Uminari City was burning. Mass fires blazed out of control through the streets, lighting up the city like a firework as the majority of the rebels resorted to arson in a desperate effort to slow down the march of the executors. Under cover of the great clouds of smoke and deadly fumes which blanketed the sky, snipers and grenadiers crouched down low at every corner to take down anyone who came within range. Many also fell victim to the fires themselves, perishing in the infernos which ravaged the city, weapons still tightly gripped in their hands.
The military situation here was notably different from the bloody conflict going on in Cranagan. Here, the rebels were not as well-equipped, having little access to arms or resources of their own and were forced to resort to low-functioning guerilla tactics in order to retain any territory at all. A number of arsenals had been ransacked to acquire the weapons they needed for the uprising, and several armoured vehicles had been successfully hijacked in the process, but it was little more than an irritation against their opponents. The army of executors marching through the city seemed almost infinite in number; for every executor that fell, five more would immediately take their place.
Since a large percentage of Uminari City was made up of closely-knit residential areas, the executors were not employing the full amount of force at their disposal; they could afford to hold back if it meant that more innocent people could be spared from such violence. Already hundreds of homes had been burned to the ground with their terrified inhabitants forced out onto the perilous streets. A number of safe houses had been set up underground by some of the least aggressive of the rebels to take in anyone who needed help, but soon even these were suffering from overcrowding and a drain on already limited resources. The executors themselves had already been instructed to spare anybody who appeared to be unarmed, and were acting in a similar fashion.
Mines and other explosive devices were only some of the weapons being held back from the battleground on the executors' side. The only aircraft in use were those used for scouting and surveillance, and the same went for any armoured vehicles. Just like in Cranagan, an official announcement was broadcast to the citizens of Mid-childa with instructions on how to keep safe and secure, but it was soon drowned out by the rebels' constant gunfire.
Fate Harlaown flew up as high as she could to rise above the choking black cloud whilst still trying to keep as much of the battle in sight as possible. Coughing and spluttering on the smoke which rose up towards her, the Enforcer circled around to the southern part of Uminari City where the air was cleaner. Several groups of executors had detached themselves from the main army to extinguish the roaring flames sweeping through the streets, but it only made the smoke thicker. From what she could make out, virtually everyone on the ground had taken to wearing gas masks, just to be able to breathe properly whilst fighting.
Civil war in Uminari City? How did this happen? What happened to the government?
She could barely see anything through the thick wave of smoke, but below her the executors were slowly continuing their march through the city. It had been frightening to witness with her own eyes how quickly everything had unfolded. There had been no signal to attack from the rebels, and no direct order to fire from the executors; conflict had simply erupted between the two sides without any warning...
Something terrible must have happened in Mid-childa whilst she was unconscious in the detention facility. With only her limited knowledge of what this world was like, Fate could only imagine what it could have been.
Her first conscious thought upon gaining her own patch of freedom was I have to get out of here, away from this madness, away from all of this! But as the battle continued to rage on below her, Fate became aware that there was no immediate danger to herself. The only aircraft present in the battle were those being used for scouting and reconnaissance, and they were mainly keeping out of sight for now; the huge amount of smoke made it impossible to fly down too closely. In addition, the rebels weren't in possession of any weapons which could strike her from the ground.
No, she was in a position to take action without being attacked on all front. But now that she knew that, what was she supposed to do? Ordinarily, Fate would have tried to stop the rebellion from continuing any further, but the size and scale of the battle made that practically impossible. There were people killing each other and dying at every turn, and she couldn't even see most of what was going on. If she really wanted to stop the fighting, she was going to need an army of her own that was bigger than both sides combined...
Even if I did have an army which was that big – which isn't going to happen – how does that make me any better than the executors or the rebels? Fate turned to face towards the brunt of the fighting in the middle of the city, trying to think of something she could do, but the options available to her were so few. If there was a way to stop the uprising in a diplomatic, peaceful fashion, then I would be up for it. But that's even more unlikely to happen...Uminari City's virtually burning to the ground right now...
The Enforcer drew back as the smoke rose up higher in front of her. She was losing track of her primary goal here. If Nanoha had been caught up in the fighting here, then it would be even more difficult to find her. Any of the members of Riot Force 6 could be trapped down there in this civil war, and she wouldn't know. Then again, the executors in the detention facility had seemed completely convinced that Nanoha had not passed through Uminari City...
Wait, no. I don't have to worry about that. Fate slapped herself on the forehead. I'm thinking too hard about this. If anyone from the TSAB is in this city, all I have to do is try and home in on their magical field. That way, I'll have the location of any magic-users in the vicinity . It's a bit of a wide area to search, but I can spare the energy.
She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Here went nothing -
"Fate!"
The voice came from above her and slightly to the left, and Fate's heart leapt for an instant. There was only one person who would sound that happy to see her -
"Fate, I've been looking for you everywhere! Why did you run away from me so quickly?"
- and it wasn't her. It wasn't Nanoha. If she had had to rely on nothing more than her senses of hearing, the Enforcer wouldn't have been able to tell who this woman was at all. She was quite sure that she had never seen her in her entire life...but then why did she seem so familiar...?
Hovering in mid-air at a slightly higher altitude than her, the woman was dressed in garments of red and violet which seemed to shift eerily between metal and magic, as if she was really only there part of the time. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun at the rear of her head, and a dark veil covered almost all of her face. Only her blood-red eyes could be seen, staring right at Fate with a strange iciness which penetrated through to her heart.
Who is she? Fate thought. She already knew something here was dreadfully wrong. It shouldn't be possible for any magic-user to be in such close proximity to her without the Enforcer being able to sense the telltale signs of their magic...Even someone capable of disguising their tracks perfectly would leave a trail of residue caused by the use of magic.
As the Enforcer raised her body upwards to focus on the stranger, her eyes shot towards a set of markings on the veiled woman's right hand. Two thin letters blazed clearly against her skin: I.C.
Oh no, Fate thought, her initial excitement draining away on the spot. No. Tell me this isn't true. Tell me that the person who was my host at the House of Testarossa, the one who wrote me that letter and locked me in with no way of escape...tell me that person isn't...
"You," she said darkly. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"
The cold red eyes didn't blink at all, fixated on her with something that could be either passion, obsession or a mix of either.
"Have you really forgotten me, Fate?" the veiled woman said softly. Her clothes changed and shifted to a mild silver-white. "I've waited my whole life to be together with you again, just like we were destined to be. Love isn't so easily broken, Fate." She cocked her head over to one side, the hint of a humourless smile hidden beneath the veil. "You ran away from me last night, remember? You disappeared just as dinner was about to start, and it hurt me. I called out to you but you never replied. It hurt me, Fate. You won't hurt me again, will you?"
