Kagura stood up high on top of the gates of the House of Yagami, her eyes filled with death as she walked back across the thin metal railing in slow patrol. Cocking her shotgun back in both hands, the army girl blasted a few shells into the empty sentry tower for good measure. The other keepers at the southern and western entrances may have heard the noise, but she knew she could take out any resistance that came running to her. In fact, she would welcome the opportunity; killing the North Keeper had been disappointingly boring.
No one to greet me, Yagami? the red-haired assassin thought, near-breathless with the feel of adrenaline racing through her body. How many of your people do you want me to kill before you'll give me a proper fucking fight? There's a war going on, Yagami! That means I'm in my element, don't you see? You know this is just procedure for me, girl. Don't spoil my fun before you pay me!
She itched to fight, to harm, consume, destroy; to annihilate those who came against her, to crush the life out of another living creature and rip it apart before her eyes...For Kagura, this was complete ecstasy, the likes of which no other emotion was comparable. Eager to shed blood again with her pulse racing from the thrill of combat, she relished in the sensation with a glee that was almost maniacal.
Before now, the assassin had felt such euphoria only a small fraction of the time. Such bloodthirsty temperament had come in useful for when she needed to carry out one of Yagami's special jobs or fulfil a duty for the Cult of Neopocalypticon. But those were the days of the past, the days before the rebellion had taken root across Mid-childa, the war which Kagura had set in motion with a few simple shots of her own. Everything after that had been bliss to her. A battlefield forming around every city, welcoming soldiers to battle and the deaths of many: what more could she possibly wish for? The existence of the rebellion had the effect of holding a moth to the murderous fires which burned within the assassin, and the violence which consumed her only at partial moments became full-fledged across her heart, mind and soul.
At the same time, however, Kagura was in complete control of everything she did. She didn't experience drastic mood changes or detrimental stability of mind like Yagami, nor did she fight in response to negative emotions of sadness and anger like Exoria. Her desire to destroy had become much more overwhelming, but it had always been at the core of her nature. If she stopped to think about it for a moment, Kagura knew that she didn't do this for revenge – what was there to take revenge for? - but for delight. The assassin had known for a long time that this was what she loved doing more than anything else in the world, and she just couldn't get enough of it.
Look at all the power I have, worms, the army girl whispered into the air silently. Look at my capacity for destruction. I'm invincible!
Who would dare to stand in the path of a sister of the Labinnac Family, let alone the Feeder herself? Who could possibly match her skills, body physique, speed, reflexes and capacity for deadly weaponry? No one. Kagura had always known it to be true: though she was biologically human through and through, she might as well be of a race far superior. The enhancements of the Labinnac Sisters had aided her enough in that.
I can do anything I fucking like! I can walk right in that mansion, kick Yagami out, and blow the whole thing up! I could do that right now! Kagura considered the prospect for a moment, but then decided she couldn't be bothered. Besides, Felicity was in there as well...it would actually be a bit of a stupid idea. No. Forget that. I could march in there and beat up all of Arisa's guards. Yes, I'll do that. That's what I'm going to do!
Just thinking about Yagami made Kagura's lip curl up in venomous distaste. The mistress of the mansion had so much power at her disposal, so many servants willing to throw themselves at her feet just to earn the tiniest measure of approval, and how did she spend her days? Locked up inside her room hissing at everyone, whilst constantly basking in her own pool of self-confessed misanthropy. If it wasn't for Arisa, Yagami wouldn't be accumulating any of the contract money which kept the House of Yagami going strong; if it wasn't for Suzuka, she wouldn't even think to go downstairs. She would probably forget to eat after too long and drop dead one day for no good reason.
The way Kagura saw it, such power was going to waste in Yagami's hands. Mid-childa's fate shouldn't lie in the hands of a mentally unstable cripple like her. No, it would be so much better if she was the one at the top, not Yagami...
Somewhere at the back of her mind, however, the army girl remembered that the real reason she had come all the way out there was to get paid. She wasn't supposed to be messing about and picking unnecessary fights with the House of Yagami, because Elsie was waiting for her back home. Her sister had to be fed, just like any Labinnac, and today was especially important. Nevertheless, it would be good to reinforce her relationship between their individual families, if only for a short time.
With a sudden, powerful contraction of her thigh and calf muscles, the red-haired army girl leaped off the top of the gate and slammed down into the hard rocky ground. The earth buckled slightly beneath her in resistance, but Kagura felt no pain and there was no visible injury to her own body. She had discovered long ago that gravity was no enemy to any member of the Labinnac Family.
The army girl lashed out viciously with one boot and wrecked what was left of the northern gates, twisting the metal into a loop with her bare arms. She grinned with anticipation and then marched through into the House of Yagami, still clutching the contorted strip.
Feels so fucking good.
