It was some time before Fate was able to push herself into action again. The chilling message on the back of the letter, the blood dripping out of the words onto her skin, being trapped inside a room which bore such an uncanny resemblance to the Testarossa residence in her memories, powerless to do anything without Bardiche...it was enough to scare anyone into a corner. For what seemed an age, she was afraid to touch anything else in the room, feeling as if it would progress the nightmare further.
Throughout her prolonged inaction, however, nothing untoward was happening. The plate of food by the bed remained untouched, the view outside into the garden remained as tranquil as ever, and the constant silence in the room gave her no clues as to who else might be in the house with her. No one had come to unlock her door, or to call her down for dinner with...with whoever this I.C. person was.
Fate strained her ears for any signs of life at all, but heard nothing. She might as well be living in a house full of ghosts. And yet somebody had written that letter to her, somebody who had known her by name and had wanted her locked inside for their own convenience...
The words on the back of the letter. The dark message that came out of the paper and bled all over the floor...it's gone now. Fate touched the carpet experimentally, and her fingers came up dry. She felt a moment of relief, having worked out this part at least. Illusion magic. There was an illusion spell woven into the letter, but one of a very high level – it wasn't triggered until after I read the whole message, and it was made to affect my mind directly. That's not something that just anyone in the TSAB could do, as far as I know.
Whoever had implanted the spell into the letter had certainly wanted to scare her. Why? To intimidate her? Surely not I.C., the author of the letter, who had seemed keen on talking with her and had even complimented her several times in their message. Was there someone else here who wanted to scare her to the point that she wanted to get out of the house as fast as possible? If so, they had definitely succeeded. Fate had no other thought then to be gone from this place.
Another frightening thought occurred to her: what if the message had been a warning? Maybe even a warning to stay where she was and not to meet with her host downstairs. It might have sounded drastic, with murder written all over it, but...if they were trying to warn her about whoever I.C. was...
Fate wasn't going to waste any more time here. The longer she waited, the greater the chances that her mysterious host would open the door at any moment to invite her down for dinner (or for whatever else they had in mind), and she was suspicious of what their real intentions for her might be. Without Bardiche, she wouldn't have any way to defend herself.
I'm not going to wait here to find out who I.C. is. After that letter, I don't want to know anymore. I'm going to find a way to get Bardiche back, and then I'm going to get as far away from this house as I can and find out where Nanoha is. No one's going to stand between us as long as I'm still alive.
The only exits from the room were through the wooden door leading out to the rest of the house, and the glass garden door, and both were locked. Could she break them down without alerting anyone else in the house? All this time, Fate had not heard even a single squeak from outside, as if she really was the only living soul here. Maybe it didn't matter. Maybe nobody would hear her anyway.
She decided not to risk it with the main bedroom door – breaking through it would definitely make enough noise to be heard by the other residents of the house and besides, who knew what lay beyond? There could be anything waiting for her out there. The garden, on the other hand: Fate could easily see through the glass door and despite the darkness of the night outside, it would be preferable to the unknown. Maybe she would be able to find another exit leading from the garden, too, and once she found Bardiche she could certainly fly out.
Cautiously, Fate straightened herself up and laid one palm against the cold glass pane of the doors leading out to the garden. Still locked, of course, but the surface felt shaky and fragile. She could still smash it even without Bardiche – her constant training and sparring with the forwards meant that she wasn't completely helpless.
Swiftly, the Enforcer drew her arm back in a clenched fist, aiming at the direct centre of the glass, before letting her punch fly forward...
...only to feel a sharp pain slice down from her knuckles to her wrist as her hand was shocked by a force field hovering just an inch over the door.
Stunned, Fate withdrew for a moment, the barrier fading away as she stepped back. She lunged forward again a second later, only to have the force field rise up again and repel her. Frustrated, she tried again and again, lashing out hard with her feet, before taking up one of the chairs by the table and throwing that at the door instead. The chair bounced off as if it had hit a brick wall, a crack forming down one of its legs.
A magical barrier activated only by the use of a certain amount of physical force. Evidently, someone really didn't want her going out into the garden. The letter had said as much.
She tried to force her way through the force field with her fists for a little longer before sensing that this was futile. Instead, Fate turned her attention to the rest of the room. It looked like she was going to need Bardiche to get into the garden at all. Otherwise, she was either going to have to break through the other door - which Fate was reluctant to try on account of the whole house suddenly rising up against her at the noise – or she was going to need some magical assistance. Anything.
Fate pulled open the wardrobe to start off her search. It was filled with a row of garments, all of which were uncannily identical – they were all long white gowns with a cuffed neckline, decorated by a circle of lilies. She pushed past them and found a surprise – there was a wedding dress right at the back. It didn't look like it had ever been worn. Fate's eyes widened upon seeing it – was I.C. married, perhaps? - but it wasn't going to help her escape. She turned away from the wardrobe, not bothering to close it.
Where else could she look? The bed? Fate risked a peek underneath and found only more carpet. It felt hopeless, just searching like this – she knew for sure that she couldn't sense any magical energy in this room at all. Then again, she hadn't been able to detect the presence of the force field either. She couldn't give up yet – she had to find Bardiche, get out of here, and find her way to Nanoha...
Her eyes went to the desk where she had found the letter. The drawers. Of course. Fate went over to them at once, trying each drawer in turn and finding only bits and pieces of miscellaneous paperwork. Nothing that she could use. With a cry of frustration, she shoved the last drawer back into the desk with a little more force than she intended.
A small booklet in black and red was knocked free from the drawer, tumbling to the floor. It was burned black and ruined to the point that it would be impossible to read.
What caught Fate's eye, however, was the object hooked around the spine of the booklet. A silver chain, upon which hung...a small triangular gem, black as obsidian.
Swiftly, Fate took hold of the gem and held it up to the light. If she didn't know better, she'd say it was a mage's device, but Fate couldn't feel any energy radiating from it...
It looks just like Bardiche. But Bardiche is yellow in colour, not black like this one, so it can't be...What is this thing? Is it a device? Can it help me get out of here?
It didn't look like it, unfortunately. Fate wondered why it had been left looped around the booklet, and wondered if it was related to what the book had contained. Maybe it had been a device, long ago, before its magic had been exhausted...maybe she would never know.
She stared into the depths of the black triangular gem for a few moments, almost willing it to show her just a little bit of magical power. The curious object gave off no light or reflection no matter which way she turned it, and Fate felt no response from it whatsoever. Sadly, she began to put it down again, forced to come to terms with the fact that it was yet another red herring. Somehow, she would have to find another way out -
With a start, Fate realised that the black orb was vibrating in the palm of her hand. It was shuddering against her skin, a small glow resonating from within. A crackle of power curled around it, snapping down in an electric shock through her wrist.
It still has some energy left! she realised excitedly. It's not completely dead after all!
But the device, if that was what it was, was only just holding up. The inner glow of the orb kept fading in and out, on the brink of dying out altogether, like a lone flickering candle struggling to live within ultimate darkness. Desperately, Fate tried to pour some of her own resources into the device to sustain it, but her efforts didn't appear to be working.
I can't keep it alive, she thought, wrapping her fist around the black gem. There's barely any magic left in this thing. But I'm not going to waste this opportunity! This is my way out of here!
With the dying gem held tightly in her hand, tendrils of shadows curling up around her arm, Fate rushed forward and smashed her fist through the glass garden doors. The force field weakened before the magic of the device, and then gave way even as the last of the energy faded away into nothing. As Fate let the dead jewel fall from her hand, cracks began to appear across the glass from the hole she had made, widening and spreading until they hit breaking point.
The doors shattered around her at last, falling in a rain of broken glass. The force field flickered between its two active states and then died away as well. The cool night air rushed into the bedroom, feeling refreshing against the blonde mage's skin. Feeling quite pleased with her success, Fate calmly walked through into the garden.
She still hadn't found Bardiche, but she had at least made it outside. Fate was beginning to wonder if there was any practical way of getting Bardiche back at all with her own skills – it had obviously been taken away from her, and she might not be able to get it back without a fight, which led to another problem.
It was hard to see much in the garden at this time of the night, but Fate recognised the two moons in the sky which illuminated her surroundings for her. Yes, it appeared that wherever she was, she was definitely on Mid-childa. Upon escaping she should be able to make contact with the Bureau, then. Maybe the situation wasn't as hopeless as she thought – if she was forced to leave without Bardiche, the TSAB would surely be able to help her.
Wait...I can hear something up ahead. Someone...someone else is in the garden with me. Voices...but I can't make out what they're saying from here...
