Tiana Lanster rolled over onto her back, gazing up at the clouded sky of Uminari City as she awaited Nanoha's return. She was lying on an isolated patch of the roof which was relatively free of the dead bodies which littered the area, but the stench of decaying corpses was still overpowering. Evidently a large squadron of executors and rebels had died fighting each other right here, their blood drying upon the stiff concrete surface. In the distance, the march of the rebellion on the far side of the city indicated that similar battles were continuing to go on.
The sharpshooter had never seen so many bodies in her life before. Though her training at the Bureau had been intense in nature, nothing could have prepared her for the harsh realities of war that she had witnessed today. The crack of machine-gun fire in her mind, great tanks rolling down the street to crush everything in their path, the sound of helicopter attack units swooping down from above to take out individual targets...there seemed no end to the violent conflict. Tiana thanked her lucky stars that she and Nanoha had not been directly involved with the rebellion, only mildly inconvenienced by its spread. She didn't want to see any of her friends number among the dead here in this crumbling world, so far away from home...
She brought herself up to one knee, recovered enough to be able to fend for herself if needs be, and looked off into the distance with a worried expression. There was still no sign of Nanoha. Apprehensively, the orange-haired forward wondered if she had run into any trouble during her search for Fate. It was difficult to think of anything in Uminari City which could give the Ace of Aces any problems, but the combat mage had been gone for a long time now..
Nanoha told me to wait here until she came back, Tiana thought, not relishing the prospect of having to stay here for much longer. She was getting a little tired of lying here surrounded by bodies, after all. If something's happened to her, I shouldn't be wasting any more time here. Her trail of magic is still strong – if I follow it, it'll lead me straight to her location. Maybe I can meet up with Nanoha that way.
The plan sounded good in her head, but it had a few flaws. Firstly, Nanoha's magic was directed through the sky far above Uminari City, so Tiana would be forced to stay near to the same height just to keep track of it; without being able to fly, she would probably be jumping across the roofs of tall buildings at extreme heights. Secondly, the path itself cut right through the rebellion's front lines. In either case, she would be putting herself in a lot of danger, which was exactly why Nanoha had told her to stay put in the first place.
Annoyed at her indecision, Tiana stood up, peered over the edge of the roof and gulped. It was a long way down, and she couldn't see far enough to judge whether her Anchor Shot would catch on anything secure enough to support her weight. It would be too risky going after Nanoha using a method like that. Wasn't there anything else she could do?
The forward scanned the area, her eyes falling on the bodies of executors and rebels which piled high around her. The soldiers would probably have an ample supply of weaponry and ammunition on them which could come in useful, but Tiana wasn't about to stoop so low as to loot the bodies of the dead. Besides, Cross Mirage was already enough for most of her purposes.
I can't hook onto the side of this building safely, and I can't reach the roof of any nearby buildings either...I'm not going to be able to track Nanoha this way. What can I do?...I guess I could make my way down to street level and see if I can catch some of her magic from there. There'll be more distance to cover, but Nanoha's magic is powerful and gives off a very strong aura. Maybe it's still possible...
It meant that she would have to go through the rebellion on foot, and judging by what she had witnessed so far, Tiana knew that it would be almost impossible to survive such a feat. Maybe she could find another route which bypassed the front lines...it all depended on the situation on the ground.
Her mind made up, the orange-haired forward raised Cross Mirage determinedly in both hands, concentrating the laser-sight down the middle to pinpoint her target, and fired. A shot of mana-wire extended from the device and attached itself to the wall of the taller building opposite, roughly level with her current height so as to minimise injury. Swiftly, Tiana engaged with the Anchor Shot and held on tightly as the single charge pulled her off her feet and over the edge of the roof. For a few heart-pounding seconds, she was nearly a hundred metres above empty ground, secured only by a small length of her own magic.
The sharpshooter grit her teeth and forced herself not to look down, relaxing only when she had reached the wall of the opposite building. From there she was able to access a fire escape that ran around the exterior, allowing her to reach ground level within a matter of minutes. The process was slow going, but at least it was a lot safer than her first idea.
It took her nearly fifteen minutes to reach the bottom, at which point she was worn out by the toll on her body. Wearily, Tiana crawled off the last metal rung and lay flat out on the ground until she could catch her breath again. All those hours of keeping fit in training were definitely paying off.
There, the orange-haired forward panted. I made it. Now what?
Once her energy had returned to her, Tiana sat up to see what the situation was like down here. The street was full of more bodies still, more than she had seen on the roof, and the forward was appalled to see that some of the soldiers were still breathing. There was nothing she could do for anyone here, however. A handful of small fires were burning themselves out in the middle of the road, near to the blackened wreckage of military vehicles destroyed in the crossfire. Cautiously, Tiana kept her guard up and kept close to the shadows. There could still be executors and rebels out here who would certainly have no qualms about shooting her on sight.
Fortunately, she found that she was still able to sense Nanoha's aura. The Ace of Aces' magic was harder to detect from the ground, but it was still within range for her to pick up. It was just as well, too, because Tiana hadn't any idea how to get back to the roof without breaking a leg in the process. A lot of the buildings here were too badly damaged to access safely; she had been lucky to reach the ground at all.
I've done well so far. Now I just have to find Nanoha whilst keeping myself alive. This area of Uminari City is pretty deserted – there's no one left alive around here – so I think I can still manage...
Wasting no more time, Tiana began to follow the trail left by Nanoha's magic, cutting around side-streets and keeping to the main route where possible. She ran through the city at a moderately fast pace, varying her speed to match her level of endurance. The minutes went past uneventfully, punctured occasionally by the sound of fighting in the distance now that the rebellion had moved away from the city centre.
The Bureau mage had expected to be hiding from large squadrons of executors or rebels in the street, but she was surprised to find a different story completely. She encountered no real opposition at all, since the majority of the soldiers were at the front lines. Instead, the roads were littered with the bedraggled figures of deserters and looters, perhaps people who had lost their homes in the war, venturing outside to deprive the dead of any valuables. Not one of them looked up as Tiana ran past, and she guiltily turned her face away.
Soon, Tiana found herself getting closer and closer to the front lines of the rebellion. She could tell by the sound of the executors' marching as it grew steadily louder in volume until it was almost deafening; her instincts automatically took over as she ducked into the shadows to avoid being sighted by low-flying helicopters from above; her body flinched at the sound of sudden explosions which lay ahead. Just as she had feared, Nanoha's path of magic was taking her directly into the war – Tiana knew she would have to find another way round, somehow -
The forward rounded the rise of the next street and saw the ruins of the detention facility lying before her. Worn out from running for so long, Tiana came to a stop, noting that Nanoha had also paused here momentarily before turning off into another direction entirely. What had happened here? The place had been completely obliterated beyond recognition...
As she stood there trying to think, the figure of a familiar old man walked calmly past her on the opposite side of the road. The fumes of the rebellion kept away from him as if repelled by an invisible barrier, and he didn't seem to notice her from this distance. Tiana, however, thought she was going to keel over with shock. Her eyes opened wide with recognition and she instantly raised Cross Mirage to defend herself.
Grylmark? That's Grylmark, isn't it? What does he think he's doing here, walking around as if there isn't a war going on? If I'd know he was here...
