Scrya clutched at his head as the pain ripped through his skull, bent double and close to collapse. The violent headache still wasn't letting up after he'd limped out of Lideri's library; it was like a monster inside of him, contorting around his mind to wrack his body mercilessly with spikes of agony every few seconds. With his throat constricted, unable to even scream, it took every ounce of Scrya's willpower to make it downstairs without blacking out; it was a struggle to keep putting one foot in front of the other. The Yagami Bracelet was pulsating strangely around his wrist, but the boy found that as long as he kept one hand on the device, he could somehow keep himself conscious through the pain...
Yuuno's disembodied voice was still echoing through his head, a ceaseless web of noise which seemed almost haunting in Scrya's current physical state. Sounds that nobody else could hear, a pounding in his ears, all of which could be likened to the symptoms of recurrent hallucinations...the boy tried to block out the continuous noise, barely able to concentrate on any of the words. The intensity of his ordeal made him think that surely blood must be coming down his temples, though he bore no visible outward injuries.
Somehow, Scrya knew he had to get outside the mansion and breathe fresh air into his lungs...he was gasping for breath with almost every step now, and his body wasn't going to last much longer like this. Arisa and the other staff members probably would not allow him to step outside of the house, of course, but he was so close to blacking out again and falling into a state from which he may not recover...they would have to let him leave, even for just five minutes...
Help me, Scrya whispered in his mind, a silent plea which would reach no one. Even his voice had been strangled away by the wave of pain. Please...somebody help me...
Through the dark, choking haze which enveloped him, the boy saw that he wasn't too far away from one of the alternate side-entrances of the House of Yagami. An elegant glass door, unlocked and unbolted, as if someone had already used it recently. Strangely enough, it was completely unguarded. In fact, Scrya realised that he hadn't seen a single guard ever since he'd limped out of the library; considering what the House of Yagami was like, it struck him as very strange indeed. Had Arisa called away security to another location for some reason? Numbly, Scrya threw himself towards the door, his wrist sore and bruised where he had been twisting it too hard.
Scyra, Yuuno's voice repeated in his head. Listen to me.
But he couldn't listen. He wasn't able to. There was no way that the man's words could reach him when there was so much pain awash in his head, an impenetrable barrier of red which shredded anything that got too close -
Scrya fell against the glass door with a grunt, his free hand pressing repeatedly against the delicate pane. It refused to budge. Frantically, he shoved his body against it with the resolve of a weak and dying creature, scrabbling for the handle. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut to aid his dwindling focus, and he clawed at the doorframe blindly, kicking it desperately as tears shed down his face...
Just as he was about to give up, the door gave in at last and the boy fell out onto the soft grass beyond the eastern entrance. He was outside. Somehow, he had made it outside into the open air. Scrya gulped in great breaths of clean air into his lungs gratefully, feeling oxygen being to return to his head at last. Yes, he could breathe normally again and focus more on what was going on around him, no longer a doomed creature drowning in the ocean. In that, Scrya had already broken the surface.
But why? There was no reason why stepping outside of the boundaries of the mansion should suddenly release the harsh stranglehold on his chest, but...
The pain, Scrya realised as he lay there on the ground, breathing in and out mutely. The sudden intake of oxygen wasn't the only change taking place within his body. The...the pain is gone!...What's going on here? What's happening to me?
It was true; the headache was ebbing away from his body at an extraordinary pace, releasing wave after wave of relief over him until he was almost crying from the overwhelming release. The clamp on his throat relaxed, allowing Scrya to speak again, and the brunt of the pain on his body rapidly faded into a general ache. Within less than a minute, all that was left was the traumatic effect that the experience had made on his mind. One moment, he had been in completely agony with his head feeling as if it were going to explode, and the next...
How...what happened...?
His eyes flickered towards the Yagami Bracelet on his wrist, and Scrya saw that it was no longer glowing. The light of the device appeared to have gone dead completely.
"Scyra," came a voice out of the air around him.
The boy slowly got to his feet, still shaking from the after-effects of his ordeal. With a shock, he saw that there was a face materialising out of thin air, right in front of him. Like the voice, it was quite recognisable to him...because Scrya recognised it as his own. There were differences, of course, being that his duplicate self was older by a few years, but he knew there was only one person it could be...
As Scrya continued to watch in amazement, the image of the entire person solidified above the ground, flickering slightly with the effects of sustained magic. Not only that, but the airspace around the person was fading in and out, drifting between grey and black...an alternative medium which had become a swirling vortex, absent of both light and darkness as it sucked away the particles within its vicinity...
What is that? Scrya thought, barely able to believe what he was seeing. For just a moment, the terrible headache from before had been forgotten. That vortex. The magical energy is conflicting, moving completely independently from everything around it. It's as if...as if it's from another dimension...but that's crazy...
A time portal. Could it be true? Was that what he was seeing? Lideri had told him only a small amount of information about time travel the previous night, but if he was actually witnessing the birth of an open gateway to another dimension...
"Yuuno?" he whispered. "You're Yuuno, aren't you?"
The shimmering image of the researcher gained sharper focus, and Scrya's own future smiled warmly at him. There was no doubt in his mind: it was the man who had spoken to him in his earlier vision, back in the dining room. As the mist of the time portal wrapped in a shallow arc around Yuuno, Scrya found that he wasn't afraid.
I can see through him. He's only a hologram, projected from another place completely...another era of time, even...