"Then you're the one who wrote me that letter," Fate said quietly, skimming over her last few words. She was only half-concentrating on the conversation, the rest of her mind trying to pinpoint the woman's magic. Try as she might, she still couldn't sense any magical power from her, not a thing...how on earth was this woman concealing it? She was obviously using magic to keep herself in the air, so how...? "You were my host last night," she said. "You locked me away in that room."
"Of course. I couldn't have you escaping from me." The veiled woman's gaze was quite intense now, her breathing speeding up as she drew closer to the Enforcer. "I love you, Fate...I always have. You'll come home with me again, won't you? We were having such a nice time..."
"I'll do no such thing!" The blonde mage raised Bardiche in both hands in defence. "I don't know who you are – I.C. or whatever you call yourself – but I've never met you in my life! Stay away from me!"
I heard the way she called after me and mistook her voice for Nanoha's. Nanoha's voice is always filled with love when she talks to me, but with this woman...There's a possessiveness, a controlling, dominating aspect of her which makes me want to keep her at least a mile away from me. I thought I was going to be re-united with Nanoha, not her!
The veiled woman was shaking her head sadly, still staring at Fate with those same red eyes, only now she seemed genuinely regretful. Her clothes had changed back to red and purple again, solidifying against her body as she turned her left hand and pointed it downwards.
"I'm sure you don't mean that, Fate," she whispered. "The Fate I knew would never say that. She would embrace me with open arms...or she would have, if she had been able to use them..." She clenched one fist tightly, and the letters I.C. faded into her skin and disappeared. "Oh, Fate, this must be so much for you to take in. You don't mean to hurt me, do you? You just need a little bit of persuasion..."
Her left hand had become sheathed in a mix of golden and purple energy, wrapping around her wrist in a large radius. The magic flow was powerful enough to make even Fate back away a little. How was I.C. doing this? Fate still couldn't detect any magic coming from her whatsoever, and yet...
"Typical," the Enforcer said, preparing herself for battle. "Just because I don't do what you want, you're going to attack me instead? You really think violence is the answer?"
The veiled woman's eyes went wide. "Violence, Fate? I really don't know what you mean. Taking the life of another is just another form of showing my love for you," She shook her head again, a sudden edge coming into her voice. "Why, you poor thing...the shock of being revived really must have been too much for you. I would never think of doing any harm to my Fate! Don't you understand? I'm not going to attack you!"
Alarm bells rang in Fate's mind as she saw the danger signs in I.C.'s face. "Wait - " she started to say, reaching towards her, but it was too late. The energy expanded from the veiled woman's hand in a blaze of magical power.
"Merge through equals and opposites divine to disrupt the course of nature! Antimatter Converse!"
The Enforcer threw herself backwards as the ensuing shockwave multiplied threefold and nearly cut through her arm. Purple and golden light exploded downwards from I.C.'s wrist, whipping round in a tornado-like spike of power which stabbed down into the ground below where executors and rebels were embroiled in combat. Under the influence of the spell, trees were uprooted and sucked into the energy flow; weakened buildings were wrenched apart or flattened completely. The people below didn't even have time to cry out before they were completely obliterated. Still the attack continued, drilling down into the ground and laying waste to everything around it...
"Stop it!" Fate shouted over the roar of magic, shielding herself with her free arm. "They didn't do anything to you!"
The veiled woman barely looked at her, her eyes sparkling from her show of destruction. Drawing in a deep breath, she swung the same hand round in a large curve to alter the target of her attack. The blaze of death followed the movement of her wrist, smashing burning houses apart and killing terrified rebels and executors alike. Even the giant cloud of smoke which covered Uminari City was forced to part before the unstoppable spell, a great circular hole burning through it from the bottom up.
With a single attack, the veiled woman had decimated almost an entire district of the city. It hadn't been enough to stop the uprising completely, but it had certainly slowed it down a lot. There must be over a hundred people dead down there because of her, and hundreds more wounded from the blast.
Is she insane? Fate thought, appalled by what she had just seen. She steeled herself to attack, realising that here was a truly dangerous enemy, one without any consideration for life at all. She's doing this just because I refused to come with her? She's not listening to me! Is she going to destroy all of Uminari City in exactly the same way?
"Stop it!" she cried, moving around to I.C.'s blind side with Bardiche raised high above her head. The veiled woman ignored her, continuing to destroy everything on the eastern side of the city that she could reach. "I said stop it!"
Holding nothing back, the Enforcer brought her shining blade down onto her opponent's back in a mix of fury and fear. Instead of striking flesh and bone, her weapon came up against something completely different, something that was constructed of pure energy. Whatever it was, the barrier expelled Bardiche's edge with a tremendous force which threw Fate all the way back again. With an effort, she managed to keep herself levitated in the air, though the blade of her weapon was now white-hot...
"Disengage," the veiled woman said calmly, and ceased her attack. The destructive whirlwind of magic quickly faded away into the air, the power returning to her wrist as she flexed her arm up against her shoulder. She didn't seem to have noticed that Fate had attacked her, nor did she seem weakened at all by the use of such a powerful spell.
"There was no need for that," Fate said weakly. "Just...just stop it. Those people did nothing to you. Leave them alone."
She had no idea what kind of ridiculously powerful magic this woman possessed – magic that couldn't even be detected as magic – but the Enforcer knew when she was outmatched. Even if she tried fighting her in a more powerful form, that wasn't going to stop I.C. from massacring even more people down on the ground. Fate was cornered on both fronts, and she was still alone. Finding Nanoha was still her main priority. If she did intend to fight such a deadly opponent, the place to do it would have to be a long way away from thousands of innocents of people, and that was not here.
The veiled woman interlocked her hands together and looked back towards her. "Have I been persuasive enough, Fate?" she said sweetly. "You should let me know if I haven't, because I was holding back a little."
"Yes, yes you have!" the Bureau mage said quickly. "I'll go back with you to the House of Testarossa. Anything you want." Her face creased in pain. "Just stop hurting them!"
Going back to that awful mansion was the last thing Fate wanted to do, but I.C. had left her with little other choice. The Enforcer didn't know what kind of plans the woman had in store for her, but she had no intention of blindly following them. For now, she would have to go with the flow and perhaps find out more about her in the process. Knowing your enemy was key: even such a powerful mage had to have a weakness somewhere.
"I knew you'd come round to my way of thinking, Fate," the veiled woman beamed. "We have so much to talk about at home, you and I – we really do! Come on. I'll show you the way again if you've forgotten it..."
But Fate wasn't listening. Her senses had picked up a tiny pinprick of magic from a great distance away, the sign of a mage. It wasn't something that anyone else would have detected, but it was instantly recognisable to her. The same sparkle of magic belonged to the woman that the Enforcer had been searching for ever since she had set foot in this new world. A mage that she had not stopped thinking about, not for a single moment.
