A/N: Explicit language in this chapter (I mentioned that there would be at the beginning of Part 2, but it doesn't actually start up until now) due to a certain character. After this chapter I will have introduced virtually all of the characters who need to be introduced, anyway. Besides, this one has to be here because of foreshadowing and stuff.
Tiana maintained her position at the third-floor balcony of Chrono's palace for a long time, watching hundreds of people come and go amidst a constant babble of senseless noise. Within minutes, it had become clear to her that absolutely nothing was going to happen. Chrono wasn't going to come up here, and even if he did, she wouldn't need to look too hard to spot him in his stupid kingly gown and jewellery with combat cyborgs surrounding him on all sides. Watching out for the Commander wasn't going to use any of her real skills at all.
As time continued to pass, the forward began to get increasingly frustrated under the neverending tedium of her role. She shouldn't be doing this. She should be down there, with Nanoha, taking active steps to find the rest of their friends. But no, Tiana, the sharpshooter chided herself, you had to go and ask Nanoha if there was anything else you could do. Now she was out of the action, or what little of it there was.
There were cyborgs everywhere, after all. Nothing was going to happen here. Nobody was going to attack the personal guests of Chrono, Commander of the Harlaown Program, not for any reason, and there wasn't really any risk in being separated from Nanoha. Tiana decided that she would probably have to endure another hour of this pointless waiting before the Ace of Aces came back with any news that Chrono had given her. Maybe after that they could get this show on the road.
I've just been feeling like dead weight up to now, just following Nanoha around even when I did get my powers back. It's not fair. Even before that...
Tiana blinked, realising what she had doing before their life-changing transition, back in the land of limbo. She had been fighting one of Grylmark's Manticores after the spiteful old man had mysteriously managed to suck away all of her energy and force her to de-transform, thus making combat extremely difficult for her. As the memory came back to her, the orange-haired forward realised she should be more worried about the consequences of that.
If Grylmark can take away all of my magic with a single spell, then I need to find a way to counteract that. It's likely that we'll run into him again if we're going to try and get back to our own world, but how can such a technique even exist? He seemed to be able to do it so casually.
Maybe that's something I could ask Nanoha about when she gets back, Tiana thought. I don't want to wind up having all of my powers drained again, not when it could happen at the worst possible time...
She leaned against the balcony for a little longer, resting her chin in her hands and scanning the crowds more out of boredom than anything else. It didn't matter: nothing had changed. The entire palace continued to be shamelessly lacking in Chrono's presence. Wherever he was, he was well out of her range of vision, a trait that a few thousand more people on the lower levels all shared. Had Nanoha just left her here for something to do?
As Tiana turned away from the mass gatherings of people, she felt a strange feeling brush over the back of her neck. She didn't know what it was at first, but the muscles in her arms and legs had already tightened in readiness, tensing up as her body acted before her mind did. The forward brought her hand down to where Cross Mirage was tucked into her belt, slowly turning around.
Someone's watching me. They've been watching me for a while now, but with so many people around I didn't notice for ages. Whoever it is, they're not even trying to hide it anymore...I can literally feel their gaze burning into my skin...
The orange-haired sharpshooter placed her back to the railing, looking straight ahead of her. It was easy to spot her watcher because, like her, they were standing stationary whilst the crowds rolled on past them in a swirl of colour.
A broad-shouldered young woman with a confident aura about her, just a little older than Tiana, dressed in a sleeveless army uniform. She calmly returned Tiana's stare and deepened her gaze, not seeming to care that the forward had seen her. The woman's arms were bare and powerfully muscled, sporting a tattoo on one shoulder in the form of a demon-like skull. A solid metal belt was fixed to her waist, from which two guns were holstered on either hip, and she stood with her legs apart in hard metal boots which came almost up to her knees.
The woman's face rose out of the shadows for a moment, and the light from the chandeliers above shone down to give her a spectacularly compelling appearance. A mass of wild red hair came down her shoulders, and dark green eyes fixed Tiana with their predatory gaze. A self-satisfied smirk was present on her face as she started to come forward – here was a woman who was very sure of herself indeed.
Frozen to the spot, Tiana's mouth dropped open slightly, finding herself unable to look away. Her eyes moved from the girl's beautiful red hair, to the seductive curve of her hips, to the hard muscles across her bare arms, to the flex of her thighs...but also to the guns at her waist. The sharpshooter felt herself redden just looking at her like that, and struggled to force down any inappropriate thoughts. Subaru wasn't going to forgive her for looking at another girl in such a way.
Wow, the forward thought, her throat dry. They don't make them like that in my universe...
At the same time, Tiana couldn't help feeling that the red-haired army girl, as attractive as she was, was also vaguely familiar to her in some aspect. Where had she seen her before? Try as she might, she couldn't quite place it. Had they met?
The red-haired woman was walking straight towards her, eyes burning hungrily into her own. What was she planning on doing? Rooted to the spot in a mild panic, Tiana saw the girl lick her lips as if she were sizing her up as something delicious. What was she -
Say something, the forward told herself frantically, as the army girl drew closer and closer, her smile broadening. Don't let her get the better of you!
With an effort, Tiana drew herself up and tried to look formidable. The other woman's green eyes cut into hers and made her feel weak at the knees, but she ploughed on regardless.
"Um," the forward managed to say. All thoughts about Nanoha and Chrono had disappeared from her mind as she struggled for another word. "Um - "
Unfortunately, she didn't quite get that far because the red-haired woman had grabbed her by the wrists and pushed her tightly against the side of the railing, a bright light in her eyes. Without a single word, the army girl clamped her mouth down onto hers in a hard, passionate kiss which made Tiana's body seize up.
What is she -
The Bureau mage's mind shut down completely as her body surrendered. The older woman's tongue separated her lips easily as she moved in for the kill, intensifying the kiss. Some small part of Tiana told her that this wasn't right, that when a hot stranger turned up out of the blue and just made out with you on the spot it was going to lead to trouble, because nothing like that had ever happened to her before -
A split second later, the red-haired girl had pulled her lips away, leaving Tiana gasping for breath and with a weird taste in her mouth. It had been over so quickly. Wh-what was...why...she couldn't think straight anymore with her skin on fire like this...
"Hi there, sweetie," the mysterious stranger said silkily, not letting go of her wrists. "What's your name?"
Ugh. Why...why did she just kiss me like that? I can't...where...
"Tia...Tiana," the sharpshooter muttered, before she quite knew what she was doing. Her mind was still buzzing. "I'm...uh..."
She felt the other girl release her wrists. Thankfully, Tiana clung to the edge of the balcony in a daze.
"I've been watching you, Tia," the red-haired woman said, licking her lips purposefully. Her voice had a dominant and opportunistic nature to it, leaving no gaps for hesitation or second guessing. "Girls like you don't come by very often. Whatever are you, sweetie? Chrono's new favourite pet, Nanoha's little sidekick or an alien lesbian from another dimension?" She folded her arms smugly. "Doesn't matter a damn to me what you are in the long-run, but any half-assed piece of shit in this fucked-up world could see the way you were looking at me from miles away. Just want a piece of me like all the other girls, ain't that right?"
For a moment, the orange-haired forward was completely lost for words. This girl had just kissed her completely out of the blue and practically knocked her flat on her back in a metaphorical sense. How did she know who Nanoha was? And why did she still seem every so slightly familiar...?
