This here, is a side story to my main OEG fanfiction, 'A Black Heart's Ascension'. This side story starts after chapter 148 of the main storyline and will cover the events that Noire herself goes through here in order to A: get stronger, B: go through some changes herself, and C: add additional content which doesn't need to be read to understand the main plotline, but reading it will not be pointless. This is something that doesn't need to fit inside the main plot, so thats why its not a part of OEG.
As mentioned, this is a Noire side story, and as such she will be the main protag here (only I hope to make it as good if not better than hyperdevotion Noire). I was inspired by To aru index with all its spinoffs and main titles to making this, but don't worry, i'll post a timeline for these ones so nobody gets confused on my profile. This is also a little something I wanna do to show that i'm not dead, and that despite the updates for the main story slowing down due to circumstances I'm still working on it. Therefore, if you wanna read this you can, let me know what you think and enjoy the reading.
Chapter 1 - A Black Heart
The cold, windy afternoons which came to the denizens residing within the Capital, SONY, of the land of Black Regality didn't surprise anyone who walked it's streets. Streets which, even now, were filled to the brim with different people, all bustling about to get to their jobs after having their lunch breaks. Some would go to their ow corporations to serve as the small-time, minor cogs which kept those great machines going for another day, while others would return to their positions as advisors or heads of these various companies to resume work on leading them down the direction of progress. Teenagers would linger about for a small bit, before the local law enforcement would hurry them along to wherever they needed to go, be it school, college or university. Nobody respected laziness in Lastation, after all they usually boast about being able to do practically everything. One could even see some members of the Basilicom staff, mixing and mingling with the populace for their work in seeing how things were progressing.
Though, this didn't bother one person who walked down the streets towards a certain destination.
Black hair held in two waist-length ponytails by two blue ribbons with black trims. Ruby red eyes glimmering despite there being no sunlight. An outfit consisting of dark blue, red, white and gold accents, a white multi layered skirt which had a large blue ribbon behind it with a smaller version around her neck connected to a black and white collar. Legs concealed by thigh length boots with silver medium heels alongside white stockings which connected to her waist via garters which went inside her skirt…
Yeah, to those who've read the main story, you all know who this is.
"Well, looks like things are doing okay, as expected of my Lastation…" the girl commented to herself, a smug smile forming on her lips as she beheld the sights. Flicking a strand of her hair and putting it on her hip, the girl continued in a proud, haughty manner. "Vert's had so many troubles over in Leanbox, whilst Lastation's going stronger than ever. Makes one realize who the better CPU is."
Looking around the street she walked along, Noire CPU of Lastation: the Land of Black Regality, also known as Black Heart when in her Goddess form, eyed the populace as they went about their day, and despite the smugness she had just demonstrated, a soft comforting feeling spreading throughout their chest. 'So far, everyone looks like they are doing okay…' the black-haired woman thought in relief, her smile soon switching to one of motherly fondness… one which curled into a frown a second later though. Her eyes reflected this, carrying the glimmer of anxiety and other complex emotions which surged through her chest. 'Though that's only on the surface. I'm sure that everyone here feels the intensity of the situation even if they don't realize it yet…'
It hadn't been that long since the battle at Halo Mountain, only about a week, and despite everything that went down there, life only continued on. She had heard how Neptune and her party had split up to do their own individual training, some with others and the rest on their own. She'd heard how Compa had stuck to Team RAIL, though that honestly didn't surprise her considering what had happened with her humanity being gone and all. "I hope Compa's going to be okay with this. She's a strong woman deep down, but still…" Noire muttered, thinking about the cream haired Nurse.
Learning that there had once been a race of beings who existed alongside the CPUs in the past, to help aid them in their rules like secretaries or enforcers by given powers in the forms of these 'Sephira Crystals', Noire didn't know how to feel about them.
On one hand, she wouldn't mind having such a being, a Spirit, helping her out when she needed it (not like she'll admit that to anyone in particular), since they could really help the military keep the peace by limiting the progress of the Abnormals. More Dungeons like the ones Team RAIL had cleared kept appearing ever since Neptune's party had left for Planeptune, forcing the Spec Ops branch of her Nation's Guild forces to go in to try to keep them clear of any Monsters which ended up inside. Abnormal Dungeons seemed to be solely unique to Lastation though, she didn't know why as they hadn't been cropping up on other Nations. Instead, Planeptune largely retained its semi peaceful state, whilst Leanbox seemed to be suffering from countless demonic forces invading its land through these so called 'Hellgates'. Hellgates which DID also appear on Planeptune, but they got dealt with swiftly so these so called 'Forces of Chaos' hadn't gotten much traction. She wasn't so sure about Lowee though.