Fate felt her heart stop in her chest as the magic gradually grew in magnitude. It was still so faint and far away, so far away, but...she knew who it belonged to...
"Nanoha?" Fate whispered, her throat dry. "Nanoha?"
The present members of the Wolkenritter, along with Erio and the two unison devices which made up the rest of their group, stood outside on the edge of the broken pavement. Bodies littered the street before them, with many more wounded soldiers running past to take cover from the enemy. Fiery projectiles plunged down into the houses nearby, adding to the thick fumes which already obscured the sky above Uminari City.
Slowly, Signum and Erio stepped into the centre of the road, fully transformed with their devices in hand. The two of them were the only ones in their party who had a physical weapon of their own. Gunfire rang out from every direction throughout the city, sounding from several miles away to just around the next corner. The noise kept the Bureau mages on their toes and in preparation for action, knowing that either side would probably attack them on sight. Whatever happened, they had to stick together. If any of them were separated in the smoke and confusion, it would be very difficult to find each other again, even in the event of using tracking magic.
Beneath all of the fighting and bloodshed, the march of the executors continued relentlessly as if counting off the minutes that everyone had left. The thunderous sound shook the ground with its passing, vast and all-encompassing to the extent that it had become background noise regardless of where you were in Uminari City. It was reminiscent of the beat of ancient war drums, never faltering for a second.
In all consideration, the Wolkenritter had been fortunate in that the house they had taken refuge in for all this time was located in the opposite direction from the tide of the rebellion. The front lines were still a long way off, meaning that they had managed to avoid the brunt of the more vicious attacks. Many other residences in the southern districts had already been burned to the ground by the use of military flamethrowers and Molotov cocktails. It was likely, however, that before too long their own refuge would meet a similar fate. That didn't really matter, of course: none of them had any intention of going back into hiding.
"Positions!" Signum said sharply. "Square-four formation. Close combat mages facing outwards to protect Shamal. Zafira, you take the rear. Rein and Agito – support."
Erio froze in confusion next to her as everyone began to get to their places around them. "What am I supposed to be doing?"
"You're with me. Look sharp!"
A lone executor appeared at the opposite end of the street, started in surprise at the sight of their strange group and then raised their gun to fire. A volley of plasma-induced projectiles burned the air around them as Signum deflected the majority of the bullets with a magical shield, but Erio could feel hot pain sear faintly across his skin from a near miss. For him, at least, their Barrier Jackets were not completely impervious to the weapons of their enemies...
A growl uttered from the Guardian Beast in their group as Zafira leaped towards the executor in a single bound, changing into his animal form in mid-air. He crashed into the executor's chest with full force, now a large mass of blue fur, and bowled the gunman over into the ground. The rifle continued firing vertically into the air for a few seconds more until the Guardian Beast snapped it in half.
Their group had barely recovered from the encounter before a large band of rebels burst in from one of the side-alleys, drawn by the scuffle. Armed with grenades and handguns of their own, the soldiers howled a battle-cry as one and opened fire. Taken by surprise by an attack from the opposite direction, Erio's mind clamped up completely in the midst of bullets flying over his head. A live grenade landed right in front of him, a blue light on it flashing rapidly in countdown, and the forward lost his nerve in a moment of sheer panic. Everything he had ever learnt in survival training fell apart all at once. Erio broke away from the rest of the Wolkenritter in abject terror, covering his face and body with his hands instinctively as he struggled to put as much distance between himself and the bomb as possible. This was too much. There were people dying on all sides of this desperate war, and he didn't know how to take this...he couldn't...
There were more and more rebels and executors crowding the same street now, rushing in at them from all sides as the front lines drew closer and closer to their position. Erio heard the grenade go off in his mind, but not what came after it. Fear had immobilised the muscles of his body as he realised that thanks to his cowardice, their enemies would be able to break the Wolkenritter's formation apart and wipe out the rest of their party very easily.
He heard Shamal calling his name through the dreadful noise of battle and war, and forced himself to move. What had he done? Had he left a gaping hole in the defences of their group which would allow them to be separated from each other once again?
Erio tried to focus on his own magic, trying to locate just one member of the Wolkenritter, but he couldn't calm down his mind enough to concentrate properly. The smoke was in his eyes and he could barely see at all anymore. All he could hear was the non-stop shooting of executors and rebels all around him, buildings being blasted into oblivion across the street as explosive devices went off and the death toll sky-rocketed. Even his personal training at Riot Force 6 hadn't prepared him for this. This was war.
Where did Signum and everyone else go? I can't breathe through the smoke and if I try to move from here then I'm going to be caught up in the shooting! Somebody...somebody help me...please!
His arm went to the mysterious Yagami Bracelet on his side. The device that Wyvern had given him, promising that it would protect him from the executors. Did he dare put it on now, at a time like this? What would it do to him?
Erio felt his eyes tearing as more smoke billowed over him. The fumes were slowly choking him to death whilst cutting off every chance at escape he had. It was now or never. I'm going to try it...
The young mage had just started to slide the thin bracelet over his arm when he felt two powerful arms grab onto his shoulders from behind. Yelling in muffled protest through the smoke, Erio abandoned his attempt with the Yagami Bracelet and tried to twist away from his unknown aggressor. Spinning Strada around in his hands, he tried to lash out at his opponent but failed to land a solid blow.
The next thing he knew, the grip on his shoulders had wrenched his whole body upwards and off the ground so that he was being pulled up through the smoke completely. The heat intensified and seared his face and hair, and it was all that Erio could do just to keep hold of Strada and the Yagami Bracelet as he was dragged through the entire cloud at high speed. The pull on his shoulders meant that he was literally flying, rising higher and higher, the sound of the fighting fading away as the ground was left far behind...
And then he had broken through the last of the smoke, gasping for breath as clean air circulated around him, a refreshing release from the war which still raged below. Erio felt his ascent gradually slow to a stop, and his body slumped in mid-air to rest against the person still holding him by his shoulders. The forward's face was dirtied and sooty from his ordeal as he coughed up stray pieces of ash which had clustered up in his throat.
"What happened to you, Erio?" Zafira said with concern, bringing him up higher still. "You just vanished in all of the fighting and we lost track of where you were. Shamal was really worried about you."
Slowly, the red-haired forward felt the colour come back into his face. As the Guardian Beast gradually moved him forwards through the air, the figures of Signum and Shamal emerged from just below. Relief showed immediately on both of their faces when they saw that Erio was alive and well, although Signum seemed partially annoyed as she turned back to survey the battle on the ground. Rein and Agito hovered at eye-level, chattering away to each other nonchalantly as if all this had been just a small hindrance.
