorder which trapped them in a tiny patch of ground which could disappear at any moment...
"Subaru!" Vita called out desperately, trying to keep her own ground. She had to keep moving: at any second, another portal could appear in the spot she stood in. Or right next to her. Could they materialise inside her? If they were appearing inside the walls and sky...Vita shuddered at the thought and concentrated on keeping herself safe. "Subaru! Don't touch them, whatever you do! There could be anything on the other side! Get away from them!"
She managed to make out a muffled yell, which was enough to know that the forward was still here, at least. Vita didn't know what to do. She turned to run back down the passageway leading up to the surface, but a dozen portals barred her way, appearing all around her before she could think to move. They had her trapped and more of them were appearing every second. Sooner or later...the Guardian Knight was going to be sucked into one of them permanently...
And then Vita saw a bolt of energy flash down from the sky above. Still squinting with one arm shielding her eyes, she glimpsed a hovering beacon of green-golden light...
There was a person inside the light. As they approached, the Guardian Knight saw that it seemed to be...a little boy. Yes, a boy in his lesser teenager years, sporting a mess of dry sandy hair. She had never seen him before.
What the...? Who is he supposed to be?
He wasn't from the Bureau and he couldn't be anyone from Red Scorpion. From this distance, the Velka Knight could sense some real power coming from him, but nothing much greater than her own. The portals were still appearing around him, both close and far away, but the boy didn't seem to notice them, concentrating on coming down to the ground where Vita was struggling not to get sucked into another alien world.
Did he cause the portals, whoever he is? Or...has he come to save us? Where did he come from?
"Who are you?" she shouted. Another portal surface right above her head and Vita was forced into an uncomfortable ball on the ground, her heart in her mouth as she clung to the ground with all her strength. "Did you do this?"
The boy floated down just a few inches above the ground as portals sucked at the air across his chest. The gateways surrounded him on all sides, but for some reason none of them were dragging him in. Almost as if he wasn't there.
"I am Grylmark," he said with glittering eyes that burned golden. "Grylmark the First. The release of Oguba's power has permitted all versions of this timeline to come into existence." The boy raised his hands above his head, the tension rising hard in his cheeks. "You're supposed to be in the Metaworld, Vita-chan. Prepare yourself!"
Vita had only a split second to stare open-mouthed at him as the number of gateways multiplied again, before she felt the gravitational pull of the portals on her for the last time...
The torrential flow of Oguba's magic had finally stopped. No more did the blue mist pour out of Takamachi's body, as countless portals of varying sizes lay spread out across the entire landscape, constantly exerting opposing forces upon the plane of existence that they stood upon. The ground was no longer a safe place to be; the entire world was being ripped apart as pieces of the planet were pulled away into thousands of powerful vortexes of time.
Holes in time. That was the reason for the holes in time that Oguba had mentioned before in this world...they must have been the result of overusing the portals. Nanoha wondered what this world might have been like before – had it met its end because of time travel? Because Oguba's powers had been used too often? How many more world had been destroyed for that reason?
"Tiana!" Fate cried in alarm. "She's still on the ground!"
Nanoha turned round in confusion as the Enforcer flew down towards the crumbling earth, watching her weave a convoluted path around the crowded mess of portals in the sky. Tiana was here? Wait...what about everyone else? She'd sent them away to search for Vita, hadn't she? Were they still on the ground as well? Everyone was in danger, from something she had directly caused! Caught up in trying to achieve everything she came here to do, Nanoha realised that she had lost sight of how her actions might affect everyone who had accompanied her...but it was too late to go back now.
Oguba's mist wasn't flowing out of Takamachi anymore. The schoolgirl continued to keep herself afloat in mid-air, but she looked incredibly drained. Either all of Oguba's powers had been released in one go, or Takamachi had somehow managed to regain control and stop any more of the time magic from breaking free. Nanoha sighted a faint blue aura around the weary girl, a sign that Takamachi still retained some of Oguba's power within her.