Then, there were the other feelings she had, the ones which advised caution in dealing with such a being. Not for just herself as a Goddess, as in terms of strength a Goddess surpassed these so-called 'Spirits', but also because of the people. Noire would no longer kid herself, not with what she now knew, and as such she could definitely see the people of Gamindustri reacting very negatively to this kind of being. Not just because of zealous religious fanatics (though that WAS a big reason), but also because it implied that any human worthy could become a Spirit. This meant those who could would be manipulated into serving humanity's interests rather than that of the CPUs, and she NOW had a good idea of humanity's two-faced nature.
"Now that I think of it, IF could be put on the same boat as Compa…" Noire remarked in realization as she glanced up at the cloudy skies above, images of a certain brunette appearing in her mind. Images which showed her to be slicing through Abnormals and Demons by the dozens with relative ease, then she compared the brunette with Compa to find their situations being quite similar.
Now don't get her wrong, on the grounds of IF, she didn't know all that much since she didn't hear much that was outstanding from her, so she likely was doing her own thing too. Noire recalled the moment when she had been infected with the C Virus formula by Ganache during that battle in the Zombie Invasion, she recalled just how depressing and desperate everyone had been just to try and save her, yet they didn't know what to do. Ganache had even fanned the flames by exclaiming how there wasn't a cure developed for this kind of virus, just like the little sack of garbage that he was… a sack of garbage whom had wiped the floor with them earlier on. If it hadn't been for a combination of Nico and Histoire, IF surely would have had to have been killed so she didn't hurt anyone else. Now, she has to live as a viral biological apocalypse, with powers she never wanted to have but now had anyways. Noire could only imagine how she must feel about her new situation, no doubt existed in her mind that IF wanted payback for her state.
The same could be said for Neptune, too with regards to training alone, and… Nico…
Oh, where could she BEGIN with him?
Noire shook her head as she saw some Agents pass by, Spec Ops she realized when she recognized their faces from a couple files she'd read alongside some successful Abnormal Dungeon Quest reports. Just seeing their faces though reminded her of what she had learned about Nico and some of the history she hadn't been aware of since returning here. Stuff like… that, Noire could DEFINITELY see as something to be kept hidden, especially by the guilty parties. Since it had been so long now though, it likely will be impossible for those parties to be judged for their crimes. The act of killing children, regardless of their state of being, painted them in a terrible picture regardless of their intentions behind it, and Noire wanted OH so badly to punish them. Just how horrible could someone be? In a bid to even satisfy some sort of morbid curiosity, Noire had even managed to dig up videos of these happenings recorded by everyday civilians, and… what she had seen… yeah, it nearly caused her to throw up in disgust.
'No wonder he doesn't trust easily, something like that SURELY would traumatize someone for life, and according to Mrs Dawson those videos were the MILDER side of things which befell those poor kids…' Noire thought, doing her best to retain a sense of calmness about her but inside, well an inferno of rage wouldn't QUITE describe the level of hatred which coursed through her at those thoughts. She bet that she wasn't the only one who thought that way, just by recalling everyone's reactions to the news alone, if they had found what she did…
In any case, she needed to think of something else before she snapped, drew Balmung and did somethings he would REALLY regret. What else was there…? Oh yeah, her and Vert! Noire's eyes shined with realization as her fury ebbed away thanks to this new thought process… although it would never go away, no matter how hard she tried. Not like she wanted it to either, as if she stopped being angry about it, just what did that say about her as a person? Anyways, regarding Vert, she and Noire herself pretty much did the same thing as far as Noire was concerned.
Vert stayed in Leanbox, helping the proceedings with the alliances between her, Neptune and her own Nations. Though, given the exact nature of Leanbox's society Noire worried whether or not they would try anything funny with this alliance, even though her rational mind told her that it would be within their best interest. Those guys couldn't afford to be picky at this point. Aside from that, Vert seemed to go off on her own adventures too, to where Noire wasn't sure on, but judging from what had happened the Lastation Goddess could tell that training had been on her fellow Goddess's mind. She didn't blame her, with that thrashing they'd received she doubted anyone wouldn't want to change themselves so something like it never happened again.