Everyone's okay, Erio realised, his previous pain and fatigue all but forgotten as his face lit up. They must have flown up here to get away from the fighting! I didn't screw up after all! Well, I did, but...
"I'm sorry, everyone," he said, feeling pretty stupid now. He'd panicked in the midst of the rebellion, Zafira had needed to come in and rescue him and Erio was just left feeling ashamed. He should have just kept his cool and kept his faith in his companions. A mere grenade wasn't that dangerous to any mage of the Bureau, after all. "I guess I lost it down there...I'm sorry for putting you to so much trouble."
"Don't worry about it," Shamal said kindly. "We should have taken to the air as soon as we got outside, but we didn't, and almost paid the price for it. Trying to survive in the rebellion alone is certain death to anyone. It's not your fault, Erio – we were all so busy trying to escape by ourselves that we didn't realise you were missing at first. I'm just glad Rein was able to find you."
Signum shook her head in mild irritation, her mannerisms indicating that she wasn't quite so sympathetic. "We were using a formation for a reason, Erio," she said without looking towards him. "Running away like you did puts the rest of us in danger. Everything's fine now, but next time may not go as smoothly. Just remember that." The swordswoman turned around to face the rest of the group. "As for now, I'm concerned that the rebellion is already in such full force already. We must make haste to Cranagan now without delay."
"Agreed," the medical mage said. "If we don't make it there before Nanoha leaves, then we could miss her completely and be back to square one." She turned to the unison devices by her side. "Rein, Agito. The two of you are familiar with the geography of this world, aren't you? Lead us towards Cranagan."
Agito nodded, a fiery look in her eyes as she swooped upwards with Rein. "You got it," she said. "The rebellion's going to slow us down a little, but clear skies mean we can get there in forty minutes. Let's go!"
Hayate held Exoria in her arms tightly as the dark-haired girl cried into her shoulder for long minutes, providing a source of comfort and security that had apparently been missing from the Time Mage's life for some time. Reacting instinctively as she would around any of her friends in the same situation, the Bureau mage stroked the girl's hair lightly and squeezed her tightly around the waist. She felt Exoria's body tense up slightly in response, perhaps still suspicious of her intentions, but Hayate didn't let go.
At the same time, she wasn't exactly sure that this had been the best choice to take. Exoria had been a sworn enemy of the TSAB almost from the start. Most Bureau mages, upon seeing their opponent in such pain and suffering, would have been keen to take advantage of such a weakness. Instead, Hayate had done the opposite and offered her own support to the girl.
I know that a lot of people would call this a mistake. They'd say that you can't let your guard down just because a supposed evildoer has feelings of their own; they'd say that the moment you try and let them into your heart is the moment when they'll strike you dead without a trace of remorse. But I don't believe that. All I know is that I can't bear to see someone else in such pain, and that I want to do my best to take such pain away. If that means that they're just going to go back to being my enemy again after that...then so be it.
It wasn't so much as whether helping Exoria had been the best choice, but that it had been her only choice, the only one that Hayate felt privileged to make. She was still blind, after all...but only to a certain extend. She still didn't know why, but she was able to see Exoria and follow her movements. Yes, perhaps she was really only viewing the magical aura emitted from the Time Mage's body, but the process was still a kind of sight nevertheless, a phenomenon of the likes of which Hayate had never heard of before. There should be no reason why she was only able to see Exoria and literally nothing else around her. The only explanation which Hayate could think of was that it was linked directly to Oguba's time magic.
What's going to happen from here on out? Vita is no longer with me. Everything that I see around me is total darkness, except for where Exoria is standing. There's no way I can leave the House of Yagami without someone helping me, unless I'm interested in taking another lesson in the art of bumping into stationary objects.
I'm doing this wrong, Hayate thought. I'm comforting someone who tried to kill me whilst trying to figure out how I'm going to escape from this place at the same time. If I'm going to do this properly, I'll have to choose one or the other. Either I put myself forward, or I put Exoria's well-being before mine. Is she really going to try and kill me in the state she's in? I just have to stop thinking so hard and let my heart do it for me...
Exoria had stopped crying by now, though she didn't seem inclined to move away from her. The girl had rested her chin on Hayate's shoulder, her chest moving up and down against the mage's body as she breathed in deeply. She seemed to have calmed down a lot more, both in mind and spirit, but her eyes were far from peaceful. The Time Mage was even hugging her back in return, though the gesture may have been an unconscious one.
"You're one weird girl," Exoria said quietly, her voice still shaking. "Who taught you how to be an assassin?"
Assassin? What is she talking about?
"Why would I be an assassin?" Hayate said in astonishment. "I'm a mage of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. I don't go around murdering people for money."
"Then why did Yagami-sama tell me you were so powerful?" There was partial disbelief in the other girl's tone. "You're her double in an alternate universe to ours – the only person stronger than her in all of Mid-childa is Lady Testarossa. You're really trying to tell me that your Bureau isn't a mirror image of our House of Yagami?"
"Of course not!" the Bureau mage said, completely taken aback. "I don't have servants and armed guards surrounding me everywhere I go whilst I bark orders at them! The TSAB doesn't even work like that!" She couldn't believe that Exoria had had this kind of idea in her head the whole time. It explained a lot about her hostility towards the Bureau, that much was for sure. "Maybe I don't understand everything about how Yagami runs the place here, but the Bureau operates in a completely different format from her. Unless all of the staff here turn into mages overnight and start flying over Uminari City to fight crime, there aren't any similarities between us at all."
Exoria's grip around her tightened tentatively. "I don't believe you, Hayate," she said aggressively. "You think I don't know all about you? You're the commander of a division called Riot Force 6 – a force made up almost completely of dangerous and powerful mages! Mages which threaten society just as much as the Family of Yagami threatens Mid-childa!"
"It's not like that!" the short-haired mage protested. "We don't use our power to destroy, but for the complete opposite. Exoria, we're not some army of trained specialist assassins hiding ourselves away from the world in some gigantic mansion, because that would be - "
Unfortunately, the Time Mage didn't seem to be listening to her. She was too caught up in what she was saying, paying little attention to Hayate's words as she cut over her.
"What about the Wolkenritter?" the dark-haired girl demanded, her voice echoing bitterly in her ears. "I researched up on them too. Programs given life by the Tome of the Night Sky, all equipped with high-level magical abilities and capable of great destruction! They take orders from you, don't they, Hayate? Tell me again that our two organisations aren't the same!"
With an effort, the Bureau mage held in her temper and stood her ground, though the irritation was clear in her voice. She would have never guessed that Exoria had gotten so much of this wrong. Had the House of Yagami simply been using her all this time?