She pushed through the first set of doors, breathing in deeply as her hands curled into powerful fists. Despite her core motivations for coming here, the only thing on her mind right now was aggression and a desire to fight. Around her, the automatic probing machines had swivelled round to block her path, sensing the presence of an unrecognised entrant. Technically, Kagura was more than recognisable enough by the entire Family, but by security protocol all visitors were still required to retain the HX chip embedded in their wrist. The assassin had cut herself off from all that years ago, having forcibly deleted herself off the Harlaown Program years ago as soon as she had worked out how.
"Unregistered data," the mechanoid intoned. Shutters began to slide down to obstruct her way through the next set of doors. "Your Yagami Bracelet is either incompatible with our system, or has not been upgraded accordingly. Please display a sufficiently compatible HX chip in order to continue security screening - "
Kagura raised her fist and hit the machine so hard that its upper half was torn away from its main body completely. Pain raced across the back of her hand, and the assassin glimpsed blood shining on her knuckles from the impact of her blow. She swore under her breath, thinking that perhaps it would have been better to bring a knuckleduster with her first, if only to keep her from breaking her hand. Still, she wasn't about to stop whilst she was ahead.
She flipped the shotgun back into her hand and fired repeatedly at the shutters ahead until they crumbled apart and gave way. There was another gun on her back for when she ran out of ammunition, and a couple of machine guns attached to the side for if she needed to take on multiple enemies, but Kagura doubted that she would need to use either of them. Double scythes were hidden around the rim of her belt, and another blade was concealed just inside the lower layer of her collar. This was the House of Yagami, after all; if you came here looking for a fight, you had better make sure you were armed to the teeth.
Two guards standing inside the reception area whirled around at the sight of her, already alerted by her noisy entrance. Questions and demands barked from their throats, and the dual plasma rifles in their hands began to rise up towards her.
"You can't come in here!" the first soldier said sharply, a dim glow radiating across the sides of his weapon as it began to charge up for an intensified close-range shot. "You haven't passed security screening - "
Kagura didn't even blink. The shotgun was still in her hand, and in one fluid motion she had swept the barrel around to bash against the guards' hands. With her other hand, she wrenched one of the soldiers' plasma rifles out from nerveless fingers, and used it to shoot the other guard in the chest. The man was thrown back by the ensuing shockwave, crying out as he went down. Really, she could just have gunned both of them down with the shotgun and had done with it, but that wasn't the way to work up a sweat.
"Intruder!" yelled his companion, backing away from the confident redhead after seeing how she had disarmed him so easily. "Intruder in the mansion - "
She turned round and hit him with the twisted piece of metal in her fist torn apart from the northern gates of the mansion, ramming it between the plates of his armour to cause more pain. As he fell back, the army girl grabbed another armed guard who was rushing in from the connecting hallway. A wicked grin was pasted onto her face as Kagura slammed her fist into his mouth and kicked him back the way he came. More soldiers began to pour into the lobby, and the assassin breathed in deeply. This was it. This was the feeling she longed for.
"Come get me, boys," Kagura cried, fire rushing through her veins. "Shoot down a Sister of the Labinnacs! Go on! Yagami will have your heads if you lay a single finger on me!"
The guards hesitated, their weapons lowering slightly. It was true that Yagami had voiced her intentions to preserve good connections with the Family of Labinnac. To fire on a Labinnac Sister might not be the wisest thing to do, but their orders for dealing with intruders had been very clear...
Laughing, the army girl shot forward and took full advantage of her opponents' confusion. Tossing the shotgun behind her, she lashed out with a glowing scythe in each hand and impaled two soldiers in a direct double thrust. Guns were ineffective at such close quarters, and so Kagura began to cut through the ranks of enemies around her, slashing at anything that moved. Another man came up from behind to club her unconscious, but she kicked out with her foot to hit him squarely in the chest. The army girl followed up with a thrust of her deadly blades and cut his throat mercilessly, turning away from him as the soldier staggered to the ground, bleeding profusely.
Kagura spun around and charged headlong into the midst of the rest of the guards, fighting her way through them as they tried to shoot her down with little success. Her blood pumping through her ears, excitement coursing through her veins, heart thumping with the heat of battle...it was fantastic. Like this, she could feel truly alive.
More and more security guards were running into the lobby to back up their companions, bulky guns in their hands charging up as they were forced to engage the assassin in close combat. Kagura's eyes lit up with pleasure and anticipation at the sight, and she rushed forth to destroy them too.
More of them. Give me more! I don't want to stop!
At the back of the lobby, Arisa and Noriko were leaning against the wall and watching the battle unfold with great annoyance and disapproval in their eyes. Neither of them were making any attempt to involve themselves in the fight. They watched as Kagura beat one guard after another, and then another, and then another...
"I am so sick of her doing this," Noriko said quietly to the other woman. "I'm going to clean it all up. Again. Does she have to pick a fight every time she visits? Is it really necessary?"
"We are not permitted to harm Kagura," Arisa muttered back in a disgruntled tone. "She is a member of the Family of Labinnac. Yagami-sama seeks to maintain a good working relationship with such powerful allies, and attacking her will not rest well with the mistress."
