Back at the House of Yagami, Wyvern stood in the main study in a state of indecision, staring at his Yagami Bracelet as it shifted around his wrist and pressed against his skin uncomfortably. The blue-haired engineer of the Family was all too aware of Lideri seated across the table from him as she waited patiently for him to finish the final preparations, and her presence didn't exactly help to ease his worries. How could he do this? Wyvern had no reservations about his own skill and expertise in manipulating machinery and magic with each other, and knew all too well that the modifications he had made to the device earlier were still in effect. Even so, the blue-haired engineer of the Family still had his doubts about carrying out the procedure by himself...
"Wyvern," the librarian said to him, tapping her watch calmly. "Finish up any last touches on your Yagami Bracelet within the next few minutes. We cannot delay the time switch any further. The whole Family is already waiting on you."
He hadn't realised that Lady Yagami actually wanted him to go first, like some kind of guinea pig. Yes, that was it – no one knew for sure that opening up the artificial time portal wouldn't tear your body to pieces, especially when its entire structure was based on such a simple mechanism. The only way to be sure was to test it out on someone first, and...well, Lady Yagami had never held him in high regard. The fact that he was Kagura's adopted brother didn't help either.
But what had he expected? The dimensional distortion was drawing closer and closer to them, and the modified Yagami Bracelets were the only means that the Family had of leaving this universe – if they even worked at all. Sooner or later, he would need to attempt the time switch or risk being left behind to die along with this doomed world.
Wyvern began to sweat profusely at the thought that he could have made a single miscalculation whilst altering the bracelets. Was it possible? Could he have overestimated the specifications, perhaps used one too many dangerous assumptions in his construction of the devices? These were the unpredictable forces of time travel that they were dealing with here. If you played around with such magic in the wrong way, and it backfired...
The blue-haired boy looked over the table of the study to where Lideri was watching him, seeing very little sympathy in her gaze. She had always been very liberal and understanding of him when he'd spoken to her in the past, but the pressure of the recent crisis had brought quite a change in her attitude since then. Nervously, Wyvern tossed a small sphere-like object in the air and caught it in the palm of his free hand, just as he always did when he was growing afraid.
"We have to do the time switch now?" he asked. "As in, right now this instant?"
"Yes," the librarian said curtly. Above her, the hidden surveillance cameras built into the ceiling were watching the scene very carefully; Yagami would be very interested to see the effect of the time switch on the boy before continuing with the main plan. "There is no time to lose, Wyvern – you know that as well as I do. As of now, there is just enough time for all of the senior members of the Family to leave this universe behind for good, and Yagami-sama has decided that you will be the first to begin the transfer. Think of it as an honour, if you will."
"I'm the first," the engineer repeated worriedly. He grasped at the thin bracelet on his wrist, perhaps trying to move it down his arm a little, but the device had already clamped around his skin and could not be shifted. "What if something goes wrong?"
Lideri shook her head firmly. "This is not the time for doubts or hesitations, Wyvern. You created the Yagami Bracelets to serve the Family. You were able to modify them in such a short time to accommodate for the transfer of time magic which will take place. If anything, you should have pride in your skill and intellect to ensure the future survival of the House of Yagami." She leaned forwards towards him keenly, glimpsing the dark blue glow which surrounded the bracelet. "Are you fully prepared and ready to go? We can't have any mistakes."
The blue-haired boy gripped the spherical object in his other hand, and met her gaze fiercely. "Yes," he said determinedly, deciding that there was no delaying this any further. "I'm ready. I've set my Yagami Bracelet for the highest setting, so it will act as a conduit for the flow of time energy once it forms." He shut his eyes and held his bare arm out towards her. "I'll need some of your magic to open the portal, Lideri."
"Very well," the aged librarian declared, snapping her fingers in the air to conjure up a single stream of turquoise energy around her. "Then the time has come for you to depart."
Carefully keeping her distance from the boy, she lifted her hand up and allowed the beacon of energy to rest against the surface of Wyvern's bracelet. Having not seen the modified device in action yet, Lideri was a little sceptical about whether anything would happen at all. On first glance, the bracelet appeared to be only a small piece of ordinary metal with no real magic attached to it, but Wyvern had insisted that it would work...
As soon as the tiny spark made contact, the engineer's body was suddenly ablaze with an intense blue glow which quickly spread out to consume almost the entire room. A powerful surge of time magic had risen up around him, circulating into a typhoon of tightly-compressed magic which rippled back and forth like an angry storm unleashed upon the ocean...