A constant murmur in her ears, coming from further up the garden path. What kind of people would be out in the garden at this time of night? Fate could make out several voices, all of them talking in unison. Her intuition was telling her that it was bad news, and that she should be headed as far away from this place as possible. Away? The only other way was back into the bedroom. Taking care to tread lightly, Fate began to ascend the path through the garden, following the sounds of the voices...
The garden was even more beautiful by moonlight, trees and flowers glistening brightly as Fate kept herself bathed in the shadows. She didn't want anyone to see her if she could help it – her host probably wouldn't be impressed once they found that she had broken through a force-field and smashed through a door to get into the garden. The place was huge – the main path may have been following a set route, but a wide expanse of grass, hedges, and trees clustered up the area around her for many metres. It was more like a small park than a garden – perfect for gathering lots of people at garden parties, perhaps.
Maybe I was overreacting earlier, Fate wondered as she continued to follow the path. Maybe I'm not the only guest that I.C. has. With a garden like this, the house must be even bigger, and it must be full of people...but then why couldn't I hear anything in the house itself?...
There was a red light burning up ahead now, she could see it now...burning? Fate increased her pace and saw that it was a torch – a manual torch with the naked flame burning openly in the night, not the magical or electrical kind. She didn't think anyone on Mid-childa used those anymore. Why would...?
And then she saw another similar torch rise up next to it, and then another, and another. There were people holding these torches up above their heads, marching slowly and methodically in a circle, murmuring in the same monotonous tone. Again, Fate strained to hear what they were saying, but still failed to make anything out.
She drew a little closer, peeking out from behind a particularly large oak tree, and was able to get a much better look. Yes, she could definitely make out a group of about ten people, all wielding torches in their hands as they marched around...around a statue. They were walking around a large, yellow statue which had been erected onto a stone plinth at the end of the garden, all chanting in unison...
Chanting, not murmuring. What was this, some kind of ritual? The people's faces were turned inwardly upon the great statue in front of them, their heads lifted upwards towards the impressive visage. In fact, it even seemed to be some kind of shrine, with flowers and food deposited delicately around the great sculpture. Maybe the whole thing was just that – an evening ritual, if a little bit old-fashioned for modern-day Mid-childa...
As the light of the moon came down through the trees again, Fate saw with a shock that all of the people were wearing robes of jet black, with large bulky hoods covering their faces as they continued their chanting. She was suddenly glad that she had made sure to keep herself hidden. The atmosphere now felt slightly sinister, although the people in black did not seem to be doing any harm by their activities. What were they doing? Were they praying?
"Lady Testarossa," one of the hooded figures chanted. "Granted in bane of Neop..."
"...oca..." another continued.
"...lypt..." said another.
"...icon," finished the figure at the end. "Fall and crumble, rejoice and conquer, ascend and regenerate..."
The voices began to fade away as the shadowy figures moved around the other side of the shrine. Fate shivered, not wanting to stay here any longer. She should find her way round to the edge of the garden, if possible, and look for any exits...
Mid-childa's second moon re-merged from behind the clouds, lighting up the entire statue for Fate to lay her eyes on. And here the Enforcer's eyes widened, because she recognised the statue's likeness. For the sculpture was of a mage with soft flowing hair running down her back, all set for battle in her Barrier Jacket, with a Zanber held in each hand. Her arms were sheathed in thick broad metal which clasped up around her hands, whereas her upper forearms and thighs were bare. Thick powerful boots rose up around her feet, and a belt criss-crossed her waist in two directions.
Fate realised with a moment of terror that the statue...was of her. Even stranger still...the statue was of her in Shin Sonic Form, holding two swords in her hands.
Wh...what's going on?
She clamped her hand over her mouth as the hooded figures circled around the statue of Fate, chanting away. Their heads whirled around to face her, and the torches raised as one.
They've seen me!
Fate didn't stop to think, didn't stop to do anything except run back through the trees, her heart in her mouth as she ran as if her life depended on it. The voices were starting up behind her again, calling after her, but she shut them out, throwing herself forward faster and faster, knowing she could outrun them. Something was wrong in this place, something so terribly wrong...
It's a statue of me! Who did this? What's going on in this house?! I have to get out of here!
Her mind had gone blank, but her body kept her going, kept her out of danger, running all the way back to the bedroom which she had only just recently escaped from by the skin of her teeth...
Within the inner chambers of the House of Yagami, where only the must trusted members of the mansion were permitted entry, a young woman in a wheelchair was delicately combing her hair in the mirror.
An electronic ramp led up to the balcony from the lower level, opening up into the mistress' private bedrooms. Here in the antechamber of the second floor, the walls and floor were adorned not by the portraits of past household members but by a black and yellow pattern which writhed as if alive, extending its thorns upwards to ensnare the shining chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. A intercom had been installed into the wall for easy convenience, though it was really geared towards herself and Suzuka to use.
There were no guards here – Lady Yagami did not approve of the presence of people in general. Instead, a net of voice-activated security trigger-points were set in position all over the wooden floor, forming a fail-safe defence which was invisible to the naked eye.
Up on the balcony, the woman's blue eyes gazed coolly into a large oval mirror mounted against the wall, polished until it was shining. She knew there were cracks upon its surface, cracks that would never go away, but Suzuka and Noriko had done a good job of it. The important thing was to make sure that your past never caught up with you.
The woman continued to comb down her short brown hair, pushing herself forward in her wheelchair to stare at her reflection emptily. She didn't feel as if she had changed for several years now, though it was true she had aged. Her hand went to the long curved scar on the side of her cheek and neck, and as usual the woman felt her vision go red. It was only for a moment, but she was getting better at recovering from the memory.
She was aware of the time ticking past, knowing that curfew had already passed some time ago. She had been counting every second perfectly for several minutes by now, almost without realising it. Even after all this time, it was good to know that she had still not lost her touch.
"Suzuka," she said clearly into the intercom before her. "It is 8:59."
At once there was a pattering of soft footsteps, and a kind-faced young woman with long purple hair coming down her back hurried into the antechamber, all smiles about her. Unlike the majority of Yagami's personal staff, Suzuka Tsukimura was dressed in a white and yellow uniform, pushing a trolley in front of her as she rushed to her mistress' aid. Ever since she had been employed as Yagami's private steward, it was if she had never stopped smiling for a moment. She was pushing a small trolley filled with essentials before her, and made haste to come up to the balcony as quickly as she could.
"Yagami-sama, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting," Suzuka said in a rush as she made it to the top of the ramp. Her own protective bracelet was snug around her wrist as she bent down to rifle through several different compartments in the trolley, revealing an assortment of different types of exquisite foods and expensive liqueur upon inspection. Working speedily, the steward began to withdraw a mixture of condiments and drinks into a tray, keen not to disappoint. "My lady," she said breathlessly, "if you would like to have supper - "
The tension in her mistress' shoulders, combined with the faraway look in her blue eyes, was response enough. Suzuka had learned a long time ago to notice such changes in Yagami's body language as if she were speaking them out loud. The mistress could become very irate if her needs were not addressed around the clock.
"Supper can wait, then," she guessed, pushing all the compartments shut again. Another moment passed before Suzuka's eyes fell on the comb in the other girl's hand, tattered and bent with pieces of stray hair caught inside it. "Yagami-sama," she said rather disapprovingly, "you really must let me see to your hair. Combing your hair in this way by rouself simply will not do. If you need me to help - "
Yagami's looked at her coldly. "Help?" she repeated. "You can help. Of course you can help.
You can clean the first floor bay window that Noriko always misses out on Thursday night. You can replace the boards on Felicity's door before she takes them off herself. You can ask Wyvern if he is ever going to finish a new Legion for me."
"My lady, I meant no - "
"You can keep this." The brown-haired girl in the wheelchair handed the bruised comb to her brusquely as Suzuka fell over herself to accommodate her. "You can also work on your timekeeping skills. Sixty five seconds. 9:00. All wasted by idle banter. Is there any word back from Grylmark?" she said suddenly, even as Suzuka was about to apologise. "He assured me that Red Scorpion would be terminated aeons ago. I knew he was incompetent. I knew it. In my experience, women do a far better job when it comes to assassination contracts. Am I to hire Kagura to take over instead?"
"I've – I've received nothing from Grylmark et," the purple-haired steward said quickly, trying to keep up. Her mistress didn't criticise her only to hear her apologies. She would do that with everyone, lashing out in an unpredictable fashion, demanding much and often giving nothing back at all in return. Yagami was a difficult woman to judge at first, but Suzuka had been here for a long time now. Somehow, her mistress still brought a smile to her face. "My lady, perhaps we should not be so hasty to hire someone like Kagura. Instead - "
Yagami waved her hand towards her violently, slapping at the air in front of her face as if it were filled with wasps. "No. Nothing. Never mind!" she growled. "Forget it. Time. Time, Suzuka! 9:00!"