"But she's beating up all of our security. And wrecking the house!" The maid paled as one of the chandeliers was shot loose from the ceiling and smashed to pieces on the ground. "First Exoria and that cyborg start causing trouble, and now this? What did we do to deserve this?"
The bodies of three more guards were sent flying in their direction by another of Kagura's vicious attacks. The two women barely turned around at all, wincing only slightly as the men landed with a thud against the adjacent wall.
"Let's look on the bright side," the head of security said. "She must be in a good mood."
Noriko glanced towards her suspiciously. "How can you tell?"
"Kagura's not really killing anyone this time. She's just dealing out lots of pain and then leaving them for dead. I suppose she's more in the mood for pointless fighting." Arisa sighed as she looked down at the dozens of wounded soldiers lying in front of her. "When I tell the infirmary about this, Dr Kaizen is not going to be happy at all. She's going to have a field day with the casualties."
Several stray bullets ricocheted off the corners of the room and smashed through an array of expensive-looking vases on display. Noriko flinched at the sight for the second time, as surely as if she had been in the line of fire.
Despite her reputation, Kagura does a phenomenal job as an assassin, Arisa thought to herself. She's never failed a single assignment in her life, and tends to silence any witnesses involved. That's the main reason why Yagami-sama keeps her on – because she's effective, and that she can be bought with the right amount. However, the cost that the mansion pays in damages every time Kagura visits us is a huge declining factor. It's just one hefty bill after another, and it's becoming a drain on the Family's finances. Sometimes she even ends up killing some of the guards under my wing, and I can't do a damn thing about it. There has to be a way to get her under control that Yagami-sama would approve of...
There was already one Labinnac Sister under Yagami's protection: Felicity, the most dangerous of all the Labinnacs, hidden away in the basement. With that in mind, Yagami was not about to refuse work to Kagura as well; the mistress might be lacking in some areas of diplomacy, but even she knew better than to start any conflict with the Labinnacs, It would be like contributing to a small bloody war, and one of those was in motion already.
In effect, they were caught in a loophole. Kagura's unquenchable thirst for combat and complete lack of respect of the house rules made her very unwelcome within the mansion, but on the other hand Yagami was virtually forced to let the assassin pass amongst them unharmed – by Family etiquette, no less. She was allowed to do anything she pleased, including attacking their own security, but the Family couldn't fight back against her.
It was incredibly unfair, but fortunately Kagura had at least some small consideration for the senior members of the Family, and particularly with Arisa. A fight between Kagura and a senior staff member would probably create such massive devastation and magical turmoil that the mansion would be ripped apart in the process. As it was, they usually just ended up with a lot of wounded security guards and far too much cleaning up to do.
"I think she's finished," Noriko said suddenly, a shade of relief in her voice.
The red-haired assassin was standing in the middle of the room surrounded by a mass of bodies, panting and sweating as she stopped for breath. After fighting continual waves of guards one after another, Kagura's scythes were covered thickly with blood, as was most of the bare skin of her arms. Despite her skill, the assassin was tiring, which meant that she might be in the mood to talk.
"I guess we should get her attention, then," the head of security said grimly, pressing her hands down onto the top of the reception desk. If they didn't take the opportunity to intervene now, Kagura would probably beat up another wave of security without another thought, and the Family was starting to run a little low on guards. Even Yagami-sama had a limit to her resources. "Do you want to talk to her, or shall I?"
The maid shook her head. "Are you crazy? I'm not going anywhere near that woman. You're Yagami's recognised representative, Arisa. You go talk to her."
"I could throw in a few grand to cover your expenses," Arisa suggested. "It can go down in the books as overtime."
"I told you. I'm not going to approach her. The money will end up going towards my medical bills when Kagura breaks my nose for daring to look at her." With a dark look at everyone around her in general, Noriko turned to walk off out of the reception area, stepping over the bodies of several guards as she did so. "I already have too much work on my hands, Arisa," the maid called back over her shoulder. "You deal with this. Just like you usually do."
Reluctantly, the head of security resigned herself to facing Kagura by herself. It was probably the better choice of action, since it could be said that the two of them were on relatively good terms – bearing in mind that being on "good terms" with Kagura really meant that she wouldn't immediately attack you on sight. Arisa wasn't intimidated or afraid of the assassin in any way at all, but the woman's behaviour really got on her nerves at times like this. Wiping out half of her security in a matter of minutes would undoubtedly cause even more problems within the Family.
"Kagura," she said clearly, leaning forward from behind the reception desk. "I gather by your actions here that you are looking to speak with Yagami-sama - "
The red-haired army girl reacted to the sound of her voice as if being physically attacked. Her eyes gleamed as she lunged towards Arisa, and flecks of blood flew from her reddened fists as she smashed the desk into pieces with her bare hands.
With long-suffering patience, the head of security waited for her to stop. Arisa remained quite still and without any visible fear on her face as Kagura vented her anger on the last piece of furniture in the room; the lobby was now a complete ruin, with bodies piling up high around her.