There was no doubt about it: the infamous summoner was right in her sights. Her hands shaking slightly, Tiana tightened her grip around Cross Mirage and aimed the weapon squarely at his head. She could shoot him down right now before he even noticed. Of course, being Grylmark, he would probably find some way to annoyingly vanish before the bullet hit him. It was infuriating.
The forward watched him turn the corner off to the left, away from where the rebellion was headed. Frustration filled Tiana's mind: he was taking a completely different route from Nanoha. If she continued to keep on Nanoha's trail, she would lose Grylmark for sure. This was the man responsible for sending them into this world in the first place, a Time Mage himself who still had a firm contract with Oguba. It was possible that he was the only one who could send them back, although Tiana wasn't entirely sure of the details. She couldn't just let him get away.
Damn it, she cursed, lowering her weapon regretfully. I could attack Grylmark right here, but I'm out in the open and alone. The last time we saw each other, he drained Cross Mirage of all of its powers and almost killed me with one of his Manticore beasts. Fighting him isn't going to get me anywhere...
No, her best bet would be to follow the summoner at a distance and see where he was going. Grylmark wasn't just wandering around Uminari City aimlessly – he was moving with a specific destination in mind. There was a reason he was out and about like this, and Tiana knew it couldn't be good news for anybody. If she shadowed him closely, she might even be able to find out where he was operating from...
I don't like delaying my search for Nanoha, but this could be important. I'll find out just what on earth Grylmark is doing here, track him down to wherever he's staying if I can, and then I'll find Nanoha as quickly as possible and give her this information. I can still be useful.
She would have to be careful, however. Tiana knew from first-hand experience that Grylmark was not somebody you wanted to take on alone; she was still worried about how what she was supposed to do if she ended up fighting him again and he just drained all of her magic like before. She didn't know how to protect herself against something like that. The sharpshooter consoled herself, however, with the thought that Grylmark probably thought she was dead, killed by his last summoned Manticore. The summoner wouldn't be expecting her to turn up out of the blue, and she could use that to her advantage.
Keeping to the shadows, Tiana followed Grylmark through the streets of Uminari City. He really didn't seem to have sensed her at all, which gave her confidence. The sharpshooter blended into the shadows as best as she could whilst she tracked him, using her knowledge of illusions to increase her stealth. The time went by at a painfully slow pace, but she was able to keep him within her sights at every turn.
As she followed the summoner deeper into the western district, however, the sharpshooter began to notice something strange about her surroundings. The roads here were strangely deserted, even more so than where she had passed recently, and there were barely any dead bodies at all. It was if the rebellion hadn't really been here, and had decided to veer around this section of the city, as absurd as it sounded...Tiana shook her head, deciding it was probably nothing.
It was a further fifteen minutes before she saw Grylmark come to a halt in front one of the residential houses at the side of the road. Tiana frowned, peering out from behind her cover at the corner of the street. It was just an ordinary-looking house. Was this really where Grylmark had been hiding the whole time?
Her surprise grew when she saw the old man raise one hand – and then knock politely on the front door. The door opened after a few moments, and somebody inside let him enter, but Tiana couldn't make out who it was. What was going on? It wasn't some kind of complex or scientific facility, just a small house with no distinguishing qualities of its own. She tried to search for illusions and found nothing, but something suspicious was definitely going on here.
I'll wait, Tiana decided. I'm not convinced. This can't possibly be where he's been hiding all this time. I'll wait until he leaves, and once he shows himself again I'll catch him for sure.
Grylmark stepped inside and closed the door behind him quietly, glad to put some distance between himself and the rebellion. The presence of the civil war in Mid-childa was nothing but a constant irritation to him, creating unnecessary disruptions and meaningless conflict wherever he went. Waves of hostile executors repeatedly blocked his path as he made his way through Uminari City, and the old man was beginning to get rather sick of it. Whatever happened to being able to walk down the street peacefully without being shot at? The summoner was thankful that he still had Srethis and Ungore to draw away the majority of the soldiers; he didn't have the time or the patience to put up with such nonsense.
Nevertheless, it was good to be indoors again. The old man regarded the inside of the simple home with mild disinterest, noting with a single glance that nothing had changed since his last visit. Despite its normal outlook, this place was the abode of the Family of Labinnac. It was here that the last surviving Labinnac Sisters sought refuge away from the rest of the world, leading as close to a normal life as they were able. The previous wars of Mid-childa had decimated the Family almost to extinction until barely any of them remained, and despite their power they could not afford to put themselves at risk.
From the outside, the house appeared to be completely ordinary, much like any other residence in Uminari City. An average family of three of four could reside quite peacefully here under normal circumstances. There was nothing special about the interior either – a kitchen with scraps of food littering the floor and tabletops, a living room with a few minor comforts of its own, an overgrown back garden, one or two bedrooms which were in need of a good clean...It was certainly lacking in money, but the occupants could get by. The Labinnacs had been doing so for many centuries by now.
So this is how it is, Grylmark mused thoughtfully. The House of Testarossa fell in reputation, and the House of Yagami grew to become more powerful in its stead...and yet the Family of Labinnac remained the same. They lack the money, resources and the numbers to become an official House of Mid-childa, and after the vicious wars which decimated this world...the Labinnac Sisters have never really quite recovered. If the world lasts forever, it will probably always be this way.
Grylmark knew all too well, however, that the world was not going to last forever. Mid-childa wouldn't even last another day at the rate that the rebellion was spreading, but that was not his problem. With Oguba's powers at his complete disposal, he didn't have to care about the welfare of any universe he travelled through...
The little girl who had opened the door for him was waiting patiently on the steps with a peculiar look on her face. Grylmark didn't recognise her, but it had been a long time since his last visit, and he couldn't be bothered to remember everyone he met. Was she a Labinnac?
"Hi," Elsie said shakily, brushing back a lock of her silver hair. She grinned at him, and then seemed to look sad all of a sudden. "Hi."
She was seated on the stairs quietly, cupping her chin in one hand and waving a large balloon in the other. Something about the word silver screamed out from the girl's appearance. Her hair was a shimmery light silver which cut down to her roots, tied back in a a short ponytail; her eyes were a sharp tinge of bright silver which seemed faintly feline somehow; even the clothes she wore were in varying shades of silver, fastened together with a neat little silver bow. As the light caught her features, Elsie's skin, too, appeared to be a slightly darker hue of silver.
The only thing about her which wasn't silver was the balloon that she held in her left hand. In stark contrast, it was jet black. Grylmark frowned at the balloon, wondering why it bothered him more than the little girl did. It was only a balloon.
"Hi," Elsie said again, smiling at him and lifting the balloon up. "Have you come to feed me?"
Grylmark closed his eyes for a moment in exasperation. He was only here for one purpose and one purpose only, and didn't have time to waste talking to strange little silver girls.
"I have not come to feed you, child," the old man said patiently. "I have come here to the Family of Labinnac to hire the services of Kagura Labinnac. Is she here or not?"
Elsie's eyes widened. "Kagura onee-chan?" She shook her head slowly, the little ponytail moving back and forth. "Onee-chan isn't back yet. But she's coming. She said she's coming back later to feed me."
Later? The summoner hesitated. He knew that Kagura would not be able to refuse his offer for work, considering the hard times she was put under, but he hadn't expected her to actually be absent. After being cut off by Yagami so abruptly, Grylmark had been left with very few contacts of his own. If possible, he would have preferred to wait around a little longer until Kagura returned, since there weren't many others with such skill that he trusted to employ. Of course, "trust" wasn't the right word, but the assassin was quite familiar with the value of money, and could be easily bought...