"I'm not an alien," Tiana managed in a half-whisper, avoiding the army girl's gaze. "I'm from another universe." She squared her shoulders defiantly, not so willing to give out information about herself and Nanoha so freely. "Who do you think you are, kissing me like that?" she demanded furiously. "How do you know about Nanoha? Who are you?"
The red-haired girl shrugged carelessly. "Yeah, so you're still just an alien lesbian from the future or whatever. It's all the same to me. The time-traveller role isn't going to stick to me, sweetie." She took a step forward until her skin was inches away from the forward's, and Tiana felt her heart start racing again from the intimacy. "You got a problem with being kissed? I treat all my girls like that, so don't think you're gonna be left out of the loop."
"Answer my question," Tiana said defiantly, skimming over her words so that they wouldn't get to her. "How do you know who Nanoha is?"
A manic grin spread across the army girl's face, displaying her teeth. "Nanoha? I don't know who the hell Nanoha is supposed to be or why Chrono thinks she's so important. I only got eyes and ears, sweetie. You've been following her around like a stray dog ever since you got here."
As her green eyes flashed, Tiana realised where she had seen such eyes before. A dark shadow from last night, almost like a distant memory...She remembered meeting this woman before, even it had only been for about ten seconds. No wonder she had seemed so familiar! Back then, the red-haired girl had been dressed in a completely different outfit, wearing black clothes all over with her face and hair covered...
"I know you," the sharpshooter murmured, her hand settling down onto Cross Mirage's holster. "You're the girl who was here last night!" The dark figure who had appeared out of the shadows just outside Chrono's inner quarters – just where they were standing right now, in fact – and had dropped that chilling note at Chrono's feet before disappearing into the night. The message from the Cult of Neopocalyption. "You're the one who gave Chrono that death threat, aren't you? From that weird cult?"
She didn't know why she hadn't pulled Cross Mirage out already to defend herself. Chrono had dismissed the contents of the message so easily before, saying that the cult had sent similar threats before in the past, but that they had always been bluffing and had never taken any real action against him.
She's the one who brought him the note yesterday. I recognise her face now. The way she came down on me so easily and so confidently...this woman is not the kind of person who would be bluffing with something like that. There's no way. I can't pick up any magic from her, but there's no doubt that she's dangerous...
"Why, you remember me, sweetie," the army girl said with a palpable sneer. "That's adorable. But you don't look like you know how things work around here, Tia." She stepped away from the forward momentarily, giving her a bit of space. "I am Kagura – Kagura Labinnac. Feeder and Sister of the ancient Family of Labinnac, Advocate of the Cult of Neopocalypticon, and Hireling of the House of Yagami." The red-haired woman paused for a moment to reflect on this. "Don't quote me on that last one too often," she said in a disgruntled voice. "Yagami's a demented piece of shit."
Yagami? Labinnac? What's all this about? Chrono's got this all wrong – the people who sent him the death threat can't have been bluffing, not when this girl sounds like a real professional. Is...is this why she's here? Is she here to assassinate Chrono just like the message said?
Tiana eyed the guns strapped to Kagura's hips, noticing that they were not small in stature like Cross Mirage was. They were heavy-duty, no-nonsense killing machines with the buzz of death charges running across their length. In addition, there was no way to tell how many more weapons could be concealed on her person.
"What are you talking about?" she said quickly, playing for time. "What is this "Family of Labinnac"? What's the House of Yagami?"
Kagura blew on her fingers casually. "You're new at this, aren't you, sweetie?" she said quietly. "The three Families of Mid-childa number among the most powerful and wealthy organisations in the world. Perhaps not so much wealthy any more," she considered for a second. "This shithole has been going downhill for a really long fucking time.
"The Families of Yagami, Testarossa and Labinnac go back a long way in the history of Mid-childa, and have always been engaged in power struggles against each other to seize control. For generations, it was Testarossa who reigned supreme, both in power and the strength of their House. Unfortunately for them, however, they were the victim of tragedy just ten years ago, when the daughter of the House committed suicide for unknown reasons. Their influence plummeted soon afterwards and they've never recovered since." Kagura gave a short bitter laugh at this. "Pity for them. They had so much in common with me.
"After that, it was Yagami who held the most power. The extent of her organisation reaches out all over Mid-childa and effectively puts her above the Harlaown Program, the executers, Chrono...you name it. Really frickin' arrogant of her, in my opinion, and best of all is that nobody can touch her."
Kagura put her hands on her hips proudly. "The last Family is mine, Labinnac. Our blood is ancient in Mid-childa, but we're not that recognisable. People understand the name but not the meaning, you get what I'm saying? Most of us got killed off after so many wars, so there's barely any of us left in Mid-childa anymore. We even lost our status as a House, so the only House of Mid-childa left are Yagami and Testarossa. It's humiliating for us to have to go to a bastard like Yagami for work, just to keep on our toes. I fucking hate it." She blinked suddenly, as if realising that she had just been speaking non-stop for the last five minutes. "So yeah. That's my little history lecture to you, sweetie. A little bit of re-education for your pretty little brain. Don't mention it."
Tiana was struggling to take all of this in. Three Families fighting for control of Mid-childa, whilst the Harlaown Program continued its work on the surface? And for two of them to be named after Fate and Hayate's family names? The whole thing sounded like it was definitely linked to their own universe, although the name Labinnac was probably completely unrelated.
I have to tell Nanoha all about this. She's at her wits end trying to find Fate and the others, and if she gets into trouble with one of these "Houses of Mid-childa"...
"And what about this cult of yours?" she said in a challenging tone to the army girl. "What about that?"
Kagura chuckled. "That's none of your concern, sweetie. We don't usually hurt anyone at all, not even Chrono. Hell knows he deserves it after screwing up Mid-childa like this."
The forward hesitated. "You're trying to tell me that you're not here to make an attack on Chrono's life?"
Without warning, the red-haired army girl rushed forward and pinned Tiana's body against the railing. The sharpshooter struggled to reach for Cross Mirage, but the other woman had grabbed hold of her wrists once more.
"Now this is where we get to something interesting, sweetie," Kagura whispered excitedly. "The rest of the Cult of Neopocalypticon isn't going to attack Chrono no matter how many death threats they send him. And I don't like that, Tia. I don't like sitting around waiting for them to do something because they could have achieved so much fucking more. I've got a contract from Yagami from years ago asking me to bring down Chrono. I could kill him any time." She was close now, so close that Tiana could feel her breath on her cheek. "What's to stop me, Tia? What's to stop me from taking him out right here and now? It'd show the rest of the Cult of Neopocalypticon what worthless cowards they are. Maybe they'd get some shit done at last. They'd wake up to their senses, and I'd still get paid." Her grin was fierce as she tightened her grip on Tiana's wrists. "What are you going to do about that, sweetie?"
The sharpshooter fought against the hold on her wrists with everything she had, but Kagura was just too strong. She tried lashing out with her legs, but being tightly pinned against the railing wasn't allowing her any room at all. She couldn't move.
Nanoha said I can transform if it's a real emergency. I'm pretty sure this qualifies as a real emergency. If she kills Chrono, then with the death of the last Harlaown, the Blood Oath will end. The Harlaown Program will break down and the entire system across Mid-childa will just destabilise! And then...and then what? What happens after that? Everyone stops living or something? What do the people do? I don't know what's going to happen at that point, but it's not going to make it any easier to get back to our own universe!