"Exoria, I have a respectful relationship with the Wolkenritter," she said patiently. "I don't treat the Guardian Knights like emotionless soldiers, but as close friends. The Bureau isn't some army of drones. We work together to use our magic to protect Mid-childa and any other worlds where we have influence, including anybody who needs our help. That's the purpose of the Time-Space Administration Bureau at its core." She paused, looking forward into where she perceived Exoria's eyes to be; it was a little tricky just guiding herself by the emittance of magical energy alone. "I'm sorry, Exoria," she said, "but you've been deceived. Somebody must have been feeding you lies about us for a very long time."
At that, the Time Mage fell silent at last, her face deeply troubled at hearing all this. Minutes ago, she would not have trusted a single thing said to her by any member of the TSAB. She had even entered this room anticipating that a conversation with Hayate would be filled with nothing but lies from the other girl's mouth. But now...
Exoria was close enough to the other mage to smell her breath on her skin, close enough to be able to look into Hayate's blinded eyes and realise that there was real truth echoing through her words. For the first time, the Time Mage found herself doubting and questioning what she had believed so fervently for all this time, and the shock reverberated through her as if Hayate had struck her with a real, physical weapon.
Her face went rigid as she searched back through her memory for something concrete to stop her from falling apart completely, something which would mean that she was still in the right. Yagami-sama had always told her time and time again that the Bureau was a similar organisation to their own, with Hayate at its head...and now Hayate was in front of her claiming that the Bureau was completely different? The girl didn't even sound like she was the actual leader of the TSAB. To add further to her confusion, Exoria hadn't been able to pick up any negative emotions from Hayate at all. She had the same face as Yagami-sama, and it was Yagami-sama who had no end to such dangerous negativity...
Has Yagami-sama been lying to me all this time? Has everything I've come to believe up to now been a lie? I'm still trying to think of something that might prove Hayate wrong, but...I can't. In fact, the more I try to remember of the past, the more I realise that her words make a frightening amount of sense. Arisa and Suzuka talking amongst themselves about me and the mission that Yagami-sama was going to give me, only to refuse to tell me about my target themselves. They said that only Yagami-sama would tell me about Hayate. No, this isn't right. I...I don't want to remember...not this...
"You're not in charge of the Bureau after all, are you?" Exoria said slowly, trying to find something that made sense.
"Not exactly," Hayate replied with a shrug. "In our universe, it doesn't exactly work like that - "
"Then who is?" the dark-haired girl demanded. "Who is it that Yagami-sama really wants to bring down? Tell me, Hayate!"
The short-haired mage scratched at her hair thoughtfully. "That's a bit of a difficult question to answer," she confessed. "Anyone in Riot Force 6 would definitely say that Nanoha is our leader, because of what she's done for us in the past...but Nanoha has been content to remain at the rank of a combat instructor. That's the kind of work she enjoys doing. Chrono has a much higher rank than any of us, but no one would say that he leads the TSAB..." Hayate shrugged. "I guess we don't have a real leader. It's more of a democratic system, really."
Exoria wished she hadn't asked, because now she was even more confused than ever. Nanoha was the real leader? And Chrono? As in Chrono Harlaown, Commander of the Harlaown Program? What was all this about?
I've made a terrible mistake. I was always so excited to make my first kill and be acknowledged fully by Yagami-sama. When I found out that it was Hayate, I didn't know who she was at first. I wanted to know so much more about her...no, I wanted to know everything about her. Back then, Red Scorpion had a total of six members: Yagami-sama, Arisa, Suzuka, the superior program, the Legion and myself. When Yagami-sama retired from the group and took her two closest servants with her, I was told to remain behind. And that...that drove me mad. I don't know why, but...I couldn't stand being without her, my Yagami-sama...and now I know that she's lied to me all this time...
"You look exactly like her," she said, her voice coming out sounding hollow. "Her voice, her passion, her beauty...but I can tell the difference."
Hayate nodded sympathetically, knowing there was only one person she could be talking about. "Yes, the lack of a wheelchair is a bit of a giveaway."
Acute anger flared in Exoria's eyes for a split second. "No. I can tell without needing to look at you, Hayate. I can tell because you don't direct constant hated towards me every second like she does. I would go insane in her presence from wanting to please her, even though deep down I knew that was impossible. And you? You?" The dark-haired girl inhaled sharply through her teeth. "Hayate...you don't hate me. I don't know why. I don't know why you'd even want to be near me!"
The short-haired mage gave her a small smile. "Why would I hate you? You haven't done anything to me that I can't forgive..."
"No! Just stop that!" Exoria's arms unclasped from around Hayate's waist and shot up to clutch at her shoulders, pushing her back roughly against the bed. "Just stop being so nice when I know I don't deserve any of this! Don't you understand? Don't you understand what it means to be so close to her and yet so far away?"
Her nails dug sharply into Hayate's skin. "Yagami-sama was everything to me! Before I came here I was scheduled for execution under the Harlaown Program. Execution! But she saved me, Hayate. Yagami-sama took me away from the Harlaown Program and brought me into her Family. She welcomed me with open arms, gave me food, a roof over my head, a sense of security..."
With an effort, Exoria relaxed her hands, trailing her fingers down the other girl's arms, still shaking with the inner storm that raged inside her. "She gave me my first weapon. I learned how to fight, how to defend myself, even though I wasn't an official member of the House of Yagami. You think I'm crazy now, Hayate? I was a mess back then. I had no self-control and lashed out at everyone because I didn't know what else to do. Lideri said that I had power inside me, power which affected my moods and emotions from the inside. She said that I just had to learn to come to terms with it. But when I tried to learn magic – I tried so hard to be a simple mage, with all of my heart – I couldn't make anything happen. No one in the Family was that skilled in magic either, except maybe for Lideri, so they couldn't teach me..."
Her voice trailed off into a half-sob as Hayate closed her own fingers round to interlock gently with her own, trying to ease her pain. The girl before her was no longer in any fit state of mind to pose any real threat to her, let alone be capable of murder. But this still doesn't feel right, Hayate thought in alarm. Yagami is the one who she looked up to and fell in love with...the one who fed her lies about the Bureau and told her to kill me. Yagami is also the person that I look identical to. She...she shouldn't be here with me like this. It's going to make things a lot, lot worse...
No, she couldn't just push the girl away from her like that. Hayate didn't have it in her to hurt Exoria any more than she'd already suffered. What should she do?
"But I thought you could do magic, Exoria," the Bureau mage said, keeping her voice as reassuring as possible. "That means you must have succeeded somehow."
The dark-haired girl barely looked up at her. "Yes. But not on my own accord. That was when Grylmark came and introduced Oguba to Red Scorpion. I made a contract with Oguba because I needed to – and I was able to use time magic that way. It wasn't magic that anyone else had seen before, and nobody knew why I was the most skilled at using it. I should have been proud of it...but I wasn't..."