"You...Nanoha...you've made it worse..." Takamachi's voice was a barely audible whisper, and she almost seemed to be talking to herself. The colour had drained not only from her face, but from the surface of her entire body. "How could you possibly make the problem even more...catastrophic...when you cannot even use time magic yourself..." She took a deep breath, a tingle of blue light growing against her fingers as the little girl clasped her hands against her empty eye sockets. "The universe needs saving more than ever now...and I could close these portals, I could close all of them...but I need Oguba's power to do that, and you let his magic run loose, Nanoha...magic that even I can't get back..."
Nanoha felt a portal on her left close up unexpectedly. If nothing happened, the portals would close, right? Once a gateway in time was opened, it would eventually close. With enough time, wouldn't all of the portals close up completely?...leaving herself and her friends stranded here, forever...
"I have failed..." her past self croaked, clenching her hands into her skull, digging her nails into her own flesh as blue mist bled over her wrists. "Failed to absorb you, Nanoha...if I could, if you would just give yourself over to me now, Nanoha...all of this could be stopped...the portals will close...you will no longer suffer. Your time energy is the most concentrated of all the Nanohas that exist in this universe, being of the present...the erasure of your history would grant me more than enough power to put all of this right...but..."
It wasn't working, Nanoha thought wildly. Portals were closing, but...they were continuing to spread, a dozen more opening where one was sealed. It was all out of control. She couldn't see the ruins of Red Scorpion's tower anymore – perhaps that too had been devoured by the holes of time. There were more and more of them appearing as fr as she could see. Created by the sheer amount of time portals, the holes were growing bigger and bigger...that in time they may well devour this entire reality...
Takamachi suddenly jerked her stained hands away from her face, hands that were sheathed in blue light up the elbow, blazing before as if they were on fire. Oguba's glow had disappeared from the rest of her body, leaving an illusion of a girl which hardly seemed to be there at all.
"But you won't do that, will you, Nanoha?" she cried. "You're not going to give yourself to me. You're never going to give yourself up. I guess, deep down, I knew that all along...I lived so much of your life, after all...but Oguba seemed so confident that you would willing submit once you knew the truth." Her mouth twisted and became a faded outline upon her face. " I guess...you're not going to help me, Nanoha! This time...I'll have to do everything...by myself, again!" Her voice became bitter and hard, filled with fleeting sadness, and she no longer seemed to care who heard her anymore. "If I use up all of Oguba's magic, there will be nothing left to sustain my existence any more...nothing to maintain our contract...but I'll do it, Oguba...I'll give it all I've got, for the sake of the universe...in the hopes that one day, Oguba...one day, she will come to you of her own free will..."
And then Takamachi flung her arms out to either side, blue energy exploding from her hands with a force that almost ripped her body apart. A mournful scream sounded from her throat as she poured out every last iota of Oguba's magic that remained to her, draining herself dry as the entire world was blinded. The mist shot across in all directions as Nanoha herself dived down to avoid it.
As she watched, she saw a small part of the controlled mist touch against a portal, delve inside, and merge with the time magic already present within. The portal quivered for a second...and then sealed itself shut completely, disappearing away into thin air.
Nanoha whirled around in amazement, seeing countless other strands seal up the thousands of portals across the sky in precisely the same way. As before, the energy seemed to pour out of Takamachi's body as if it would never end, only this time...she could hear the suffering in the girl's voice. A girl who had once been her. Despite everything that Takamachi had done, Nanoha ached to fly over to her and comfort her, but there was no way of doing so as colossal masses of Oguba's magic blocked her path everywhere she tried to go.
Everything was slowing down. The portals were no longer multiplying. Every gate which was sealed brought a little more of Oguba's magic back under control, making the curtain of time energy shine a little brighter. And as the size of the mist grew, so too did its speed. Hundreds of portals began to disappear all over the planet, then thousands, then tens of thousands...until...
They're gone.
Nanoha could tell that some of the portals were still open, somewhere on the other side of the world perhaps, where she could not reach. But those too would soon be closed along with all the others. The damage done by the holes in time could not be undone, but Takamachi had successfully sealed up every last gateway. She had done it so quickly, too. The earth was still a shattered mess, but the damage to the planet would not continue any longer.
They're all gone. She closed up all the portals. Every last one.
"Takamachi?" she called out, using the girl's given name for herself, for the very first time since knowing what she was. "You did it - "
Abruptly, the last of the light faded from Takamachi's body as Oguba completely deserted her, every last trace of blue mist extinguished within her. The girl's body went completely limp, the magical field around her vanishing in an instant, and Takamachi began to fall from the sky.