If I transform now, I can get free and try to stop her, Tiana thought. I'd have the element of surprise on my side. But...with all of these people here? What if someone gets hurt? How am I going to stop her from shooting down Chrono?
"Why are you telling all this to me for?" she hissed, struggling to think of a plan. "You want me to stop you? I'm not prepared to fight you with so many innocent people around."
For a moment, Kagura relaxed her grip, a slight smirk pulling at the corner of her lip. "Fighting with you would be so interesting, sweetie," she said softly. "Even though you wouldn't be able to win. But you know what, Tia? I could be persuaded not to kill Chrono right here and now. I could delay my attack."
Tiana lifted her chin, anger rising inside of her. "What are you saying?" she said. "What do you want?"
The army girl said nothing at first, her eyes lighting up. "A date."
"What?" The orange-haired forward was stunned, unsure if she'd heard right. "You want to do what?"
"I want you to go on a date with me, sweetie. You heard me." Kagura licked at her lips, gazing into Tiana's eyes evenly. "I came here for two reasons: to assassinate Chrono and to get a girl for the night. If I'm not going to pursue the first, you can be damn sure I'm not letting the second one get away from me." She drew her face closer, whispering into the forward's ear seductively. "Take it or leave it, Tia. I'm giving you a simple choice. You're free to walk away...but then Chrono dies."
She's willing to let Chrono live as long as she dates me? Tiana forced the panic down, trying to think of a way out. To think I thought she was so attractive when I first laid eyes on her. If she wasn't a professional killer, and if I wasn't already in a relationship with Subaru...
"I already have someone," she said in a near-whisper.
Kagura's gaze on her face didn't shift. "Dump her. I don't give a fuck. Hell, you act like I'm going to shoot you in the middle of the date or something." She released one of Tiana's wrists and dropped her hand down to one of the guns at her belt. "Forget it, then," she said in a bored tone. "I can shoot Chrono down from here."
She pulled the weapon free from her holster, taking aim across Tiana's shoulder.
"Wait!" the sharpshooter cried.
Nanoha's down there. The important thing is for me to get word to her. I'll pretend to go on this stupid date with her if it'll stop her shooting Chrono! Nanoha's more than enough to protect both of us.
"I'll do it," Tiana said tight-lipped. "I'll go on a date with you. Just don't harm Chrono." She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that she wouldn't come to regret this later. Whether Kagura was able to hit Chrono from this range or not, someone was still going to get hurt. Tiana couldn't have that on her conscience.
"A change of heart?" Kagura said with a dark smile. She slowly slid the gun back into the holster. "You're learning, sweetie. I like that in you." The red-haired woman leaned in for a kiss, but Tiana's body was rigid against her touch. "Harsh, Tia. I've already planned our date for later, so you can rest easy for now."
She wants to do it later? Tiana thought, still reeling from what she had just experienced. That's not so bad. If I can get to Nanoha in that time and tell her what I've just been forced into...
Kagura whirled around in a flash of green as she stepped away from the balcony. "Stick around the palace for the next hour or so, sweetie," she said briskly. "I'm keeping tabs on you in case you try to run away. When you see me again...that's when the excitement starts." A brilliant smile spread out across her features an instant before she vanished into the crowd. "Don't forget me, Tia."
Tiana shut her eyes for a few seconds more, and when she opened them again she was alone on the balcony once more. The unease in her heart was quickly working its way up her throat. Going out with any girl other than Subaru would already make her uncomfortable, but this...Everything had happened so fast that it felt almost surreal. She'd been snogged, given a lession in the history of Mid-childa, threatened, and then coerced into a date, all within the space of ten minutes.
I'm not really going to go on a date with her. That was just to stop her attacking Chrono on the spot. I have to find Nanoha right now and tell all her about this, quickly...more than that, I have to warn Chrono! Even if Kagura agreed not to target him anymore, his life is still in danger!
Her heart beating fit to burst, Tiana ran off into the crowd and began to fight her way through to the ground floor. She had to find Nanoha and Chrono whilst there was still time, and she didn't even know where either of them could be...
"A grand welcome to all of our future members!" Wyvern announced to the gathering of kids nestled around him. "You're probably wondering why I brought you all here today. This is a great opportunity for anyone who's interested! The fact is, we of the House of Yagami are looking to expand."
A girl next to him wearing an eyepatch joined in. "New recruits!" she crowed. "New blood! We want to see what you're made of!"
"That's right!" another burly kid roared. Impractically, he was wearing rollerskates, and seemed completely unaware of how out of place they seemed. "Down with the Harlaown Program! Join us, and the executors will never trouble you again!"
For many months that would follow, Erio would always look back on situations like these and wonder how in the world he had become involved in them. What was he doing here, exactly? Why was he in the back of a shed with all of these other kids?
Signum and I were being pursued by the executors last night. She told me to run and make my own way to safety, and so the two of us were separated. I don't know what happened to her, but I can only hope that's she all right. As for me, I managed to lose the executors fairly easily because I hadn't been worn down from the fights with Red Scorpion. I was able to run faster and found it easier to hide myself because of my small size. That was when I ran into Wyvern.
Yes, Wyvern, the surly teenage boy with spiky blue hair who was also making quite a spectacle in the room right now. Erio had first encountered him marching down the street, along with the other two kids next to him – the girl with an eyepatch and the burly guy on rollerskates – calling out to schedule a "gang meeting", whatever that meant. At the time, there had been a small crowd of younger boys and girls following Wyvern wherever he went, so that he was leading them across half of Uminari City on his own.
It had seemed quite a strange sight, especially in the middle of curfew when everyone's doors were locked and the streets were supposed to be completely deserted, but that wasn't what had caught Erio's attention. After following the group for a short distance, the forward had noticed that the executors hadn't reacted to Wyvern or any of the kids at all. Erio and Signum had been confronted by a small squad of the gunman just by trying to cross the road, and yet Wyvern was somehow permitted to lead a small gang through the city at this time of the night.
Throwing caution to the winds, Erio had hooked onto the back of the group and followed them as they continued marching down the streets for nearly another hour, whilst singing raucously and generally making an awful racket. Seeing him as one of "them", none of the executors tried to stop Erio or arrest him like before. None of them had so much as looked at him.
As long as I was with Wyvern and his group, I could pass through Uminari City safely without being harassed by a single executor. There weren't any other groups of kids on the street doing this – he must have had some kind of influence which protected him and anyone else he was with. If I kept myself close to Wyvern, I didn't need to hide at all.
After listening to the other kids talking, and to Wyvern in particular, Erio discovered some very interesting information indeed. It turned out that Wyvern was a member of the House of Yagami and thus had free rein to pass wherever he wanted, regardless of whether it was curfew or not. Erio began listening very carefully at this point – here was evidence that there were ways to pass among the executors unchallenged. If he could only find out more about this House of Yagami, and maybe find a way to gain a similar kind of immunity, then moving across Mid-childa would become a lot easier...
And that's where it got better, the other kids were saying excitedly to each other. Tonight was a special night. Tonight, Wyvern was offering such protection to the newest member of his little gang assembled here tonight...
"Bring on the revolution!" the girl with the eyepatch was shouting. "Down with Chrono and his stupid flashy palace!"