"Have you quite finished?" Arisa said irritably.
The army girl displayed a feral grin, dropping her hands down to the sides of her body at last. The aggression gradually eased out of her eyes, though the superior smirk remained. Arisa had seen that look before in some people before: it was the expression of someone who deemed themselves above the entire world, one who thought they were completely untouchable and even near-invincible. In extreme cases, such an attitude was characteristic of approaching megalomania. It never ended well, that much was for sure.
"Good," the head of security said bleakly. "That's great. You've made quite the impact, Kagura, as usual. I'm not sure if I made it clear last time that there are alternate, quieter routes for you to enter the mansion which don't involve you beating up all of my soldiers."
"You did, Arisa," the assassin purred, cocking her head over to one side with a sly smile. "And I took the liberty of ignoring every word you said. Nobody tells me what to fucking do – not you, not Yagami, not anyone." She leaned forward expectantly, her eyes lingering on the other woman's collarbone. "I'm here for my payment, Arisa. We both know that."
Arisa sighed. "As I have mentioned to you in the past many times, Kagura, I can already arrange the transfer of your money by myself. There really isn't any need for you to disturb Yagami-sama."
The army girl gave a short, harsh laugh. "Oh, but there is, Arisa.I'd like to remind her about me. I'd like to tell her how I started the biggest war in all of Mid-childa in the last two hundred years. I'd like to describe to her what I did to Chrono before he died." She reached forward and gripped Arisa's shoulder with one bloodstained hand, squeezing tightly. "I'd like to do so many things, Arisa, but what I'd really like to do is make sure Yagami never forgets just how much she fucking needs me. You get that, don't you?" Kagura's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you know...my sister is here too, here in your little mansion. I'd just like to check that she's being well-fed. We wouldn't want her to starve to death, would we? I already have one sister to take care of."
"Of course not," Arisa replied automatically. Taking a deep breath, she shrugged off the assassin's hand on her shoulder and took a half-step backward towards the hallway. Kagura's threats had long since stopped having any effect on her, but that didn't mean she should abort any attempt at diplomacy. "I will have to let Yagami-sama that you are coming upstairs to meet her. "If you will bear with me for a few minutes - "
The red-haired woman's face twisted round in a feral grin. "You know how I don't like waiting around for other people, Arisa. I start to get a little bored, you know? People do some pretty vicious things when they're bored."
"It will be just a few minutes, Kagura," the head of security repeated between gritted teeth. She was getting really fed up of the assassin trying to threaten her like this. Why didn't she ever shut up? Wasn't it enough that she had beaten up almost every guard in the house? "I'm sure that Yagami-sama will be absolutely delighted to see you," she said, knowing what the truth would be. "If you would just follow me upstairs..."
Tiana crouched down out of sight at the corner of the street, keeping her eyes on the plain old house that Grylmark had disappeared into. Her determination to find out what the summoner was doing once and for all had led her here, deep into the western district of Uminari City. She had been watching the surroundings for several minutes now but the time had passed by completely without incident, leading the sharpshooter to wonder if she was just wasting her time here. The rebellion was still going on, but it was all the way on the other side of the city; the strange quietness which echoed through these streets remained free of disruption. Nothing else was happening.
How long is he going to stay in that house? she thought. He has to come out some time. If I try to run in there, I'll only give away my position.
Five minutes, ten, then fifteen...Tiana began to pace up and down restlessly, doubting if she had chosen the right thing to do. What if Grylmark wasn't ever going to come out and reveal himself? What if it wasn't really a house after all, but a secret underground hide-out or something equally suspicious? He was a master illusionist, after all; quickly, the orange-haired forward probed the area for any such magic, but found nothing out of the ordinary. It really was just a normal family house. Somehow, that only worried Tiana all the more...there was no reason why Grylmark would come out to a harmless place like this, so free of magic...
Maybe she should just give it up and forget about this. She was obviously getting nowhere by sitting around here, and Tiana knew that if she hadn't decided to follow Grylmark then she would probably have caught up to Nanoha by now. It would be better just to try and memorise the location here and find her way back to the Ace of Aces with that information. On the other hand, what if Grylmark decided to leave the area as soon as she turned her back? She would have missed her big chance then.
Impatiently, the sharpshooter inched forward from her hiding-place, curious to know what could be going on in that house that had kept Grylmark occupied for so long – and saw that the front door was ajar.
He already left? She was dumbfounded, already running up to investigate now that there was no longer any point in keeping herself concealed. How did that happen? I was watching the whole time!
But Tiana already knew the answer to that. The summoner had concealed his departure with a small trace of illusion magic – she hadn't immediately sensed it because it was such a minimal amount. He was surely long-gone by now. Perhaps he had detected her presence outside the house – though that was unlikely, since Grylmark probably still thought the Manticore had finished her after their last encounter and would not be expecting to see her alive – but in any case, he had taken his own precautions and made a quick get-away.