With a cry of surprise, Lideri pushed herself back as far away from the boy as possible, her doubts vanishing at once. There was a splintering sound as the hidden cameras in the ceiling were smashed apart by the incredible pressure. She felt her back hit the wall as she shielded her eyes from the blinding light, struggling to see what was going on...
The portal is opening! It's working!
She saw Wyvern's face clam up, transfixed to the spot as he struggled to move his arm; the Yagami Bracelet was clearly exerting a huge toll on his body. She watched as the fingers of his hand gradually clenched into a tight fist, moving at a painstakingly slow pace, and then a fresh wave of magic washed through his body which overtook everything else...
"Chronological Time Switch!" Wyvern shouted with all his might.
The light doubled in intensity and magnitude, too bright for Lideri to see anymore, and she was forced to turn herself away completely. But that didn't stop her from hearing the hiss of Oguba's magic in the room, curling around the boy into dark tendrils which manipulated the artificial time portal around him and passing through the framework of the Yagami Bracelet which kept him connected...It was a lending of power from Oguba's principal source, and in that moment Wyvern was able to directly access the Lost Logia's magic despite being so far away from it at the same time...
Lideri thought she heard the engineer yell out over the scream of the portal as he was sucked inside, but her hands were clamped tightly over the sides of her head to withstand the incredible pressure of magic and it was difficult to tell what was being said. The crippling storm rose up into a climax, and the old librarian bravely withstood it as the pain began to climb in her ears, pain that was almost unbearable...but just as suddenly, the mesh of chaos died and everything receded into dead calm again. Amidst the falling pressure in the room, Lideri realised that the Yagami Bracelet must have succeeded in stabilising the main flow of magic. With fresh hope in her heart, she quickly turned around to see the fading figure of Wyvern turn transparent and disappear from the world of Mid-childa completely...
And then there was silence. A sphere-like object dropped to the floor of the study, the same sphere that the Wyvern had been tossing around in his other hand less than a minute ago. She was alone in the room, staring at the spot where the boy had been standing.
Did he make it?
From her limited knowledge of time travel that she'd amassed from Grylmark's brief visits to the House of Yagami, Lideri knew that time magic could be extremely dangerous if you used it in the wrong way. To take your body out of one world and into another, travelling through history and alternate dimensions...the process involved separating the molecules of your body in transit, potentially distorting or even destroying them. Only with Oguba's power in the palm of your hand could you be sure of a completely faultless journey.
The librarian sniffed the air around her experimentally, sensing nothing out of the ordinary – except, of course, that Wyvern had literally vanished into thin air. If something had gone wrong at the last moment, and the boy's body had been torn up into pieces between the separate dimensions, then Lideri couldn't find any trace of it.
"Lideri?" came Arisa's voice over the intercom. "The surveillance cameras went down. Yagami-sama requests a full report. Has the time switch been successful?"
The old lady paused before speaking, not really knowing what to say at first. Was there a chance that Wyvern hadn't made it after all? If so, then there was no chance of the rest of the Family making it out of this universe alive, not with the amount of time they had left. From what she could see in front of her, the engineer had most likely managed to escape the dimensional distortion in one piece – the first survivor out of a planet of doomed civilians.
"Yes," Lideri said at last. "It appears so. Wyvern must have made it to the other side safely." She didn't want to admit that she didn't know what the "other side" actually was - the other end of the time portal, presumably, whatever that was. However, the Yagami Bracelets were connected with one another and would ensure that everyone ended up in the same place, however. Even if they were unlucky and were transported into a hostile environment, the highest-ranking members of the House of Family would be together. They would be able to survive.
"Excellent," Arisa said pleasantly in response. "Yagami-sama is very glad to hear this. All guards and low-ranking members of the Family have already being ordered to leave the grounds, so there should be no disruptions to the main plan. The rest of us will stay here to carry out the remaining time switches and escape this universe." She paused for a few moments, perhaps consulting with Suzuka and Yagami before speaking again. "Lideri, we're going to prepare for the next switch now. Yagami-sama wants us to get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible."
"There is a twenty minute cool-down period, Arisa," the librarian reminded her. "Every invocation of time magic affects all of the other Yagami Bracelets. We won't be able to open up another portal yet."
"That's fine, but it's good to be prepared. Start heading down to the infirmary now, Lideri. I'll keep you updated."