"Scyra," said Yuuno quietly, his words echoing back and forth against the sides of the time portal. Though a mere hologram, the researcher was as close to real in this world as he was going to get. "I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this possible. This is a great academic breakthrough for me. Thanks to you, Scrya, I will be able to make contact with a long lost friend of mine who needs my help."
What's going on? the boy thought helplessly. Yuuno...he was in my head. Did he cause the terrible headache that I kept suffering, or was that the Yagami Bracelet? I don't understand!
"I remember being able to communicate with you recently," the researcher said. "My name is Yuuno Scrya, and I work with the Time-Space Administrative Bureau as chief librarian of the Infinity Library. Previously in my life, I was an archaeologist who worked with magical relics such as the Lost Logia. I'm from a different universe than you are, Scrya. We're the same person, and share many of the same traits, but we originate from different planes of existence."
"I worked that part out," Scrya stammered. His eyes darted to the strange energy gushing out of the portal, wondering if it was dangerous. Should he be standing so close to it? What if it sucked him in as well? "How...how did you...what just happened?..."
Yuuno smiled in understanding. "I'm afraid this must be a bit of a shock to you. You see, Scrya, some of my friends have become stranded in your universe. Even now, they are trying to find a way back home. There's only one way for them to return safely, but for that I will need to find a woman named Nanoha. She is a close friend of mine. We fought together in equal partnership when we were younger.
"Scrya...I apologise for what you have had to endure up to now. In my world, the TSAB lacks the means to construct a functioning time portal. We don't have Oguba's powers, you see. Instead, I had to make do with projecting my consciousness into a vessel from the other side." The look in Yuuno's green was sympathetic. "It shames me to admit it, but that vessel was you, Scrya. In order for me to make a connection with your universe, I had to place part of myself into a living human being on your end. Just my thoughts and presence would be sufficient...and you are my other "version" in this world, Scrya. Naturally, the opposite is equally true." Yuuno gave him a rather embarrassed look. "Don't worry. You've succeeded in releasing me into the outside world, Scrya, just where I needed to be."
Released...? Scrya stared at the hologram of Yuuno, still not fully understanding. When had this happened? In the years before he'd joined the House of Yagami, nothing like this had ever occurred. It wasn't until he'd joined the Family and...and when he'd put the Yagami Bracelet on...
The boy looked down at the inactive bracelet, comprehension looming in his wide eyes. Wait. The Harlaown Program. The HX chip embedded in his wrist, preventing any rogue data from corrupting the information gathered by the executors. Didn't Yuuno say that his consciousness was present inside him? Because then...the Harlaown Program would have prevented Yuuno from being able to surface...
And then, once he'd joined the House of Yagami...Arisa had modified his HX chip, and given him the Yagami Bracelet to assist him. The purpose of the device was to completely protect from physical harm just as long as he kept within the boundaries of the House of Yagami.
Within the boundaries of the House of Yagami. I'm outside. I'm outside of the boundaries, which is why the Yagami Bracelet is now inactive. Wait! It all makes sense! When the Yagami Bracelet is active, it alters my HX chip – the same chip which was preventing Yuuno from entering here. Somehow, his consciousness must have been inside the chip itself. No wonder I felt such massive agony...the lifeforce of another me must have overloaded it...
When he left the boundaries of the mansion, the Yagami Bracelet had become inactive and had stopped modifying the HX chip. Yuuno had been able to break free from him, released into the world, even as just another digital image...
"I understand,"Scyra whispered, feeling for the moment that he really did. "You needed to come to this world."
"Yes," the researcher replied. "I'm very sorry for the pain that I've caused you. But don't worry about any of this any more, Scrya. From here, I should be able to locate Nanoha and warn her, just so long as I maintain the link to my own world. Thank you for everything you've done for me, Scrya. Now that I'm free, you should be able to continue your life as normal." A strange, pained look came across Yuuno's face. "By that, I mean...as long as you can. Please, Scrya. You should live to the fullest for as long as you can, without any regrets."
What did he mean by that? the boy thought. It was if Yuuno was implying...that the world itself was on the brink of -
"It is time that I took my leave of you now," Yuuno said quietly, with a small bow of his head. "Again, I thank you for your help. Goodbye, Scrya – and good luck."
The hologram of the researcher vanished and the portal fizzled up into a curtain of blue light which shot up into the sky, far above the smoke which covered Uminari City. Astounded, Scrya watched the beacon until it had reached far beyond his scope of vision, watching this tiny, fantastic speck of Yuuno's consciousness which had travelled here from another time and space.
With Yuuno's departure, he felt as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. The civil war of Mid-childa somehow seemed much further away from him, and he had his duties in the library to attend to again. Scrya found that he was smiling broadly from the conversation with Yuuno, more than he had smiled in quite a long time. It wasn't every day that you actually got to talk with your alternate self from another universe, and thought the experience had been brief it had also been quite incredible.
He wondered if Yuuno really was going to find the person he was looking for, this woman called Nanoha. Inwardly, Scrya hoped that the man would be successful; surely he deserved that much. Without the shadow of the pain looming over him, the day seemed so much brighter.
Maybe I should do what Yuuno said after all, Scrya wondered thoughtfully as he walked back into the House of Yagami. Maybe I really should just live life to the fullest. Yes. Yes, I'll think I'll try and do that...