Stunned, Nanoha didn't even think to catch her. She just watched in shock as the past version of herself began to drop towards the ground far below. Oguba's glow remained in the vicinity as a gigantic cloud of blue mist, shifting and circulating unpredictably, but no part of it moved towards the schoolgirl. For a moment, the combat instructor moved to fly down to catch her body, but the impact of what had happened stopped her, freezing in her tracks.
She's dead, Nanoha thought fearfully. She's been dead for a very long time. Oguba's contract was the only thing sustaining her, and now...
The portals had closed up, Fate had disappeared amidst all the chaos, and Nanoha was left alone in the sky with the entire power of Oguba gathering up in front of her within its gaseous form. Her entire being screamed at her to get away from here, to go back down and make sure Fate was alive, and hopefully all of her friends.
She couldn't fight the Lost Logia on her own. Oguba had left Takamachi's body, and the portals had been sealed up again. That was enough. She needed to go back down to ground and re-establish her options.
Instead, in a mixture of curiosity and apathy which had brushed against her upon seeing Takamachi fall, Nanoha stood there to watch the blue light pulsate before her, watching it build itself up and strengthening itself as it formed into the shape of an orb in the sky. A tremendous power was building up at the centre, much like the storm that she had experienced at the top of Red Scorpion's tower when she had first come face-to-face with Takamachi.
Nanoha felt the tension rising within her as the great orb ascended higher into the sky, growing bigger and bigger. Not destruction. That wasn't what she should be afraid of. Oguba didn't want destruction, at least not directly. No, it wanted...
Swiftly, the Ace of Aces turned back to fly down to earth to find Fate. This wasn't over. There was one last surprise in store, and Nanoha had a feeling that she knew exactly what it was...
The superior program lay in ruins within the Metaworld Sector. From the loss of all data save for what was stored within its intermediate memory banks, to the destruction of all but two of its core computers, there was now barely anything left of the intelligence which had once led Red Scorpion. In the corner, Srethis lay cowering in fear from the numerous explosions which had broken out during the attack, averting its face from the scene protectively.
Grylmark's hand was frozen in the process of finishing off the superior program once and for all. He had had his fun in tormenting the victim of his frustrations, killing them slowly instead of ending it all with one powerful spell. No more wires needed to be pulled, no more screens needed to be smashed. All it would take would be one single incantation to wipe the superior program from existence completely...
And yet, the summoner did not make that final move. Not out of any unwillingness to do so, but because...deep down within the corners of his mind, Grylmark became aware that something was very wrong. Something essential which grabbed his attention even now, at such a critical point when he was about to accomplish his mission once and for all.
This feeling...it can't be. It's impossible. Oguba.
It did not make sense. No, Grylmark had been so sure that he had covered all avenues. There were no loopholes in the procedure that he had implemented. Unlike the others of Red Scorpion, he had communicated with Oguba first-hand, seeking to understand the Lost Logia's thinking process to the best of his ability. There was absolutely no reason why Oguba's power would be used in such a manner as this...but even so...
My...my past. I'm being affected, I can feel it. Something's happening to me in the past!
Grylmark jerked his hand back from the superior program, no longer thinking of finishing off the artificial being. They would succumb even without his help, after all, with their own defences deteriorating to the point that even the time magic of the Metaworld would eat away at what was left. No, what he was feeling now was far more important than the mission.
One of my...one of my versions is being attacked? Grylmark...the First? How can this be? I made it so that only Grylmark the Third is able to exist on the other side of the portal! How can two of them be on the other side at the same time?
Grylmark didn't know the answer to that, but there was no doubt in his mind about who the culprit was. Time was being played with in ways that it should never be used, whether by accident or not. What had happened to Oguba to cause such a catastrophe like this? A Time Mage like himself should be able to exist outside minor time fluctuations to a sizeable degree...if he was being directly affected like this, then something must have gone horribly wrong.