The infirmary? Lideri thought to herself. So Yagami really was sending her least favourite servants ahead of her first, it seemed. That was just like her. Of course, it would be a different story altogether when they decided to send Felicity through the portal...that would be an interesting spectacle to behold. Nobody had risked trying to converse with Felicity properly for a long, long time.
As she made to leave the study altogether, the librarian paused in the doorway for just a moment as another curious thought occurred to her. She turned around to survey the empty room, frowning, and then reached down to pick up the sphere-like object that Wyvern had left behind him. With a casual flick of her finger, Lideri pocketed the miscellaneous item and swept out into the corridor again, content in the knowledge that everything was proceeding perfectly as planned. It was time to pay a visit to the medical expert of the household, Dr Kaizen...
At the northern entrance of the hospital facility, Signum maintained her vigil high in the sky as she kept a careful lookout on the surrounding area. Upon first arriving at the gate, she had noticed at once that the mutants' numbers were especially high at this part of the complex, surging almost out of control and making close combat impossible. Not for long, however; a few well-placed spells by the Velka Knight had depleted the ranks of her enemies, keeping them subdued long enough to secure a small patch of questionable freedom. The plan to attack the facility on all sides would all be for naught if they didn't have a clear shot at the barrier itself.
She couldn't relax for long, however. Every few minutes or so, a fresh batch of monsters would burst out through the nearest gate to reinforce the rest of Grylmark's minions milling about on the ground, and Signum's opponents soon gained enough confidence to rise up against her again. When this happened, the swordswoman would unleash another Storm Falconattack into their midst, keeping the mutants just barely under control so that they didn't completely swamp the place when the rest of the Bureau arrived.
It wasn't much to deal with on her behalf, but it was better than doing nothing. As long as the force-field was still up and running, Signum knew that she couldn't permanently stop that army of creatures from continuing their onslaught against the rest of Uminari City, and this was only a quarter of the main attacking force. Sooner or later, she was going to weaken and her enemies would start to overcome her own defences...
Nanoha should have received my message by now. What ever is she doing? I can't keep this up forever.
As her attention wavered for a moment, a dark hulking figure rose up swiftly from the ground to attack her head-on, beating a pair of great leathery wings and baring its teeth with a hiss of anticipation. There was a cruel gleam in the monster's yellow eyes as it raced eagerly towards her with claws extended, and the swordswoman grimly raised her sword to defend herself. Another over-confident foe had come to challenge her, it seemed -
"Steel Yoke!" Zafira shouted, emerging within casting range.
Magical power rippled outwards from the palms of his hands, piercing the winged creature in mid-air and causing it to shriek with rage. Before it could recover, Erio leaped off the Guardian Beast's shoulders in a single bound and plunged his glowing spear into the mouth of the monster with full force. A charge of magic raced down the length of his weapon, serving to propel Strada deeper through the mass of thick flesh and muscle until it finally penetrated through the back of the mutant's throat; the creature let out a strangled gurgle as it was impaled upon Erio's spear, dark blood welling up within its mouth from the fatal blow. Slowly, the dying mutant began to fall down to earth again.
Unfortunately, the red-haired forward had miscalculated the force of his attack slightly, especially in how deeply Strada was now embedded within his enemy's neck. Frantically, he tried to pull his spear free from the beast's mouth, but the weapon was buried between two immovable chunks of mutated fat and bone on either side, refusing to budge no matter how hard he tried. As the weight of the corpse took him plummeting towards the ground at a nerve-wracking speed, Erio started to panic.
"Help!" he yelled out to the two Wolkenritter mages above him, all too aware of the rising force effect of gravity on someone without any levitation magic. "Help me! I'm stuck!"
Signum and Zafira exchanged glances with each other before flying down to help him. A few strokes of Laevatein's blade were enough to cut Erio's weapon free from the obstructing mass of his fallen enemy; from the other side, the white-haired Guardian Beast extended one strong arm towards the boy and lifted him onto the safety of his shoulders again. Without breaking a sweat, the three of them headed skywards towards their initial position before any similar creatures came within range.
"Th-thanks," Erio managed hoarsely, still breathing hard from the closeness of his encounter. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen..."
Zafira turned a sympathetic eye towards the forward. "I understand that you want to help us fight, Erio," the Guardian Beast said, not unkindly, "but please leave any aerial combat to Signum and myself for the time being. You're a capable mage for your age, but your specialities lie in short-range attacks which will be much more effective on the ground. We won't always be in a position to save you."