Signum and the rest of the Wolkenritter scoured the polluted sky above Uminari City tirelessly in pursuit of Fate's trail. Their group was still in high spirits after finding Nanoha, and although the Ace of Aces had obviously been in no state for flight or combat, it was an indication of progress in the right direction. Only a few other mages remained missing from their party, Tiana and Vita included, and all that remained after that was for them to find a way back to their own universe. It had been Nanoha who had successfully opened up the first time portal with Oguba's power and sent them spiralling on this journey through multiple worlds; perhaps many of the Bureau mages believed she would be able to get them back home in a similar fashion.
Signum, however, wasn't so sure. If anything, she felt that the pressure on the Ace of Aces was unnecessarily unfair. The power of a Lost Logia which controlled time wasn't something which could be quashed so easily, and yet someone in this world had managed to critically wound Nanoha. Either Oguba wasn't as powerful as they'd been led to believe, or Nanoha was no longer in possession of its power...or both, even. In any case, they would all have to do the best they could.
Vita, too, the Velka Knight vowed. I swore that I would bring her back, and so far I have not managed to fulfil that promise. She has to be somewhere in this world of war and chaos, perhaps searching for us as well. When I first entered this universe, I found myself separated from every other member of the Wolkenritter, but in the end we all managed to prevail. Right now, all of the Wolkenritter are assembled with me...with the sole exception of Vita. If even one of us is missing, we cannot function to our full potential. I won't be satisfied until she stands at our side once more, and in the name of the Tome of the Night Sky I swear that I will make that happen.
At the moment, everyone in their group was currently encountering problems in their search for Fate. Each of them had split up briefly to cover an individual part of the city, for it was a vast amount of space that they had to work with. Even Nanoha's Area Search spell would be stretched to its limit in searching for a single person, and Signum wondered if that was part of the reason why the combat mage had lost power and been wounded on the ground.
Gradually, each of the mages met back again at the central point above the city. Zafira, Erio, Rein and Agito appeared out of the smoke one by one, the looks on their faces saying it all. It had not been the most fruitful of searches.
"Any luck?" Signum asked.
Zafira shook his head, with Erio still clinging to his back. "No sign in the western districts of Uminari City," the Guardian Beast replied. "It's hard for me to see much through the smoke, but Erio helped search the area with me. There's nothing to show that Fate ever crossed that way."
"Nothing on the eastern side either," Agito reported, looking disgruntled and fed-up as she hovered in mid-air with the rest of them. "I wasn't able to cover much ground by myself, but my general radar didn't show a thing. Just hordes of those executors disrupting the signal." She glanced towards the Velka Knight darkly. "She's not here, Signum."
Next to her, Rein shook her head too in grave disappointment, having encountered the same kind of results herself. The unison device looked up towards Signum for one hopeful moment, but then saw the bitterness in the swordswoman's eyes and sighed. Their group consisted of several very experienced Bureau mages and yet not one of them had managed to find any sign of the Enforcer. A high-level mage like Fate would have left some kind of trail – it was impossible not to, even when flying – but their best efforts had all been in vain. It was very disconcerting for all of them.
"I don't understand," Rein said, puzzlement in her eyes. "We can't find any trace of Fate's magic at all. Whoever took her away must have masked her presence expertly, or used a high-level transportation spell. Maybe we would have a better chance of finding her if all this smoke wasn't in the way. There's too much of it to remove by magic alone..."
"The war's not going to stop just because you wish it, Rein," Zafira responded gruffly. "We've all tried a wide area scope and it hasn't done anything for us. Either we need more people, or we need more time." It was quite apparent to everyone that both options were unlikely to happen any time soon. "Perhaps we could go back to Nanoha and ask Shamal to give us a hand."
Signum felt herself tense up defensively at that. "No," she said in a hard voice. "If we go back now and Nanoha sees us return without Fate, what do you expect she's going to do next? You all saw how much she wanted to go after her." She let the implication hang in the air for a moment, steeling herself. To tell the truth, the Velka Knight was feeling especially bitter because she didn't want to admit that her skills might have failed her. If she couldn't find Fate, then she certainly wasn't going to be able to find Vita. And if she couldn't find Vita, whom she had been searching for ever since their run-ins with Red Scorpion..."I'm not willing to tell her the bad news until we've found some kind of definitive lead first," the Velka Knight said. "Zafira, you told Nanoha yourself that you would have no problem finding Fate. She trusted us with this. Are you really going to go back after giving up, just like that?"
"I never said anything about giving up," the Guardian Beast said sharply. Despite himself, he was still feeling rather uneasy about their predicament. "I didn't know it would be like this, Signum. I didn't expect the trail to actually go dead before we'd even started."
Erio looked at the two of them worriedly, sensing the tight-knit emotions within their group. "There has to be something else we can do," the forward said glumly. "Something we haven't tried yet..."
"Technically, there is," Rein offered, flying up at eye level as the other Guardian Knights listened intently. "There are lots of small isolated patches of the city that we haven't tried checking. We've only been running a general sweep in each district, after all. Even then, Erio...any of Fate's magic should still have showed up."
"Searching every house in Uminari City would take forever," Agito muttered. "We don't have the resources to carry out such a huge search. My magic would be completely drained before too long..."
"Then how about we do it together?" Zafira proposed. "We can do a group search and keep going, just for a little longer. That way we don't have to split up and waste any more energy." He looked towards the pink-haired swordswoman, knowing that she must still be very worried about Vita after all this time. Though she tried to hide it, Zafira had been with the Wolkenritter long enough to know when something was wrong. "I'm not happy about going back to Nanoha empty-handed either," he said. "You're right, Signum. We should try another sweep."