"Yes, Yagami-sama," the steward said hastily, pulling out her diary before the mistress really did lose her temper. The life of her mistress was contained inside these pages: details of all engagements, meetings with other people, telephone calls, messages, dealings with external organisations...And at nine o'clock sharp, she was due to give an update of events to Lady Yagami.
Procedure was very important to the mistress of the House of Yagami. Everything had a set time to happen, and if something didn't happen when it was supposed to, there could be dire consequences. Just like time travel, Suzuka thought for a moment in wonder. She had found the notion to be really interesting, but it wasn't something for her to delve into. Lideri, their librarian, was really the academic mind to look into that kind of stuff.
Unfortunately, Yagami was extremely strict about timekeeping herself. If you were out by even a minute, she would be on the brink of raising hell. Swiftly, Suzuka reached the right page and cleared her throat to begin, not wanting any more trouble.
"The South Keeper has informed me that the executors are leaving a gap in radius of approximately a hundred and fifty yards between the mansion and the perimeter of their sweep," she said, reading out from her own notes. "Their activities should not be bothering the residents of the house for any longer..."
"They should not be," Yagami replied, facing forward towards the mirror, keeping her body very still. "The executors are Sinners, each and every one of them. My servants are the lifeblood of my Family...I will not stand idly by whilst such Sinners under Chrono Harlaown continue to intimate them. If I could purge such people from the soil of the earth, I would."
"Well, my lady, they are now keeping their distance," Suzuka said brightly, curling her fingers around her purple hair as she flicked over to the next page. "Oh, yes. I don't think this will register too highly on the agenda, but I have received a complaint from Arisa, which was passed onto her by Noriko, which was passed onto her by just about every member of the house..."
"If this is about Kagura again," the girl in the wheelchair said with disdain, "then I am not responding to it."
The steward gave a thin smile, trying to appear reasonable but not wanting to press her luck.
"She isn't very popular here, Yagami-sama. If only we could arrange some kind of - "
"True. Very true." Yagami wheeled herself around out of Suzuka's grasp as the other woman tried to guide her across the hall manually. "But as much as it makes my stomach churn to do so, as much as it pains me, I must keep her on. She is a sister of the Labinnac family, and the Labinnacs will be a worthy ally in the days to come, if only I can maintain good relationships with them."
Suzuka sighed. "My lady, you already have a Labinnac living here, and the cost to our finances is - "
Her voice trailed away as her mistress hunched over her wheelchair in silence, her eyes like daggers. Pushing the point further could enrage Yagami – Suzuka recognised the danger signs. If there was one golden rule in this house, aside from the one about males being forbidden in the inner chambers, it was to never, ever, make the mistress angry. She didn't want to see a repeat of what had happened to Exoria.
"Well, then," she said instead, moving onto the most recent page, "I have one more note of interest to you, my lady. It would seem you have visitors here to see you."
Yagami raised her head in interest. "Visitors," she repeated. "Are they people?"
"I believe so, my lady."
"Then they are Sinners." The brown-haired girl's voice brooked no argument. "People do not visit me. Sinners come to me, to suck away at my life, to quench their thirst of my money, to pretend companionship for their own needs." The revulsion in Yagami's voice was ugly, spiteful and bitter, and it showed only too well in her face. "Sinners will never be satisfied with the privileges afforded to them by the injustices of society. I will have nothing to do with these...people."
"Yagami-sama," Suzuka said persuasively, "these visitors are former members of our Family. According to Arisa, they seemed very anxious to meet with you."
Her mistress didn't speak for almost a full minute after hearing that. If Suzuka had maintained only a very limited relationship with Yagami, she might have interpreted the woman's silence to be a continued refusal. However, Suzuka had been working at the House of Yagami for a long time now, spending almost every minute with Yagami herself, and the experience had not been a worthless one. She had grown to know the mistress better than anyone else in the mansion; she could almost tell what Yagami was thinking just by looking at how the woman reacted to very small, seemingly insignificant things.
Right now, Yagami's posture suggested that although she was loathe to talk to anyone from the outside world, her curiosity was still piqued. She was still mulling it over in her head about whether to turn these visitors away or not.
"Show them in," Yagami said suddenly, without any warning.
She turned round in her wheelchair and moved back to the mirror, staring hard at her reflection as if willing it to reach out and grab her. For the time being, the mistress of the House of Yagami was lost in her own little world. Suzuka watched her for a moment, and then spoke directly into the intercom, communicating the message down to the ground floor. The visitors would be escorted upstairs very shortly, under Yagami's direct command.
As her personal steward and the one who knew her best, Suzuka was usually the one who spoke on behalf of Lady Yagami herself. The rest of the household probably found that to be a great relief, as Yagami was almost always unapproachable unless she wanted it otherwise, being prone to violent changes of mood at the smallest thing. Those who had met her personally seemed to find her strange and disturbing at times, especially in the way she talked and looked at people. Suzuka didn't think either was the case. If the mistress wanted to stare at her reflection for hours on end, then who was she to stop her? There was no harm being done, at least not until payment was on the table.
Of course, what came with being Lady Yagami's personal steward was that you had to make sure you never let her out of her sight, not even for five minutes. Suzuka had made the mistake of doing so already today, what with all the other work she had to do, and now look what had happened. She looked sadly at the comb in her hand, wishing that her mistress would ask for her help more often in such simple household tasks. That was what she was there for, after all.
The doors to the antechamber slid open, and the room began to fill with armed guards – the escort for the two visitors from downstairs as they were brought in for their audience with Yagami. Interestingly, Yagami did not usually want guards anywhere near her, relegating her own security to the bracelets that protected herself and the rest of the Family, as well as the extra defensive procedures present in the antechamber as well. Her distaste for society and people in general wasn't going to be thwarted by a security problem. It was Wyvern, their service engineer, who had built in the defence systems and who had constructed the Yagami Bracelets by himself.
At present, however, the bulk of the mansion's human security force usually remained outside Yagami's private chambers to protect the lower levels. There had been talk of combat cyborgs being used to make the House of Yagami even more impregnable, but such cyborgs were almost impossible to get hold of, being in use solely under Chrono Harlaown. The idea of making a cyborg from scratch had arisen, and shortly after, the Legion had come into existence...but there was no use dwelling on that now.
Despite all of this, Suzuka had always made sure that any visitors who met directly with Lady Yagami were to be escorted under heavy guard themselves, and this occasion was no different. She had her own safety to think about too, after all.
The steward looked over to see who the visitors actually were, now that the escort was set in place at last. She didn't need to worry about her own safety any more, what with the protection of her bracelet and...
Her eyes widened when she saw the two figures – an armless combat cyborg and a teenage girl with long dark hair with her eyes filled with excitement and pain...
Exoria?
Suzuka hadn't expected to see Exoria again for a very, very long time. Time travel could do things to do your body, after all. What in the world was Exoria doing here? Surely she would know better to come back? Surely she didn't intend to...?
Oh no, Suzuka realised sadly. Oh no, no, no. I'm sorry, Exoria, but ou really shouldn't have come back. You should have stayed in Red Scorpion...you were so much safer there. Why did you have to come back here?
Was that the Legion standing next to her? Suzuka blinked in surprise, noticing that the cyborg was severely damaged and had not been able to repair itself – the lack of arms was a definite hint, too. What would impel such an unlikely duo to come back to the House of Yagami and -
"Yagami-sama," Exoria called out, kneeling on the floor in a gesture of submission. "I came back. I came back to serve you again."
The woman in the wheelchair didn't even turn around. She continued to stare at her reflection in the mirror as if the rest of the world didn't exist. Slowly, Suzuka retreated into the shadows, not wanting Exoria to see her. She didn't want to feel the shame. Was the girl serious? Did she have a death wish, coming back like this? If the Legion was going to do the same thing -
In contrast, however, the Legion did the exact opposite, stepping forward boldly. The guards tightened their hold on their weapons.
"I have some questions for you, Yagami," the cyborg said coldly. There was real hostility in its voice, emotion that had not been present before from what Suzuka remembered. She wondered what could have happened to make the Legion change so much. "You are going to answer them."
There was still no response from the mistress of the house. Suzuka waited with baited breath; she could see the pain in Exoria's eyes and knew that the girl was on the verge of letting her emotions get the better of her, especially after being away from the House of Yagami for so long. Suzuka could tell from here that Yagami was thinking things through gradually, choosing her words carefully in the silence. Exoria wouldn't be able to know that.