"Leave him be," Signum said dismissively. "He defeated that monster with great speed and precision." She slowed to a halt with the other two until they were hovering directly above the northern entrance of the hospital, watching tentatively as the army of mutants continued to rise in number. "You two took your time getting here," she remarked. "I was starting to wonder if anybody was going to turn up at all."
The Guardian Beast shrugged, a rueful smile appearing on his face. "We couldn't exactly leave you here by yourself, Signum. This place was calm and peaceful before you decided to investigate. I don't know what you did, but Grylmark couldn't have liked it."
"I'm not to blame me for the way things turned out, Zafira. More importantly, what's the situation with the rest of the Bureau? Is Nanoha putting my plan into action?"
Zafira nodded. "Right now, everyone's getting into position for the main attack. Fate, Rein and Agito have returned and are covering the southern gate, and Nanoha's group is taking the east." His gaze swept the horizon, looking out for the telltale signs of any Bureau magic, but there was nothing new to see so far. "As soon as any of our squads is ready, their leader will fire a bright signal of magic into the air for everyone to see. That way, we'll be watching out for signals from all four groups before launching the attack on the hospital from all sides."
That sounds reasonable, Signum thought to herself. Due to the large size of the facility, the Bureau had become spread out over a vast area, and standard long-distance communication between separate squads was already very difficult. A signal flare of magic, however, would last for many miles and be visible to everybody. Isn't that how ancient civilisations used to send messages to one another before the discovery of modern technology, after all? There's no reason why it shouldn't work.
The only catch is that a signal flare will be seen by absolutely everybody – the Bureau, Grylmark and his allies, any other enemies waiting for us out there, and will probably catch the attention of some of the mutants attacking us. If we're really unlucky, it could stir them up even more...but with everyone here, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.
"So the leader of each squad has to fire a signal," she said. "I've got more long-range spells to spare than either of you, so it looks like I'll be doing that job. Zafira, you didn't mention the western gate – is anyone covering that area?"
"Hayate's supposed to be taking that one." The Guardian Beast winced. "The problem is, we don't know for sure if she'll actually be taking any action or not. It's likely that she doesn't yet know about the rest of the Bureau stationed here, and there isn't enough time to get word to her about the plan. Nanoha's hoping that she'll still be in the right position to unite with everyone else once we're ready."
"Not enough time?" Signum repeated with a frown, wondering if she was fully in possession of all the facts. "What do you mean? How much time could be lost?"
A worried glance passed between Zafira and Erio as they realised that something crucial was missing here: the pink-haired Velka Knight didn't know about the dimensional distortion approaching Mid-childa. Like Shamal, she hadn't been around to hear Yuuno's revelations about the future, although the medical mage had now been filled in about everything after parting company with them. Quickly, Zafira and Erio made haste to explain to her the nature of the oncoming catastrophe.
As she listened intently, Signum's face gradually changed from bewilderment to alarm, to be replaced by appalled horror, and then finally settling into a sense of determination derived from discipline and self-control. The end of the world? At a time like this, when they were on the verge of bringing everyone back together again? The Velka Knight wondered if this could have come with any worse timing. She had no illusions about how terrible an effect a dimensional distortion would have on any planet, along with all the problems that they already had to deal with...but on the other hand, if Nanoha was really confident that they could make it through, then that in itself should mean that there was no reason to worry...
Strangely enough, Signum also felt as if something about this made perfect sense. Three hours...Where had she heard that phrase before?
You have three hours, Guardian Knights.
Grylmark's parting words to her and Shamal. The old man knew about the dimensional distortion and was probably taking steps of his own to evade it! Had he known all along that such a thing was bound to happen, from the moment that they had stepped into this alternate world? Maybe it was a lot to hope for, but if there was some way to capture Grylmark and prevent him from escaping to some other unknown dimension or plane of existence...That would be an enormous help to everyone.
"I see," the swordswoman said quietly. "I didn't know that our situation have become so dire. It looks like there is far less time than I thought. Nanoha is right – we'll have to trust in Hayate's instincts and make our presence known as much as possible." She raised Laevatein in both hands, preparing herself. "We shouldn't delay, so I'm going to send out my signal to the others right now whilst we still can. Zafira, Erio...are you both ready? There's no going back after this."