The other Velka Knight nodded curtly. "Then let's get it right this time."
Together, the Wolkenritter flew forward back towards the northern districts, narrowly skirting around the crater where Shamal had been helping Nanoha recover from her injuries. Performing a concentrated search across the entire city would mean drastically reducing their speed, and could take almost an hour at most. It wouldn't be good or practical to keep Nanoha waiting for so long, especially if they still didn't find anything after all that effort...
What if this is all for nothing? Signum thought, a rare feeling of anxiety rising up inside of her. I saw the woman that attacked Nanoha and took Fate away. I know it was her. She was travelling faster than anything I'd ever seen...nothing would be able to catch up with a mage like that. With that kind of speed, why would she still be in Uminari City any more? What if Fate's trapped in another faraway location and we're just wasting our magic doing this -
The Velka Knight suddenly felt the faint presence of a magical field flare across the edge of her senses. Though distant, the nature of the energy was fierce, robust and very, very familiar to her in a way which hit hard to home. Signum's eyes went wide at the feeling and she came to a dead halt in mid-air, not too far from the ruins of the detention facility.
What was that?
For a moment, she thought she had actually found Fate's position. It took her a moment to work out that it wasn't quite the same thing. The Enforcer's aura was more passive at its core, built up into an intricate controlled web of churning golden magic; the trace Signum had come across was one which undoubtedly belonged to another Bureau mage, one who specialised in a different kind of magic. The swordswoman's pulse raced as she realised that she knew exactly who it was, who it had to be...
"Signum?" Rein asked concernedly, as the rest of their group slowed down in their flight and gathered around the Velka Knight intently. "What's wrong? Did...did you find something?"
She nodded silently, trying to pinpoint the signal more precisely. Whatever happened, this was one trail of magic that she could not afford to lose.
"I can't sense anything at all," Agito complained, searching the area with her own red magic to no avail. "What's the deal here? Rein already went over this area and found it all clear. There's nothing here, Signum - "
"Yes, there is," Zafira said quietly, his muscles tensed up. "I can feel it too. The presence of another TSAB mage."
As Signum reached out for the fragile aura, determined not to let it fade away into nothing, she felt the signal grow gradually stronger and more definitive until she could practically clasp it in the palm of her hand. In truth, the Velka Knight realised that it must have been there the whole time, lingering unnoticed in the background; the mesh of magics used by the executors on the ground must have helped to shield the magical residue very effectively. Like a great cloud of silence lying over a graveyard, you were unlikely to sense it unless you were specifically looking for it with everything you had, and even then...
"There's definitely something there, right?" Erio asked. "How come only Signum and Zafira are able to sense it? I can't feel a thing - "
The boy looked down at the Yagami Bracelet that he had received from Wyvern just a few hours ago. He was still holding the strange device in his hand out of habit more than anything else, and so far it had proved to be completely useless in helping their group out at all. When Erio stared down at the bracelet now, however, just for a moment...he saw with shock that the Yagami Bracelet was glowing with a faint inner light...
The forward blinked and rubbed his eyes with one hand, unsure if he was seeing things. When he looked again, the Yagami Bracelet was completely unresponsive again. Perhaps it really had been nothing after all.
"Are you saying that you've finally located Fate?" he said to the two Velka Knights, trying to put his mind back into focus again. "Have we actually found her?"
"No," Zafira said slowly, his brow furrowed in concentration. "It's not her. Don't worry about your own talents, Erio. This isn't something that any ordinary mage would be able to pick up."
Agito snorted, seeming quite put out. "So you're saying that you and Signum can somehow sense important magic that we can't, because you're more experienced than us. Is that it?"
"Skill and talent are both unrelated to this situation," Signum said, gazing down below them to where the signal was beckoning to her. "You're not a member of the Wolkenritter, Agito. That's the reason why you don't feel anything, why no one else can sense what we've come into contact with now. Magic on the inside is different than magic on the outside, and it's the latter that we've been searching for all this time." She shook her head regretfully. "I suppose I should have been a little more open-minded when considering our options earlier..."
"What are you talking about?" the unison device demanded. "Why should being a Guardian Knight matter?"
"Because as members of the Wolkenritter, we share a deep connection with each other," Zafira answered. "We were all created by the magic of the Tome of the Night Sky. That same magic is what binds us together from far away...the same magic that Signum and I are drawn to now. When another Guardian Knight draws near to another, the connection will remain unbroken."
Rein pushed past Agito, wide-eyed. "Another Guardian Knight?" she echoed. "You...you mean...?"
"Yes," Zafira said, a smile stretching across his face. "Signum, well done. I think that we've finally found the missing member of the Wolkenritter."
Vita, the pink-haired Velka Knight thought triumphantly, feeling the shocked looks of the other TSAB mages on her. There was no doubt in her mind anymore. After all this time. After searching for so long...all of our efforts have finally paid off.
"Vita is here," she breathed, elated. "It wasn't Fate's magic creating the signal. It was Vita. After we came so far..." She pointed Laevatein downwards. "That's where the trail leads to. She must be in that facility."