Whatever it was, it was threatening his own life. Grylmark had always taken the very best of precautions to ensurethat he was completely invulnerable to all manner of attack. It was the reason why the Bureau had never caught him; it was the reason why that Tiana girl had never managed to score a hit on him, except for that one time when he had let his guard down; it was the reason why he could exist on both sides of the portal at the same time. Of all Oguba's contractors, Grylmark believed that only he had made full use of the advantages of time travel. The others thought only of power, but they had all been going about it the wrong way.
Enough, the summoner thought, bringing himself up to his full height as he withdrew from the smoking remains of where the superior program lay, barely functioning anymore. I cannot afford to waste any more time here in the Metaworld. I must reach Oguba at once! And...
No. That wasn't the only thing. Grylmark frowned, detecting a disturbance in the fabric of space and time. Someone, somewhere...someone was making a portal through into the Metaworld! The only person who could do that was Exoria, but the girl herself was stubborn and single-minded with her own ambitions and could not care less for the superior program's well-being to journey all the way here herself if she knew what was going on. No, it couldn't be her.
If Oguba's power is distorting as it is now, then maybe one of the other members of Red Scorpion has found their own way into the Metaworld, Grylmark theorised. I dare not take the chance of them seeing me. If it is the Legion who is coming through the portal, then things could become difficult, considering that I am vulnerable to attack in this form. I have to leave immediately.
Grylmark's eyes scanned the area and settled upon Srethis' hunched form. His face darkened. Of course, the lizard would have to get in the way. This wasn't how the plan was meant to go – he had expected Vita to be here in the Metaworld. He had been very specific with Oguba about Vita's fate, that she must not be harmed...and of course, Oguba had relayed this onto the client of Red Scorpion. It was he, Grylmark, who was directly responsible for the Guardian Knight being kept alive all this time.
He had known about the Metaworld, of course, and how the superior program would predictably try to drag all of Red Scorpion over here. Delaying the Legion's progress had gone as planned. Keeping Ungore form the portal had also gone as planned. Having Vita brought into the Metaworld, however, had not gone smoothly.
Srethis. I could leave the lizard here, where they will slowly be driven mad and become just another cluster of molecules within the Metaworld Sector...but it would be a mistake to waste such a loyal creature. I already know how to manipulate them to my will.
"Come here, Srethis," Grylmark commanded. "We are leaving."
The lizard didn't respond at first, but then slowly raised its reptilian head, staring ahead uncomprehendingly with a disturbing emptiness within its green eyes. Inwardly, Grylmark cursed for not paying more attention to the creature earlier. They had been here in the Metaworld longer than he had – could the time energy of the void have already affected them?
"Did you hear me, Srethis? Red Scorpion is no more. You will receive no further orders from them. Come to me, lizard. I have great plans for you."
Srethis lifted one scaly claw to its face, pulling at the side of its face and stretching the skin over its cheek. It seemed completely desensitized to what was going on around it any more, but something in the summoner's voice had reached it.
"Medicine," it croaked. "Heal. Srethis leave...Srethis die..."
"There will be plenty of medicine for you, Srethis," Grylmark assured the reptile, a grin passing across his face in the knowledge that this was perfectly true. "Have no fear of that. Now, just come over to - "
"Ungore," the lizard said suddenly, a measure of reason returning to its eyes. Its body reared up unsteadily on wobbly feet, clasps of the Metaworld's time magic still clinging to it like a second disease. "Ungore has my...medicine. Ungore is in Red Scorpion. Ungore cannot leave Red Sco - "
"There is no Red Scorpion any more, Srethis," the summoner said easily. He kicked aside the broken monitor of one of the supercomputers. "There is your Red Scorpion. And...I promise that if you come with me now, you will see Ungore very soon." Again, Grylmark knew this to be perfectly true. It could still work out even if Vita wasn't here to complete the solution. Perhaps...
Slowly, the lizard came forward, raspy breathing accompanying its agonizing steps as it walked towards Grylmark. Blood loss and the disorientating effect of the Metaworld itself had obviously muddled up Srethis' senses and turned its brain to mush. This would only be temporary, Grylmark knew, at least until he managed to get the lizard somewhere a little less hazardous for its body...