"Go away," Yagami said suddenly, raising her left hand upwards.
Surprise showed in the faces of the cyborg and the dark-haired girl kneeling on the floor. Suzuka could sense the hurt and confusion mounting in Exoria's eyes, and guiltily turned away so that she wouldn't have to see any more of it.
"Go away!" the woman in the wheelchair yelled angrily, and spun herself around to glare not at her visitors, but at the escorts themselves. "Out! All of you! What kind of guards do you call yourselves? I don't need guards! What do you think you're guarding? Other people? People? Get out of here before I have you all shot!"
Stunned, the guards began to shuffle out of the antechamber, a few of them glancing worriedly in Suzuka's direction. The steward shrugged apologetically, indicating that she was not responsible for how Yagami behaved. It was likely that the mistress was just extremely irritated by having too many people in the room. In the outside world, there would be real problems with that.
"Stop!" Yagami shouted as the last of the guards were filing out. She wheeled herself down the ramp, breathing heavily. "Who told you to leave? What do you think you're doing? What kind of escort do you call yourselves, leaving me defenceless in here? I should fire you all on the spot! Get back in here this instant!"
Resignedly, the guards began to come back in again, confused with these conflicting orders.
"No! Not you, not you, not you – there's too many of you! Are you trying to kill me? What's wrong with you all?" Yagami clutched at both sides of her head, seething. "No! Six of you can stay in here! The rest of you can get out of my sight. I don't care what you do. Kill yourselves or something. Just get out!"
One of the guards looked as if he wanted to say something, but he was quickly shushed by his companions and pushed out of the room. The six who elected to remain in the room looked very reluctant to do so, keeping themselves stationed just behind Exoria and the Legion. Suzuka felt a rush of sympathy for them, not knowing how to deal with Lady Yagami. The mistress was having one of those days again, unable to bear much exposure to human company. On her worse-off days, she wouldn't even want Suzuka to be in the same room as her.
Gradually, Yagami appeared to calm down again. Her face began to go back to its normal colour as she wheeled herself forward to face Exoria and the Legion. Her eyes rested on the dark-haired girl, distaste present in her eyes.
"Well, Exoria?" she said.
The Time Mage looked up at her with a mixture of hopefulness and uncertainty, unsure how to respond. "Yagami-sama - " she tried.
"Is Hayate dead?" the brown-haired woman said, her jaw tight with tension. "Have you come back to tell me that you've managed to do something right for once?"
Exoria's breath caught in her throat, biting down on her lower lip in realisation. She hadn't come back for this.
"I – I haven't managed to - " she stammered.
Yagami's face darkened, a hiss escaping through her teeth. She looked as if she wanted to spit on the girl.
"I expected as much," the mistress of the House of Yagami breathed. "Just one little job. One little mission. It's so easy. And...you come back to tell me that you haven't done it. Why did you even come back at all, Exoria? You're completely worthless. Why did you come back?"
The dark-haired girl's eyes were blinking away tears. Her body was tense as if expecting to be struck at any moment, but the blow never came. As far as Suzuka could tell a harsher pain had already been inflicted upon her.
"Because I couldn't leave you, Yagami-sama," Exoria whispered. "I...I came back because - "
"Did you even try?" the woman in the wheelchair said in a voice of poison, cutting across her words. "I'm sure even you know how to kill someone by now. After you bragged so much about the power of time travel that you had acquired from Oguba. Did you really think that would impress me, Exoria? Did you really think that anything you ever did – mindlessly few in number as they were – could ever hope to occupy my attention?"
Suzuka took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows, hoping to intervene before this went too far. "My lady - " she said in a low voice.
"Do you know why I put up with you Exoria?" Yagami said dangerously. "Because as useless as you are, with your hopelessly inadequate skills, worthless to the point that you were removed from the Family altogether – I saw potential in you. Potential for hatred. I tried to teach you, Exoria. I tried so hard, and I was mad to think you had ever learned anything from - "
"I did learn!" Exoria cried out desperately, her body shaking. "I wanted to kill Hayate like you told me to! Yagaim-sama, please...I – I did everything you said, I travelled to the same timeline as her just like you told me to...I trained in close combat because I knew she was weak against - "
The mistress of the mansion waved her protests away. "And did you hate her, Exoria?" she asked. "Did you?"
"Yes! Yes, I did!" Exoria looked genuinely terrified now, a trapped look in her eyes as she tried to back away from Yagami's vicious glare, even whilst on her knees. Her hair was spread out untidily across her face as she struggled to muster some kind of defence, trembling as she did so. "I did it just like you said, Yagami-sama, I swear, I filled myself up with the same hate you showed me, I did it every day...please, don't hurt me, Yagami-sama...I did everything! I hated her until I couldn't stand it any more, but I did it again and again and I kept going until - "
Yagami stared at her in dreadful loathing for a moment longer, and then lashed out violently with her clenched fist, knocking the girl the rest of the way to the floor, where she remained in uncontrollable sobbing. The guards exchanged glances and then quickly kept their silence. Exoria had sunk against the ground miserably, not daring to get up. This wasn't why she had come back, not for this...
"Liar," the mistress of the House of Yagami breathed, turning her wheelchair away from her. "You are just another Sinner, Exoria. I knew you would turn into one, into another of these people, another pathetic worm in the world contributing to a degrading existence. You think you know hate, Exoria...but you are so painfully ignorant." She gripped the sides of the wheelchair again, her teeth clenched together until she could taste blood in her mouth. "I have known true hate, hate that you will never taste before you bite the dust at last. Hate that brings about the death of many, hate that haunts you every night bringing neither pleasure nor relief, hate that will eat away at you from the inside until you become just a living shell..."
Yagami spat onto the ground contemptuously before the Time Mage, paying no attention to her cries. "Don't you ever talk to me about hate, Exoria. You will never feel such an emotion in your entire lifetime. Everything about you disgusts me. You are no longer a member of the House of Yagami, and so there is no reason why you shouldn't suffer. You understand, don't you, Exoria? Every moment that you suffer will be a moment that eases my own pain. As the leader of the House of Yagami, I cannot afford to be obstructed by such humanity." Her eyes narrowed as she stared down at the girl. "I said: do you understand, Exoria?"
A strangled sob was the only answer.
"Humanity," rumbled the Legion unexpectedly, stepping out in front of where Exoria lay crying softly. "You have changed, Yagami. You are a very different person from the one who created me before."
The mistress of the House of Yagami slowly turned towards the cyborg, the rage inside her beginning to die down almost as quickly as it had arisen. She turned her wheelchair around in a full circle, staring at the Legion as she would a stranger. One hand unclenched itself from her armrest, reaching up to sift through her short hair.
"Suzuka?" she said after some time, scratching in this head. "Who is this cyborg again? I don't remember having a cyborg with us."
"That's the Legion, Yagami-sama," the steward said helpfully. "You stationed them with Red Scorpion a few years ago. Don't you remember?"
Yagami shook her head, seemingly oblivious to the Legion's rising hostility right in front of her. She passed her hand over her eyes as if to shield herself, rubbing at one of her temples.
"I can't remember every little insignificant detail," she muttered. "They can't have been very important if I don't even remember them. But we could always do with a cyborg in the Family. Perhaps they could join our ranks, once Wyvern fitted this one with some better armour and actual working limbs before - "
She suddenly blinked in recognition at the Legion, a face swimming to the front of her mind. Yagami groaned at the memory, holding her head in both hands as the pain surfaced anew. Red Scorpion. It was always Red Scorpion coming back to haunt her. Why couldn't they just all die in peace? That was the whole reason she had sent out Grylmark in the first place...
"I see that you finally remember me," the Legion said coldly.
Yagami rubbed at her temples to try and ease the pain inside of her skull. It didn't make her feel any better, and the voices of her visitors were only going to make it worse. Exoria and the Legion really had chosen a very bad time to bother her.
"What do you want?" she snapped irritably. "There is no reason for you to be here. If you're looking to get yourself repaired, then talk to Wyvern downstairs so he can get you fixed up. Don't talk to me."
The Legion showed no signs of following. "You are my creator, Yagami. I have some questions for you."
Suzuka stepped in quickly, seeing that the mistress' mood was rapidly declining even now. "Legion, I'm afraid that's not quite true," she said kindly. "Our service engineer, Wyvern, was the one who built you from the remains of many other humans. Lady Yagami had a very small hand in your creation. The only reason that you believe her to be your creator is because you were programmed to think so - "
"Leave it, Suzuka," Yagami said in a surprisingly calm voice, her eyes squeezed half-closed. The pain in her head was beginning to abate, allowing her to think clearly for the time being, but there was no telling how long it would last. Maybe Exoria could be useful after all – the girl could take this pain away from her permanently by suffering in her stead.