It can't be helped, he thought regretfully. Though I would have it otherwise, I am running a very tight schedule, and must be back at the facility as soon as I possibly can. I have to make sure that all of the mutants are kept under the control of my magic, I have to oversee Srethis and Ungore's movements and keep everyone in position, I have to prepare for when the Bureau will surely arrive...and I have to be there for Vita's true awakening. Everything needs to be perfect, and I can not afford to mess it up.
"I do not have time to wait for Kagura," Grylmark said coldly. "I will require somebody else to fight in her place. Who are you, child?"
The little girl poked the balloon in the middle playfully and grinned.
"Elsie," she announced. "Elsie Labinnac." Her expression switched back to sadness again. "I just...I just want my big sister to come home. I'm waiting for her to come back."
This girl is one of the Labinnac Sisters? The old man felt a sense of triumph rising up inside him. So all is not lost after all. All of the Labinnacs are powerful in their own way, regardless of their outward appearance. Perhaps I can use her.
However, he would still have to make sure. For example, Wyvern of the House of Yagami had also asserted himself as being a sibling of Kagura, but had no relationship of his own to the actual Family of Labinnac – the ties that linked the two of them were of adoption only. Since Elsie was living here in the same house as Kagura, however, the link was probably genuine anyway.
"You say you're Kagura's little sister," Grylmark said to her. "Then you are a member of the Family of Labinnac. In that case, child, is there anybody else I can speak to? Are there any other Labinnacs who would be able to assist me?"
"There are only three of us left," Elsie answered, dragging the string of the balloon between her legs. "Kagura and I live here." She pulled a face. "But...I miss Felicity. She had to leave, because even Kagura couldn't feed her anymore..."
I see, the summoner thought. I know about Felicity Labinnac's situation. The eldest sister of the Labinnacs was forced to separate from the main Family so that they could all survive, and Yagami took her in on a whim, if I remember correctly. That means Felicity will still be at the House of Yagami, but it would be quite foolhardy to visit that place again. It seems that I must make do with this...girl.
"I have a proposal for you, Elsie," Grylmark said, drawing himself up and fixing the girl with his hard eyes. "I wish to enlist your services in your sister's stead. Fight for me against the Time-Space Administration Bureau, using whatever abilities are available to you. The power of Oguba will be on your side, meaning that defeat will be near-impossible."
He paused for a moment, gathering her attention. "If you accept, I can offer you the opportunity to gain vast wealth and power, should you find yourself in need of either. Anything you wish for will be granted. The chance to make your own contract with Oguba will also be made available."
Elsie just looked at him for several seconds in complete silence, cupping her hand to the side of the black balloon. For an exasperated moment, Grylmark wondered if she hadn't understood what she had said and that he would have to repeat it all over again.
"Wealth and power?" the little girl said eventually. "But I just want Kagura onee-chan to come home and feed me."
"If you have wealth and power, child," the old man said critically, "you will have plenty of money to feed yourself."
"But I can't feed myself," Elsie protested, looking rather hurt. "Kagura always says I can't feed myself. It's my birthday today, you know. Do you like my birthday balloon?" She giggled lightly as she looked at it. "It's not really my birthday balloon. I made that up."
Impatiently, Grylmark wondered how much longer this was going to take. He wished Kagura had been here instead. They could have sealed the deal already by now.
"Listen, child," he said irritably. "I do not care about your stupid balloon. Are you accepting my offer or not? Will you fight with me?"
"It all sounds very nice," the little girl said with a small smile. "But I'm just worried about getting fed..."
"Never mind about being fed," Grylmark snapped. "There is a rebellion going on and people are dying. You do not have time to worry about the needs of nutrit - " He stopped when he realised that Elsie was starting to lose attention in him and was turning back to her silly little balloon. "Very well!" he shouted, giving up. "You can have food! I'll feed you!"
Elsie punched the air excitedly with her free hand. "Yay! Food!"
I'm dealing with a complete infant here, the old man thought. If it wasn't for her status as a Labinnac, I would not put up with such idiocies. As for feeding her, I can leave that for Srethis or Ungore to do. I am a Time Mage, not a babysitter.
"Then it's settled," he said. About time, too. "Allow me to facilitate the important details to you, child. My name is Grylmark, and I am operating from a hospital facility situated in the northern district of Uminari City. If you meet up with my allies there, all of your needs will be seen to." He turned to leave. "I expect you to fight well for me, Elsie."
The little girl pulled a face, her silver eyes blinking innocently at him. "You mean I have to go outside? I can't go outside. Kagura onee-chan told me to stay indoors."
Grylmark sighed in exasperation. Just when he thought he was getting to the end of it.
"Child," he said with the last of his patience, "you will have to go outside, or you will not be able to travel anywhere." It was a safe bet that she probably didn't have the ability to teleport. "Once you have reached my facility, I promise you that you can go back inside again. You can pretend you're going on a grand adventure."
"I am going on a grand adventure," Elsie crowed, lifting the balloon in salute. "I'm living life."
"Exactly. Now..." The summoner hesitated and turned back towards her, wondering if this was all going to go horribly wrong. "You do know what you're supposed to do?" he asked worriedly. "Do you know where to go?"
"The hospital facility," the Labinnac said brightly, her silver skin gleaming against the sunlight streaming in through the windows. "I know. But...I want lots and lots of food, like you promised." She held up one finger towards him. "And it has to be the right food. Kagura onee-chan says that if I have the wrong food...things happen to me. Really, really bad things. So it has to be right." She looked up towards him hopefully. "You are going to feed me the right food, right? Like liver. I like liver. It has to be boiled just right, and it has to be alive."
This is going to take a long time, Grylmark thought with a disgusted look on his face. Time that I don't have any more.
"Fine, fine," he said calmly, not even bothering anymore. "Everything will be done as you ask. Now, I will take my leave of you. I expect you to arrive promptly, child."
"Wait," Elsie said quickly, standing up from the stairway. "You mean I have to leave now? I have to leave a note for Kagura onee-chan. She'll go berserk if I'm not here when she comes back..."
Grylmark had a sudden visualisation of Elsie following him down the street all the way back to the hospital, whilst nagging him at every single turn about food. It was not an image which inspired great confidence in him.
"Within half an hour," he said. "That's the amount of time I'll allow, but no longer. If you take too long, I may send somebody to fetch you." Inwardly, he wouldn't be surprised if she got lost on the way or went to the wrong building. Trust him to pick the most juvenile Labinnac out of the lot.
With a rush of relief, he turned round and opened the front door to leave the house. He was finally finished with this, though it had taken a lot longer than he would have liked. With the rush of the cold air again his skin, Grylmark stepped outside the threshold.
And then he heard a sinister voice speak out from behind him, harsh and deep in nature, a voice that he had never heard before...
"Sticks and stones may break my bones," the voice whispered. "But death will never touch me."
The old man stopped dead in his tracks, alarm bells going off in his mind. What was going on? "Elsie...?" he said uneasily. "What are you - "
"Hunger. Agony. Mutilation." The voice was an evil hiss in his ears, gutteral and beast-like in nature as a cold sliver of ice crept down his back. "The House of Labinnac shall rise again. All else will fall and crumble. You are merely carrion for our eager carnage-ridden mouths."