"That's it," the old man coaxed the creature, gesturing towards the outer layer of the Metaworld Sector. As difficult as it was to enter such a dimension, leaving the Metaworld required only the smallest form of magical power. "Come with me, Srethis. So much is possible with what I have planned for you. I'll give you as much medicine as you need, I'll use the power of Oguba to restore your species, piece by piece...Leave this pitiful excuse for an organisation behind. Even their creator wants nothing more to do with them."
From the remains of the superior program, a faint whisper could be heard. The cry of a dying machine, pleading not for assistance or mercy, but for an answer.
"Yes," Grylmark replied, hearing the superior's question as clearly as if it had echoed throughout the entirety of the Metaworld. "You heard me right, Superior-san. I was sent here to destroy you by none other than your creator. Why, you ask? Why?" He chuckled dryly. "What is the root of all evil? What is the usual motive to inspire someone like me to do something like this?" The old man sighed, shaking his head as Srethis joined his side. "Money, Superior-san. Unlike you, I do have my own goals. Is it so strange that the reason for your death should be something so simple?"
He turned his back to the broken machine, and conjured up a tiny fragment of magic, small enough to alight on the tip of his wrist. It was easy enough to do, not too different from teleportation magic. All you had to do was picture the destination in your head, focus on the route you were taking to get there, and...
"Vita-chan," Srethis whispered, in a surprisingly strong voice.
Grylmark looked at the lizard in mild astonishment as it resisted his grip on its arm. Vita? Why should this creature care about the Velka Knight? He had to hurry this up before the Legion really did arrive...
"What?" he said irritably.
"Vita-chan," Srethis repeated, a glare in its eyes. "Friend. Nakama."
Grylmark felt like swearing. Fantastic. Just typical of one of Nanoha's friends to influence a potential enemy of theirs. Was it possible to leave one of those accursed Bureau mages with Srethis for five minutes and not have them go around befriending their foes? The last thing Grylmark needed was more interruptions to his plan. In addition, he had not forgotten the disturbing feeling in his gut upon sensing Oguba's loss of power...
"Yes, fine," he drawled. "You'll see your Vita-chan very soon. I give you my word."
He couldn't remember ever giving his word to a living soul before, and didn't see why he should keep it this time. Still, the lizard had no way of knowing that. Grylmark felt Srethis' resistance slowly recede, and then the reptile nodded once, sealing their own fate.
With no more time to spare, the summoner released a small flicker of magic against the barrier protecting the Metaworld, temporarily allowing exit to whichever time or space he desired, depending on how he used Oguba's power. But Grylmark was not entirely confident about placing his faith in Oguba at the moment. He needed to sort out what the Lost Logia was doing, and quickly.
Dragging Srethis behind him, the old man slipped through the boundary of the Metaworld Sector with the wounded lizard and disappeared, leaving the remains of the superior program of Red Scorpion behind them.
Vita felt as if she was going to be torn apart. Portals surrounded her on all sides in a crude octagonal pattern, each of them wrenching at a part of her body to take her into an unknown territory from which she was likely to never return. She was being pulled in almost every direction with an equally powerful force for each one. It didn't matter that she was a Guardian Knight or that she was a living program. She was not immune to pain, especially not the extreme levels of which her body was approaching.
It make her want to scream with the horror of it, made her want to howl, and yet it only lasted for a few seconds. A few seconds was more than enough time to kill you, but the pain told Vita that she was still alive as she dropped to the ground in agony, pressing her body against the sharp rocks. She never wanted to be near another portal ever again. Never. The idea made her skin feel damp and clammy as if something was about to crawl against it, drove fear into her blood and erased all rational thoughts of self-defence save those of keeping herself alive. Vita didn't care any more if the only way back home was through one more portal; she had already decided that she was not going to take it. If Nanoha needed her to go through, it would only be whilst she was unconscious.
Time travel. I hate time travel! I can't stand it! I wish I had never come here in the first place!
If she had never met Srethis, and hadn't taken pity on the creature when she saw them limping towards the hospital, and hadn't been dragged into the portal that resulted...but no. Vita stopped herself. It wasn't Srethis' fault. It was this Oguba person that everyone kept going on about.
The portals stopped trying to suck me in, Vita realised suddenly, the stillness of the atmosphere impressing upon her now that she could think properly. What happened to them? Did they...?
