"So," began Brahms, "I take it everyone's heard?"

Everyone nodded, some more cheerfully than others.

Odin sneered at Lezard. "Looks like there won't be any room for you in this one, mortal."

Lezard tut-tutted, waving the All-father's comment away with a gloved hand. "Why on earth should that bother me?" he asked. "I have had far more publicity than I could ever ask for. I am currently one of the most popular characters, if the amount of websites dedicated to myself and my beloved are any indication. You, poor fellow, do not have anywhere near as many fans. Why, if I may be so bold, I would hazard that the amount of websites dedicated to your greatness are in the single digits."

By now Odin was seething, but he was determined not to let Lezard know.

"I cannot believe this," Hrist said, glaring at Lenneth. "You little hog! The next game was supposed to be about me! Why do you get to be the star again?"

"I wasn't the star in the last one," Lenneth reminded her. "Besides, I can't help what the powers that be have decided."

"All I got was the title of the last game," Silmeria grumbled. "I had even less screentime than Hrist! And I wasn't even a playable character for a single chapter! I had maybe half an hour, tops, for the slower players!" She sighed. "I would like more appearances in this game."

"Well, we only know Lenneth will be in it," pointed out Alicia. "You and Hrist might very well be."

"Man, did you see the screenshots?" asked Arngrim, looking around at everyone. "Did you see the size of that Eris chick's melons? They make Freya's look like walnuts!"

Freya responded with a kick to the head, which knocked him out for a few paragraphs.

"Look at this!" Silmeria was holding up the latest issue of Valhalla Gamers magazine. "According to this poll, I am the most popular valkyrie. Lenneth was only in second place!"

"Let me see that!" Hrist grabbed the magazine from her younger sister, her gaze darkening as she saw herself in third place--with a much lower percentage than the other two. "How can this be?"

"I think you scare most fans," Brahms said, leaning over her shoulder.

Hrist glared at him. "I don't want to hear that from you!"

"I would like to be in the next game," Alicia spoke up. When everyone turned to look at her, her face turned pink. "That is..." She looked shyly at Rufus. "I would like us to...to be together."

Rufus grinned sheepishly. "I'd like that, too. We wouldn't need a big part...maybe just a cameo appearance, or something."

"That brings up an important point, though," she went on. "Who will be 'ruler of the gods' in this game--Rufus, Odin, or Lenneth?"

Rufus shrugged. "I hope it's not me. Ruling Asgard is a drag."

"I think me being ruler is the only way to get some screen time," mused Odin. "So I think I would like to rule Asgard in this game."

Freya frowned. "But that would be said, because we'd all know you were doomed. Unless we were to employ time travel once again, which would be dreadful."

Everyone agreed that time travel was something they did not want in the new game.

"I would like to appear in this game as an individual," said Dylan, "and not as a vessel for Brahms."

"Oh, Dylan, we always saw you as an individual," Alicia assured him.

"What's the difference between me and you?" he demanded, meaning it as a rhetorical question but just coming off as rude.

Meanwhile, angry voices that had previously been far off were coming closer. One was eventually able to make out the words "screen time" and "originals."

"What on earth is going on?" Alicia wondered.

"I recognize most of 'em," muttered Arngrim, who had regained consciousness. "There's Jelanda, and Kashell, and Aelia, and Lawfer, and even Celia..."

"What is this?" Lenneth asked. "What happened?"

"Lenneth," sighed Lucian, holding a sloppy sign that said "VP1 IS THE ONE." "We feel as if we have been neglected. Not by you, of course, but by the fans."

"They used to be so faithful!" complained Mystina. "I used to be so popular!"

"We finally decided to take it to the streets!" added Yumei, even though she looked positively delighted to be here.

"We respectfully request..." continued Nanami.

"...that we be acknowledged, dammit!" finished Jelanda.

Indeed, all the major characters from the original Valkyrie Profile game had gathered, male and female, young and old, warrior and mage and citizen alike. Even the VP1 gods had shown up.

"Have you forgotten me, sis?" pouted Frei.

"It's been a while, brother," greeted Roland (no, no, not the commander Roland! How could you forget Arngrim's very own flesh and blood?).

"I've still got some spring in my step!" insisted Gandar.

"It has been too long since I stirred up some mischief," Loki said, winking.

"So...you all want an appearance in the next game?" Alicia asked, genuinely curious. Her eyes widened as the crowed replied with a resounding "YES!"

"We want to know how the events of the second game have changed our lives," Lawfer informed her.

"When we are mentioned within a Valkyrie Profile discussion, we invoke a faint nostalgia, and then pushed aside in favor for Rufus, or Silmeria, or one of the more recent characters," Lyseria lamented.

"We just want to be revived in the minds of our fans," Llewelyn explained.

"Well..." Lenneth cleared her throat. "I would love to grant each and every one of you an appearance. But that is truly not within my power."

"You know, if you keep whoring attention like this," snapped Hrist, still upset over the poll results, "you're not going to be so popular anymore!"

"Lezard," Alicia said suddenly, "you have a good memory. Make a list of all the characters who were in both games. I think they're the most likely to be in the third game."

"Of course," Lezard agreed, secretly hoping he could get some quality screen time with Lenneth--although it was almost too much to ask for.

And thus he began to write...