Unable to bear it anymore, Grylmark whirled around to confront whoever had spoken out, his pulse racing. To his disbelief, there was nobody there at all...just the little girl looking up at him curiously as if nothing had happened. It hadn't sounded anything like Elsie, but...
"What did you just say to me?" Grylmark demanded, unable to block off the feeling of great unease which enveloped him. "Was that...you?"
Elsie blinked. "Me? I didn't say anything." She smiled sweetly and turned around to go back into the living room. "Maybe you're just hearing things."
The old man stood there for several more seconds, breathing unnaturally fast and half-expecting the culprit to jump out of the shadows suddenly. But nothing happened: nobody else was in the house. The terrible voice was long gone, and only the effect of its words remained.
Shaking his head in bewilderment, Grylmark finally stepped back outside to leave the Family of Labinnac behind him. He had a schedule to keep.
Hayate raised the staff of Reinforce and rammed its base onto the floor with a resounding thud, her magical field extending around her as it reacted to the impact. There was a faint rush of footsteps from all sides, and then armed guards poured into the reception area to block off all possible exits. Even without being able to see anything, the Bureau mage was perceptive enough to know what was going on. The security forces of the House of Yagami had arrived – the real security, not the decoys that the Legion had felled earlier. Arisa must have already called them in to take the three of them back into custody...
She stood her ground defiantly, shaking with anger at the unfairness of it all, barely aware of the Legion dragging its battered body away to take cover behind her with Exoria. The cyborg's life had been saved thanks to Hayate's intervention, but it could still all be in vain if everything ended here.
The assembled guards had begun to raise their weapons towards her, but upon seeing Hayate's likeness to Yagami, they froze in place with uncertainty and looked towards Arisa for orders. The head of security seemed no different, however, for her face had drained of colour as soon as the Bureau mage had revealed herself. The tension seemed to have gone out of her body completely.
Hayate, you can't beat them all, Exoria thought tremblingly. Maybe you can handle the guards, but not Arisa as well. She uses close combat that you can't defend against, and you can't even see her! Even if you survive, the fight will alert the entire Family, including Yagami-sama! We'll never be able to make it then!
To make matters worse, yet another pair of footsteps sounded from behind them, followed by muttering and complaining. The head maid pushed herself past the guards and stepped into the reception area, fuming.
"Arisa, what precisely is going on here?" Noriko said, wringing her hands out and looking extremely fed-up. "How am I supposed to clean at all if you keep doing this?"
The guards looked towards the maid with a mixture of confusion and sympathy in their faces before turning back to focus on Hayate and Arisa. Arisa, for her part, appeared to be trying to concentrate on too many things at once.
"Noriko, this isn't the time," the blonde head of security said in a low voice. "I'm just a little busy at the moment - "
"Do you think I'm not busy either?" the maid retorted. "Do you think I find this fun? I have just cleaned out every room with one of your "guards" in them – some of them even started regaining consciousness and walking away whilst I was still trying to tidy the place – and now you're going to make even more mess for me to clean up?" She folded her arms angrily. "First Exoria and her cyborg start beating people up, and now you too? Have you no respect?"
"Noriko," Arisa said darkly, with a tinge of impatience. "This is not the time. Can we talk about this later...?"
The maid's grey eyes suddenly fell onto the smashed-in piece of panelling where Arisa had been pummelling the Legion, and cold fury rose in her face. Quickly, the guards moved out of her way as she stomped over to the damaged floorboards.
"Look!" Noriko cried, pointing at the dent in the floor. "You've already broken something!"
"That was an accident," the head of security muttered. "It isn't that bad..."
The head maid was having none of it. She had already bent down towards the ground, examining every inch of the floor tile in question. Muttering curses under her breath, she began to polish the rest of the tile with a fine cloth.
"Do you know how long it takes to replace something like that?" she said, glaring at her. "Do you?" She held up one finger towards the other woman. "Splinters. Constant splinters. Say no more. Arisa, I thought better of you than this. Do you know that?"
"Yes. Yes, I do," Arisa replied, gritting her teeth. " . I'm in the middle of something important with Hayate here. If you could just leave the room for five minutes and clean upstairs or something - "
"Upstairs?" the brown-haired maid repeated. She placed one hand on her hip, danger brewing in her face. "I have just finished upstairs."
Hayate cleared her throat, hoping to speed things up a little here. "What about my room?" she suggested helpfully. "You know. The guest room. It could do with a clean."
Noriko whirled round at the sound of her voice, her eyes narrowing as she considered the notion.
"That's a good idea," Arisa joined in, sensing an opportunity here. "The guest room is probably filthy."
"Don't say that," the Bureau mage warned. "I just slept in there."
"It's true that I haven't been in the guest room today yet," the maid said slowly. "Perhaps the floor could do with a hoover." She began to drift towards the rear corridor, her face clearing. "Yes. Yes, maybe I should do that..."
The guards parted before her as she marched out of the reception area, muttering to herself inaudibly. It was several more seconds before the sound of Noriko's footsteps faded away, and the majority of the room relaxed notably now that she was gone. Arisa herself let out a great sigh of relief at finally being able to get rid of the maid.
"Right," the head of security said at last. "Where were we again? Oh yes...Hayate."
Arisa's face hardened as she brought one hand up to her shoulder in a single silent gesture, and the guards immediately raised their weapons in response to close in on Exoria and the Legion.
Within a few seconds, the atmosphere had become tense and near-volatile once more. The Time Mage and the combat cyborg were forced back to back against one another with barely any space to outmanoeuvre; the two of them exchanged desperate looks, knowing that neither of them were prepared to go down without a fight. For the Legion, it would surely mean certain death this time.
"Hayate!" Exoria cried out, a plea for help which rang through her head.
The Bureau mage stood there facing Arisa alone as the guards swept past to train their guns on her companions. Not one of them pointed a weapon at her or even paid her any attention, leaving Hayate completely unchecked. The head of security was gazing past her fiercely, towards where Exoria and Legion were watching with baited breath. Their lives were in her hands, but there was little mercy to be found within those hard green eyes.
With a single word, Arisa could order the Time Mage and the cyborg to be arrested and forcibly taken back into the custody of the House of Yagami. Considering their combined behaviour towards the Family so far, the head of security could not afford to take any risks with either of them, regardless of them being ex-members of the households. In all likelihood, Exoria and the Legion would probably end up being imprisoned in one of the empty cells in the basement where so many prisoners had died screaming. Perhaps, once she had consulted Yagami-sama about the matter, the pair of them would simply be left to die there after all. It was a fitting conclusion for two such annoyances of the Family.
The blonde woman felt only a small amount of regret linger within her as she prepared to give the order. Arisa remembered the older days of the House of Yagami, the hours that she had spent together with Exoria giving her specialised weapons training. She touched the hilt of her sword for just a second, fondly recalling the memories. In the next moment, however, she had shut them out completely.
No, Arisa thought, taking her hand away from her sword. Exoria was a great benefit to us in the past, and we shared many memorable experiences together with the rest of the Family. However...none of that matters anymore. She has now chosen to turn against Yagami-sama. I cannot allow something like this to continue, or it will only spread like an infectious disease. As far as I'm concerned, she is no longer the Exoria that I was acquainted with.
The head of security could see the rising desperation in Exoria's eyes as the girl turned towards her pleadingly, her lower lip trembling. But Arisa's mind was now free of all doubt. Without another thought, she dismissed it and opened her mouth to give the order to take the escapees away, to be locked up in the cells underneath the mansion -
"It doesn't work that way," Hayate said suddenly.