Her eyes flicked upwards towards Hayate's face, dark and haunted. "Do you want to know something I found out, Hayate? Something I discovered after contracting with Oguba, just a bit of romantic insight. You know about the concept of soulmates, right? Two people who are perfect halves of the same soul, destined to be together, made for each other, bla bla bla, you know the drill.
But if you add time travel to the mixture...you get something a little different.
"Imagine that there's a person out there who will complete you, who will be your perfect partner...but that the link between the two of you isn't just one of love, but also of time. Soulmates of time, Hayate. That's what I call it. I don't even understand it fully, but I know that it's only possible for someone with Oguba's powers." Exoria's eyes shone, and she seemed to be looking into a place that only she could see. Her voice had become dream-like and sad, a feeling of great longing echoing through her voice. "That's the way I started feeling about Yagami-sama. You think it's crazy of me, Hayate? You do, don't you? I really thought Yagami-sama and I could be soulmates of time...because ever since I became a Time Mage, that was all I really wanted." Harsh pain caught across her features, distorting the momentary peace inside. "It'll never happen, of course. I know that now. She doesn't give a damn about me anymore. I'm just the dirt under her feet, waiting to be swept away back outside..."
Hayate didn't know what to say. She had the exact likeness of the same person who was the source of Exoria's woes, so it was going to feel awkward no matter what she did. Blind as she was, however, her sensitivity to touch was much greater than before. Where words may no longer be effective, she could still help in other ways. With regret burning down her throat, she held the girl on her lap for a couple of minutes more, stroking her hair affectionately.
The Time Mage stirred slightly against her touch, seeming to relax at last now that she had gotten everything out of her system. She swallowed and hiccuped slightly, drying her eyes on Hayate's sleeve whilst trying to avoid looking at her if possible. A change had come over Exoria, making her seem a little more self-conscious and aware of what she was really doing. She seemed almost embarrassed at her outburst.
"Do you feel better now?" the Bureau mage said quietly.
There was a faint nod from the dark-haired girl, though not a very confident one.
Her heart aching, Hayate drew draw back one arm to cup Exoria's chin in her right hand, and planted a sweet kiss on the girl's forehead. Forget about being Yagami's double or anything like that: she only wanted to help her in her own way, and Exoria had said herself that she could easily tell the difference between them. However, even through her blindness Hayate could sense the rapid change in her body language as Exoria reacted unconsciously to the small gesture of affection. The Bureau mage spoke quickly to draw attention away from it.
"I know you don't want to hear this from me of all people," Hayate said, "but you don't have to go back to Yagami. Not if she's hurting you so much like this. You're worth more than that, Exoria."
" "Worth"?" The Time Mage's voice was a near whisper. "You think more of me than I deserve, Hayate. Yagami-sama...she has changed over the years. She used to be kind, warm, accepting and open to everyone who lives here with her." Exoria rested her head back onto the short-haired girl's shoulder again, enjoying the feeling. "Like you, Hayate. She was like you, not including the perks of getting to order the deaths of random people in other countries. That part still hasn't changed, really. You couldn't call her a saint, but you could hold an ordinary conversation with her without feeling dead inside, just like I'm talking to you now, Hayate. Yagami-sama didn't shut anyone out, she welcomed us all and gave us aid when needed it...
"But now?" Exoria's voice grew harshly bitter. "Now she's completely unrecognisable. I woke up one day to find that she'd fired more than half of her staff just because she felt like it. You probably don't think that's a huge deal, Hayate, but in this world? Being sacked from the House of Yagami means you're thrown at the mercy of the Harlaown Program. You're already dead.
"Yagami-sama didn't stop there, either. She started making more rules in the House of Yagami – lots and lots of rules to take away your freedom, until you could no longer remember what they meant anymore. She ordered Wyvern to alter the programming of the Legion to turn them from a normal soldier into a brutal killing machine, and then a week later denied that she'd done any such thing. She started getting more and more paranoid, quadrupling security one moment and then replacing all the guards the next. Barely anyone was allowed above the second floor any more. Her inner chambers had the windows sealed up and closed off away from the world, and she'd just lock herself away there for months on end until Suzuka persuaded her to come out..."
As if suddenly realising how much she was saying, Exoria pulled herself away from Hayate as quickly as she dared, dragging herself off her lap and bracing herself against the other wall of the bedroom. Her face was contorted with fear as she held onto the nearby table for balance.
"Forget you heard me say any of this," the Time Mage whispered. "Walls have ears, and Yagami-sama will surely know if I talk about her at great length like this. But now you know the truth, Hayate. You're too good a person to remain here. You should get as far away from the House of Yagami as you possibly can..."
If only, Hayate thought sadly to herself. I knew there was something very wrong about Yagami, just from the reactions of her staff, but I didn't realise it was quite this bad. What surprises me is that the House of Yagami is still going strong regardless. I still remember how the executors were afraid to go near the grounds when they brought Vita and I here...
"What about you, Exoria?" she said. "If Yagami really doesn't care about you anymore like you said, then what's to stop you from walking out the door right now?"
The dark-haired girl froze by the wall, a cornered look in her eyes.
"I...I couldn't..." The Time Mage shrank down to the floor, feeling herself diminish in stature. "No. I can't just run away. Every comfort I have ever known has been given by her. I don't know anything else! What am I going to do if I just leave? Where am I going to go, Hayate? Tell me that!"
The commander of Riot Force 6 shook her head. In her experience, there was always another option left. "You could come back to the Bureau with me," she said.
"The Bureau? Are you out of your mind?" Distracted, Exoria reached down on the floor to search around for her fallen dagger. She found it moments later, her fingers wrapping around the hilt as if embracing an old friend. "In case you've forgotten, Hayate, I'm an enemy of the TSAB! I was part of the attack with Red Scorpion which almost killed you and Nanoha! Just how would I be better off with them? They'll throw me in a cell as soon as they see me."
"Are you an enemy of mine?" Hayate said seriously. She waited in her blindness, sensing the other girl's conflicted doubts and suspicions. "I know that your past actions weren't out of malice, Exoria. You weren't doing them for your own gain – you did them because you were being lied to and used, again and again. And because you didn't know anything else."
Slowly, Exoria slid the dagger back into her belt for safekeeping, staring upwards at the Bureau mage weakly. Her lips trembled, as if she were on the verge of breaking down again.
"You're not my enemy, Hayate," she breathed, her eyes burning with emotion. "I...I don't know what you are, that you could accept me so easily after I've wronged you so much, but I could never harm someone like you. I - "
"Then stop worrying about it," the short-haired mage said, throwing her a smile. "If you're no enemy of mine, then you're no enemy of the Bureau either. Come back with me, Exoria. I'd be willing to vouch for you and help drop any charges lodged against you."