"Burn it all!" the guy with the rollerskates yelled. "Burn it for Mid-childa!"
"Stamp on it! Kick it! Punch it!"
"Send it into space!"
I don't even know what they're doing, Erio thought hopelessly. They were yelling like this for hours earlier on, and now they're doing it all over again in this cramped little shed. Why are they doing it in a shed? Whose shed is it?
The whole premise seemed incredibly silly and rather childish, and Erio had drifted off to sleep halfway through after he tired of the process. When he woke up again, it was morning and the noise from the gang was still going on as if it would never stop. The forward groaned, unsure if he could put up with much more of this. If it was now no longer curfew, then the executors would have hopefully left the streets, leaving him free to go back to finding Signum and the others.
But first...he had to know if Wyvern really was intending on granting immunity to one of his fellow members. If Nanoha and the others were close by in Uminari City, then they too could be having trouble with the executors. If he, Erio, could somehow get hold of this special protection that Wyvern was offering...
"It's the moment you've all been waiting for!" the guy in the rollerskates declared, standing on a makeshift stool as if making a speech. "Tonight, one of you, and one only, will become our newest member! Tonight, Wyvern is offering the power of a Yagami Bracelet to whoever meets our requirements!"
"It's not night anymore!" the girl with the eyepatch yelled. "It's morning!"
"This morning, then! We will sweep the streets of Uminari City with our presence! We will roam the night, singing songs of victory and stealing Pokemon cards from peasants!"
"Burn!"
Erio held his head in his hands with a groan. He had already wasted far too much time in this stupid childish excuse for a kid's gang. He had survived the night, thanks to Wyvern's influence, and that was enough. The time had come, however, for him to make his move. If he spent another hour stuck in this shed with these two -
"Hey, wait up," Wyvern said suddenly, looking around the shed. "Where'd everyone go?"
The girl with the eyepatch, along with the burly guy next to her, put one hand up to shield their eyes as they pretended to look into the distance at the same time. All the kids from before had apparently gotten bored and left. The only other person left was Erio, and the red-haired forward was already on the verge of walking out.
"Our recruits have all left us," the girl with the eyepatch mourned. "Now we shall never rule the seas."
"Didn't you try to stop them?" the blue-haired boy asked. "We were supposed to get a new member for our gang. I even made this bracelet specially last night." His eyes shifted onto Erio, and he quickly sprang into action. "You there! Stop right there! You could be the recruit that we've been searching for!"
Bleary-eyed, Erio paused with one hand on the door of the shed. He was not in the mood for this.
"What?" he said sleepily.
"Don't you want to join our gang?" the girl in the eyepatch asked. "Wyvern's offering a Yagami Bracelet to the next person who makes it as one of us. No more Harlaown Program for you if you get in!"
What is this gang of theirs anyway? Erio thought irritably. I don't know how I managed to end up here and I need to concentrate on finding the rest of the Bureau. But if these people are serious about what they're saying...
"A Yagami Bracelet?" he enquired wearily. "Will it keep the executors away from me?
"Yes!"
Suspicion rose in Erio's eyes. "Are you sure?"
Wyvern jumped down from the stool and kicked it into the corner of the shed. "It won't take too long to give you the tests. Five minutes, tops. After that you'll be part of our gang with this new Yagami Bracelet that I need to get rid of." He dropped his voice down to a whisper. "If you manage to pass, don't tell anyone that I'm giving the bracelet to you, alright? My sister doesn't like it when I use my work to save people. We're not supposed to share."
Erio faced the blue-haired teenager as conflicted feelings rose up inside him. In all honesty, he had just been about to give up on this small chance of being able to stand up against the executors who had plagued him and Signum before, and go back to relying on his own skills like he always had. However, when Erio looked at Wyvern in that moment, he saw that the other boy was being open and frank in his intentions. A kid of about his age, who seemed almost concerned enough to want to help. But why would such a person want to do that when the two of them had never even met before?
Maybe I could be mistaken about this, Erio thought strangely, but he could be genuine. At the same time, is Wyvern really trying to convince me that a simple bracelet can keep the executors off your back forever?
"Why are you trying to help me?" the Bureau mage asked curiously. He knew from training at Riot Force 6 that good people certainly existed in the world – all the friends he had made in his life up to now were evidence enough of that. However, this was no longer the same world that he lived in. "You don't even know my name."
The blue-haired kid shrugged. "What's your name, then?"
"Erio. Erio Mondial."
"I know your name now," Wyvern said simple-mindedly. "And I don't want to "help" you, Erio, I just want to find someone worthy to join our gang. The Yagami Bracelet has kept the executors away from me all my life and it's my incentive to you to sign up. If you pass the test and become our newest member, I'll throw in the Yagami Bracelet to you for free. That's all." He squinted at him in the narrow rays of the sun's light. "You interested or not?"
Surely that can't be it, Erio thought to himself. If something like a Yagami Bracelet actually existed, then it wouldn't be something you'd just give away so easily on a basic whim. Despite what the other boy had said, Erio believed that Wyvern had a good heart. The presence of the executors and curfew suggested that a lot had gone wrong in the world, and Wyvern must have wanted to give to bracelet to someone to protect them from such dangers.
As long as Wyvern keeps his promise, I might as well go for this. Immunity from the executors would be a big help to Nanoha and the others, and it's time I was finally of some use. I can't believe I have to join a kid's gang for this though. Maybe I can make a break for it at the end and hope for the best.
"All right," Erio said patiently, stepping into the centre of the room. "What do you want me to do?"
The other two members of the strange group jumped forward and high-fived in mid-air before whirling around to face him with a buzzing excitement. It was quite startling and more than a little random.
"Three tests you must pass before you can be considered worthy enough to join us!" the girl with the eyepatch declared. "First, you must pass the test of mind! The mysteries of the universe must be unravelled before your eyes!"
"If you succeed in doing that, you must then pass the test of strength!" the guy with the rollerskates announced. "The earth will crumble before you as you hold absolute power in your hands!"
The two of them struck a dramatic pose for a few moments, before slowly looking over at Wyvern expectantly. After several more seconds of maintaining this painfully uncomfortable position, they started to make frantic hand gestures towards him.
"What?" Wyvern said, looking confused at first before catching on. "Oh. Right. Yeah, after that there's the third test. I can't remember what it is right now."
"You can't remember?" the girl with the eyepatch said incredulously. "How could you forget such an important step in the initiation of a new gang member?"
Wyvern shook his head. "Can anyone else remember what it was?"
There was an awkward silence in which all three members of the tiny group exchanged nervous glances. Erio waited patiently for them to make up their minds, hoping that this Yagami Bracelet would really be worth all of this trouble.
"Fine," the blue-haired kid said at last. "You two can go ahead and give Erio the first two tests whilst I try and remember what the third one is."
"All right then!" yelled the girl with the eyepatch. "Let the first test begin!"
Erio wished that they would keep the noise down a bit. His ears were still ringing from the pandemonium earlier and there really wasn't any point in the three of them bellowing away like gorillas when all of the other kids had already left. In the end, he was just left on his own and getting shouted at by three crazy kids in an empty shed.