As for Noire herself… well, she did try to stay in Leanbox for a bit herself, helping the politics out on her end, until she received word that things in Lastation were getting a bit too volatile for her tastes. Avenir got rumoured to be up to no good again, not to mention reports of some underhanded deals beneath the desk, so Noire had decided to let some of her representatives do the work for her in Leanbox (having requested Raiden to stay and act as their bodyguard in case stuff went down) whilst returning home to settle things here for her people. Though, she'd be honest for once and say she preferred her home Nation to Leanbox any day, she just felt so comfier here with all these skyscrapers that testified to how far Lastation had come in comparison to the barbaric feeling culture Leanbox had.
No hard feelings there, Vert.
"Well, that should be all there should be to recall for the readers…" Noire mused whilst on her walk. 'Aside from that there should be reference to me dealing with those under-the-desk deals going on, but there shouldn't be much else there… oh yeah, there was the training I've been doing behind the scenes, but enough about that. I got a request from Chian to come over, so it'd be best to see what she wants.' Yeah, it had happened a couple hours earlier but Noire had received a letter from Chian, who had been doing rather well for herself after everything went down and she got discharged from the hospital, asking if she could come to her Café as she wanted to discuss something with her in person. Normally the Goddess wouldn't be someone who would just come to another's beck and call,, but Chain would be the exception in this case.
Thus, after making sure everything had been in order for her to work on later, Noire had left the Basilicom taking her HF Blade with her. She never went ANYWHERE without it nowadays…
Arriving at Chian's shop had never felt like this, Noire thought as she approached the doors to the establishment. Recalling how bad it had looked when the whole Zombie incident was stopped, Noire found herself pleasantly surprised to find it back in working condition. The Factory no longer resembled the decrypt, decaying building that it had once been, nor did it resemble the wreck that it had been when Ganache did his thing. Thus, to Noire it looked great, and it brought a soft, fond smile onto her lips.
'I just wish I had more time, if I had then I'd have visited more often…' the woman thought to herself, shaking her head as regret seeped into her smile. Ever since the others had left, Noire didn't find much time to visit Chian and her factory, especially with all the work she had to do to regain her people's trust. That combined with the amount of quests, politics and the whole shebang with Leanbox too. She wondered if Chain was doing okay right now…
Whelp, only one way to find out.
As Noire reached for the Cafés entrance, the blackette felt a surge of nostalgia when she grasped the handle, causing her to close her eyes in remembrance. Memories of when she came here with Neptune's group so long ago which filled her with nostalgia, a similar smile forming on her lips when she recalled the times when she would quarrel with the party's resident meta Goddess. She even recalled the conversation between her and Nico over a cup of coffee, the conversation which became the foundation for her giving Neptune a chance to show her she was worth getting to know… something she never once regretted no matter how much the purplette pressed her buttons by calling her lonely heart.
'Now then, let's get this reunion on the road, shall we…?' Noire thought to herself after a moment of nervousness which caused her to steel her nerves. That is, until something came over her and, after a brief second of wide eyes, Noire twisted herself as she pivoted to the side. As a result, Noire managed to get out the flight path of several masculine figures when they came flying out of the door, loud screams escaping their throats before being replaced with disgruntled grunts when they hit the ground. Afterwards, they just lay there, looking stunned and staggered as they began piecing together what had happened to them.
Noire meanwhile, struggled to come to grips with what she'd just seen, looking completely bewildered with the sight before her. 'Um… did that just happen? Why did several guys just come flying out of Chain's Café like that…?' she wondered, watching as the men got to their feet after they'd regained their awareness… only, for Noire to quickly realize a little something about them when she saw their faces: they were people belonging to Avenir's side of things, she could tell due to the badges that they wore on their suits which implied that whatever reasons they had come to this place, they were NOTHING good.
"Damn bitch, this is what we get for being so nice?"
"Avenir offers her protection for just a small fee, and her allegiance, and this is how she pays us…!"
"She'll regret this, mark my words! Passé will not last till the expo!"
Those were some of the comments that Noire had heard as the men fled the scene before unwanted attention could be drawn to them, and was it just her, or did their pants look a little darker than usual in a… certain area? Still, seeing something like this planted all sorts of questions into the blakette's mind, ones which didn't offer very favourable or preferable outcomes should they be answered the way she feared they might. Chian may not have been under the most peaceful of lives right now, something the Lastation CPU did not like one bit.