The words cut through her thoughts unexpectedly, and Arisa's gaze shot towards her suspiciously. She was a blind girl from another universe. In this situation, she was completely irrelevant. Even so...
"What do you mean?" the head of security said quietly.
The Bureau mage raised her head slightly, her blue eyes gazing forward unseeingly. "I mean it doesn't work, Arisa. I've chosen to protect Exoria and take her away from this place using all of my power, and that makes us joined in purpose." The flow of magic stirred through the staff of Reinforce, hardening the conviction in her voice. "You don't get to threaten my companions whilst leaving me untouched. Either you threaten none of us, Arisa, or you threaten all of us - there's no in-between. If you intend to try and hurt Exoria, then I'm already personally involved."
Arisa regarded her with ill-hidden amusement. "Is that so?" she said with intrigue. "You would prefer to share in the fate of these felons, rather than live to see the sky again? Not that you'll be seeing anything with your kind of eyes, but you know what I mean," the head of security quickly amended herself. "Hayate, I really didn't expect this kind of thing from you. You're an intelligent, forward-thinking young woman, not at all like the others. You never struck me as the kind of gullible soul who would let a spineless creature like Exoria sweet-talk you into helping her." She sighed. "I only hope you're aware that all that one cares about is saving her own skin."
"I'm perfectly aware of a lot of things," Hayate replied sharply, refusing to budge. As far as she was concerned, a line had been drawn, and she was standing right on top of it. "Such as what goes on in this household of yours. Even though I'm not familiar with the finer details, it's still pretty clear to me that Exoria would be far better off away from this place. I'm not supporting her because of her personality or the kind of person she is, Arisa. I'm sticking by her because of what Yagami and the entire Family has forced her to go through – because no one deserves to be left alone to suffer like that."
Her right arm tightened around the staff of Reinforce. "Why don't you tell the guards to move away from her? I'll give you five seconds before I bring the ceiling down. I'm guessing you wouldn't want Yagami to hear us fighting, would you?"
There was a harsh intake of breath in response to her words, and Arisa's face paled with a mixture of shock and fear at the thought of involving Yagami. With a visible effort, the head of security forced herself to dispel such unwanted feelings from her mind, personally sickened by the concept of fear alone. As the colour gradually returned to her cheeks, Arisa straightened herself up determinedly and reinforced her control over the situation. Though she was unnerved from what Hayate had said, the blonde head of security was determined not to back down so easily. The vital order to take the prisoners away to the cells was still on her lips...it would be so easy to give the command out now, but...
"Hayate," she said, a gentler tone in her voice. "You shouldn't be doing this. Yagami-sama likes you and genuinely enjoys your company. That's such a rarity for any of our guests within such a short time, and It's been so long since I've seen her warm to another person before..." Gradually, Arisa dropped her hand down to her belt with a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Hayate, take my advice. Don't spoil it. Don't involve Yagami-sama when she doesn't need to know about this. Just let it go and I will see what I can do for you..."
There was a heavy thud as Hayate slammed the end of her device against the floorboard. The ground quivered with the effect of the conflicting magical fields, and a ripple passed through the air which was felt by every single person in the room. For a moment, sad uncertainty flashed across Arisa's features.
"I guess I didn't make myself very clear to you," the commander of Riot Force 6 said. "Either that or you haven't been listening to me. I'm not here to pick and choose terms and conditions about who gets to walk free and who doesn't. I'm telling you straight out that it's all of us or nothing." She took a brave step forward towards the head of security, trusting in her instincts. "Believe me, I don't want to fight you either, Arisa. You and I are close friends."
Arisa smiled and shook her head. "In another universe, perhaps. Relations like that have no relevance here. I still have my duty to Yagami-sama."
"Your duty?" Hayate said flatly. It felt as if she were going up against a brick wall in trying to talk to the blonde woman, but she refused to give up. "What's more important to you, Arisa? The lives of Exoria, the Legion and I? Or your duty to this "family"?"
The head of security looked at her in surprise, as if the answer was obvious.
"My duty, of course," she said confidently. "The amount of money Yagami-sama pays me in one year exceeds what most people will see in their whole lifetime. Money is power, Hayate – power and influence over countless others. Even without that little grain of motivation, I have been with the mistress from the very beginning. My loyalty to the House of Yagami is unshakeable." Arisa's eyes narrowed, and her hand began to stray back to the hilt of her sword again. "Don't try to persuade me to do otherwise, Hayate. You know so little about us that it nauseates me."
The Bureau mage was silent then, lifting the staff of Reinforce from the floor and cradling it in both hands as she would a child. Her magical field flickered for a second more and then disappeared.
"Fine," Hayate shrugged unexpectedly. "I won't try to persuade you." She stepped backwards, towards where the guards were ringing Exoria and the Legion in a tight circle of danger. "It looks like it can't be helped after all."
Before anyone could stop her, she whirled around and slammed her staff into the centre of the floor, a white light shining about her. Her magical field rapidly expanded to cover the entire perimeter of the room, exploding outwards in an eruption of magical power which cut right through the circle of guards surrounding her companions. Surprised and angry cries went up around her, followed by muttered curses and the sounds of the guards reaching for their weapons in anger. The shockwave affected everybody in the room and lasted only seconds, but it was enough...
"Exoria!" she yelled over the oncoming rush of the guards, knowing that they needed to make this count. "Quickly!"
The Time Mage didn't need to be told twice. She dashed forward with her initiate's dagger in hand, slashing round in a full circle whilst the Legion barged its way through the mob of guards with force alone. A few soldiers were beaten back, sorely wounded before the onslaught of Exoria's attack, but the effects of Hayate's brief diversion were quickly wearing off. The dark-haired girl desperately charged forward through the vanishing gap in the security ranks, knowing they couldn't possibly survive against such numbers. Even Hayate couldn't hope to accomplish anything like this...Arisa had no intention to let the three of them through...
Exoria hit another soldier with her dagger, cutting across his mid-section and kicking him away from her as he flinched in pain. Another blocked her way forward, but she viciously elbowed the guard in the throat and shoved him into the reeling forms of his companions in a similar fashion. The Time Mage tried to push on ahead, but then glimpsed the barrel of a rifle swing towards her face with deadly intent; blind fear washed over her mind, paralysing her to the spot for one terrifying instant. Before the killing shot could ring out, however, there was a loud crunch and the armed guard crumpled to the ground. The Legion stood over his body, metal fists clenched tightly.
Thankful for the cyborg's protection, Exoria forced herself to her feet again and burst through the last of the resistance until she found herself standing at Hayate's side. She gripped the young woman's hand tightly, lending her a small measure of her own guidance, and the Bureau mage gave a small smile in response. Moments later, the Legion stepped out of the cluster of guards' bodies virtually unscathed, standing on Hayate's other side in a defensive position.
Arisa was shaking her head with a disappointed look on her face. She had watched the fighting without taking any action, or even moving from her spot in front of the exit. There was nobody else obstructing them from leaving the House of Yagami for good, but many of the guards behind them were already beginning to recover...
"All right, Hayate," the head of security said with annoyance. "You've proved your point. There's no need for any of this to continue. I know Noriko will be giving me a real tongue-lashing if there's any more trouble around here." She glanced towards Exoria for a moment, her eyes troubled. "I just want you to reconsider what you're doing..."