The red-haired boy hesitated, still holding the Yagami Bracelet in one hand. He had been carrying the mysterious artefact ever since Wyvern had given it to him this morning, but so far had not put it to any use. Was there any point in holding onto it any further? If he wasn't going to risk wearing it, then maybe he should just throw it away...
"Signum?" he asked, holding up the bracelet for her to see. "Before you send out the signal, can I get rid of this?"
The pink-haired Guardian Knight stared at the artefact for a moment before remembering what it was. She remembered how Erio had insisted on bringing it along, saying that it served as a deterrent against the executors. Had it actually helped them in any way? Was it going to be of any use at all? The rebellion and the executors were far behind them now, so probably not...
"Erio, I have no idea what that device does," she said at last. Whatever the Yagami Bracelet was, it was obvious that it was no ordinary accessory. "If it was made in this world and possesses magic of its own, then we shouldn't be tampering with it until we know what it really does. You didn't put it on, did you?" The forward shook his head, and Signum breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Whatever it is, Erio, I don't think it was designed to work on people from outside this universe. We shouldn't have anything to do with it."
"So I can throw it away?"
Signum opened her mouth to agree, but realised just in time what she was suggesting. There were over a thousand hostile mutants waiting for them on the ground. What if the bracelet's unknown abilities somehow affected their opponents and amplified their situation to make it even worse? It wasn't worth the risk.
"No," she said decisively. "Just hold onto it, Erio. You can get rid of it when we're not surrounded by so many enemies." She lifted her sword towards the sky in an upward slant and began to focus. "We don't have the time to worry about that bracelet anymore, so just keep it out of sight. With all that aside, Zafira and Erio, are both of you fully prepared?"
The Guardian Beast and red-haired forward gave their assent as one, moving forward keenly to watch the skies with her.
"Then I'll give the signal. Let's make this happen."
With the colour rising in her face slightly, Signum released a gentle stream of purple magic from her device and allowed it to shoot out across the horizon, sending out a clear and visible signal to every member of the Bureau that her group was ready to advance on the northern gate...
Nanoha kept her distance from the mutants at the eastern side of the hospital, supporting Tiana with one arm whilst she waited patiently for Shamal's return. The minutes had gone past slowly with only the growing horde of monsters on the ground to keep them company, and the combat mage was anxious for an update on the Bureau's situation. She needed to know that everyone was in position for the attack on the facility and that success was still within their grasp. Even at her advantageous location, the combat mage was unable to see past the thick concrete walls of Grylmark's mysterious complex, and wondered even now what the summoner could possibly be doing inside there. He must know by now that the TSAB had him completely surrounded.
She kept her eyes fixed on the patch of sky where Hayate's magic had been sighted just minutes ago, watching for any further signs or movement; it was a welcome relief to see that her friend still appeared to be on track towards the western gate. As long as Hayate continued on her current trajectory, she would be able to rejoin the rest of the Bureau and fight alongside everyone as planned. By that point, there should be no further problems in taking the force-field down. Of course, the difficult part was getting Hayate to understand what she was supposed to do without being able to communicate with her directly...
As she waited, the puzzle of how to defeat Oguba once and for all occupied Nanoha's mind constantly and drove her to distraction. She could try and ignore the root of the problem as much as she wanted, but sooner or later she would have to find a way to tackle it; better to solve it now than five minutes before the whole world came to an end. Unfortunately, it felt as if she still lacked enough information on Oguba to know how to combat him properly.
The Ace of Aces had been frantically wracking her brains to recall everything that she knew about the Lost Logia of time travel up to now, every last scrap of information that she had come into possession of whilst Oguba had had a hold on her consciousness in the days previously. She had even taken her mind back to what Takamachi had told her. Takamachi, the deceased "client" of Red Scorpion, the corrupt version of a younger Nanoha on a different timeline from her, one who had unravelled the secrets of time travel in full...
I remember what she said to me, she thought, ignoring the continuous howls of the army of mutants far below. I remember her explaining that Oguba cannot be destroyed, because to do so would be to destroy time itself. That kind of information isn't really very helpful to me, though. On the other hand, I know that Takamachi had a lot of things backward and was mistaken about what she really thought she was doing. Takamachi thought she was saving the universe, but she was probably doing the direct opposite...How can I know what else she was mistaken about? She didn't know she was wrong! How can I know what I'm supposed to do when the time comes?