"I do remember you," she said to the Legion, wearily forcing her eyes open. "I remember you to be very...expensive. Powerful too, back in those days, but times have changed." Yagami pulled her other hand back down onto the armrest and realised she had inadvertently pulled out some of her own hair by mistake. "I definitely remember you being expensive..."
The Legion seemed to ignore her words, pressing forward instead with its own enquiries and its purpose for being here at all.
"Answer me this, Yagami. Is it true that you ordered Grylmark to assassinate the superior program of Red Scorpion?" the cyborg said, in a tone of demand. "As well as myself and any other surviving members as an added bonus?"
Yagami exchanged glances with Suzuka. Perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised about the Legion finding this out, but then again she still wasn't quite up-to-date on the circumstances of Red Scorpion – she was still waiting for word from Grylmark, after all. Yagami didn't know why the Legion was in such a critical state of injury, or what had happened to cause such a decrease in the status of the cyborg...Perhaps Grylmark had been more resourceful than he had made himself out to be? Could she assume that everyone else was dead?
On the other hand, Red Scorpion had had barely any members remaining after she and Arisa had left. It was probably just Exoria and the Legion on their own now, and Yagami highly doubted that either of them posed much of a threat to the Family. There was certainly no fear of retaliation from them any more. All that was left was for the two of them to disappear – not for them to die, oh no, just to leave and never come back. That would be so much better.
But it would be such a waste of money to get rid of the Legion just like that. She definitely remembered how expensive the cyborg had been, if nothing else.
"Of course," she replied ill-naturedly. "I don't see what difference it makes."
"Difference?" The Legion faced her with open aggression in its eyes. She didn't remember instilling emotions of this intensity into the creature. "I followed the superior program for a long time, Yagami. I carried out each and every order she gave me. And you...would destroy Red Scorpion like this? After everything we did to support you?"
She might have been imagining things, but Yagami was quite sure that the Legion had always used to call her Yagami-sama. There was a definite change in the cyborg's attitude, and she cared little for it.
"Red Scorpion has been dead for years," the mistress of the House of Yagami retorted testily. "They officially disbanded when I stepped down and returned home to Uminari City. Even the name lost its meaning. Exoria stayed behind so that she could try her half-hearted attempt at killing Hayate, not that I ever expected anything from her." Yagami glanced at where Exoria was slumped over the floor, not bothering to mask her disgust. "And you, Legion? You had no purpose. The superior program took over under my command to give you that purpose. A machine without purpose is already dead to the world. You should be grateful that I allowed you to live this long in peace, Legion."
Yagami began to turn away from the cyborg, tiring of this pointless banter. She could feel her headache beginning to come back again. "I don't care what you do anymore. If you are here to rejoin the Family, then get yourself to the maintenance room immediately. A cyborg with no arms is already a laughing stock."
"I am not here to rejoin your excuse for a "Family", Yagami," the Legion replied in a low voice, bending into a crouch. A blaze of white and orange flared within its eye-sockets, synonymous with the cyborg's central attack program rising to the surface. "It is clear that you are not fit to lead Red Scorpion in the superior program's stead - "
"Did you listen to a word I said?" the mistress of the mansion said irritably, beginning to wheel herself up the ramp again, keen to take herself away from all of these people who refused to leave. "Red Scorpion is dead! Accept it!"
" - and thus I no longer recognise you as a body of power over mine, nor are you an authority that I would take orders from - "
A change was taking place within the Legion's body, right there in the antechamber. It wasn't a physical upgrade to the cyborg, not something you could see unless you were looking right at it, and so Yagami didn't notice it immediately. Suzuka and the surrounding guards, however, could see the rising chain of emotions in the cyborg's face, a distorted corruption of aggression and hostility which was beginning to combine with the Legion's central program, the directive to attack -
"Calculating win-to-loss ratios," the cyborg breathed, its voice clogged up with the intensity of the negative emotions that were swallowing up its reason. "Computing likely opponent strategy: completed. Analyzing opponent weaknesses: completed. Probability of opponent victory: 97.9%. Determining possible strategies to lower probability. Computed."
It's going to attack? Suzuka thought fearfully. With guards on all sides and no real weapons or armour? Against Yagami-sama herself?
"Yagami Loreskill Activate," the Legion intoned, a dim glow outlining its robust figure. "Last Resort Quadraskill. Physical attack increased by four. Physical defence increased by four. Speed increased by four. Regeneration increased by four."
The mistress of the House of Yagami whirled around, her face filled with rage with her expression frozen in a baleful glare. The cyborg was still crouched defensively, a bright glow welling up from within as power was fed directly into its body. Suzuka recognised the technique: the Legion didn't have any magical energy left to use a destructive spell, nor was it able to risk a physical attack. Instead, it was going to use Last Resort to power itself up for a limited amount of time, drawing energy right from its central core. It was a life-draining technique which would potentially destroy the Legion in the process.
"I am here to take revenge for the destruction of the superior program," whispered the cyborg, beginning to pick up speed as it raced forward. "That is the purpose of my existence now. You will die today, Yagami-sama."
As one, the guards all opened fire on the Legion, blasting at its enhanced armour with a volley of high-velocity bullets which exploded on impact. The cyborg shot forward and whirled one metal leg into one of the guard's chests, shattering bones in the process. As the man began to fall, the Legion whipped its leg around again, this time hitting the guard in the back and catapulting him right into the wave of bullets being fired by his companions.
"Hold fire!" Yagami commanded.
Immediately, the shooting stopped, though the guards had seemed very eager to take down the cyborg after what had happened to the first man. The Legion moved in a blur, ignoring the guards now that they were no longer firing on them, heading straight for Yagami.
"I don't need guards to put you down, Legion," the mistress of the mansion said with a wild, twisted expression as she watched the cyborg race up towards the balcony where she was situated. "You dare to use a Loreskill of mine that I gave to you specially? You dare to use my own techniques against me? Come now, doomed Legion, broken machine...come at me with everything you've got...it will all be for nothing..."
The cyborg reached the top of the ramp and charged straight at her. Yagami made no attempt to defend herself, remaining in the same position as the Legion's attack passed right through her body harmlessly. She stroked the bracelet on her wrist, knowing that there would be no damage done to her as long as she remained within the perimeters of the mansion.
"I see," the Legion observed, swinging another kick at her which again had no effect. "You cannot be harmed as long as you wear that bracelet. In that case, I shall target your wheelchair."
Yagami's eyes went wide with alarm, quickly moving herself back across the ramp as she raised her hands to defend herself. The security systems installed into the floor...they would assist her, but first she had to get down off the ramp and the Legion was too close to manoeuvre around -
"Suzuka!" she called a panicky voice. "Get this moron away from me!"
The steward was too far away to help, though she was already running to her mistress' aid, too late to stop the cyborg's attack. The guards might have been able to shoot the Legion down at this point, but Yagami had already ordered them not to fire. She was vulnerable and alone as her opponent climbed onto the balcony and leaped up high into the air, beginning to descend right onto her wheelchair...
A dark shape flicked before her eyes, forming into the figure of an old man which released an invisible ripple of energy into the Legion. The cyborg was hit in mid-air and blasted back into the edge of the balcony before falling all the way to the ground in a crumpled heap. The glow of magic around its body swiftly died away, signalling an end to any more resistance.
"Hello, Legion," said the old man pleasantly, the ripple of magic bending back into his fingers as he drew his grey robes tighter about his person. "It was very foolish of you to come back here."
Yagami's eyes were darting wildly between the sudden appearance of the old man and the fallen form of the Legion, coupled with the narrow escape she had just had; she almost looked as if she was about to have a seizure. Quickly, Suzuka took hold of the woman's wheelchair from behind and moved her backwards until she was a safe distance away from where the Legion had fallen. Suzuka's heart ached for the mistress: the House of Yagami really was supposed to be completely safe for everyone who wore a Yagami Bracelet, and for very good reason. Yagami herself had worked for years to make sure pain could never be inflicted upon herself or any of her staff. For the mistress to come so close to injury, after so many years of never being touched at all...
"Good evening, Lady Yagami!" The newcomer took a bow, but it was difficult to tell if he was mocking her or not. "Grylmark, at your service. Remember me? As you requested, the superior program of Red Scorpion is now deceased..." Grylmark's eyes shifted onto the Legion's motionless body, and then gleefully onto where Exoria lay. "But I see that you already know about that! It seems that you are also having some problems with your security, Lady Yagami. If you still wish to continue using my services, I can finish off these two miseries of the earth for you. It will cost you a little extra, but it will definitely be worth it. What do you say?"