"I've reconsidered enough," Exoria said angrily, her pulse racing from the adrenaline rush experienced within close combat. "I've run this over and over in my head until I wanted to scream. You're not stopping us, Arisa!"
"Not you, moron." Arisa was staring closely at the Bureau mage in front of her. "Hayate. You...remind me of what Yagami-sama used to be like. You were serious about everything you said, weren't you? I had hoped that you might be bluffing."
"Of course I was being serious," Hayate replied thickly. "I don't abandon my friends to certain death." She squeezed the Time Mage's hand gently in her own. "I'll say this one last time, Arisa. If you're going to try and hurt any of my companions here, you'll be coming up against me as well."
The head of security sighed and turned her back on them, clearly disturbed by what she was hearing. Behind the three escapees, many of the guards had already recovered enough to rise to their feet with their guns raised and ready to fire on command. The brief scuffle had achieved very little against the security forces of the Family itself.
"I'm not going to fight you, Hayate," Arisa said quietly, facing away from the mage. "You are a special guest of the mistress, and the rules of the Family dictate that all special guests must be protected from harm. If Yagami-sama gave me a direct order to take you down, I would do so in an instant. However...I have received no such orders. " She turned back towards them, her gaze downcast. "Hayate...I can't hurt you. It would be a crime against the Family to harm a valued guest of the mistress. I should be protecting you instead..."
The commander of Riot Force 6 lifted her face in mild surprise at that, not expecting this. "What else do your rules say?" she asked. "Do you they allow special guests of the Family to leave the mansion?"
"Presumably so," Arisa replied with great reluctance.
"And anyone else who accompanied them?"
The head of security shook her head determinedly. "Hayate," she said, taking a deep breath. "If I let you pass through to the outside...you will be threatened by the dangers of the rebellion. I would not be upholding my duty by releasing you into even greater peril - "
"I won't be in any such danger," the Bureau mage countered. "There are friends waiting for me in the city – other mages of the TSAB who are from a different universe just like me. Exoria and the Legion will help guide my way in the outside, if you'll let them leave with me. You wouldn't be sending me into anything that I couldn't deal with, Arisa."
"Then – I - " The head of security seemed extremely conflicted, her eyes darting towards the Time Mage and the combat cyborg. Clearly, she did not want to let either of them pass, but Hayate kept catching her in one loophole after the next. "Listen," Arisa said at last. "Under ordinary circumstances, I can't let Exoria and the Legion leave here, not without Yagami-sama's specific permission. By all rights, they've betrayed the Family and made an enemy of us all, and I should be arresting them on the spot instead. But this is a strange case."
Her brow furrowed as she laid out all the facts in front of her. "You've made it clear that you'll cause trouble if I try to lay a finger on either one of them. You're also identical to Yagami-sama in appearance, which already causes a lot of confusion without any fighting going on. Combined with that...you could end up in the line of fire, Hayate. Even if it's just by accident. A stray bullet, wounded by a hireling assassin...anything could happen to you here in the House of Yagami, and letting you get hurt is one thing I don't want to happen. If Yagami-sama were to hear about it..."
The muscles of Arisa's jaw tightened as she spoke. "It just makes me wonder, Hayate. Talking to you like this, face-to-face...Perhaps you're right. Perhaps keeping you here is too much of a risk after all."
She marched past them to the back of the room, snapped her fingers at the guards to get their attention, and made a single sharp motion with the edge of her hand. The armed soldiers nodded in understanding, respecting her authority and obeying her commands without question. Without a glance at any of the three escapees with whom they had been fighting, the security forces of the House of Yagami executed an about turn and began to file away out of the reception area, one by one. Within minutes, the lobby was emptied of guards completely – Arisa had ordered them to return to their positions in the other areas of the mansion.
She called off the guards, Exoria thought in shock. If she hadn't seen it happen before her eyes she would never have believed it. I...I don't understand. Arisa's loyalty to Yagami-sama is absolute. She would never even think of going against her orders. And yet, after listening to Hayate for five minutes...she's decided not to arrest us. She's...she's actually going to let us leave without a real confrontation?
The Time Mage's mind was spinning. She would never have though that anyone could possible be capable of persuading Arisa, of all people. Within the entire Family of Yagami, there was no other who was so passionate and dedicated to the mistress of the mansion, save for Suzuka.
Exoria still wasn't sure what had happened, but somehow...Hayate had been able to talk Arisa down to a reasonable conclusion...
Arisa was still standing silently at the other end of the room, facing the blank wall with her head bowed. There was no longer anybody else blocking their way out through the front doors. The North Keeper would be guarding the outside, of course, but he had no obligation to prevent anybody from leaving from the inside. Once you had stepped outside the mansion, you were technically already free from its oppressive boundaries.
"Exoria," the head of security said in a near-whisper. "I wish you had never returned here. You've caused so much trouble for Yagami-sama..."
The dark-haired girl reacted as if Arisa had struck her physically, her hackles rising. Trouble for Yagami? What about how she had suffered? Didn't anybody even notice?
"Yagami-sama hurt me, Arisa," the Time Mage breathed, feeling cold rage at the injustice dealt to her. "She tortured me. You watched her break me and did nothing to stop it, even as I cried out for her and screamed for help." She let go of Hayate and balled her hands into fists, shaking with bitter anger. "Don't try to defend her, Arisa! She's done nothing but cause more and more pain and grief to everyone here! She doesn't deserve your respect!"
The blonde head of security remained unmoved. "It's obvious that you still don't understand, Exoria," she replied. "True devotion goes much further than superficial love. Like many others of the Family, I have learned to accept the changes within Yagami-sama's soul and spirit, and every one of us must never forget what the House of Yagami represents in Mid-childa. The will of our mistress is our reason for serving her. If she wishes to embrace you, Exoria, then it shall be so. If she wishes to cause you harm, then it is not my place to question her reasons."
"She doesn't have any reason!" the dark-haired girl cried, near-hysterical. "Not any more!"
She teetered forward on the edge of her toes, literally seconds away from lunging at Arisa in a fit of rage. Before she could do so, however, Hayate gently laid her hand on Exoria's arm, holding her back from making such a mistake. The Time Mage reacted at once to the mage's touch, feeling a great sense of calm wash through her, and quickly bit back the rest of her words. Taking in deep breaths, Exoria forced herself to take a mental step back; there was no point in attacking Arisa for personal reasons when the head of security was already letting them go. Hayate had already gone to such great lengths to convince her to do so.
"Hayate," Arisa said, still facing away from all three of them. "I'm making an exception for you this time. I hope that I may never have to make such an exception again."
She turned around to face them, and Exoria saw with surprise that the head of security was ashen. Perhaps, in her own mind, Arisa felt that she really was betraying her mistress, and the thought brought incredible distress to her...
"I am going to let you walk out of here," the blonde woman whispered. "All of you. I have been serving Yagami-sama for so many years, that when her double suddenly appears before me and makes such arguments to me as you have, Hayate, with the alternative meaning that harm will befall you instead..." She sighed heavily. "Whatever happens, the three of you will not be missed by Yagami-sama – not even you, Hayate. My mistress will remember you, of course, but she is extremely busy at present. The progression of the rebellion has already caused so many problems for us, and I'm not going to disrupt her time just to remind her about matters that would best left be alone." Her eyes flashed. "That includes fighting you, Hayate. As long as nobody bothers her about it, Yagami-sama will probably never notice that you left. The same goes for all of you.