The combat mage let out a cry of frustration at being unable to figure out the solution. There was something important missing from this whole situation with Oguba, something that she had overlooked which was related to Jewel Seeds and Lost Logia and time travel all in one. She'd known for some time that a particular piece of the puzzle hadn't fit at all, but try as she might Nanoha simply couldn't place it. What could she have missed? Yuuno had said that there was definitely a path for her to follow, no matter what. Maybe it was something that wasn't really connected to the Bureau in the first place, but went back to basics...
Could it be to do with the contract she'd had with Oguba initially? The nameless contract with which he lent his powers of time travel to each member of Red Scorpion in exchange for their services to him? Now that she no longer retained any of Oguba's powers, the Ace of Aces had assumed that her contract with the Lost Logia must have been cancelled out or terminated...but maybe that wasn't the case. Perhaps she would be able to win back something from him again, if she could only work out how.
Maybe I could find out more information about Oguba from the people who contracted with him before I did. Is it possible? No, that wouldn't be very wise...if I remember rightly, only Exoria, Ungore and Grylmark have any contracts with Oguba anymore, and it could take a long time to locate any of them. All of those people are also sworn enemies of the Bureau, so they would probably attack me on sight regardless of the dimensional distortion approaching...
She thought of Vivio, frozen in a moment of time back in their world, waiting an eternity for her and Fate to come back home. If they didn't make it back, and those five years came and went like Yuuno had warned her...
Come to think of it, Nanoha didn't recall Yuuno mentioning anything about Vivio at all. He had been quite agitated about the state of the Bureau in his world, and had explained in detail how Hayate and the rest of the Wolkenritter had been mysteriously transported through the portal to be trapped here with everyone else...yet at no point had the researcher said anything about what happened to her child. It just seemed a little strange, that's all.
What if there's a good reason for that? the combat mage thought, her heart thumping at the sudden realisation. What if Vivio, and my contract with Oguba – no, what if it wasn't a coincidence that she became a real part of the wish that I made? What if everything is coming full circle? If that's true, then...
"Nanoha!" called a voice towards her, rising above the din of the mutants. "Nanoha, I'm back."
The Ace of Aces turned with a start to see that Shamal had returned at last, and the relief and eagerness showed in her face immediately. Quickly, she dragged herself out of the maze of thoughts that had captivated her, knowing that she needed to concentrate on the situation at present whilst time demanded it. Though Nanoha didn't fully understand it yet, she felt somehow as if she had a better idea about Oguba's true nature than almost anybody else, and that was comforting in itself. As long as she had some degree of understanding about the Lost Logia, she would have a much better chance of being able to draw out the real truth later.
"Shamal, how are you keeping up?" the combat mage said urgently, as the blonde woman slowly drew to a stop in front of her and Tiana. She saw the pronounced tiredness in the medical mage's green eyes and felt a wave of sympathy wash over her; Shamal didn't have the same level of endurance as the other Guardian Knights, meaning that the energy drain from making multiple trips to the rest of the Bureau had exerted a toll upon her. "You look exhausted," she said in hushed tones. "Shamal, do you need to take a break? I know you must be worn out from rushing around to find everybody else when you usually just stay on healing duty – I'm really sorry, if there was another way to do this then I would do it myself - "
The medical mage shook her head and waved her concerns away as if they were nothing. "I know when to pace myself, Nanoha," she said. "Don't worry about me. What we do now is much more important." She drew closer to the other two women, panting slightly from the speed of her recent flight. "I've successfully relayed your message to everyone in the Bureau who will be standing with us, so assuming that Hayate joins us, every entrance of the hospital should now be fully covered by one of our squads. In other words, Nanoha, we just have to wait for the signal from each group to show that they're ready, and then we'll be ready to start the attack. That's why I came back as fast as I could."
"You didn't have to push yourself like that," the Ace of Aces said gently. "But thank you so much for your help, Shamal. This will save us a lot of valuable time." She stopped suddenly, her eyes widening as she caught onto the end of the other woman's words. "Wait. Did you just say that everyone isin position?"
Shamal nodded. "Everyone in Riot Force 6 is here except for Subaru, Caro and Vita. Even so, we have a good idea of their general location."
"But if everyone else is here, then...that means..."
The medical smiled warmly at her in response. "That's right, Nanoha. Fate's back with us at last."