She cursed under her breath, knowing that she shouldn't have overlooked this. With the illusion in place, the old man could have launched a surprise attack on her and made sure to put her down permanently. The fact that he hadn't meant that Tiana still had a small advantage on her side, even though she had wasted valuable time in the process.
I'm not just going to walk back the way I came. Grylmark came here to this place for a reason. Maybe there are still some clues lying around inside...
The sharpshooter rushed up to the front door of the house and pulled it open, half-expecting to find a horde of hostile mutant creatures waiting for her inside. There wasn't anything of the sort, however; just the dusty hallway of a family home with miscellaneous items scattered around the place untidily. Doorways lead out into the various rooms of the residence, and a stairway led up to where to the bedrooms of its occupants were presumably located.
Tiana let out her breath tensely, glad to be able to relax. Thankfully, there was no ambush waiting for her here. Now, she just had to investigate -
"Hi," said Elsie brightly, stepping out from the kitchen. The black balloon in her hand twirled in the air around her. "Hi."
The forward reacted with a start, surprised to see anyone here at all. She had assumed that the house would be deserted and that Grylmark was using it solely for his own means, whatever that might be. Who was this girl? Was she here all by herself? It would be dangerous for someone of her age to be alone, what with the rebellion moving across the city...
"Excuse me," Tiana said urgently, her need for answers pushing out in front of her. "I'm looking for a man called Grylmark. He was here just five minutes ago – did you see where he went?"
Elsie gazed up at the Bureau mage for a few moments, the silver tinge of her eyes catching the light from outside. She blinked suddenly, as if disliking the sun's glare on her.
"I'm hungry," the little girl said. "Have you come to feed me?"
Tiana's expression changed. Hungry? Had this girl been abandoned here without any proper food? A pang went through her heart at the thought: she couldn't just leave her here, the poor thing...
"You don't have any food?" the forward said gently, crouching down to look Elsie in the eye. The girl had a strange appearance, that much was for sure: silver hair, silver clothes, silver everything... "I'm sorry, but I haven't got any food with me at the moment. Are you...are you here all alone?"
Elsie nodded. "My sister's coming home for me soon. She said she'll feed me when she gets back. But..." She pulled a face in a pout. "I'm just so hungry. I don't want to be hungry on my birthday..."
Tiana felt herself calm down a little upon hearing that. So there was still somebody taking care of this vulnerable girl, a guardian that was keeping her safe under their wing; she wasn't completely alone after all. Had that not been the case, Tiana might have felt responsible for helping Elsie out in some way, such as bringing her to a safer place to be with other people and making sure that she suffered no further discomfort from the rebellion. It sounded like something that Nanoha would have done, too. That was a character trait that both of them shared, feeling that you couldn't turn your back on people who might be in need your help.
"I'm sure your sister will be coming home soon," she said reassuringly. "Then you can have some food. Did you say it's your birthday? How old are you?"
"Five hundred," the little girl said proudly.
The sharpshooter raised an eyebrow. "That's silly," she said with a smile, sure that the girl was just playing with her. "You can't be five hundred. You'd be an old woman."
"It's not that old," Elsie replied. Strangely enough, she seemed quite serious. "Anyways, you said you were looking for Grylmark? He's not here anymore. He was in a hurry, so he had to leave quickly."
Tiana got to her feet so fast that she almost fell over. So she knew something about Grylmark after all? Surely this little girl couldn't be involved with him. No, she probably just happened to be in the area, unnoticed by whatever the summoner had been doing, and had perhaps caught his name by chance. It was a good thing that Grylmark hadn't done anything bad to her, because there enough innocent souls caught up in the civil war already...
"You know about Grylmark?" the forward said quickly. "Where did he go? Do you know which way he went?"
Elsie shrugged, her silver locks sweeping across her face back and forth in a swinging motion of her head, indicating that she didn't know.
"Then – then what was he doing here? Did you see what he was doing?" Tiana's words spilled out of her in a rush, trying to hurry this along as much as possible. Whoever this little girl was, she was relatively safe here and Tiana didn't need to worry about her. The forward was gradually beginning to realise that her journey here really had been a waste of time. She should be back with Nanoha, not over here talking to weird girls dressed in silver...
"Do you like my balloon?" Elsie said, a twinkle in her eyes as she ignored the mage's question again. "I've had it for forever. It's like my birthday balloon." She motioned with the string at the end, moving the balloon slightly as she twirled around. "But I really need Kagura onee-chan to bring me some food, or I won't have my balloon for much longer. We Labinnacs need to feed, you know. Just not as much."
Tiana wasn't really listening. She knew she had to get moving and find Nanoha, fast. What if the Ace of Aces had gotten into some kind of trouble and didn't have her to back her up? The forward panicked for a moment at the thought, but then decided that Nanoha was probably doing fine. Even so, she needed to find her location immediately – travelling on foot across Uminari City could take up a lot of time, and many mages of the TSAB were quite capable of levitation magic.
"I'm in a hurry, too," the forward apologised to Elsie. "It's been nice talking to you, but I really have to go. I hope your sister comes back soon."