Erio and the unison devices peered over to look where she was pointing, with Zafira flying downwards a short so distance to let the boy see for himself. A great hospital site extended across the length of several blocks at the edge of the northern district, seeming completely ordinary-looking in appearance. The huge building was surprisingly undamaged, despite enduring the march of the rebellion. There were also signs of a fierce battle in the area, with the bodies of hundreds of executors laid out around the facility, but strangely enough the hospital itself remained untouched.
"You're saying that Vita's inside that hospital?" Agito said suspiciously. "I thought she hated hospitals after Shamal kept her in bed for two weeks. Why would she be in there for?"
"What do you mean, "why"?" Signum replied irritably, throwing up her hands. "How should I know? That's where her magical field is coming from. She has to be inside."
"That's the impression I'm getting too," Zafira agreed.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" the unison cried, rearing up her wings. "Let's go down there right now and bring her out! She's going to be pretty happy to see us!"
"Agito, before you start rushing in, there's something you should - "
But the unison device had already dived down towards the hospital at full speed, determined to be the first to find Vita. She was still annoyed that Signum and Zafira had been able to locate a piece of magic that she hadn't, lording it all over her, and if she could just show them...Up above her, Rein was calling after her in alarm to come back, but Agito ignored her and kept going. They were just trying to stop her from taking all the credit...
Seconds later, a sizzle of electricity ran across the surface of the facility and lashed outwards towards her, and the wall of a powerful force field sliced upwards suddenly in a vertical slant, barring her way and rippling with power. Agito went pale upon seeing the danger but managed to veer away just in time, though not before a ray of magic singed the ends of her crimson hair.
The other members of the Wolkenritter watched patiently as she limped back up to them with a frustrated look on her face. Although Erio and Rein appeared genuinely concerned, the two Velka Knights seemed largely unsympathetic.
"This is now a good time to mention that a shield is guarding the facility," Signum said impassively.
"You knew there was an electric shield there?!" Agito exploded in anger. She grabbed at the smoking ends of her hair, trying to retain what was left. "And you didn't even warn me?"
"I did," Rein protested, cradling her friend gently. "Agito, why don't you listen to me when I ask you to? I told you not to go dashing into things..."
Zafira let out his breath in one go. "I was actually in the middle of telling you about the force field, Agito," he said, a little exasperated. "But did you listen to me? No. You ignored my warning and decided to rush off and use yourself as a battering ram against a super-charged electric shield. We're supposed to be working together, Agito."
"It could have killed me! I was about to be roasted!"
"A force field that big requires a tremendous amount of energy to power it," Signum explained. "In other words, it wouldn't be able to sustain a lot of destructive power on all sides, because most of that power would be used for defences. You weren't going to be in any real danger, Agito, or we would have done something to help you." She gazed sternly at her partner. "I hope you've learned a lesson from this. Perhaps now you'll learn not to charge recklessly into enemy compounds."
"Enemy compound?" the unison device repeated. "It's a hospital! Hospitals are supposed to offer a safe and friendly environment! Do you think I would have gone down there if it was a giant army base with barbed wire over the fence and AA guns and countless executors patrolling the place?"
The Velka Knight turned away from her ranting partner for a moment to consider their next step. Despite Agito's reckless move to attack an invisible force field, even if it had been mostly harmless, her actions had given them some interesting insight into the defences of the hospital facility. Someone was utilising a vast power source to keep the force field going. Someone wanted to make sure that nobody could enter that hospital. Someone...could be responsible for the reason why Vita was trapped in there...
We found Vita after all this time, Signum thought. She could barely believe it herself, especially after they had been so close to returning to Nanoha empty-handed. They had almost missed their window of opportunity. I don't know what the situation is like in that hospital, or what Vita's predicament is, but I'm pretty sure that she's not in there of her own free will. There's also a small amount of illusion magic embedded in the force field – illusions which would probably be used by the likes of Grylmark. I think I should be able to repel the shield with my own attacks, if I could just focus by myself for a minute...
The problem was that once she did remove the force field, the unknown occupants of the hospital would immediately be alerted to her presence. Whoever was keeping Vita prisoner, be it Grylmark or another powerful foe, would most likely retaliate in kind. Signum wondered if she should be timing her attack a little differently, in case everything started going against her again...
"Wait a second," Erio said, pushing himself up above Zafira's back and adjusting the position of the Yagami Bracelet against his arm. "We can't start deciding on how we're going to rescue Vita. Nanoha told us to find Fate, remember? That's the whole reason why we came out here in the first place."
Rein nodded. "Erio's right," she said. "We can't give up the search for Fate. She might need our help."
"I know that," Signum replied thickly. "I have no intention of giving up on anyone."
Vita, trapped in that hospital. Fate, captured by an unknown enemy of ridiculous power, somewhere out there in Uminari City. Nanoha, wounded and not in the right state to think things through rationally. The rebellion of Mid-childa, creating further obstructions in everything they tried to do.
It wasn't easy for Signum to keep track of so many different priorities at once; she wished that Shamal was here, with her calm approach for dealing with things and lending her guidance. Was this what Hayate had to do all the time as commander of Riot Force 6? Nanoha, too...taking command was a lot harder than it looked. If she made the wrong decision, the lives of her companions hung in the balance.
The Velka Knight's face was determined and resolute as she faced in the direction of the ominous hospital facility. She had already made up her mind about what she intended to do, perhaps from the moment she had realised where Vita was.
"I'm not going to turn my back on Vita," she said. "I've been searching for her for long enough that I'm not going to take any chances – if anything goes wrong, we could lose her for good. Whatever happens, I'm going to stay right here. I'm not letting that hospital out of my sight for a single second."