As if to illustrate her point, a golden beam of energy suddenly shot into the sky from the south and pierced through the clouds overhead like a great ray of sunshine. As it reached its apex the light expanded outwards with a bright magical glow, breaking up the gloomy pallor of the city skyline and bringing a luminous shimmer to the setting over the facility.
For Nanoha, it was all she had ever needed to see. She pushed forwardly excitedly, her pulse racing as the colour rose in her cheeks: if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she knew her partner's magic when she saw it. A single glance was enough to see that the Enforcer's magical field was as strong and lively as ever, and that was a good sign...
Fate! You made it back!
Maybe it was just her imagination, but it seemed for a second as if the mutants on the ground had stopped in their tracks momentarily, as if cowed by the presence of the golden light. The noise of their rampage around the hospital had lowered slightly, though the effect was only temporary and soon passed.
The combat mage whirled around to establish where Fate's signal had come from, her face flushed and hot at the thought of seeing her lover again. More than anything, she had an overwhelming desire to fly over to the Enforcer right now and throw her arms around her and hold her close, just to make sure that she was all right and that nobody had made her suffer in any way...She needed to feel her against her skin again. She wanted to kiss those soft lips and never let her go, never be separated from her ever again...
Nanoha was still bursting with questions about what had happened to Fate after she had been transported away from her against her will. What ever had happened to her since then? Had the enemy who'd kidnapped the Enforcer tried to hurt her in any way? If anyone harmed a hair on Fate's head, the Ace of Aces knew that she would not be forgiving of them in the slightest; even the thought of somebody doing such a thing caused her to boil up inside. As it was, there was too much distance between her and the Enforcer's current location to be able to sense anything about her specifically, and that was almost as maddening...
Quickly, the combat turned to face Shamal again. It was a bit unprofessional, but all thoughts of the Bureau's plan had temporarily flown out of her head, to be replaced by the face of one person. "Is Fate okay?" she asked, desperate to know what had happened to her partner. "What happened to her, Shamal? Were Rein and Agito with her? Is she hurt? Does Fate need me to - "
The medical mage let out an exasperated sigh. "She's fine, Nanoha," she said reassuringly. "I've told her the whole situation and Fate has agreed to target the southern gate with Rein and Agito, just like you advised. But she does miss you dearly."
Nanoha looked over worriedly at the beacon of warm light reaching up through the clouds. Now that she knew that Fate was back with her own eyes, how she could possibly hold back from going over to meet her now? The situation with Grylmark and the dimensional distortion had reached a critical point and was as important as ever, and the combat mage knew that she should keep emotions separate whilst being in the field – she had said so to the others herself. Right now, however, the urge in her heart to see Fate again was almost unbearable. She could already feel herself beginning to succumb to the temptation...
Fate's right there and she's waiting for me. For the first time, I know exactly where to find her. I could fly over to see her in a matter of minutes before the attack begins!
"I need to go to her right now," she said frantically. "I have to - "
"That's not what you said earlier, Nanoha," Tiana reminded her quietly. "You said that you had to keep your distance from Fate to help the attack on the facility, remember? You said that she would understand."
"Nanoha, it's okay," Shamal said soothingly, laying a hand on her arm and gazing at her with kindness in her green eyes. "Fate wants to be with you just as much as you do. You could go to her now, but then the Bureau's plan would be disrupted and you would leave this gate unwatched. Is that really such a good idea?" She paused for a moment, watching as the Ace of Aces stopped in her tracks and started to think about it more logically. "Remember that Fate will be waiting to see your signal as well. I know it's hard, and I know that you miss her badly, but this isn't the right way to go about it. Let's not let emotions control us when the Bureau needs us to remain steadfast in what we do."
The combat mage swallowed and forced herself to calm down, knowing in her heart that the other woman was right. The surge of passionate emotion which had almost overpowered her strategic instincts had now died down, allowing her to bring everything back into perspective again. As much as it pained her to do so, Nanoha knew that she had to keep her position with Shamal and Tiana just like the rest of the Bureau was doing. She had to keep in mind that the rest of their company looked to her for leadership, and that she couldn't be rushing off all over the place just to keep her heart at ease. Everyone would be awaiting the signal from her group, and the clock was still ticking...
"I'm sorry," Nanoha said levelly, feeling a little ashamed despite the looks of understanding she received from the other two mages. "I...I just didn't think. I guess I just lost it for a bit. Of course I'll have a chance to see Fate again. I know it's difficult, but..." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, turning away briefly from the other two to put herself back into the strategic mindset that was required.