"Me too," the silver girl said mournfully. She waved the balloon at Tiana with a big smile on her face. "Bye bye!"
With a brief wave towards her, Tiana dashed out of the house and back towards the path she had been taking initially; it was time to return to following the trail left by Nanoha's magic. In truth, the forward had learned little from this small diversion other than that Grylmark was working actively within Uminari City for reasons she could only guess at, but it was still something to bring back to Nanoha. Right now, she had to move.
Fate stood her ground with Bardiche clasped before her, steeling herself as I.C. descended down towards the roof of the House of Testarossa in a blazing beacon of light. The shield surrounding the mansion shimmered for a split second as the veiled woman passed through the barrier, then re-formed around her again to cage all three mages inside. The faint outline of her magical field was only barely visible around the form of Lady Testarossa, a crackling curve of white and blue which hurt your eyes to gaze upon it for too long.
"Fate," I.C. whispered to her with surprising warmth. "I've been waiting for you."
The unnatural light around her grew brighter and then suddenly disappeared all at once, seemingly absorbed by the essence of her own magical aura. Fate watched the mage approach, still unsure of what she was going to do against such a powerful opponent. Alone and with only her own magic to aid her, a direct attack seemed unnecessarily risky. Even if she managed to defeat I.C. right here, without knowing a single thing about the veiled woman's unearthly abilities, the obstructing barrier around the roof was not going to be de-activated automatically. What if Linith attacked her as well? The black-haired familiar was a very different version of the tutor that Fate remembered from her youth...she had to be prepared for anything.
The Cult of Neopcalypticon, too. The mysterious organisation which surrounded the mansion on all sides and maintained the shield with their own power. The only way that anyone was going to escape from the barrier was if they chose to let you through, or if their magic was disrupted from the outside. Was she really pitted against so many enemies at once?
The scene abruptly distorted in front of Fate's eyes, so quickly that she might have imagined it. When she looked again, however, Linith had been erased from the picture. The Enforcer frowned, not quite sure what had happened, but now she just had I.C. to deal with on her own. Maybe that would make things simpler.
"What did you do to Nanoha?" she said quietly. "If she's hurt, I'm not going to hold back on you."
The veiled woman looked at her strangely. "Do you mean the woman from before?" she said coldly. "The lady who engaged with you so sensually and...inappropriately? I wasn't aware that the two of you were such good friends. Fate, love, there is no need to trouble yourself with such unnecessary people. We both know where we stand in this world, don't we?"
Fate wasn't sure that she did. She whirled Bardiche around for a test attack, bringing the weapon to a deliberate halt just centimetres away from I.C.'s face, and then began to edge the blade forward experimentally. The air around the veiled woman rippled and shuddered in response; immediately, Lady Testarossa's body turned ghostly and incorporeal, allowing Bardiche to pass through without effect. Dismayed, Fate pulled the device back to her side, and the other woman solidified in front of her once more.
What is she? she thought, lost at what to do next. Not only is her magic impossible to detect by normal means, but there seems to be a protective layer surrounding her body which negates virtually any attack. I've never seen a technology like that before, not in all of my experience at the TSAB. She scarcely seems human at all...
"What do you want with me?" the Enforcer said tightly. "You've taken me here by force and got what you wanted. Now tell me: why are you so obsessed with me?"
I.C.'s red eyes flickered. "Force?" she repeated, sounding quite confused. "Whatever do you mean? You wanted to be here, Fate. I'm just responding to that will. There's no reason why you would want to be anywhere except by my side."
"If you really believe a word of what you're saying, then you're out of your mind," Fate replied. "You've tried to kidnap me and harm me on more than one occasion. You took Nanoha away from me after I finally found her." Her voice shook with emotion, but she controlled herself in a disciplined fashion. "I've never been so glad to be away from somebody like you."
"Oh, Fate, you surely don't mean that," the veiled woman said with an easy laugh. "You're confused. You're struggling with your conflicting feelings after you were resurrected. The Cult of Neopocalypticon told me it would be like this after you returned to me, after your...suicide." She sighed and turned away for a moment, gazing out into the scenes of war faraway in the city. "I have such wonderful memories of the two of us together, Fate. Why yes, a lot of it was filled with mindless hatred and constant thoughts of matricide, but that's only the topping on the cake, don't you see? The important thing is that we're together again. I want you by my side, Fate. I want you to stand with me and make the House of Testarossa powerful again, just like it used to be."
She really believes it, Fate though despairingly. Linith was right. Whoever this Lady Testarossa is...she really believes that I'm the lost Fate in this world, the Fate who died at a young age. But I'm not that person...I'm not who she thinks I am. I'm not even remotely connected to any of this. I have a life of my own in a completely different Mid-childa, a life with Nanoha and Vivio and friends that matter to me.
"Listen to me," she said, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere unless they had some kind of understanding. "I'm not Fate."
I.C. stopped dead in her tracks, her shoulders stiffening. "Excuse me?"