"You want to stay here?" Rein said nervously. "But what about Fate? Are you saying we should split up?"
Signum didn't look at her. "It doesn't take all five of us to look for one person." At least, it shouldn't. "It's true that we've encountered difficulties along the way, but it may also be easier to move around in lesser numbers. If we split up, we can still continue the search for Fate. I want to keep an eye on what's happening to Vita in the meantime."
Zafira inclined his head to one side. "We might need you with us, Signum."
"Vita needs me more." The swordswoman spun Lavetaein around in her hand lightly. "You and I are the only members of the Wolkenritter here, Zafira, aside from Shamal. That means we're the only ones who can sense Vita from here. If I don't stay here, then you and Erio will have to take my place instead, and our numbers will go down even further. Besides, I'm more suited for removing the force field."
"What about Nanoha?" Rein interrupted. "If we're going to do this, then we have to let Nanoha know about it. She needs to know where everybody is and what's happening, in case we lose track of one another. We need to tell her about Vita as well."
"That means we'll have to split into two more groups," Zafira said. "One group to bring word back to Nanoha, and another to continue looking for Fate. Perhaps Nanoha can provide some advice on what happens after that, Signum."
The swordswoman nodded in understanding. Back in their own world at the grounds of the TSAB, they could relay orders back and forth between them via Shari and their own personal communicators. However, it was quite different here, and they lacked the privilege of such resources. Instead, their group would need to make do in the only way they knew how.
This sounds like it's going to get complicated. But it's nothing I can't get my head round.
"All right," she said decisively. "Rein and Agito, you should continue looking for Fate whilst supporting each other. You work well together and can move easier above the smoke than we can." Signum paused for a moment, not wanting to seem like she was ordering her companions around like soldiers. They were different from the executors, after all. "Is that all right with you?" she asked in a gentler tone of voice. "Do you know where to search next?"
"I'm fine with it," Rein said excitedly. "We can start with the isolated areas in the north-west district with clearer skies. If we still find no sign of Fate there, we'll circle around and check around the back of the eastern district." She elbowed Agito in the side, and the other unison device hastily put forward her own acknowledgement. "We'll find her, Signum."
"That's what we said to Nanoha already," the Velka Knight said quietly, remembering how the Ace of Aces had been on the verge of going after Fate herself. "She believes in us, Rein. We can't let her down."
"Don't worry, I've got it all worked out," the unison device replied. She smiled winningly, ever the optimist. "We've already discovered where Vita is, haven't we? It's just natural that the rest of our friends will follow."
Signum wasn't entirely sure that that was the case, but decided to let it go. As long as Rein and Agito were driven enough to keep up the search for Fate, it didn't matter what the reason was. "Zafira?" she asked.
The Guardian Beast grunted in approval. "It's a solid plan for now," he said. "That just leaves Erio and me to be the ones to go back and report to Nanoha."
"You've got the easy job, then," the Velka Knight commented. "But it's also very important that she knows what everyone's doing."
Zafira's gaze rested upon the pink-haired swordswoman momentarily, intelligence shining within those cool red eyes. "I already know what Nanoha's going to say," he said heavily. "She'll be worried about you, Signum – she won't agree with the idea of you being up here all by yourself. Just promise me that you won't take any action to rescue Vita yet, at least not until you've got some backup supporting you. If you can promise me that, I'll relay that to Nanoha when I see her."
The Velka Knight hesitated briefly. She knew she could probably deactivate the force field of the hospital facility on her own and go after Vita by herself. In fact, the desire to do exactly that was very tempting for her. However, the hospital facility was huge, and could be filled with any amount of dangerous enemies; common sense dictated that she should hold her ground and just observe until then. Signum didn't enjoy waiting around for other people, but it was currently the best choice of action and she wasn't about to dispute it.
"Fine," she replied tersely, with only a small note of reluctance in her voice. "I'll wait here until Nanoha sends what ever help she sees fit. The rest of you should head off now like we've agreed. Are we all set?"
The others nodded their assent and rose up higher into the air, preparing to move off. With a call out to everybody for good luck to guide them, Rein and Agito departed in a north-westerly direction, the small outlines of their figures disappearing off into the distance. In a similar fashion, Zafira waved to Signum, still holding Erio on his back, and began to fly back the way they came.
Within less than a minute, the pink-haired swordswoman was left alone, hovering before the hospital facility in which Vita was imprisoned. She was free to act in any way she saw fit. If she wished, Signum could break the force field apart right now and charge in to rescue the last missing member of the Wolkenritter...but that would not be a wise choice of action, and it was not what she had promised Zafira.
All right, Vita, the Velka Knight said silently, raising Laevatein in both hands. I'm going to need you to do something for us. I need you to survive just a bit longer, long enough to give us the time we need. We're going to get you out of there, Vita.
Nanoha felt the healing light of Shamal's restorative magic spread throughout her body,
mending areas of torn muscle and broken ligaments as she recovered. It seemed like an age had passed since the beginning of the healing process, though it had probably only been a matter of minutes. The pain didn't really bother her; the Ace of Aces had endured such wounds before in her early years in the TSAB, back when she had suffered the terrible accident which had almost taken her life. No, it was the waiting around which was almost unbearable, waiting for her body to heal until Shamal deemed her able to fly safely again. She didn't want to be handicapped like this...every minute that went past was time that could be spent getting Fate back...