"The test of mind!" the strange girl said loudly, producing a jumble of papers from the back of the shed which she deposited in a clustered heap at Erio's feet. "To possess the intelligence needed for one of us, you must complete a series of fiendishly difficult questions, the likes of which nobody has ever been to calculate before - "
Erio picked up the sheaf of papers and skimmed through them quickly, keen to get this over and done with. If they would just give him the Yagami Bracelet already so that he could see how it worked...Strangely enough, the notes in front of him were filled with a long list of mathematical problems. They didn't look very hard at all.
"You want me to do maths problems?" he asked.
The girl with the eyepatch was having none of it. "Do not say that word to me," she commanded imperiously. "Only by possessing the smartest of brains can you possibly bypass the impossible problems presented in front of you - "
"But this is first-year calculus," Erio said seriously. "This is really easy." He had already completed the sums halfway down the first page, and worked away through the rest of the calculations almost without any effort at all. Reaching the end in no time, he dropped the papers at his feet. "Is there any point to this?"
"Of course there's a point!" the girl exclaimed, snatching the maths notes away from him. "That's my algebra homework. If I don't get it in by tomorrow my teacher will keep me behind a grade!"
That settles it, Erio thought determinedly as he deliberately turned away to the window so that he wouldn't have to look at anyone. I can no longer take these people seriously anymore. Each and every one of them have gone completely cuckoo.
"Now for the second test!" the guy with the out-of-place rollerskates declared, stepping into view. It would be more accurate to say that he slowly rolled into the picture whilst trying not to skid on his wheels. "Next up is the test of strength! To pass this one, Erio, you're going to have to defeat me in single combat!"
The Bureau mage perked up upon hearing this. This boy was challenging him to a fight? Finally, something which would use his real abilities. Erio turned to face his opponent, knowing that even though his opponent was about twice as big as he was, he still had a lot of advantages on his side. With Strada's charged attacks, boost in speed and magic, as well as being an experienced mage of the TSAB, there would be no trouble in taking down just an ordinary kid. Maybe he could dampen his attack and try not to hurt the other guy too much. They were still only a civilian.
The boy with the rollerskates had withdrawn to the opposite end of the shed, preparing to charge right at him. The wheels on his shoes were making it a bit difficult for him to do so, however, so he was just sliding backwards very slowly.
"Coming right at you, Erio!" he yelled. "Get ready!"
The forward clenched one fist tightly, aware of Strada's Standby Form on his right arm. Time to transform and finish this stupid test at last.
" Strada!" he said sharply. "Set U- "
Without warning, the guy on the rollerskates pushed off from the wall and shot right at Erio, bellowing a highly overexaggerated battle-cry. Caught off guard, the Bureau mage flung himself out of the way before Strada's transformation could initiate properly, stumbling over his feet and catching at the wheels of the boy charging towards him.
His opponent barrelled towards him, tripped over Erio's outstretched foot, and cartwheeled into the opposite wall with a melodramatic oof as he hit the ground. The forward hesitated, a little concerned that the boy might be hurt.
"You have defeated me," his downed opponent wheezed at last, attempting to get back on his rollerskates and failing majestically. "You've done it. You have passed two of the three tests needed to join our gang."
"You just tripped over my foot," Erio said flatly. He was still feeling disappointed at losing the opportunity to transform and fight properly for once. This was just extremely silly. "Can someone just give me the third test already?"
Wyvern looked at him in surprise, a worried expression forming upon his face. "You passed the first two tests already? Both of them?"
"Yes! I did them right now in front of you!"
The blue-haired kid sighed. "I was preoccupied with trying to remember what the last test was. I still can't remember it." Whimsically, he detached a black and yellow metal bracelet from his left hand and handed it to Erio. "You'll just have to be a regular member until it does come back to me, I suppose."
"You're letting him join anyway?" the girl with the eyepatch complained. "That's not fair!"
Erio stared at the bracelet that Wyvern had just given to him. There was a peculiar energy running through it, one which resonated with his own magical field, but not something he could describe with any words that he knew. So this was the Yagami Bracelet he had heard so much about. How could something like this ward off the executors?
"How does this thing work?" the forward asked, turning the strange device over in his hand. "What happens if I put it on?"
Wyvern held up his other hand, upon which an identical bracelet was wrapped tightly around his wrist, lights blinking periodically.
"The Yagami Bracelet will access your HX chip directly," the blue-haired kid explained. "Once it does that, you will be manually erased from the waiting list of the Harlaown Program. You will also no longer register on the executors' radar."
HX chip? Harlaown Program? I don't know anything about either of those things! Is it safe to use the technology of this universe like that? What if...?
"I don't think I have a HX chip," Erio said slowly. "What happens if I put the Yagami Bracelet on and I don't have a HX chip?"
The blank looks which met his gaze told the forward that this had not been a wise question to ask. He might as well have asked them if he could change the laws of physics.
"Everyone has a HX chip," the girl with the eyepatch said. "They gave me one as soon as I was born. How can you not have one, Erio? Are you an alien from another world?"
For a few seconds, the red-haired forward tried to think of something to say in his defence which could explain anything that he would ever have to explain. Then he remembered that none of this really mattered, because he wasn't here to join a childish gang which roamed Mid-childa wasting time and waking up the neighbourhood in the middle of the night. He was here to claim the Yagami Bracelet as his prize and to bring something useful back to Signum and the others as soon as he could find them.
Now that he actually had the Yagami Bracelet at long last, Erio knew for sure that he didn't want to waste another minute here. He had to get moving already, starting right from the present moment.
Without bothering to answer the girl's question, the red-haired forward bolted through the door of the shed and disappeared out onto the streets of Uminari Street with the precious bracelet clutched tightly in his fist. He had never been so glad to get out of there.
The three members of Wyvern's miniscule gang watched him go with mixed emotions.
"So he is an alien?" the girl with the eyepatch enquired. "Is he coming back?"
"I bet he isn't," the guy with the rollerblades groaned. "You didn't tell him that this is actually my mum's shed, did you?"
"I didn't say anything. I'm just glad someone finally did my maths homework. Wyvern, why do you never help me with my schoolwork? Wyvern?" She pulled a face as the blue-haired kid began to walk out as well. "Wyvern, come back here! We've still got gang stuff to discuss!"
Fate drifted in and out of consciousness for many hours, only dimly aware of what was going on in the world around her. It was as if her sense of self was constantly shifting through a transition of different realities from one dream to another, so that it soon became difficult to tell whether she was experiencing something for real or if everything was just a jumble of pictures and sounds drawn from her imagination.
Thankfully, it wasn't anything like the dreams she'd had before with Oguba when Nanoha's life had been in jeopardy. It felt more as if someone had sent her down to the bottom of the sea with the pressure of the ocean's waters pushing down on her body, yet had also equipped her with adequate lifelines for her to gradually make her way back up to the surface again. At the same time, Fate didn't feel alone, because she could hear the voices of thousands others who were struggling through exactly the same thing as her. It was strange, but the efforts of so many seemed to relax the tension on her mind, and she soon found herself able to swim forward and into the open air...
She had awoken at one point, hazy from the effects of the gas that the executors had used upon her. The feel of a pillow plumped cosily underneath her head, the marching of soldiers in the distance, the open expanse of the building which she was housed in; hundreds and hundreds of people drifting around her like mindless zombies, silently watching the giant red letters which appeared on the big screen as if their lives depended on it...