Noire shook her head to clear her mind of such thoughts, before turning to the entrance and going inside. Perhaps she'd be able to ask Chian herself, heck maybe that was why she called her over?
Like she mentioned previously, only one way to find out.
Entering the Café and hearing the doors camp shut behind her, Noire looked around out of reflex, soon being hit with another wave of nostalgia upon seeing the familiar sight before her. To the black-haired CPU, it had been way too long since she had last stepped foot in here, but she didn't focus on that as much as she did before, not with what she wanted to ask Chian. Since the Café looked to be mostly deserted, since it was about middle afternoon right now, so people were likely either a work or heading back home for the night, she didn't have to worry about anyone interfering with her business. Plus, with her actions over the last few months, Noire didn't feel the need to wear her Mask or any glasses around here, so that was something.
As such, Noire strode through towards the back area with confidence laced within her steps. She walked over to the counter, and just when she made to pass through, a familiar face walked right out of the kitchen behind that, a familiar blue haired lady wearing an engineer's outfit. She looked to have been muttering to herself about something, Noire suspected she'd been muttering about those recent Avenir goons, until the blackette called out to her. "Hey there, Chian. You doing okay?"
"Huh?" momentarily caught by surprise, the lady known as the Café owner Chian looked up in bewilderment, blinking owlishly at the new yet familiar voice which had called out her name. The moment her yellowish eyes landed upon the source of it however, her expression morphed to one of amused happiness, as she gave a grin only someone who did a lot of heavy lifting could give. "Well slap me thrice and hand me to me mama, its you Noire! Great to see you again after all these months. Oh yeah, I'm good thanks, plus it looks like you're doing well for yourself." She stated whilst offering a hand to shake, to which Noire accepted with a small smile of her own as well. "Though I guess you might be curious about why I asked you here in the first place, am I right?"
Noire nodded at that, all the while gesturing behind her whilst twisting so her left side faced towards the factory and café owner. "Sure, but would you mind telling me what all that was about first? Has Avenir been doing stuff to you behind my back?" she questioned, her smile having shifted to a worried frown. "I'd expect nothing less from them, they've been pulling some shady tricks recently, especially when we look at Lowee." She remarked, thinking back to a few reports from her Nation's garrison. Apparently Avenir's been doing some shady business with Lowee, which was strange since the Nation itself appeared to have isolated themselves, with any attempts at communication and transportation on their end falling flat on their faces. Noire honestly found herself worried when thinking about it, as according to the events at Leanbox, they had a whole slew of enemies to deal with. Khorne the god of war was bad enough, but if he was attracted to Leanbox through its martial arts practices, then Lowee with its magics will… well, they'll attract the attention of Tzeench, she figured, the changer of ways.
That title ALONE spoke volumes about THAT particular Chaos God.
At this, Chian shook her head, probably somewhat aware of the blackette's thought process. Her form leaned against the front of the counter, whilst she looked back towards Noire with a small knowing smirk tugging at her lips. "Ah, don't worry 'bout them, they come here occasionally to cause trouble. I have ways of disposing of them like the pieces of garbage that they really are." She remarked dismissively, waving an arm to the side whilst tossing aside a cloth she had on hand, showcasing just how few fucks she actually gave. "No need to worry about me, Noire… still feels weird to call you that…" she added at the end, shaking her head.
Noire merely chuckled at that, rolling her eyes at this since it showed Chian's devotion to her as a CPU. It wasn't like she had to hide that this place's owner knew her either, it wasn't exactly uncommon knowledge, which could be classed as a double-edged sword. Case in point, these goons belonging to Avenir harassing her at every turn, though it didn't seem like the blunette minded all that much. "I guess so… anyways, since you say you don't mind them, and you're not being too badly harassed by them, I'll look past it for now, but if they get serious please let me know, alright?" Noire requested, getting a nod from the woman.
"Sure, now I bet you're curious as to why I wanted to talk to you in person, right?" Chian queried, moving the subject along and getting Noire's attention. "Judging by the look in your eyes, I can tell you knew that stuff with those bozos wasn't why I called you. Anyways, lets talk in the back, what I want to talk to you about should best be kept… well, between us." Chian stated, twisting on her boots and heading behind the counter into the Café's kitchen. The look on her features as she did this practically screamed at Noire that whatever's been on her mind… it was serious business.
With her mind filled with questions and theories, Noire cautiously followed after her… unaware of a set of eyes focusing on her back.