Now I know what Vita feels like, the combat mage thought in frustration. This is the first time in a long time that I haven't cared about my own recovery. But I know I mustn't push myself. It could be so much worse – if the Wolkenritter hadn't found me when they had, then who knows what might have happened?
Nanoha drew herself up, standing firmly on her own two feet with more confidence and strength, no longer weakened as before. Her mind was clear and she had retained control of her mobility functions; it couldn't be much longer until all of her energy returned in its entirety. The Ace of Aces had been keeping her eyes on the sky constantly, searching out for any sign of the Wolkenritter's return, but had seen nothing yet so far. It was all right if Fate wasn't with them immediately, but Nanoha had to know that the blonde mage was all right. How long had passed since Signum and the others had gone out – nearly fifteen minutes now?
They haven't gotten into some trouble of their own, have they? Nanoha thought, distraught. No, I mustn't think like that. We've only just been united. I just have to wait a little longer and place my trust in the Wolkenritter.
Usually, the Ace of Aces wasn't the kind of person to be impatient, reckless, panicky, or freak out over anything at all. But now Fate was in trouble and that brought a change within her. Before now, Nanoha had been in a constant state of not knowing what had happened to the Enforcer or where she was, allowing for countless possibilities both good and bad...but now things were different. Now she knew that Fate needed her help, and at such a crucial time had been unable to go after her. It felt like everything inside Nanoha was breaking down, one piece at a time...
At last, Shamal stepped away from her, the green glow of her magic fading away from her hands. The medical mage looked quite worn out from having to maintain the healing process for so long, and the Ace of Aces felt a pang of guilt that she had had to exert herself like this.
"I've done everything I can for you, Nanoha," the medical mage said wearily, leaning against the ground to take a break for a moment. "I've healed your wounds and regenerated enough of your magic so that you can use your spells again. That's all that's within my capabilities to do, and no further." She gestured towards the weakened strips of armour covering the combat mage's body, which were barely holding on at all. "I'm sorry, but I can't do anything to repair the damage done to your Barrier Jacket. That's something pertaining to Raging Heart itself. Only an engineer who works with magical devices, like Mariel, would be able to help with that."
"Shamal, it's fine," the Ace of Aces reassured her, putting her hands on her shoulders. "You've done a wonderful job. Don't worry about me."
"I do worry, Nanoha." Shamal's face had taken on a pained expression. "I don't know what kind of super-powerful spell was fired at you, but whatever it was, your Barrier Jacket took virtually the entire impact. There's...there's virtually nothing left of it." The medical mage gazed up at her with deep concern in her eyes. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Nanoha? Your defences are gone; you might as well not be wearing any armour at all. If you become involved in a fight and take even one hit, you're done for. Even I won't be able to help you then."
The combat mage stared at her in silence for a few seconds, stunned by the implications of what this meant. She couldn't take another hit, and there was no conceivable way of repairing her Barrier Jacket in this world that anyone knew of. Nanoha had known that I.C.'s attack had had a devastating effect on her, but she didn't think it had been completely beyond repair...
So that's how it is, the Ace of Aces thought grimly. Somehow, I have to get Fate back, find everyone else in the Bureau who is still missing, and return to our own world in one piece without taking a single hit. Bearing in mind that we'll probably have to deal with Oguba or Grylmark or countless enemies on the way, and that we're in the middle of a civil war...
How on earth was she supposed to do any of this? It was insane. The way things were now, her lack of armour meant that she was completely vulnerable to attack from small threats like executors. It was a good thing that she was still able to fight, but if she couldn't even defend herself...
"I know you don't want to hear this, Nanoha," Shamal was saying, "but you have to stay out of combat for a while. Just until we can find a way back to our own world and have Raging Heart repaired and - " Fear lingered in the medical mage's eyes for a moment. "Nanoha, you can do that, can't you? You can still bring us back home? We're not going to be stuck here forever, are we?"
The Ace of Aces didn't reply, tears of bitterness and regret forming within her eyes. She didn't know the answer herself. Why was it that with every small piece of progress that was made, there had to be a price that came with it? Finding out Fate's location, only to have Chrono die in her arms whilst witnessing the rise of the global rebellion. Reaching Uminari City in such a short time, yet being forced to part ways with the one companion who had stayed with her all this time. Being finally united with Fate, only to have her torn away from her minutes later. And then the Wolkenritter...
Something's going to happen to them as well. Something always happens to the ones I love to make me feel like I haven't gotten anywhere at all! They're not going to come back, or they haven't been able to find Fate, or...or something...
No. There has to be a way. There is always a way. All I have to do is find the right path.
"Come on," she said, taking Shamal's hand.
The medical mage looked at her in confusion. "Nanoha...?"
"I need to get off the ground, Shamal. It helps me think." The Ace of Aces smiled at her with a reassurance that she did not feel. "Come on."
The two of them took off from the ground and flew upwards through the air, soon leaving the site of the ugly crater behind them. Nanoha pushed herself higher and higher, feeling the air rush against her face pleasantly and enjoying the sensation. There seemed to be no problems with Raging Heart's operations at all, so Shamal really had managed to restore all of her magic.
As she neared the billowing cloud of black smoke covering Uminari City, Nanoha shut her eyes tightly and held her breath, sensing Shamal do the same. Through Raging Heart's levitation magic, the combat mage accelerated slightly and passed through the deadly fumes with only a little discomfort. High-altitude winds brushed across her skin again just seconds later, and Nanoha let out her breath with a relief. It would be safe to stop here.