Linith had told her not to say that, that saying such a thing was equivalent to signing her death warrant...but the Enforcer didn't care. It needed to be said before things spiralled out of control, because if this woman really expected such unachievable things of her...
"I said I'm not Fate," the Bureau mage said as clearly as she could. "I'm not the Fate you think I am. I don't know who you are – I.C. or Lady Testarossa or whatever new name you call yourself – but I'm not even from this universe! I was taken from my world through a time portal!" She drew herself up angrily, not willing to stand any more of this. "My name is Fate Testarossa Harlaown, Enforcer of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. I have a family of my own, none of which bears any relationship to the name of Testarossa." She rammed Bardiche's hilt against the surface of the roof, aware that the veiled woman was staring at her with something approaching rage. "I was never born by biological means, but created as a clone of my sister. I never died as you claim I did, I.C., nor was I somehow resurrected by anybody. I'm a completely different person from who you say."
She hesitated then, because Lady Testarossa was walking very quickly towards her, scarlet eyes completely devoid of all emotion. The woman's face was unreadable, even more so than before.
Then I.C. came to a sudden stop just before her, their heights perfectly aligned as they gazed at each other. They were close enough to feel each other's breath on their skin.
"I see," the veiled woman purred softly. "So what you're saying, Fate...is that all this is a case of mistaken identity."
Fate nodded, glad that the other woman was finally beginning to understand.
"That's a shame." Lady Testarossa sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "But also quite, quite impossible. The Cult of Neopocalypticon made it quite clear to me as to the process of your resurrection, Fate. I was there to witness it, because I like to get everything correct to the very last detail. I'm a perfectionist, you see – but you already knew that about me, didn't you, Fate? We always were very close, even at your death...
She snapped her fingers in the air and turned away, spinning around on the heel of her foot. "Maybe you are a time traveller, Fate," I.C. said rather wistfully. "Maybe you really are from one of these crazy, beautiful, fantastical alternate universes populating the cosmos. But you're also not the only one who's been delving into the magical properties of time travel between different dimensions. The Cult of Neopocalypticon were quite clear with me that as well, crystal clear in fact, for no magic can bring back the dead. If you were to go back in time and stop someone from dying, however, then what happens? You can't just go around changing history, but if a spell existed to allow another Fate to be born, duplicated, taking the place of the Fate who died back then..."
"What are you talking about?" the Enforcer said sharply. The veiled woman had started ranting, her words rolling around and around until barely anything made sense anymore. "I told you already! I'm nothing to do with any of this!"
"Of course!" I.C. exclaimed. "You're not. The Fate I love has died in some part, but she can always be resurrected in another medium! Don't you believe, too, that our loved ones can live on long after their death in our thoughts and memories? Those memories can take place in you, Fate." She turned around to gaze at the Enforcer lovingly. "You can be her again. I know it to be true."
No, Fate thought adamantly. I already thought I.C. was talking really irrationally before...but that's nothing to how she's acting now. I don't have any of these other "memories" that she's talking about. There's still no connection between me and the other Fate that she wants to bring back...For me, absolutely nothing's changed. Yet she's convinced that because of this cult working their magic and messing around with time travel, a part of the Fate who died...can somehow be transmitted through me?
"The real reason you're here is to complete the process," the veiled woman continued. "At the moment, you're not quite the Fate that I remember. You make...some worrying arguments against me. Flaws. Unnecessarily caring for other human beings. We simply can't have that. The Cult of Neopocalypticon has succeeded in retrieving the essence of the Fate I do love, just before she died...and we just need a living embodiment of her memory to make those thoughts and emotions come to life. That's you, Fate! You'll become the Fate I know and love!" Lady Testarossa smiled happily behind her veil, the delight showing in the corners of her eyes. "Don't you think that's something that's absolutely beautiful? We'll be creating life right in front of us! I can't wait until all the preparations are completed!"
Living embodiment? Essence of...the other Fate? And they're going to put it into me?
"You're not serious about this," the Enforcer said, stunned by what she was hearing. "No. This is insane. I have my own life to live - "
"Oh, come on, Fate!" I.C. snapped, waving her away. "You know me. You love me. Just like before, your life will be intertwined with mine. If you didn't want that, then you shouldn't have died!"
The veiled woman seemed to be switching between different temperaments; one moment, she had seemed completely convinced that Fate was the same woman who had died in this universe, and the next she had started saying that Fate wasn't quite complete yet. As if...as if she wanted to convince herself that this sinister "process" of altering the mage had already happened...
But it hasn't happened. Nothing's happened! What exactly do I.C. or any of the members of this cult think that they're going to do to me, in putting another past Fate into my body? How are they supposed to do that? The whole idea is crazy and dangerous, and I'll fight them off if they lay a single finger on me, no matter how many of them there are. Even with I.C. here, I'm not going to let any of these people do something so warped whilst I'm still alive. Not now that I know Nanoha's out there, so close beyond these walls...