Still staring at her in stunned disbelief, Exoria shakily rose to her feet and gripped Hayate's wrists tightly. There was a strangled noise in her throat as she pulled the mage up from the bed, so that the two of them stood next to each other at a roughly similar height.
"You'd do that for me?" the Time Mage said in a small voice. "I...I still don't know, Hayate. I want to be free from this place and all the pain it brings me. I don't know if I can trust you to give me something better - "
"Exoria, it'll be okay." Hayate reached round to give her a brief hug. "You'll be in a much better place, far away from anywhere that Yagami could hurt you. If you want, I could try and arrange for special rehabilitation to help you regain what you lost in the earlier years of your life. There are many other people like you who have suffered like you have, and attacked us because they thought what they were doing was right. And everyone, including you, has the chance to become a better person."
The Bureau mage took a deep breath, a troubled look passing across her face. "To be honest, I'm worried about what might happen to you if you stay here for much longer. I don't want you to be hurt any more, Exoria. But at the same time, I can't force you if you don't want to..."
She wasn't prepared for the suddenness with which the other girl hugged her back, tight enough to hurt against Hayate's chest and make her wince slightly in pain. A relieved smile broke out across her face as she patted her arm assuringly, the Time Mage whispering into her ear.
"I want to believe you, Hayate," Exoria said, breathing fast. "I really do. This is...exactly the kind of thing that I want to hear. I don't want to believe that it is possible, but if there's just a small chance...if it's possible..."
"I promise you that it is, Exoria," the short-haired mage said fiercely. "I wouldn't make any of this up. We can help you."
The Time Mage sighed heavily, gripping onto the side of her back. "Then take me away from here and back to the Bureau, Hayate," she said with passion, tears forming in the corner of her eyes again. "I want to believe there's a place for me out there. Please. Don't let me down. I don't think I could take it."
"I won't," she whispered back, squeezing her tight. "Trust me. Everything's going to be fine. Once we escape from here - "
"Escape?" came a hard metallic voice from the door of the bedroom, abruptly interrupting their private conversation from when they least expected it. "What ever makes you think that you will succeed, Lady Exoria?"
Hayate didn't know who it was who had spoken out; blind as she was, the only person she was able to see was Exoria. Her muscles tensed up as she reached out for her staff, ready to blast them into oblivion at the first sign of ill intent. If one of Yagami's staff members had overheard their conversation, then the two of them could say goodbye to any chance of escape. She knew how well-guarded the mansion was on all sides, and without being able to see properly at all...
"Legion," Exoria said in a low hiss, her mood immediately darkening. The sadness and signs of insecurity in her face had vanished within moments. "I thought I told you to stand guard outside. Outside, as in the side of the door which faces out. Since you are now inside, I take it that you have clearly mixed up two vital concepts within the mindset of our ignorant society."
The cyborg regarded her with only limited emotion, drawing its body to attention as it surveyed the room. Its eyes rested on Hayate for a moment, noting how close the two girls were to each other.
"I overheard a great deal of your conversation, Hayate, Lady Exoria," the Legion said. "The emphasised sensitivity of my aural receptors enabled me to detect the majority of activity going on in this room. Do you really think you can escape from the House of Yagami so easily?"
There was a sound of steel scraping across tough leather as Exoria unsheathed her dagger in one broad movement. Slowly, she moved forward to shield Hayate with her body, holding the blade towards the cyborg threateningly with both hands shaking.
"I didn't think you were still loyal to Yagami-sama after all this time, Legion," the Time Mage growled. "The idiocy of your irrational single-mindedness sickens me."
"I would have liked to say the same to you before now, Lady Exoria," the cyborg replied, making no move to attack. It seemed surprisingly relaxed in comparison to her. "I must insist that you answer my question. Have you truly decided to betray the House of Yagami in order to save your own skin?"
Left in the darkness with only the banter of voices around her, Hayate let out a sigh quietly as she sat back on the bed again. The flow of power inside her staff died down along with her resolve, knowing that it wasn't needed.
"No," the Time Mage retorted, hovering on the verge. "I am leaving this place with Hayate so that we can both escape. She's offered to give me refuge with the Bureau, and I believe her. I believe her where I would believe no one else." Her hand tightened around the hilt of the dagger as she raised it high. "And if you're going to stop us, Legion, you're going to have come through me first!"
No, Hayate thought to herself sadly, alone with only her magic. Stop it. You don't have to fight each other. Exoria, back away or you'll be hurt again. We have to go.
"I see," the cyborg said. "In that case, I have just a few questions for you. Hayate too, if she will answer them."
The Bureua mage raised her head slightly upon hearing her name mentioned, her gaze casting round to follow the trail of magic residue around Exoria's body. Still unable to see the Legion or anything else for that matter, Hayate turned herself towards the sound of the creature's voice until she facing the right direction.
"I'm listening," the mage said calmly.
The cyborg paused for a moment, carefully weighing in all of the facts. Then it took a step forward, carelessly pushing aside Exoria's weapon as if it were made out of plastic, until it was standing right in front of Hayate.
"The news among the household is that the Harlaown Program is no more," the Legion stated. "A global rebellion is out in full force on the streets of every city, a civil war between executors and the defenders of the people. If you leave the House of Yagami – assuming you are able to bypass all of Lady Yagami's guards and any senior staff members who may obstruct you – then you will be caught up in the bloodshed on the streets of Uminari City. Now that you know this, are you still so eager to escape?"
The commander of Riot Force 6 rose to her feet in shock, barely able to believe what she was hearing. Mid-childa had fallen into open rebellion? How was this even possible? She and Vita hadn't even been here a day and there were already citizens shooting each other down on the streets? War didn't just erupt for no reason like that, not unless the balance of this world was really so ridiculously unstable to the highest extremes...
"How do I know I can trust your word?" Hayate asked, almost hoping that they were lying. For so many innocent people to be dying outside whilst she was caged inside by her blindness... "I talked with Yagami last night over dinner and she didn't mention anything about a rising rebellion. You could be just trying to dissuade Exoria and I from leaving here."
"The uprising allegedly began less than an hour ago," the cyborg replied. "Lady Yagami knows even less of it than you do, Hayate. It does not matter if you doubt me, because you will soon find out the truth for yourself when you step outside. Assuming, of course, that you are able to do so."