Shaking, the Velka Knight managed to sit up and rise to her feet. The portals...were all gone. Had they all been closed up? All of them? In such a short space of time? Vita found herself becoming more and more vexed by what was going on. First hundreds of portals appear out of nowhere and nearly tear her to pieces, and then just minutes later they all close up again?
"What the hell's going on here?" she growled.
"Who knows," said a familiar voice just next to her. "But I'm pretty sure that Nanoha's involved. She's the one who has Oguba with her."
"Yeah," Vita responded. A few seconds later, she realised she hadn't understood a word that the other person had said.
Startled, the Guardian Knight looked up into the light blue eyes of...another Guardian Knight. Relief flooded her face and eased the tension which had plagued her body for some time, and Vita even managed to put on a genuine smile.
"How long have you been standing here, Signum?" she said, grinning. "You finally got here."
The pink-haired swordswoman shrugged. "It looks like you didn't need my help breaking out of that crystal after all. Good one, Vita." She smiled in return. "I knew you could do it."
Actually, I did need your help, Vita thought inwardly. If Subaru hadn't turned up like she did, I don't want to think about what could have happened. But I still managed to survive, and that's what important at the end, right? We didn't lose anybody on our side...at least, not yet...
Signum looked battered and bruised, but seemed more weary than injured at all, ignoring an open wound at the side of her temple. Vita realised that she must look even worse off herself from the battle with Legion, which made the pair of them look like quite a sight. As tired as Vita was from her ordeal, however, she had plenty of fight left in her yet, and the look in Signum's eyes spoke similarly of her own endurance. They were Guardian Knights, after all, and it would take more than just a brief spat to knock them down.
"Vita!"
The red-haired Velka Knight turned as another mage rush towards her excitedly, a young red-haired boy with Strada held in his capable hands as his white cloak flew back around him.
"Vita, you're alive!" Erio cried. "I didn't think we'd make it in time...the last thing I remember was being hit by the Legion and then - " The forward looked around nervously. "Have you seen Subaru? She was with me. Is she all right?"
"She was right here a minute ago," Vita said with a familiar sinking feeling. When the portals had all appeared, she had been separated from the blue-haired mage unconditionally and had had no choice but to focus on keeping herself in one piece whilst time energy raged violently around her and threatened to tear apart reality. But now that she was safe...Vita found herself unable to sense any trace of Subaru's magical field, no matter how hard she tried. Could it be...could Subaru have been taken by one of the many portals? Had they lost her?
"We'll search for her," she said guiltily, feeling some responsibility for the forward. Subaru had saved her life; it was the least she deserved, not only as another experienced fighter of the Bureau, but as a personal friend. "She...she has to be here somewhere..."
"I do have some good news to report," Signum ventured, in good spirits. "I've managed to capture Ungore under great duress, and came across Erio whilst I was on my way to find you." The pink-haired mage neglected to mention that she hadn't managed to do so under her own skill alone, and leaned forward curiously. "What about Srethis and the rest of Red Scorpion? There's no signs of life in any of the other passages here. Do you know where they went, Vita?"
The other Guardian Knight nodded, swallowing as she did so. Srethis...inside the Metaworld. Exoria, transported to some other place to meet her "Yagami-sama", whoever that was. And the Legion, swallowed up by the chaotic portal which would also lead to the Metaworld Sector. Perhaps there were more members of Red Scorpion who existed, but Vita had heard no word of this. Except for one other...
"Yes," said a boy's voice from above, "I know where they went. They departed from this world forever."
The three of them looked up in astonishment to see the form of a sandy-haired boy floating in mid-air, green and golden magic crackling around him wildly in a shifting aura of colours. He couldn't be any older than Erio, but as his yellow eyes cast their gaze upon them, Vita let out a groan as she recognised him.
It's that kid who appeared just when the portals started opening! He's still here? Maybe he didn't cause all this mess after all? .
"What do you want?" she said uncaringly. "You're the boy who called himself Grylmark, aren't you?"
"Indeed I am," said the golden boy with an air of pride. "I am Grylmark the First. You are not permitted to disrupt the flow of Oguba."
"We're not going to disrupt the flow of Oguba," Erio protested. "We're just here to find the rest of our friends and go home."