She remembered how I.C. had initially started talking about her as if she really was the past Fate, and that she had already been resurrected. Maybe the veiled woman had realised then that she had simply been mistaken, and had sought to make amends using the most barbaric of methods. The whole thing sounded so incredibly unstable, having a past and present Fate in the same body...
That's not what I should be thinking about, the Enforce told herself. First and foremost, I need to get rid of this annoying shield. It's the only thing stopping me from getting out of here, apart from Lady Testarossa herself. Somehow...I need to get the Cult of Neopocalypticon involved personally, since they're the ones controlling the barrier...
"Tell me something, I.C.," Fate said, a new thought springing to mind. "Let's say you succeed in this. Let's say you somehow...put this essence of a long-dead Fate into my body. What are you going to do if something goes wrong?"
The veiled woman didn't look at her. "I told you, Fate," she said. "I always make sure to leave no room for errors. In effect, I have eliminated every single possible misfortune that could befell this procedure. In fact...it's already begun."
The Enforcer turned, her eyes widening as she realised the purpose of the magical shield that surrounded the House of Testarossa. It...it wasn't a shield after all. Surrounding her on all sides, at the complete control of the members of the Cult of Neopocalypticon, any amount of magic could be released internally...
No, that can't be right. I.C. is inside the barrier as well. She'll be caught in the crossfire, won't she? Unless...unless that protective aura of hers keeps her safe...
"You know I'm not her!" Fate cried, feeling her own magic rise defensively around her. She had been caught in the trap as soon as I.C.'s transportation spell had immobilised her body, as soon as she had been cut off from Nanoha second time..."You keep trying to pretend that I've already turned into this different person, this alternate Fate that was so close to you – but it's still not a perfect act!"
The veiled woman's eyes narrowed, but she gave no reply.
"Why did you do everything that you did for me last night? You trapped me in that house of yours and got angry when I managed to escape. Why did you write me that love letter? Why did you invite me to dinner? You knew I wasn't her! There wouldn't be any point!"
She was having some greater effect now, stirring up a handful of raw emotion which blazed like charcoal in I.C.'s eyes. One hand had balled into a tight fist, with the beginning of harsh, heavy breathing coming up from behind the veil.
"Who are you?" Fate demanded, bracing herself. "Tell me! You've already decided to go ahead with everything. You're right, I.C. - there isn't a single flaw you've missed out. Just tell me who you are! I tried to work it out, but there isn't a single person of the Testarossa family with your initials!"
And then Lady Testarossa reached up with one hand towards her, pain flooding her face as the veil stirred slightly.
"Initials?" the veiled woman whispered. "They're not initials, Fate. Those letters are a forcible imprint onto my soul, by my own hand. The core and the centre of me. Shall I tell you, Fate? You should know by now. You should know who I am."
She clutched upwards at the air, her head bowed as if suffering great agony, and the two letters shone brightly above her head:
I. C.
"I for Indeterminacy, the manner of having no fixed state or being," Lady Testarossa muttered, her eyes half closed. "C for Constancy, to maintain the vigil where mere humankind would crumble and fail..."
More letters began to appear out of the air, one on each side of the letters that were already there, and Fate's eyes widened as she picked them out one by one...
L. I. C. I.
"L for Latency, the indication of undeveloped qualities or state, always reaching up beyond the sky to achieve the omnipotence of a god; a second I for Indistinction, no longer being able to differentiate between right and wrong..."
The last two letters came on, and Fate backed away with a cry. No. This couldn't be true. It made sense, a horrible, twisted amount of sense, but... Lady Testarossa, no, it couldn't be her...
A. L. I. C. I. A.
"The As of Autocracy and Anarchy,"the veiled woman breathed, her arm slowly lowering down to the ground. "The favoured forms of government within a mind both with and without progress or purpose."
Her other hand unclenched and untied the veil from her face, revealing her face for Fate to look upon at long last. The Enforcer's eyes widened as she saw that there was a strange electrical device attached to the lower part of the other woman's face, whirring away and amplifying the magical field above neck level. Whatever it was, the mechanical device was constantly emphasising and adding onto I.C.'s powers by every second until she was literally swimming in raw energy...
Seeing her entire face for the first time, however, was a different experience – because excluding the devices attached to her jaw and cheeks, Lady Testarossa's face appeared identical to Fate's. The tight bun at the rear of her head was loosened into thick blonde hair that ran down her back, virtually identical to the Enforcer's hair that flowed across her shoulders. They stared at each other then for several tense moments, the same shade of red in both their eyes, standing at exactly the same height at every conceivable level...
For Fate, it was like looking into a mirror and seeing a tremendous change take place within her soul, a darkness covering her heart...for the other woman's eyes remained as cruel and sinister as ever, regarding her silently and without mercy.
Her face is so empty, so seemingly inhuman...How can this be possible? She's...she's my...
"Welcome home, dear sister," Alicia Testarossa said softly, extending her hand towards her. The cracked smile shone across her face like the opening to a new oblivion, and Fate could not help but find herself drawn towards this terrible representation of a life she'd never known.