Exoria muttered to herself in dismay and grabbed at the Bureau mage's arm. There was a look of great worry in her eyes as she pulled Hayate roughly towards her. "We're going to be in trouble, then," she said, lowering the dagger down to medium height, though she still remained on her guard in case the Legion really did strike out at her. "The Legion doesn't know how to lie. It isn't in their programming, not unless Wyvern's done something to it. I think this rebellion is real, Hayate, especially if it's to do with Chrono..."
"As real as you are, Lady Exoria," the cyborg said, without looking at her. "Which brings me to another question. Hayate, have you really offered to take Lady Exoria to the Bureau?"
The short-haired mage nodded. "To the best of my ability, yes."
"How are you going to do that when you are blind and the Bureau has already been destroyed in this world?"
She felt Exoria's gaze on her, intensifying into a silent plea for help. Don't let me down. Hayate sighed, knowing that it did sound impossible when the Legion phrased it like that, but it really wasn't that difficult once you understood everything.
"The Bureau in this universe may no longer exist," she said patiently, "but I'm talking about the Bureau in my world. My friends are still looking for me, Legion, even with the threat of the rebellion. If I can leave the mansion and gain access to the outside, then I should be able to find the rest of the Bureau again."
"I know that part," Exoria said suspiciously, "but you're blind."
"I can see you just fine, Exoria."
"But you're blind," she repeated, folding her arms and getting increasingly frustrated. "We can't escape like that. What do you take me for, Hayate? You think I'm just going to carry you in my arms and run wherever you want me to?"
The Bureau mage smiled at her sweetly. "That would be a quicker way of getting around. Thanks for thinking it up for me."
"Oh, just shut up! Why did I even ask you?" Exoria whirled around back towards to where the Legion stood silently. "And you! What are you even doing here, Legion, barging in and interrogating me and Hayate like this? What's the deal with calling me "Lady Exoria" all of a sudden?" She lowered the dagger down to her thigh, feeling a little bit silly holding it like this. "Are you here to stop us or not, Legion? If you're not, then just get the hell out of my way!"
The combat cyborg looked deep into her eyes, a strange expression flickering over its face. Within the creature's mind, electrical circuits were alive as a single internal procedure was put into action. Countless streams of data were being exchanged every few hundred nanoseconds, and the appropriate conclusion was reached within a very small amount of time. For the Legion, everything had made sense again; everything was in its right place. The cyborg's cores flared within its inner mainframe, returning excess energy to its body as stability was restored.
"My purpose here is not what you think, Lady Exoria," the Legion said as power filled its voice. "I am not here to stop you, but to serve. I am here to carry out the orders of my superior, just as I was programmed to do."
"Your superior?" Exoria scoffed. She sheathed her dagger and waved her hand at the cyborg in a gesture of dismissal. "What kind of idiot is going around being your superior and giving you orders to keep you happy? Wyvern, is it? Maybe even Yagami-sama, just as a laugh?"
The Legion's eyes glowed faintly. "No. It is you, Lady Exoria."
Her mouth fell open slightly as she was rendered speechless.
"Me?" Exoria repeated, stumbling back from the cyborg. "But I..."
"Yes. That is the conclusion I have arrived at." A great excitement filled the Legion's voice, the feeling of knowing that it had a purpose in the world once more. "For a long time, I did not know who to turn to. With the superior program of Red Scorpion destroyed, I was at a loss. Lady Yagami showed no capacity for giving me anything concrete, and Wyvern lacked the willpower.
"But then I realised what it was, Lady Exoria." The cyborg stepped forward, clenching one fist tightly in anticipation. "My duty has always been to the members of Red Scorpion. With Srethis and Ungore gone, and Grylmark the betrayer, the role of leader has fallen to one person..."
And in an expected gesture which took the Time Mage by surprise, the Legion fell to one knee before her, bowing its head as she spluttered in confusion.
"You, Lady Exoria," the cyborg said with deep reverence. "I proclaim you the Mistress of Red Scorpion, and my rightful superior. As long as you have no objections, I will follow any and all of your orders on condition that they all fall within reach of all of my parameters. Needless to say, I am bidden to protect you with my life." The Legion raised its eyes to her briefly. "Do I have your approval to take you as my superior, Lady Exoria? I require only your consent."
Exoria's face had gone from showing mild surprise, to rising bewilderment, and then to outright shock when she realised that the Legion was being completely serious. White as a sheet, she had to pinch herself to tell herself that one of Yagami-sama's most powerful combat cyborgs really was offering to put themselves under her complete command, and that she wasn't just imagining this.
The Legion? Obeying my orders? I could never had imagined that something like this would come to pass!
"I...um..." She fidgeted over her words as the cyborg waited patiently for her answer. With an effort, Exoria forced some colour back into her face. "Yes," she managed. "You have my consent." It still didn't feel real. She had assumed that the Legion had come in here to kill her, not to join them...
"Thank you, Lady Exoria," the cyborg replied, rising back up to its full and formidable height. "From here on, I will place myself into your hands and be at your service. Whilst I still live and breathe, I will not allow any harm to come to you."
The Legion held out a hand towards Hayate. "My first offer of assistance, then, is to serve you and Hayate as your guardian and escort during your escape from the House of Yagami. If you will leave the guards to me, Lady Exoria, I will ensure that the two of you will escape without any trouble. As for the danger of the rebellion outside...I will supply you with my suggestions of survival strategies when we reach that point."
Hayate took hold of the Legion's outstretched hand, though she was unable to see it and had to be helped along by Exoria a little. It seemed so strange that an enemy which had caused them such grievances in the past would now be a loyal ally. And just like before, if the Legion was willing to help her...they might be equally willing to help out the rest of the TSAB.
She had woken up this morning, stranded and blinded in the centre of Yagami's stronghold, thinking that she was about to be killed. She had felt weak and helpless, and though she possessed great power at her fingertips she lacked the knowledge of where to direct them. Instead of succumbing to any such dangers, however, Hayate had gained two allies of her own from such unlikely sources. She had no idea how long this might last, but...if she could manage to hold on a bit longer...
"Exoria," she said with quiet triumph. "You heard the Legion. They'll be following your orders now." Hayate brought her staff out in front of her, bracing herself for what was coming. "Now I think we've overstayed our welcome. Let's get out of here – all of us."
A/N: When describing how Exoria looks/feels etc, I'm not describing it from Hayate's point of view (since she can't see her in great detail, and can only really sense by the sound of her voice or her feel). I also may have rushed the part about Exoria's transition to becoming Hayate's ally (I tried to slow down the process in earlier chapters but it may have come out sounding a little fast nonetheless).
I think I've covered most of Exoria's backstory now (which I wanted to earlier but then loooong chapters came up), or at least a great deal of it. Why Hayate is only able to see parts of Exoria and nothing else is another thing to be resolved later.
Next chapter has Nanoha. And Fate. Yeah, it's what it sounds like. Or it will be when I write it.