"And beat up Red Scorpion," Signum added.
"Yes, that too. If they're even here any more." The red-haired forward squinted up in a confused manner at the other boy floating in mid-air above them. "You're not Grylmark," he said. "Grylmark's supposed to be an old man."
"That would be Grylmark the Third," came the immediate reply from the golden-eyed boy. "I am the First of his versions...the past that he sealed away. But with Oguba's powers disrupted, I was released upon this plane. You, Bureau agents, are just more enemies to be hoisted upon me!" Grylmark the First raised his arms in preparation. "Prepare yourse - "
"No, wait, can we talk about this first?" Erio asked, still completely lost. "If you're the First, and the Grylmark we know is the Third, then doesn't that make you his grandson - "
"I do not have the time to explain this!" the golden boy practically shouted down at the mage. "There are three versions of every person: past, present and future. As the First version, I am the past of Grylmark. Grylmark is unique in that he is the only human alive able to use Oguba's powers to their full extent – to exist in every universe, to allow every one of his versions to co-exist with each other in the same plane of existence, and to be virtually untouchable as a result! For if he exists in every universe, he also exists in none!" The self-declared Grylmark the First raised his hands once again. "And I take pride in being a part of his immortal scheme! Triplicate Shadow Illusion!"
The figure of Grylmark the First seemed to go out of focus for a second, and then split apart as two clones of itself walked across thin air to stand next to it. There were now three identical copies of the golden-eyed boy floating above them, including the original, moving round the room to attack.
I am so confused, Vita thought. So...Grylmark the First is a past version of Grylmark – the real Grylmark...and Grylmark the Third is the future? And that's why he appears to us as an old man? So if he has three versions, which of his version should we be targeting?
And now the one in front of them – Grylmark the First – had added to the confusion by also splitting up into three by himself. Except that these three were all Grylmark the First. They were nothing to do with any other potential Grylmarks that might exist.
"Illusion magic," Erio said without thinking. "When Tiana fought Grylmark, she said he was a very gifted illusionist." He rubbed his eyes. "Why is he attacking us like this unprovoked?"
"Two copies and one of them is the real one?" Signum mused, raising Laevatein to defend herself, her eyes darting between the three identical boys before her. "This shouldn't be too hard - "
And then all three copies of Grylmark the First raised their hands and chanted again, "Triplicate Shadow Illusion."
The first copy split into three more copies. The second copy split into three more...and so did the third. More and more clones of Grylmark's past version filled the room.
As one, the Bureau mages exchanged glances with each other. This wasn't just confusing, but was also ridiculous. Several copies of their attacker hovered around them, each and every one of them hostile as the next.
"Nine Grylmarks," Vita said bleakly, staring at all the clones darting towards them. "Now what?"
Signum gritted her teeth, racking her brains to try and think of something. "Okay. I don't like this, but it looks like we'll have to destroy the clones one by one, unless anyone has a spell which can wipe them all out at once. We also have to stop them from casting the spell which - "
She stopped when she realised that the nine versions of Grylmark's past version were gathering a circle, all raising their hands up again, the same spell regurgitating out again. Quickly, Vita and Signum rushed forward to take on some of the clones before this got any worse. They were already too late.
"Triplicate Shadow Illusion!"
Each of the nine clones split into three more copies. There were now twenty seven identical young Grylmarks standing in the room, and it was starting to get very crowded. This had already gone too far, Vita thought. What was the point of their opponent doing this? Did they know any spells which weren't to do with illusion magic? Was their main strategy to simply multiply again and again until they choked them to death with the sheer power of claustrophobia?
"Help!" Erio yelled as he was almost crushed to death under the weight of five young Grylmarks. "There's too many of them!"
The twenty seven copies of Grylmark the First raised their hands again. If they were going to cast the same spell again, which would be quite ridiculous but was also turning out to be increasingly likely, then Vita would find herself hard-pressured to fight eighty-one Grylmark clones at the same time. Well, on the plus side this battle was doing wonders for her three times table.
"We've got to stop them!" she shouted over the babble of far too many little Grylmarks. It was like being intimidated by an army of Munchkins. "If we take out the original Grylmark, then the rest should all disappear - "
"We don't have time for that!" Signum snapped, raising Laevatein in Snake Form. "I have had enough of this farce. Shield yourself, you two. Schlangebeißen Angriff!"