Suzuka could feel the tension in Yagami's body without even looking at her. The atmosphere around her mistress was stifling, filled with barely suppressed rage as she stared at Grylmark in cold fury. Somehow, Grylmark's actions had stirred up her anger to a greater extent than either Exoria or the Legion could have done. Nevertheless, she was still cooling the storm inside her, keeping everything inside so that she could possibly unleash it later. Timekeeping was still the highest of her priorities at the moment.
"There are too many people in here," Yagami said in a quietly controlled voice. "Too many...far too many. Guards!" Her voice became sharp and commanding once again. "Take Exoria downstairs to the basement. Put her in the room...next to Felicity."
Exoria's eyes snapped open at the sound of this, her face drained of colour.
"No," the Time Mage whispered as the guards hauled her to her feet. "Yagami-sama, please...please don't send me down there again! Not with Felicity! Please! I'll do anything else you ask!" She began to struggle against all six of the guards as they dragged her towards the door. "Let me go!" she yelled. "I can't go down there again! Yagami-sama, don't hurt me anymore! I...I can help you! I can use my time magic to help you! Please...!"
Grylmark smiled knowingly. "Unfortunately, Exoria, you cannot," he said. "I'm terribly sorry to inform you of this little fact, but the land of limbo between time portals has now been destroyed. I was forced to sacrifice it to reclaim Oguba's powers."
The dark-haired girl's eyes were wide with terror and confusion. "Wh-what do you mean?" she stammered. "I can't...?"
"That's right," the summoner said with great satisfaction. "Without the land of limbo in existence, time travel is now impossible. If you try to enter a time portal now – if anyone does – then they will be swallowed up by the abyss of lost time itself. The usage of time magic itself is unaffected, however." He laughed easily. "We wouldn't want Oguba to become completely useless, would we? Looks like his unending contracts with unfortunates are at an end. But you see, Exoria... you made a big mistake in coming back. Without time portals, you will not be able to escape from here."
"I don't want to escape! I want to serve Yagami-sama!" Exoria fought hard as her arms were pinned behind her back by the guards, yelling and kicking all the way to the door. "Yagami-sama! Don't let them do this to me! I'll do anything you ask, anything - "
The door slammed behind them as Exoria was removed from the antechamber altogether, her muffled cries becoming fainter and fainter before descending into silence. Suzuka tried not to think about the poor girl's fate, but in truth Exoria had been a lost cause as soon as she had shown her face back in the mansion. If the girl had valued her own life at all, she should never have come back in the first place.
She's so very unfortunate, Suzuka thought sadly. It could have been any of us. It could have been me, or Arisa, or even Noriko who would take on Exoria's role. But Yagami chose her, the closest to her heart. She might have even forgotten the reason for it in the first place.
"Two," Yagami snapped suddenly, turning her wheelchair around by herself and nearly running over Suzuka's foot. "I want the Legion's body to be taken back to Wyvern for repairing. I will not waste such a powerful soldier, not after the amount of money I spent on them in the past."
The Legion had come so close to hurting her – even without the use of its arms. Yagami didn't know whether she had been struck harder by fear or admiration. No, not fear. She had vowed to destroy fear in her Family, tear apart the very meaning until it no longer had the strength to exist any more. But for the weakness to be in her wheelchair? Security panels set into the floor, Suzuka by her side, surrounded by guards...No. She could not afford to come so close to injury every again. There would be some required modifications in order...
"Grylmark," Yagami said quietly, feeling the pent-up rage inside her on the brink of breaking free. "Leave."
The summoner raised an eyebrow at first, not fully recognising the danger. Then he saw that Yagami's entire body was hunched over her wheelchair, shaking, seemingly on the verge of tearing off the armrests herself. Her eyes bored into his, filled with hatred of such an intensity that even Grylmark took a step back.
"Lady Yagami," he began, trying to calm the situation, "I believe I just saved your life - "
"Get out!" the mistress of the mansion hissed. "Get out of here this instant! Did I ask for your help against the Legion? Are you aware of what you have done by entering my inner chambers without permission? You cannot be aware – you cannot know – get out!"
Grylmark cautious backed away towards the door, his face set in a puzzled frown, anger brewing within his own face. "Lady Yagami, I am not used to being treating like - "
"A man inside my inner chambers," Yagami snarled. "Golden rule of the House of Yagami. One of the very first I made. Males are forbidden to enter here. The penalty is castration. Get out, Grylmark, leave and never show your face here again if you want to live beyond a day! You destroyed Red Scorpion for me, and that is the only reason, the only reason that I have not had you ripped to pieces right here and now - " She began to choke, coughing and wheezing as she hunched down even further in her wheelchair. "Get out – or I will kill - "
Quickly, Suzuka wheeled Yagami to a safe distance, turning her face away so that she wouldn't have to see Grylmark. The old man would only provoke her mistress further, and it would not be good for her health either. It would take time for Yagami to calm down after this, perhaps even the rest of the night; the last hour really had been full of very unfortunate visitors...
The steward tip-toed away from the wheelchair to talk to the summoner directly. "I think you'd better leave whilst you still can," she whispered in a serious tone. "The mistress hasn't been in a good mood ever since Exoria returned..."
"I came here for my payment, Suzuka," Grylmark countered, standing his ground with surprising resilience. "It is very important. I have plans for the money Yagami promised me!"
The steward sighed. "You'll be paid. Don't worry about that. Just talk to Arisa downstairs and she'll take you through the procedure. I'll give her the ok on the intercom for her to begin the transfer to your account." She tried to think of something else to say to him, something to reassure him, but nothing came to her mind. "Grylmark - "
But with a brief nod, the summoner whirled his robes around him and disappeared in a streak of shadows, gone just as quickly as he had arrived. It seemed he had taken Yagami's aggressive message to heart, and had been eager to leave as quickly as possible. The House of Yagami would not be seeing him again after this.
Suzuka shook her head sadly. She felt that the mistress had been wrong to turn away Grylmark like that – people like him could surely be valuable allies to the Family. On the other hand, she wasn't sure that he was particularly trustworthy, despite his service to Yagami. If the mistress had only been in a better mood...or if Exoria hadn't turned up...
"My lady?" she said quietly. No matter what, it was still important to maintain timekeeping. "It is now 10:15. Shall I ask Devina to prepare dinner?"
The brown-haired woman in the wheelchair held the side of her head in one hand, breathing heavily. Though Grylmark was no longer in the room, she was finding it terribly difficult to calm down her body. She had her reasons for enforcing such strict rules in the mansion. It wounded her directly when they were broken just like that.
"Do so," Yagami said at last, letting her breath out in one go. "And..." The mistress of the mansion pinched the bridge of her nose as Exoria's face came into her mind. Something broke past the negativity boiling inside her for a few moments. "Send Dr Kaizen down to the basement in an hour or so," she said at last. "She will need to see that Exoria is kept alive. Ask her to bring her some of the leftover scraps from dinner as well. She will need them, with Felicity down there."
Suzuka bowed her head obediently, turning towards the intercom to carry out her orders. "As you wish, my lady."
Signum awoke to the sound of gentle hammering inside her head. Every muscle in her body ached, including her eyelids, but the pain eased to a mild throbbing when she tried to move. She felt around blindly in the dim night glow, still trying to take in her surroundings, feeling the soft cover of a mattress underneath her.
She shook her head to clear it, dragging herself upright. Miraculously, Signum discovered that her battle wounds from before had healed over, though it was clear that her body was still in need of more rest. It appeared that somebody had used restorative magic on her whilst she had been unconscious, accelerating the regenerative process to help her recuperate. The Velka Knight felt herself yearn to fall back into slumber, but she had to find out where she was. She still needed answers to her questions,, questions of all the strange going-ons he had seen going on in Uminari City...
Seeing Fate's grave. Fleeing from the executors without knowing the reason for it. Finding myself separated from Erio. Trapped in a changed version of Uminari City. Dead on my feet, and then falling unconscious just moments away from being captured...
The Velka Knight tapped her fingers experimentally on the glass window in front of her. She could see outside to the street where the executors had almost taken her. Unless of course the executors had succeeded in capturing her, and had deposited her here in this house under heavy guard.
Somehow, Signum did not think this was the case. The room she stood in was rather bare and empty of anything but the tattered mattress which had served as her bed, and a few dusty bookshelves. There was an electric light installed into the wall, but it wasn't working very well. Cobwebs and littered the corners of the room up to the ceiling, and a musty smell was present in the air.