Hungry, tired and disorientated. Fate remembered cramming food into her mouth, simple rations that the executors were dishing out to every person in the facility. Some of her lost energy began to return as she swallowed it all down. There had been repercussions to refusing the dinner at the House of Testarossa, but she hadn't known that it would be like this.
The sounds remained the same no matter what state she woke up in. No music. No talking, nothing that could constitute eventful conversation. There was some shouting and screaming at one point, but Fate soon forgot about it as she drifted back into sleep to recuperate. The only voice which she really remembered during all this time was the one which gave hourly announcements on the general status of the Harlaown Program, but even that seemed sapped of all life.
The Harlaown Program. Executors. Ordinary people wandering around with their spirit and willpower drained from their bodies as their eyes flicked up towards the giant screen overhead, watching and waiting. Fate didn't understand any of it, but as she woozily approached the surface of the dense ocean from which she was struggling to break free, she felt that she knew a little about what they might be experiencing.
Are you scared? the shadow of a voice at her ear seemed to tease her. It was hard to make out and was in danger of being lost into memory, just like so many other things in this place. A peal of laughter filtered through Fate's dreams, caught in limbo between reality and imagination. Are you scared of the Harlaown Program?
The Enforcer stirred and rolled over, mumbling Nanoha's name. There a was mild ache around her wrist but she barely felt it. Concentrate on swimming to the surface.
You're just one of us, the voice said soothingly. It doesn't matter how you started out. We're all the same in the end, aren't we? Everyone has to reach the top of the waiting list eventually and give themselves to the Harlaown Program. But it's sad too, isn't it? Our lives aren't worth anything as people of Mid-childa. A pause, or maybe a gap in her memory. Maybe this part had already happened. Fate? Fate...Harlaown? The machine says that's what your name is. It has to be wrong, right? Chrono is the only Harlaown left, and who knows how much longer he can hold out for?
Fate tried to move her left arm, but something was holding it in place. The pain in her wrist was beginning to grow, stabbing past the pleasurable haze that kept her away from the harshness of reality. She was so close to breaking the surface now, so close that she could almost feel the air on her face again.
I'm no one special, said the voice sadly. I've never been important. I'm a citizen of Uminari City, just like you, right? The Harlaown Program took away a lot of my friends and family. I watched them go, thinking that this had to be worth something. Vivio Harlaown couldn't be wrong, could she? She wouldn't want something like this for us, would she, Fate? A sigh of regret, perhaps of avid loneliness. I'm sorry. Can I call you Fate? The machine says that's your name. I don't know if it's malfunctioning, but the executors don't like it if we talk to one another.
The pressure of the water on her body was no longer a burden anymore. She was swimming hard and fast as the light from above grew brighter and brighter, spreading out across her face as the Enforcer forced her head above water at last, sucking in deep lungfuls of air. Treading water with bare determination, Fate realised that she was the only one who had surfaced. The thousands of other people that she had sensed before...they were all gone.
I don't know if you can hear me anymore, Fate, the voice went on, growing steadily weaker. Maybe I'm just talking to myself. I guess I'm just lonely with no one else to talk to. I...I know I'm a complete stranger to you, but I just wanted to talk with someone before...before I went. That's okay, isn't it, Fate? They just want to wipe us out, all of us, just to keep the population under control. That's supposed to be good, right? They're just trying to keep Mid-childa alive, whoever "they" are.
Where did everyone go? Fate thought, turning around in the water as she searched around frantically. There were so many people here before. I know they were here. How can thousands of people just disappear so quickly like that? They weren't part of my imagination, they were real, they were real people...
I'm really sorry, Fate, said the quiet voice, barely audible anymore. I have to go now. The announcement says that I'm...I'm next to be taken. The executors are coming for me. The voice was frightened and scared, dropping down to a faint whisper. When you wake up, I think I'll already be dead...Please. Don't let them do the same thing to you, Fate. I have to go. The voice sounded like it was about to break down completely. Thank you for...giving me...such hope again...thank you, Fate...
The pain in Fate's wrist became almost agonising, breaking right through the numbing wall which had risen up in her mind. The ocean around her shuddered as if struck by a great force and the waters rippled ferociously in all directions, lifting up into the form of a great tsunami which distorted rapidly as it split into three. The aquatic world surged up as one and cracked down the middle violently, disintegrating as the Enforcer was propelled forth into true reality...
Fate sat up bolt upright in the bed of the detention facility as something stabbed into her left wrist yet again. She had been lying here the whole time, perhaps for hours. Metal braces and restraints held her prisoner as a machine next to her clamped a strange device down onto her wrist. She felt a pair of needles drum into her skin, and Fate gritted her teeth in pain. Rows and rows of computer code appeared on the machine's monitors as it attempted to repeat the process.
What's happening? Why are they doing this to me?
"Host body deemed incompatible," the machine intoned in a robotic voice. "HX chip cannot be implanted. Attempting to modify host body for repeated implant."
HX chip? Incompatible? With mounting horror, Fate saw that the machine had revolved around to reveal a series of curved blades, scalpels and drill-like tools which it positioned right above her wrist. Desperately, she tried to break the restraints that held her down to the bed, but the metal cuffs had tightened around each of her joints in a vice-like grip. She was unable to budge any of them by a single inch.
Through a mist of blind panic, the Enforcer realised that her right hand was curled up in a clenched fist even underneath the hard cuffs. She must have been keeping it clenched like that ever since the executors had captured her, even whilst she was asleep...Why was that? Experimentally, Fate squeezed her right fist a little tighter and felt the presence of a small object inside. Something triangular, burning with magical power...
The machine clamped down harder on her left wrist, a trio of serrated blades springing out to encircle it. "Beginning modification," it announced. "Personal data of host body has already been registered. Preparing to implant HX chip for complete integration into the Harlaown Program."
Fate squeezed the magical device concealed in her fist until it almost cut into her skin.
"Bardiche! SET UP! Impulse Form!"
The Barrier Jacket expanded around her in a rush of magic, shattering the restraints on her right arm instantly. As the form of Bardiche's glowing sword of energy extended from her right hand, Fate kicked out hard with both legs to free herself, twisting round at her hip to give her increased leverage. The remaining cuffs on her waist and lower body bent and creaked at first underneath the incredible force she was exerting on them, then gave way as they were ripped from the bed completely.
Her left arm was still trapped underneath the machine. As the blades descended towards her wrist to stab down with morbid intent, Fate frantically tried to wrest the rest of her body free. The bonds on her shoulder and upper arm shuddered and broke apart easily, but her wrist remained locked in place beneath the machine's reinforced clamp on her.
With a desperate cry she whirled Bardiche round in an arc with her right hand and sliced through the upper half of the machine in a single go. The blades disintegrated in the wake of her magic and the metal clamp on her wrist melted clean off as she yanked her reddened arm free, springing off the bed to nurse her injuries.
Smoke erupted from the machine as Fate plunged her sword into its centre and twisted the blade round inside. Mangled electronic gurgles and static came from the mechanoid whilst it rotated in a circle, trying in vain to repair itself. Pulling Bardiche out again, the Enforcer lashed out in a clean kick against the back of the sinister machine so that it ruptured from within and collapsed into several pieces, hissing as it did so. The monitor collapsed as it was smashed into the floor, and the status lights rapidly faded to black.