"However...Exoria." Arisa's gaze had shifted towards the dark-haired girl, her face a mask of hostility. "You've been trouble ever since you came back here. Yagami-sama went into one of her worse moods on the same night that you returned, and her mood began to decline ever since. I'm just glad that Hayate arrived to help her feel better again. Exoria..." The head of security's hollow stare cut into her. "I want you to promise me something. Promise me one thing, and I will let you walk out through those doors right now without a care in the world."
The dark-haired girl shivered, not knowing quite what to expect. "What is it?" she said uncertainly.
"Promise that you'll never come back to the House of Yagami again." Arisa clenched her teeth, the deadly seriousness of her words written across her face. "Yagami-sama's mood darkens everytime your name is mentioned. You're dirt to her, Exoria. I want you to tell me for certain that you'll never ever return here." She laid her hand on the hilt of her sword. "Because if I ever see you again, Exoria, if I ever see a glimpse of you – I'll end you. I'll execute you on the spot, simple as that, with no further regrets. Yagami-sama does not deserve the pain that you bring her."
The Time Mage backed up a half-step, genuinely frightened that Arisa seemed quite prepared to kill her where she stood. The head of security's eyes were dark and cold, with only the light of killing intent present within them. Was this what Arisa had meant by her "devotion"?
"I – I promise," she said, her throat feeling dry. "I'm never – I'm never coming back...I - "
Quickly, Hayate told hold of Exoria's arm to comfort her. She could feel the poor girl shaking against her, threatened and intimidated by this last remark from the Family. Despite herself, the Bureau mage felt anger rise up inside her as well at how Arisa had acted towards her...
"Arisa," she started to say, but the blonde woman had already turned around to face the wall again.
"Go," the head of security snapped, waving them away from her. "Go now. Leave."
"Arisa, I - "
"I said go!" Her voice was an angry hiss towards them. "I don't want to see any of you again! Get out of here before I change my mind!"
Exoria and the Legion didn't need to be told again, the pair of them rushing towards the great doors of the mansion as one. The Time Mage was pulling Hayate forward by one arm in her desperation to leave, practically dragging her forward until the Bureau mage almost tripped and fell in her blindness. With a renewed effort, Hayate used her staff to aid her balance and grip Exoria's arm in response, gathering the strength to move forward with her.
And then the three of them – Bureau mage, Time Mage and combat cyborg – burst out through the doors and into the open air of Uminari City. For the first time in too long, they were free from the influence of the House of Yagami. Though the past events had taken place within a mere twenty four hours, the mad dash to escape from the mansion had seemed almost unachievable with the odds stacked against them. Yet in the end, they had prevailed.
We did it, Exoria thought excitedly, breathing in the cool air once more. We escaped the House of Yagami. I...I did it. I'm free from her, for the rest of my life, and I'm never coming back.
She'd been outside of the mansion for a long time before, of course, when she had been transferred to Red Scorpion. But now the feeling was different. Now she no longer felt any attachment to Yagami, no desire or irrational need to go back to her and plead to be a part of the Family again...No, Exoria thought. It's not going to be like that anymore. I've changed, and Hayate's the reason why I was able to do that...
We're safe now. We're free. I didn't think it would be possible, but we did it. She'll never be able to touch me again...
"Lady Exoria," the Legion said, pointing up towards the sky. "Look."
The Time Mage hadn't realised how dire the situation with the rebellion was in Uminari City, not until she saw it with her own eyes. Black smoke blanketing out vast areas of the sky, explosions rocking the ground with gunfire going off in the distance...This was what they would have to deal with, now that they had left the comfort of the mansion. For the second time today, however, Exoria surprised herself, because she wasn't afraid at all. She had Hayate by her side, there to take her to the shelter of possible allies in the TSAB, and the Legion to act as her own guardian and shield. There wasn't anything to worry about.
I've never felt like this before. I don't have to worry about Yagami's expectations of me, or the Harlaown Program, or what the rest of the Family will think of me. I know what they think of me now, and they don't matter. I'm putting all that behind me and moving ahead with people who will support me.
"I smell smoke," Hayate said. "A lot of smoke."
"Lady Exoria. Hayate." The combat cyborg drew itself up to its considerable height. "We are still within the grounds of the House of Yagami. I do not think we can rest easy until we have passed through the outer gates and gained some considerable distance away from the mansion. It is possible that the North Keeper or another member of the Family will still try to stop us on the way out, if they see us."
"They better not," Exoria muttered, her dagger a glint of silver in her hand.
She wanted to jump for joy, cry with happiness and hug Hayate until she could barely breathe; maybe all three at once. The mix of emotions inside her combined with the sense of freedom in her mind was near-euphoric, and Exoria was determined not to let anyone in the world take away such happiness from her. Could this be how Hayate must feel?
Quickly, the three of them began to make their way towards the northern gates of the House of Yagami. Security had been on high alert ever since the approach of the rebellion, but now the tide of the war had moved onto the other districts of Uminari City, and so there was no longer any such fighting going on at the walls of the mansion. As a result, the perimeter was fairly quiet and nobody paid them any heed.
"I think we should be fine," Hayate said hopefully as they began to reach the sentry towers at the far edge of the grounds. "If anyone tries to stop us, they'll just think I'm Yagami."
"Not if they're a senior member of the Family," the dark-haired girl pointed out. "They might notice the missing wheelchair."
Their group made it to the last sentry tower, where the North Keeper would dwell within and keep a careful eye on everybody who attempted to enter the House of Yagami. He controlled the opening and closing of the northernmost gates, meaning that they would need his help to leave the grounds properly. Still, the North Keeper shouldn't give them too much trouble – he wasn't one to question those who had already been allowed out of the mansion itself -
"What the - ?" Exoria gasped.
The gates had been forced wide open in front of them. A terrific force had twisted the metal outwards and jammed the mechanism, thus preventing it from closing. With the gates vulnerable like this, anybody would be able to walk in or out at their leisure, although the presence of the rebellion didn't make that likely.
"What's going on?" Hayate queried, not being able to see what had happened.
The Legion regarded the broken gates with disinterest, seeing only the advantages it posed to them. "It's nothing," the cyborg said. "All this means is that we have free passage outside. We should not waste any more time."
"Legion, somebody did that to the gates," the dark-haired girl protested. "And I don't know if - "
She cried out as she stepped onto a body lying half-concealed on the side of the main path. It was the corpse of a man, dressed in light armour with about a dozen bullet wounds in his head and chest. Worse than that, Exoria recognised him.
"The North Keeper," she whispered. "He's dead. He – he was supposed to be operating the gates - "
"Lady Exoria," the Legion said sharply, urgency in its voice. "I must advise again that we leave here now whilst we still can."
Hayate squeezed her hand against her. "Come on," she said quietly. "We're not safe here."
The dark-haired girl nodded quickly and pulled herself together, not willing to spend another moment in this place. With Hayate and the Legion on either side of her, their group swiftly moved outside of the gates and left the grounds completely. Even then, they kept walking at a brisk pace until they were some distance from the House of Yagami. Only then did Exoria breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that no one in the Family would be able to catch up with them. There was a rebellion going on, after all.