If the executors really had captured her and taken her here, they had not done a very good job of keeping her guarded. Laevatein was still in her possession in Standby Form, and the door was wide open, allowing Signum to leave whenever she wished. In fact, there wasn't much of the door left at all. It was about to fall off its hinges.
Somebody must have saved her from the executors, someone who cared enough about her well-being to risk their own life for her. The same person who must have taken here to recover, even healing her in the process. Was it the same person who owned this house? Were they still here?
I can barely sense anything in this house at all. The whole place is eerily silent, and if every room turns out to look like the room I woke up in...then this house would seem completely abandoned. It doesn't feel like anyone has lived her for a long time...
Had her rescuer taken her to some kind of abandoned shack? Was she still going to be safe from those executors? Signum wondered if she should transform just to be on the safe side, with her body in such a weakened state...
She was still trying to work out what to do when Agito flew past her.
Signum blinked in surprise, thinking that maybe she was seeing things. The red-haired unison device had just zoomed past her head for no apparent reason. Maybe she really did need to lie down.
The Velka Knight turned around just as Rein also went flying past her in the same direction. Stunned, she rubbed her eyes and forced herself to focus harder. Yes, that was definitely Hayate's unison device she was seeing there, kind-eyed with wavy blue hair coming down her back...and chasing after Agito...
I must be hallucinating, she thought. Rein would be with Hayate at the Bureau, not here in some abandoned shack in Uminari City. And I haven't had contact with Agito for many months. There is no reason why the two of them would suddenly appear here. Maybe I really should get some more rest -
There was a second whizzing noise around her as Rein and Agito made another circuit through the house, almost clipping her air on the way.
"Hey, Signum!" Agito crowed as she flew past. "Oops. Gotta go. Shamal's waiting."
The two unison devices disappeared around the corner, and this time they did not reappear. Try as she might, Signum could not detect any further trace of their presence. Yes, she told herself, there couldn't have been anybody there. It had probably been her mind playing tricks on her after all, or an illusion of some kind, or...
The Velka Knight frowned in annoyance. Her muscled ached all over, but she knew she had never been prone to hallucinations before. Suspicion stirred in her breast as she stepped out of the bedroom altogether, following the deserted corridor down where Agito and Rein had disappeared. She could still feel the sting on her ear where one of Agito's arms had accidentally clipped at her skin. It still felt very real.
As she walked through the abandoned house – and it definitely was abandoned, Signum was sure of it now, she almost had to claw her way through another string of cobwebs halfway down – the Velka Knight became aware of a faint humming sound around her. It wasn't particularly sinister or eerie, but it did sound quite strange to hear whilst treading through a house completely devoid of life. It even seemed to be coming from below her. Where exactly was this place?
Signum stepped around the corner where Agito and Rein had disappeared – and simply stared.
The path she had taken had led to a dead end, but there was a cavernous opening in the wall beyond which led into a small recess, large enough for a few people to stand in. The recess was caged by half-open steel doors, seemingly embedded in the wall, and was surrounded by rows of flickering lights, buttons and levers. As the Velka Knight ventured closer to investigate, she saw that the buttons all had numbers on them, most of which were broken.
Curious to test out the strange contraption, but also wary of what might happen, Signum cautiously tried pushing the only button on the wall which hadn't fallen off. Nothing happened. She pressed it again several times for some kind of reaction, but there was still no response.
What exactly is this supposed to be? Is it some kind of machine? Whatever it is, it can't have been used for many years. The buttons are either all broken or don't work.
Disappointed with her lack of discovery, Signum had to admit that the contraption was broken. With a sigh, she turned back to explore the rest of the house; there was no point wasting any more time on this useless machine.
On a sudden whim, she decided that she might as well try pulling one of the levers, just to see if anything else might happen -
Immediately, the steel doors came to life and slid together, locking her securely inside the metal box. The lights around her began to flash faster and faster, and the entire device began to move, taking Signum with it. The floor, ceiling and the walls of the machine were all descending at a rapid pace, almost throwing Signum to the ground as she ran to the steel doors in a panic, trying to open them. She was being taken below the house...
Seconds later, however, the contraption began to slow down to a less aggressive speed, no longer seeming as if it were trying to drag her to her death. As Signum calmed down, she realised the whole thing was supposed to be. It was a makeshift elevator.
That's what the buttons and levers are for? To choose a floor, and to close the doors and start the whole thing up?
The Velka Knight was stunned at the concept and design of this elevator. It definitely won the prize for being the most unsophisticated of machines that she had ever stepped into. It was unruly, unsafe, unreliable and she was astonished that it worked at all. In fact, she was beginning to worry if she was going to be able to get up to the surface again after all this...
Who builds an old-fashioned elevator in their house anyway? What's down here?
The lift suddenly juddered to a halt, banging her head against the metal wall, and the doors slowly slid open with a terrible creaking of gears. Blearily, Signum stumbled out of the impractical machine, feeling light-headed and nauseous from the journey. She did not want to ride in the elevator again if she could help it.
With her limbs aching more than ever, Signum staggered forward into a brightly-lit room. The humming sound she had heard before was now all around her – the sound of electrical power, modern technology and magic. Yes, she could sense a fellow mage down here...several of them. She could hear voices, too, voices that she would recognise anywhere. Footsteps, too, drawn by the sound of the elevator, drifting closer and closer to her until they stopped right in front of her...
"Signum," said a woman's voice, kindly and pleasant to her ears. "You still need to rest."
She could barely believe her eyes. A mage in a simple white coat with cool red sympathetic eyes, short blond hair reaching down to the base of her neck as she reached forward to help Signum up. A green aura surrounded her, the power of strong restorative magic. As they made contact, the pink-haired Velka Knight felt her muscles relax at her soothing touch.
"Sh...Shamal?" she said in awe. "How...? What are you doing here?"
"She's not the only one," said a gruff voice from further on inside the room.
Signum's eyes widened as the beast form of Zafira came into view, watching her almost expectantly. The light made his blue fur almost glisten as he came into a seated position before the other two Guardian Knights. For the first time in a long time, the separated members of the Wolkenritter had found each other again...or at least that would be true if Vita was with them as well.
The pink-haired mage felt a huge sense of consolation wash over her on seeing two of her closest companions by her side again. After being separated from all of her allies, on the run from enemies that she did not even understand, Signum had temporarily felt alone and even vulnerable by herself, even with Laevatein by her side. But now that she had found two other members of the Wolkenritter again, maybe they had a chance again. Maybe they could -
No, wait. I'm in a changed world. What if Shamal and Zafira have changed as well? What if...it's not really them?
"Tell me first how I know it's really you," she said tensely, pushing Shamal off her shoulder with an effort. "The world isn't making sense any more. Nothing is. How did you get here when you're supposed to be at the Bureau? How do I know that you're really the Shamal and Zafira who I know, and not some time-travel changed version?"
A satisfied look passed between the other two at her words, and Zafira quickly nodded to Shamal before turning
"It's her, all right," he said. Then he turned his feral face to Signum, his tone warm. "You collapsed in the street with the executors swarming all over you. Shamal found you just in time and was able to get you inside before they could find you. You're safe here, Signum." He paused for a moment, sniffing at the air. "Don't worry. We're not some other Zafira or Shamal in changed history. You're the same Signum who went with Nanoha to rescue Vita from Red Scorpion."
"I was with you, too," Shamal said softly. "You remember what happened the last time we saw each other, don't you? We were in the hospital ward, visiting Vita. That was when Ungore came out of a portal, destroyed the whole building and took Srethis away. Vita was captured in the process. That was the last time we spoke to each other, Signum." She smiled reassuringly. "Zafira wasn't there at the time, but I filled him in with the details later on."
Signum hesitated a moment further, and then her suspicion faded away. Her friends were both telling the truth. The world had changed...but somehow, the Wolkenritter had remained the same. She didn't know why, but she wanted to find out; it could be the key to getting Vita back with them again.
"Fine," she sighed, giving in. "I know it really is you two." She leaned against the wall, her fatigue beginning to creep up on her again. "It's...it's great to see the two of you again. It really is."
"Likewise," Shamal replied, and reached up to the taller woman to hug her tightly. The pink-haired mage let her lean into her, giving her a tight squeeze back in return as a smile spread across her face.
Zafira watched in silence from the sidelines, but his gaze towards Signum was one of great approval and relief. They had both missed her greatly, and their feelings towards her touched Signum's heart, making her want to stay with both of them as long as she possibly could. The Wolkenritter had been like a family to her: she never wanted to be separated from them ever again.
She knew they weren't quite complete, however. They still had to get Vita back somehow.