Breathing heavily from her narrow escape, Fate rubbed her wrist painfully where a series of red marks had been grooved into her skin, almost seeming to resemble a line of computer code. Whatever that thing had been trying to do to her, it had not been very successful. She couldn't know if the noise of the scuffle had been heard by anyone here in the detention facility, but for the moment Fate couldn't sense any more danger. She could relax for the time being.
The room she was in had nothing else in it, save for the familiar screen of red letters positioned above the door. A list of names and times scrolled down indefinitely, updating every few minutes as a new entry was added to the list of the Program. Fate recalled having seen the same screen all over the detention facility during her hazy memories from before, watching as people stared at the red letters with blank expressions, seeing them nod hopelessly as their name came up next on the list...
Just like in the House of Testarossa, the silence here was chillingly all-encompassing. The difference here, however, was that Fate knew for sure that there had been thousands of people here just hours ago. Now there were none. Even the kindly voice which had spoken to her in her sleep seemed to have disappeared into the void.
Where did they all go? What happened to all the people here?
She stepped closer to the red screen, reading through the list of names that went on and on for seemingly forever. The majority of the names said next to them: Execution Complete. With a cold feeling in her throat, Fate realised there was only one thing that that could mean when you applied such words to a human being. Her heart felt hard in her chest as she went back through the entire database, watching silently as hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of entries came up, going back years and years. The same two words came up every single time. Execution Complete.
What are they doing in this world? The people who I saw before...this is what must have happened to them. That's why no one's here any more and I'm the last one left. If that machine had managed to implant a HX chip inside me or whatever it's called, I might not have woken up at all!
This is what the executors do to people in the Harlaown Program? A program named after me?
A chill ran down her spine as she realised who else might be on the list of victims. There were so many people contained within the database here, enough to include the entire of population of Mid-childa many times over...enough to include people that she would know...
Quickly, Fate began to search for all of the members of the TSAB that came to mind, all the people who had supported her in the past. She started with the forwards at first: Subaru, Tiana, Erio, Caro...
Each of them brought up the same thing. Execution Complete. Each of them had already been killed by the Harlaown Program many years before. Her hands shaking, Fate tried to find Shari, Mariel and Ginga, and found exactly the same result. They, too, had died in precisely the same manner. This couldn't be real. How could...how could everyone in the Bureau be dead? Had Oguba really pushed her ahead so many years in time? What had happened to the Bureau in this reality?
With dread rising up inside her, Fate inputted a search for Nanoha's name.
There were no results, none whatsoever. The screen returned an error and informed her that there had never been anyone by that name within the entire database of Harlaown Program. Despite her initial feelings, Fate felt herself relax somewhat. It didn't give her any real leads on finding the Ace of Aces, but at least she knew that Nanoha hadn't been taken by the Program like so many others had...
Strangely enough, when Fate tried to look for any entries of the members of the Wolkenritter, she came across the same thing as with Nanoha. The Program couldn't find anything at all about the Wolkenritter: it obviously didn't recognise who the Wolkenritter were. Was it possible that Signum and Vita and the others somehow didn't exist in this universe? On the other hand...
She searched for Hayate's name and found something even more peculiar. The words flashed up before her eyes - Yagami Hayate: Removed From Program. That made even less sense. Just what was going on here? As if that wasn't bad enough, when she tried looking for Chrono's name, a jumble of coding errors went haywire across the whole screen and the entire routine simply crashed.
If Fate was to rely on the internal records of the Harlaown Program, then virtually everyone in the Bureau had been pronounced long-dead, and Nanoha and the Wolkenritter apparently had never existed. As for what could have happened to Hayate or Chrono, Fate didn't even know where to start. Where was she supposed to go from here? She wanted to be united with Nanoha more than anything, but the entire universe was obviously mucked up in so many different ways. Finding Nanoha could be the least of her problems.
The Enforcer hesitated, wondering if she should try looking for her own name. Her capture by the executors would surely mean that she would already be listed as being on the Program, but Fate was still unsure of what she would find as a result. She tried it anyway, deciding she had nothing else to lose.
Two entries came up on the screen, both under her name, though neither of them shared the name Harlaown. There were two different Fate Testarossas listed on the Program? How...?
The door exploded as a high-pressured shot of plasma ripped through from outside, burning a sizeable hole through the melting material and expelling the twisted metal in opposite directions. Fate threw herself backwards as the largest piece of shrapnel spun over her head and embedded itself in the red screen, quivering as sparks flew.
Who's there? An executor?
She hunched down behind the bed for cover, listening intently as she brought Bardiche up in one hand. The sharp sound of boots echoing on metal came to her ears.
"Please come out with your hands up, ma'am," a man's voice said from outside, presumably the one who had fired. "The Harlaown Program has informed us that you have rejected the implantation of your HX chip against all protocol. We are also aware that you have displayed signs of violent and irrational behaviour and possess highly dangerous weaponry which is a threat to the people of Mid-childa. Drop your weapons and come out peacefully, and we will do you no harm."
Is he crazy? Fate thought. If that shot had hit me and I hadn't been wearing my Barrier Jacket, I could have been killed on the spot! He expects me to just surrender after a greeting like that?
She raised her voice to call out to the man. "And then what?" she said challengingly. "You want me to come out just to be killed in a different fashion?"
"No, ma'am," the gunman said placidly. "You have been registered into the Program, but execution cannot proceed until your HX chip has been implanted properly. I'm only trying to help you, ma'am. There is a procedure to follow."
Fate felt like laughing in his face. "If I had let that machine of yours stick a metal chip in my body, I wouldn't have a hand anymore! And what if I did have this chip implanted in me and allowed you to continue with your Program? That's the same as being killed, isn't it?"
"Of course not!" the man said, sounding rather taken aback. "Even as a royal executor of Commander Chrono, with the authority to kill at will, I would still prefer to avoid bloodshed if possible. Shooting you down now would be called murder, ma'am. Your death at the hands of the Harlaown Program, however, would be another step in saving Mid-childa from the peril of overpopulation."
Overpopulation? Does he seriously think that such a thing justifies the whole Program? He even sounds like he really thinks it's the right thing to do!
So many times before had she found herself fighting against people who weren't necessarily evil, but who believed so passionately in their cause that they would corrupt themselves, even give their very lives to defend it. No one was born with a bad heart, but people changed and twisted until they became even more terrible than the natural monsters.
"I'm sorry to say this," Fate said mildly, rising up from her position of cover. "But you've been deceived, executor. Someone's been playing with your morals over a long period of time to make you think that you're in the right, just so long as you're not the one pulling the trigger. In the end, you're still destroying the lives of countless people who you don't even know."
A second charged plasma shot screamed through the door and almost hit her. Fate ducked down again as the attack rocked the entire room, ripping into the plaster of the wall behind her.
"Please do not insult my sense of ethics, ma'am," the royal executor said, his voice hardening as he drew back his weapon to power it up again. "It seems that you are mistaking me for one of the incompetent lackeys which wander Uminari City during curfew, mindlessly arresting people whilst possessing very little experience in combat. I, however, have been given the authority to take the lives of those who refuse to give themselves to the Harlaown Program." The hum of energy coming from his weapon began to rise in magnitude. "People like you, ma'am, are the reason why Mid-childa continues to die every day!"