She turned around to view the great mansion from afar, just for a moment – and it was then that the Time Mage saw the figure of a tall warrior-like woman standing right on top of the ruined gates. The woman was dressed in an army uniform of some kind, holding a machine gun in her arms with two more guns strapped to her back. Brilliant red hair fell down her back as the light caught the assassin's features momentarily.
Kagura?
Exoria mouth dropped open, the reputation of the notorious assassin preceding her. What was Kagura Labinnac doing at the House of Yagami? Was she doing jobs for Yagami again after having stayed hidden for so long? Did she...oh no.
It was Kagura who destroyed the gates at the mansion, she realised, a wave of dread washing over her. She was the one who killed the North Keeper and forced her way into the House of Yagami by brute force. Maybe he refused to let her in and she became angry, but that's unlikely, since Kagura is well-known by everyone in the Family. She probably did it just because she was in the mood for violence, whether it was necessary or not. That's Kagura's style. It always has been...
Their group had been far more fortunate than they had truly realised. Whilst Hayate had been talking to Arisa and trying to persuade her to let them go, Kagura had already penetrated the northern gates of the mansion. They must have narrowly missed encountering her on the way out, which was very lucky indeed, for the assassin would have probably attacked them on sight. None of them were in the right condition to take on a bloodthirsty gun-crazed maniac like Kagura.
From the first time that Exoria had set eyes on her, even whilst in the employ of the House of Yagami, she had noticed that the army girl had always been constantly gripped by bloodlust. With a thirst for death and a love of brutality, Kagura was the kind of woman who would thrive in the middle of a warzone. Considering the state of the world as it was now, she must be in a very violent mood indeed. If they had delayed their escape by any longer, then...
"Lady Exoria?" the Legion said concernedly. "Are you all right?"
The Time Mage blinked and rubbed her eyes, aware that she had zoned out a little. When her vision cleared again, she saw that Kagura was gone; perhaps the assassin had actually gone into the mansion to continue her trail of destruction. Whatever it was, it wasn't any concern of theirs. Exoria was well away from all that now – the Family could deal with Kagura by themselves.
"Hayate," she said, focusing on what was important. "We'd better get moving. You said before that you were going to take me to the rest of your friends in the Bureau. You can still find them, right?"
The Bureau mage cleared her throat, slight worry passing across in her face. "I'm not so sure anymore," she confessed. "The TSAB could be anywhere in Uminari City, and the range of my magical field isn't very good from the ground. I've been trying to sense the Wolkenritter every since we left the House for Yagami, but the rebellion is making things difficult for me and I didn't expect to have so much trouble locating anyone...It would be better if I had some greater altitude to conduct a much wider search..."
"You mean you want to fly higher up first," Exoria said slowly. "Without being able to see where you're going."
"I know. It would help if I had someone to guide me, but I think I'm the only one here with any levitation magic." The Bureau mage sighed. "That's why it's too risky. I was thinking instead that we should head for a certain destination in Uminari City where the TSAB is likely to be."
"And where is that?" enquired the Legion.
Hayate smiled. Her memory from last night was coming in handy now. "Grylmark," she said simply.
Though she couldn't see it, the Time Mage and the combat cyborg were looking at her as if she were mad. Hayate surmised as much, so she hastened to explain.
"If we can't find any members of the Bureau specifically, then we will look for their enemies instead," she said. "Grylmark is still a major opponent of the TSAB due to the grievances he's caused to us in the past. I know that he's here in Uminari City. If there are any Bureau mages close by, I believe that we will all be brought together to unite against a common foe." Hayate paused for a moment. "Grylmark's magic is also what caused my blindness in the first place. If I find him, I've got a better chance of working out how to get my sight back."
There was a long silence from the other two. She decided to assume that they still both thought she was mad, and she was absolutely correct.
"Hayate, you are going to get yourself killed," Exoria said in dismay. "You want to go after Grylmark? Just in the vain hope that the rest of the Bureau will be around the same place? You don't even know where he is!"
The Bureau mage shook her head. "Let me tell you something, Exoria. When I first woke up in this world, I was blind and strapped to a bed in a hospital facility." If not for Vita, she may have never woken up at all. "I know that this facility is being used by Grylmark as his base of operations. Mutants roaming the corridors, countless people being held captive...it's an awful place. Vita and I barely managed to get out of there alive."
She didn't want to think about what she had experienced in that hellish hospital. Instead, she cast her mind back to the events that transpired after that, how she was guided across the streets of Uminari City by the executors who had mistaken her for Yagami.
"I don't know where the facility is, exactly, because that was when I lost my sight, but I know that it is definitely within walking distance." Hayate was speaking confidently now that she was in possession of all the facts. She had felt so helpless before, deprived of her sight and without any direction at all, but now it was time for payback. "We should be able to get there fairly easily. I'll need your help to do it, but I believe it is possible."
The Legion was looking at her with a faint hint of approval. "It is a feasible option," the cyborg admitted. "You are very good at thinking ahead, Hayate, if you do not mind me saying so. You would make a remarkable strategist in times of war."
"Thank you, Legion."
"This is crazy!" Exoria cried, throwing her arms up. "Don't you know what kind of person Grylmark is? He throws away people's lives like nothing! If you think you can just walk into this facility of his and ask him to cure your blindness, then you've got another thing coming! Grylmark has his own agenda. He'll just laugh at you and throw a wave of mutants at you, no matter how many others are with you, and we'll be even worse off than before! Don't you understand? This is the man who betrayed Red Scorpion in the blink of an eye. Looking for him won't solve anything, Hayate!"
"I don't expect any such miracles from Grylmark," the Bureau mage replied. "I just know that if we can find him, we should be able to find other members of the TSAB at the same time. And..." She took a deep breath, a glimer of anticipation present in her blue eyes. "I need to know that I'll be able to see again at some point, Exoria. My blindness is too much of a burden on me. Even if I keep hoping, it's better than giving up."
"Even if it's false hope?" the dark-haired girl demanded. She whirled around to the combat cyborg standing by Hayate's side. "Legion! Tell her why she's being so stupid! This isn't going to work!"
The Legion cast her a slightly withering look and then turned away, extending its metal hand towards Hayate.
"I will not," the cyborg said. "I believe that this is a good plan to start with, one that I advise you to take, Lady Exoria. If the danger becomes too great, we can always think of something else."
She stared at the pair of them for several seconds, fuming. There had to be a better way than just...walking right into the hands of the enemy. Nothing good ever came of doing that...
"Fine," Exoria scowled, folding her arms. "We'll try it. But you can walk in front of me. When Grylmark's mutants rip you limb from limb, you know who to blame. Not me, that's for sure."
"I have pledged myself as your eternal guardian, Lady Exoria," the combat cyborg responded. "If it is your wish that I be torn to pieces in your place, then I - "
"That's not what I meant and you know it!"
"All right, let's just calm down here," Hayate sighed, placing one arm on the dark-haired girl's arm to calm her down. She raised the staff of Reinforce to guide her passage, placing her trust and faith in her two allies. "We've decided that we're going with my plan, right? There's no need to argue about it any more." She felt a rush of anticipation overtake her. "Now let's move! This war isn't going to get in our way. The Bureau is waiting for us."
A/N: I've introduced one last character in this chapter, so that the Labinnac Family is completed and everyone's there in the story.
Nanoha and co. back in the next chapter, plus a twist. Well, it might be a twist. Unless you've worked it out, which means that it won't really be a twist. I don't know. Maybe it is.