Her device whipped round in a segmented loop, her Snake Form cutting round in a chain-like formation to encircle all of the clones as they formed in a crowded circle around the mages. The attack sliced through each clone easily, causing them to dissolve into thin air upon contact even as more and more copies of Grylmark began to appear. With nail-biting patience, Signum continued the attack, spinning Laevatein around so that the chain continued to cut through more and more clones that now littered the cavern. Vita and Erio kept close to her to avoid any stray segments of Laevatein's hardened metal edges which might steer in her direction.
And then at last...all of the clones were wiped out as Laevatein's tip cut against one particular clone of Grylmark the First. A clone which was no copy at all, but was surely the original. With a howl, the golden-eyed boy flinched from the blow, holding the side of his stomach in painfully.
Vita stared in amazement at Grylmark the First's reaction to the blow. From what I heard from the others, Grylmark is supposed to be incredibly difficult to take down. And yet Signum's attack gave him one little cut...and he's on the floor in pain? Does this mean that this past version will be a lot easier to defeat? This isn't the "real" Grylmark, after all. It's just one of his versions...and maybe whatever happened to the portals has affected him...
In any case, they couldn't afford to pass this one up. If they missed their chance here, they could be up to their necks in clones soon. In multiples of three, no doubt.
"Everyone, let's combine all our attacks on him at once," the red-haired Velka Knight said, raising Graf Eisen in readiness. "Quickly, before he starts multiplying again!"
Erio and Signum nodded in agreement, gripping their own devices tightly. Grylmark the First panted on the grounded in front of them, beginning to raise his hands again for a spell that everyone could already guess at -
"Luftmesser!" Erio shouted, compressing the air around him with Strada to accelerate it into a forceful shooting attack.
"Sturmwinde!" cried Signum, a fiery shockwave emitting from her device in a broad span across the distance towards their opponent.
"Hammerform!" Vita felt her device shift and change as she brought up a heavy iron sphere in her hand, hurling up into the air. "Schwalbefliegen!" she declared, smashing Graf Eisen against the projectile to propel it explosively towards the enemy.
Grylmark the First was hit on three sides, all by completely different methods of attack; wind, fire and explosive impact. Unable to defend himself, he was blown high up above them as he tried to fly up through the damaged ceiling of the cavern, keeled over in agony. Part of his left leg had been set on fire by Signum's attack, his clothes were ripped and shredded from Erio's attack, and Vita's spell had ripped a bloody hole in his chest.
Desperately, the golden-eyed boy began to fly higher into the sky above them, lifting up through the roof and into open air. As he drifted away, he began to change, maturing, ageing...becoming older and older through the years until he began to resemble what must be a Grylmark in the prime of his life.
Time's changing, Vita thought in wonder. It must be. If a "past" Grylmark would be Grylmark the First...is this Grylmark the Second? Is he going to...?
But then the middle-aged Grylmark in front of them began to change back to the wounded little boy, barely grasping at life any more. He changed back to his second form, then the first, switching back and forth constantly as if unable to control it.
"Oguba..." the Grylmark before them whispered harshly, looking up to the sky far above where the bright blue light of an orb beckoned. "Oguba...you will help me..."
The blue light of Oguba's full measure reached down from high to embrace the boy, and Grylmark the First smiled, calling out where he knew his voice would reach. The hybrid of the two Grylmarks, still glitching back and forth uncontrollably, silently disappeared towards the blue glow until it could no longer be seen, departing the sight of the Bureau mages below and leaving them to ponder what fate still awaited them.
A/N: The last part may feel a little rushed, and the multiple Grylmarks weren't in my original plan. If anyone's confused, the thing about Grylmark's "versions" doesn't come into play again for quite a while, so then I can explain it again. Also, I originally planned for Subaru to help fight, but then I thought she's done enough for now anyway and you find out what happened to her in 2 chapters anyway.
Does this feel like we're near the end? We're near the end of something...but not the end of the story by any means, and you'll find out why in a chapter or so. Also, I'm writing this at 1.30 am and I'm proud of myself for finishing this chapter early. Woo!