He fired again, blasting the outside wall repetitively to take down the weakened supports. Fate kept herself in a crouch, not willing to go out there and risk getting hit by such a high-intensity attack, especially when she still couldn't see her enemy from here. Plaster and dust rained down on her from above, and she realised that the ceiling was about to collapse on her. The royal executor intended to bury her alive or force her out into the open.
Damn it. If I go out there he'll have a clear shot at me! I could increase my speed and dash through before he fires the next blast, but what if he times it to coincide with my movement? I'll have lost my chance.
Chunks of the ceiling began to fall apart all around her. There was no more time to decide. Long-range attacks would usually be her choice in this situation, but doing anything like that would just contribute to the collapse of the room even more. Quickly, she gripped Bardiche's hilt between her teeth, knowing that she would need both of her hands free.
"You can't stay in there forever, ma'am!" the royal executor shouted, shooting through the last support. "It's time for you to face the music - "
Fate held on tightly to each side of the bed from behind, and shoved it forwards on its wheels with all of her strength. She kicked off from the wall behind, her weight adding extra force against the bed and increasing its rate of acceleration. As the ceiling caved in where she had been standing just seconds ago, she smashed through the remains of the door with her new makeshift battering ram. Another plasma shot seared across the surface of the bed, narrowly missing her.
She saw the face of the royal executor then, shining armour ablaze from head to toe with a handheld plasma cannon wired around his arms. His eyes widened as she spun the bed towards him at full speed, the wheels skidding across the floor as it went out of control.
His weapon charged up just in time, and he blasted the bed away from him at close-range, splitting it apart into an unrecognisable ruin. The recoil sent him flying into the wall heavily as Fate leaped free from the wreckage with Bardiche still held in her mouth. To her dismay, several more figures detached themselves from the shadows around her, their weapons aimed at her person.
More executors? I didn't think he'd bring along more reinforcements to back him up. Then again, it's what I would have done.
She had hit the first executor even before she had finished counting how many of them there were surrounding her. Six, seven, eight...no, nine of them. As her kick connected with his chin, Fate pulled Bardiche free from her mouth, glad to be able to relax her neck muscles at last. A rain of bullets came at her from the other side of the room, but it took only a slight movement for her to turn her sword onto the flat of its blade to deflect them.
I don't want to hurt these people too much. They may be executors, but they don't have bad hearts. They've just been misled by their superiors. The royal executor, however, was ready to crush me into pieces, and so I have little sympathy for him.
The executor furthest away from her changed the focus of his weapon and released a giant web of sticky strands towards Fate. He was attempting to capture her alive, but it would be a hopeless endeavour.
"Plasma Smasher!"
The enhanced bombardment spell roared from the palm of her left hand and lifted four executors off their feet completely, before sending them to land several metres down the hall as their useless guns fell from their hands. Admittedly she may have overdone it a bit, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Metal bent and bulked under the onslaught of her attack, and her remaining enemies staggered back as they tried to get away. Fate ignored them, her attention now on the foe she sensed behind her.
"Sonic Move,"
She shot to the right as the royal executor released an explosive burst of plasma at her back, too slow to even touch her. As he struggled to re-charge it again, Fate grabbed hold of the hand cannon from behind and tore it loose from his body. She hit him hard enough in the jaw to drive him to his knees, and then slammed her boot down onto his chest to press him onto the floor. Bardiche's golden blade whirled around to rest at his throat.
"Where is Nanoha?" Fate said, pressing her heel down harder still.
Unexpectedly, her adversary's face drained of all colour as he stared up at her in sudden terror. There was recognition in his eyes as he caught sight of the blonde hair flowing down her back, the calm red eyes gazing down at him, the curve of her face...
"N...no..." the royal executor whispered. "Lady...Lady Testarossa? Please...please don't..."
Upon hearing this, the other executors who were still on their feet dropped to their knees in awe and reverence. Murmuring under their breath, their eyes were wide with shock and terror as they stared at Fate. Each of them was looking at her as if they'd just seen a ghost.
The blonde Enforcer stared round at them, puzzled, and then took her foot off the royal executor, kicking his body away from her. He made no move to get up or even to try and get his weapon back. He seemed too frightened to move his body at all – all of the executors did.
So I've found a weakness, Fate thought. Now what?
Vita heard soft footsteps around her as she slowly blinked her eyes open, rolling onto her side next to Hayate's bed. They had spent a restful night in the guest chambers of the House of Yagami, safe from any attack. Though the Guardian Knight had been doubtful at first, she had trusted in Hayate's judgement. None of Yagami's servants had threatened them in any way since they had entered the mansion, and now Vita was even beginning to feel a little more comfortable in her surroundings.
As she opened her eyes and spread her arms around the bed covers, Vita smiled despite herself. She and Hayate had survived all of the life-threatening situations which had plagued them up to now, including both Grylmark and the executors. After having such a good night's rest, she would now be back to full magical power, and Hayate's blindness had already been cured to her knowledge...
Vita turned over to her left. The first thing she saw was Exoria was standing over Hayate's bed with a dagger raised in one hand, ready to stab down in a single blow.
"Hayate!"
A cold metal hand clamped over the Velka Knight's mouth from the shadows, followed by another that constricted about her throat. Vita struggled to wrest the arms away from her, but the attack had caught her by surprise and the lack of oxygen was already making her light-headed. Eyes wide at the sight of the dark-haired assassin by Hayate's side, she desperately tried to get her hands on Graf Eisen's Standby Form, just hanging from her neck-chain...
Her assailant removed their hand from her mouth for a moment to club her hard in the side of the head. Vita's vision went blurry as she clawed at the grip on her throat. She couldn't find Graf Eisen...it must have been taken from her whilst she slept...
"I am sorry for doing this to you, Vita," the Legion said, sliding their hand over her mouth again. "I know you must care about Hayate, just as I cared for my superior. In respect of such a human feeling, I will try not to kill you in one go."
The strength was ebbing from her body as she fought for oxygen. She could feel herself weakening, and she hated it. Another hard blow came down on the back of her head as Vita finally found the neck-chain underneath the Legion's metal hand...but Graf Eisen was not attached to it. She couldn't transform.
No! Hayate!
"Exoria has a mission to carry out," the cyborg continued mercilessly. "A mission which concerns the life of your Mistress of the Night Sky. I will not have you get in her way."
The Legion struck the back of the Velka Knight's neck hard with its clenched fist, circling the fingers of its other hand to cut into Vita's throat. With this last blow, Vita felt darkness wiping out the pain as she fell into unconsciousness without being able to let out another sound. Even as her senses began to fade, the red-haired Guardian Knight fought to break free. They were going to kill Hayate, right here and now. She couldn't let...she had to warn Hayate...whilst there was still...
The cyborg waited until Vita's body went limp in its hands, and then released her. It nodded to Exoria, indicating that she was all clear to go ahead for the assassination. All was going according to plan. The Legion considered ending the Guardian Knight's life right here and now, but they had not received any such orders. No, it would be better to give her to Felicity in the basement to devour. That would be a sensible course of action.
Turning around on its heel, the Legion gathered up Vita's unconscious form and left the bedroom without another word. It would be all up to Exoria now, and the Mistress of the Night who had been prepared specially for her.
A/N: Wyvern's gang and stuff is just silly comedy stuff but it's what Erio gets out of it which is significant.
Also, central plot point next chapter now that I've finally got everything else together. A few of the characters are for long-term stuff because sometimes I plan way too far in the future.