Concentrate on what's in front of you. Fate's strong enough to take care of herself and you know it. You'll see her again soon enough, once all of this madness has died down a little.
"All right, then," the combat mage said briskly. Her head had stopped spinning, thankfully, and she felt much more at ease to deal with the situation confronting them. "We'd better be prepared for this as much as everyone else. Hayate's still in perfect position at the western gate, but whether she actually catches on to the Bureau's presence is another thing altogether. If this plan works and we successfully disable the force field, then the mutants will no longer be a problem. There may be a lot of them, but their numbers will no longer be increasing by then and our combined spells can finish them off without too much effort."
Tiana nodded in understanding. "There's another thing," the sharpshooter said. "I've been wondering about this for some time, but...since those creatures are Grylmark's creations, there's a chance that a lot of them are just harmless illusions. He pulled that same trick the last time he attacked the Bureau in our own world, so it's the kind of thing he'd do. I don't think he would risk expending enough energy to summon so many monsters in the flesh."
Shamal raised her eyes to the girl and shook her head. "Illusions? That would explain why so many of them appeared at once, but I don't think it will make much difference from a distance. We won't be able to tell the difference unless we're close up, and it might be too late to change tactics by then."
"Then I'll pick out the illusions myself," the orange-haired forward replied without hesitation. "I can see past his technique now. He won't be able to fool my eyes."
"Are we all set then?" the Ace of Aces asked both of them, preparing Raging Heart to fire her own signal. "Shamal, have you recovered enough to be ready for battle? And Tiana, are you mentally prepared to handle this?"
As the two women nodded in agreement, there was a surge of light that came soaring across the sky above Uminari City, moving in a similar vein to Fate's earlier signal. The sight drew everyone's eyes to the horizon at once, and the three mages watched as the magical beam shot through the centre of the clouds with a slightly different consistency. This time, the beam was composed of mainly purple light, not yellow, and had come from the northern side of the hospital instead. Somewhere out there, another group of Bureau mages had decided to fire their own signal...
"That's Signum's magic, isn't it?" Tiana said in awe. "That means her squad is ready and waiting to attack as well!"
The medical mage nodded, her face tensing in anticipation. "Yes, there's no doubt about it," she whispered. "Both Signum and Fate have given their signals to proceed, which means that everybody's waiting on us now. After that, it will all be up to Hayate."
Nanoha raised her magical device skyward. "Then let's not keep them waiting," she said. "Time to do our part."
Time seemed to slow down as the combat mage focused a small amount of energy within the centre of Raging Heart, charging up into a strong enough beam of magic to carry for many miles across the expanse of sky above the hospital facility. She knew that she needed Hayate to act on this third signal once she saw it, since the rest of the Bureau wouldn't act until the last signal had been released. What they were going to do if Hayate didn't react at all? What if the young mage remained on her current trajectory for too long and actually overshot the western gate without coming into contact with any of them?
Hayate, I'm putting my faith in you. Don't look away from the sky now! If you don't respond, the entire Bureau could be at a standstill...
With baited breath, the Ace of Aces fired the bright sparkle of pink and white light in a steep slant above her head, shooting across an extended range until it interlinked with the magical signal flares from Fate and Signum. The three colourful arrays of light merged with one another and covered the sky with a warm hue of orange, blanketing the base of the clouds and rippling across the entire horizon as if forming a new geographical phenomenon. It would be impossible for anyone nearby to miss a spectacle like that.
As the seconds passed by in silence, the combat mage tore her eyes away from the picturesque landscape and tried to establish Hayate's new position. The mistress of the Tome of the Night Sky was right above the western gate, but now she appeared to have stopped completely. There was no answering signal from her, no indication that she had noticed what the Bureau was doing, but even so there was still hope...
Hayate! You have to give the signal!
A full minute went past, and then another. Nothing new came from the last group at the western gate, nor was there any further movement from Hayate's position. What was she doing? Was she waiting for something else to happen? Couldn't she sense them from there?
The minutes ticked by in silence, and still no further action was seen. The Bureau stood at a standstill, waiting for a signal that may never come, and Nanoha was forced to reconsider about how this plan should proceed. She could choose to stick it out for a few minutes longer, or she could decide to have the attack begin without Hayate. Whatever she chose to do now could have a huge impact on what happened next, and there wasn't much time left to decide anymore...
Hayate!