She maintained her position with Shamal, there, only a small distance above the smoke, and reached out with her magic. The Wolkenritter were out there, combing Uminari City, but their own magic seemed unnecessarily scattered in various locations. Had they split up? Nanoha decided to let them be; as far as she could tell, none of them seemed to be in any real danger, and it wouldn't do to go chasing everyone around the city again. She was already worried enough about Fate.
And then something else caught Nanoha's eye, something that reach outside her circle of magic. A shimmering beam of blue light racing towards her form the other side of the city, a familiar vein about it that she couldn't quite place...
Wait, she thought. I recognise that aura. It's...it's time magic! Is that actually Oguba? But why...how...?
Yes, the magical field surrounding the beam of light was identical to the magic used by Oguba. In addition, it was heading straight for her, as if actively seeking her out. Why would Oguba want to find her after all this time? Why now? It didn't make sense...
"What's that?" Shamal said with a mixture of awe and surprise. Standing by Nanoha, she had also caught sight of the strange blue beam. "It's coming right towards us! Is it an enemy?"
"I don't know," Nanoha said quietly. She gripped Raging Heart tightly with both hands, steeling herself for anything at all. But if she sustained another hit...no, she couldn't take part in combat. But what if it was completely unavoidable? "Stay behind me, Shamal."
"Nanoha, I am not going to hide behind you!" the medical mage protested. "You're the one who needs to be protected – your Barrier Jacket's fallen apart!"
"And you're the only one with restorative magic," the Ace of Aces replied, not moving from in front of her. "Shamal, you need protection more than I do."
The beam of blue light was very close to them now. A shroud of time magic curled around its exterior as it shot towards the two mages, and it showed no sign of slowing down at all.
"Nanoha, this is not the time or place to discuss this!" Shamal said crossly, starting to push her way out in front of her. "I'm not going to stand here and watch you be killed! Please let me handle this."
"No," the combat mage countered. "Stay behind me. You'll see."
"See what?"
Nanoha thrust Raging Heart out in front of her. "Oval Protection!" she cried.
A large defensive sphere of pale violet magic enveloped the two of them, revolving around to repel any potential attacks. It seemed that there was no need, however. The mysterious blue beam had stopped just in front of them, Oguba's magic blazing forth around it.
"Nanoha," said a man's voice from within the beam of light.
Quickly, the Ace of Aces de-activated the shield to conserve her remaining magical power, the familiarity of the voice sending shock resonating within her mind. As the barrier disappeared, she saw that the beam of light in front of her was none other than an active time portal. Nanoha had expected that it might be something like this, but...there was something very different about this one. Strange as it may seem, it wasn't Oguba after all, though it was definitely the same kind of magic...What was this?
And then a face took shape within the gateway: the face of a man with short sandy hair, friendly green eyes and glasses. A childhood friend, archaeologist, researcher, one who had fought at her side to take back the Jewel Seeds long years ago...
"Nanoha!" Yuuno's voice echoed from within the time portal, the hologram of his face coming into greater focus and familiarity. "Nanoha, I've been trying to contact you for so long! Finally I've gotten somewhere!"
"Yuuno?" she said in complete amazement. He was the last person she would have expected to turn up. "Yuuno...what is going on? What are you doing inside a time portal? Were you dragged through Oguba's wormhole as well?"
"No. I'm still in your world back home, Nanoha. I haven't left. But I knew I could contact you somehow!" The researcher seemed ecstatic at the very concept. "Nanoha, there's no time! I can't stay here very long before I lose the connection. This is a very delicate process across time and space, and I've got only minutes before it breaks down - "
"Yuuno, I don't understand!" Nanoha tried to look at the time portal from the side, seeing the tendrils of Oguba's magic curling around in the same sinister glow that she remembered, and she shuddered at the feeling. This wasn't anything like the portals she had seen before: there didn't appear to be an opening anywhere. "What's going on? How can you even be here, Yuuno? We're all trying to get back home, I've lost Fate, there's a war going on and - "
"I know," Yuuno said quickly, his face becoming serious again. "I know what's going on, Nanoha. You see...it's already happened. Everything has already happened! I can explain a lot of it to you, but it's going to take some time."
"What do you mean, everything has already happened?" The Ace of Aces was still trying to make sense of it all. Next to her, Shamal looked equally confused. "Are you from the future? Or another present? Or something else?"
Her childhood friend shook his head, repositioning his glasses as the hologram flickered for a brief second. "No, I'm from something else entirely," he replied. "But the basic truth is this, Nanoha: I'm from your world, and your reality. I'll explain it all to you in a moment, but first I'm going to help you get back home to your own world."
Nanoha's heart raced. "You mean you know how to do that?" Could it be possible? "From over there?"
"It's a bit complicated," Yuuno admitted. "There's only one way back, you see, and if you get it wrong, you could be stranded here forever. Or...as long as that world holds out, which won't be for much longer. Nanoha, I'm going to explain as much of it to you as I can, but we're really tight on time and I can only say it once. So, are you listening?"
A/N: Scrya's main purpose is so that Yuuno can contact Nanoha, so after this Scrya won't be in the story for a lot of the time anymore. It doesn't mean he's gone for good, though.
P.S. I'm revealing I.C.'s true identity in the next chapter.