"I'm very glad that you're back with us, Signum," Zafira said, leaning forward keenly on his front legs. "We have so many questions to ask you."
The Velka Knight stopped in mid-hug, wondering if she had heard correctly.
"You have questions for me?" she repeated.
"Well, yes," Shamal shrugged. "We hoped you'd be able to tell us what's going on."
Signum felt like the world was spinning inside her head again. She'd been transported to a changed version of Uminari City, fought for her life against the executors, made it all the way back to the rest of the Wolkenritter...only to find that they knew just as little about their plight as she did? Was this for real?
"All right, let's start with anything that you might know," she said tiredly, hanging onto Shamal's shoulder. She was ready to drop off to sleep right now, but this was much more important.
"What's your situation? Who else is here asides from the two of you?"
A whizzing sounded above their heads, fading away into the distance as two small figures zoomed away into the rest of the underground chamber. Signum glanced upwards just as the two unison devices disappeared again, chasing each other childishly in a circle. She knew she hadn't been hallucinating earlier.
"Rein and Agito are here," Shamal ventured. "That's all of us. Signum..." She put her hand against the other woman's forehead. "You look like you're going to collapse at any moment. You need to rest."
"Shamal, I woke up in a dark and empty room surrounded by cobwebs. Resting was out of the question."
"That was supposed to be a temporary arrangement," the mage replied, flushing slightly. "I didn't want to move you around too much. Signum, hang onto me for now. I'm going to get you into bed straight away."
If I fall asleep again, I'm not going to be able wake up again for hours and hours, Signum thought, limping after the other two members of the Wolkenritter as they led her further inside. I need answers first. I need to know where we are, and how all of this happened.
As she made it into the main chamber, however, the scene which greeted her eyes was a surprising and eye-catching one. An array of monitors and screens filled the centre of the room, displaying countless streams of data upon each one. The numbers and figures made little sense to Signum, but the room looked very similar to the control room at the TSAB. She could picture it now, with Shari overlooking the surveillance at her desk, maintaining communications with the rest of the Bureau, chattering to Hayate as she went about her work...
A richly-dressed sofa had been pulled up alongside one of the desks. Similar couches and chairs were strewn all over the room, looking like as if they had been meant to be thrown out. Like the abandoned house upstairs, nobody appeared to have lived here for a very long time. The difference down here was that the remainder of the Wolkenritter were keeping the place alive, with all the communication systems still online.
With a yawn, Signum pulled away and lapsed into one of the sofas with a sigh. Shamal flung her a disapproving look, but let it go.
"There," the pink-haired knight said satisfactorily. "Now I'm not going to collapse." She tried to stretch out into a sitting-up position, but her muscles began to fail her and she gave up halfway through. "How did you get here? What...what happened after Nanoha and the rest of my group entered the portal?"
"Nothing," Shamal said simply. Her eyes seemed to become lonely and sad as she recalled the events of that day. "Nothing happened. Nanoha entered the portal, and then...everything disappeared. Everything was engulfed, taken away into nothing. Zafira and I were still within Bureau grounds, but when we awoke from out of the darkness, we found ourselves inside this place. Rein and Agito tell us that they flew around for a long time before they found themselves drawn by the energy that you see here."
She sighed and dropped back into one of the nearby chairs. "We've been trying to search for any of the other members of the TSAB, but so far it's been hopeless. It looks like we're the only ones who emerged at all. You were the first one we managed to find, Signum, and we were lucky. If not for the bond we share as members of the Wolkenritter, I may not have been able to find you at all." Her red eyes were troubled, looking to the pink-haired mage for possible hope and a direction forward. "We've been here for nearly a month, Signum. Nothing's working."
"We have difficult leaving the house at all," Zafira explained. "You won't believe me, but we're actually on Mid-childa."
Signum gave him a disgruntled look. "That's impossible. We're in Uminari City, on Earth. This is where we met Hayate - it's not a place I would ever forget."
"Earth doesn't have two moons in the sky, Signum. Maybe we're in Uminari City, but somehow we're also on Mid-childa." Zafira grunted his disapproval of the whole confusing situation. "Don't ask me why or how - it makes even less sense to me. It's as if someone moved Uminari City onto Mid-childa. That's what it feels like. But more importantly...there's something we want to show you, Signum."
Shamal stood up just then, walking over to the centre of the room where all the monitors were grouped together. She returned with something tiny held gingerly between her finger and thumb, holding it out under the light so that Signum could see it.
The pink-haired knight squinted upwards to look at the small object. She couldn't make it out too clearly. It seemed like a tiny square piece of metal with a pattern of electrodes embedded into it, no larger than a pea. It looked like...some kind of computer part? A chip?
"What is that?" she said curiously.
"The executors call it a "HX chip", from my investigations," Zafira replied matter-of-factly. "Everybody in this world has one of those – they seem to be given it at a very young age. I have no idea what their purpose is, but the executors will leave you alone if you have one. Sometimes," he added hastily. "Sometimes they leave you alone if you have one. If you don't have one, or if they catch you during curfew hours...they take you away to a detention facility." His expression turned dark. "Shamal and I were almost sent to one. We had to fight our way back here."
A HX chip, Signum thought, mulling all of this over as she forced her body awake. The executors I met did ask me about a chip. They also claimed to be non-violent people. If we had one of these chips, and were able to gain safe passage even among these executors...we'd have a much better chance at making it through this. We'd definitely have more access to vital information about our situatio, too.
"And then what?" she said pressingly.
Zafira looked towards her questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"What happens after they take you to a detention facility? What happens then?"
Shamal shook her head sadly. "We didn't get that far. We were too busy running. Who knows what happens?"
Signum didn't want to think about that part. She was tired enough that it was getting hard to think at all. Speaking quickly, because she was really losing concentration now, she moved onto one of the more important parts. "All right, what about the Bureau?" she asked. "What happened to them? We need to contact them tomorrow. We'll never find Vita or Nanoha otherwise."
The other two members of the Wolkenritter shared an uneasy gaze between them, the silence growing around them. Wordlessly, Shamal averted her gaze from her, focusing her eyes instead on the circle of monitors.
"The Bureau's been destroyed, Signum," she said quietly. "We're standing in the only part that survived." She ignored the pink-haired mage's cry of defiant protest and continued on. "This is just a guess, but I think that a small part of the TSAB was copied to make a small imitation. Just a back-up of some of the data and resources that we might need one day. That's why this room looks so similar to the control room. Zafira and I never left the Bureau...and we woke up right here. We woke up in the one place on Mid-childa where the Bureau still had any life left at all. I'm sorry, Signum."
The pink-haired knight stared at her, not fully understanding. No. The Bureau was an authority over countless planets in the universe. You couldn't destroy it. You might as well destroy every other planet...along with it...No, this wasn't right at all. The TSAB had to still be alive and well somewhere out there. It had to be. Without the TSAB, their chances of regrouping with Nanoha and the others would be virtually zero!
"That's impossible," she said numbly, feeling the blackness and fatigue slowly closing over her mind like a glove. "You're mistaken, Shamal. The TSAB can't be completely destroyed like that. It can't just - "
"I'm not very good at working with the database," Shamal continued lightly, still not looking at the other Velka Knight. "Shari and Mariel are the one's who are good with technology. I'm not. But I was able to look up a list of all the names of everyone who was a part of the TSAB." She sucked in a deep breath, her knuckles white as they clenched onto the desk. "The...the database lists each and everyone of them as dead, Signum."
The mage's shoulders were shaking. "Everyone...everyone except Nanoha, Fate and Hayate are on there. My name is on there. Your name is on there. All of our names are on there, Vita included. As far as this world is concerned...we're already dead."
Signum couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. Her limbs felt heavy, pinned to the edge of the sofa as she struggled to find something to say in response, something to dispute all of this. Shamal was saying that they were completely alone in the world. No, they couldn't be. Vita was out there somewhere, waiting for them...they couldn't give up...not like this...
"I'm sorry you had to come back to hear all this, Signum," Shamal was saying. "It isn't what you wanted to hear, and I'm sorry. Rest for now. It doesn't matter if you can't help us. We can still make our own way in this new, corrupted Mid-childa." She forced a laugh, but it came out sounding bitter, and her words gradually drifted away as Signum disappeared into sleep at long last. "We can still make it, Signum..."
A/N: Earlier in this fic, it took quite a while to explain everything about Oguba etc.
However, the next chapter is going to explain everything about the new Mid-childa in one go. So yeah. Nanoha and Fate and Chrono all included too.
I also haven't explained everything about Exoria, nor have I explained why Shamal and Zafira etc. are unaffected by the sudden time change with Mid-childa, but that's also later.