Outside the Café, a hooded figure watched the Goddess follow Chian. Nobody would be able to see it due to it luring within the shadows as if they were cloaking it within their embrace. The sole feature one who COULD see it would find, would have been the ominous, demonic crimson eyes which focused solely on Noire, gazing at her with intense malice and almost mind-numbing hunger. Yet, despite this, the cloaked figure did not dare attempt anything, not one bit.
It eyed the Goddess intently, scrutinizing every detail about her. In fact, it almost looked like it would have been able to attack her blind spot, had it not realized that despite her casual demeanour, the Goddess had been completely on guard the whole time, exploiting zero openings in her defence. This showed it that this Goddess had trained much, gaining untold strength from it, and that no kin of sneak attack would do much damage on her. With this information, it slowly turned away and walked towards an alleyway, shambling about like an undead corpse. Kind of ironic considering Lastation's history with undead monsters, though, but the figure didn't mind nor care.
Not when it had finally gotten some… interesting news to report to its master with.
Things have already begun to change, now with the Goddess involved. Before, they didn't have to worry about such a being getting involved due to the secrecy that was attributed to their situation. The Goddess had been in Celestia for a long time, which had allowed them to move through with their plans with relative ease. If only that ONE person hadn't done what he had though, then they would have already achieved their goals at this point, but none of this mattered anymore.
It could tell, even with its lower status, that the whole situation will have to accommodate her into the equation. Everyone in their right minds could tell that Lastation's CPU had power beyond that of mortals, power which was rumoured to have been successfully challenged at one point in Leanbox though none of their group nor their master put much stock in unproven rumours. Someone like her getting involved may either prove to be somewhat problematic… or even a benefit to their cause. It'll all depend on how things would turn out in the end.
Perhaps these events would help its master of achieving his desired power once and for all… the second time, anyways.
Meanwhile, back inside the Café Chian and Noire stepped into the Kitchen which seemed to have very few staff members in it, likely family friends helping her out Noire had assumed. "Looks like you've been getting help these days." Noire commented, smiling happily at this sight. "Kind of makes me happy seeing this."
"Huh? Oh right, employees started coming by the dozens after you folks helped me out back then. I almost didn't know what to do with em, this here is simply one of those easier days. Its usually much more crowded than this." Chian explained, some of the workers acknowledging her with sheer respect and reverence in their eyes. This caused her to smile back and give a small nod in return, all the while she approached the back of the Kitchen where a door was located. "Anyways, lets talk in my Office, managed to find the money and time to build one after all that crap went down, one of my favourite investments if I say so myself."
Nodding at her request, Noire followed Chian towards it with confidence oozing from her. The blunette woman opened the door after finding some keys in her pocket, ushering Noire inside first then entering herself, closing the door behind her. "Sorry for the secrecy Noire, but what I want to tell you is quite important, and I'd rather not any unsavoury parties hear what I know."
"Its fine, Chian. I trust you after all, I DID tell you my identity back then, and I don't make these choices lightly." Noire replied, smiling as she took in the sight of the office before her. The office itself looked to fit say about one or two people in it at a time, which honestly fit the feel that the blackette got from it. The office consisted of two shelves of books, one on each side, with a leather chair and ebony table at the back. There was a small window located near the top of the back wall, likely just to let air in, whilst the floors, walls and ceilings seem to be made with wooden-style floorboards. Hanging from the ceiling was a fan with a light hanging from that alongside a lampshade.
This place gave her a feeling of being in a tight situation, similar to what she felt when she was still under Avenir's watchful gaze… something which sent shudders down her spine at the thought of. However, there was also this soft warmness to the place when she looked at all the ornaments and pictures which dotted the place, giving it a warm homely feel to it, resulting in Noire finding this office to be MUCH better than back then… shaking her head, the blackette turned towards the mechanic who strode passed her and pulled out another chair, putting it before her table and offering it to her. "So, what is it that you need to speak to me about?" she questioned, getting straight to the point whilst sitting on the offered chair.
After sitting opposite her, Chian gave a low, resigned and tired sigh, completely shifting her demeanours compared to what she had been like before. Immediately, Noire's mind rang its alarm bells at this, as something like THAT according to her experiences was never a good sign. Especially when the woman spoke whilst holding her forehead. "I'm not going to beat around the bush, Noire. My Factory's found a little something… interesting, yet very distressing at the same time." She told her, frowning as she reached down into a draw on her side of the table. She continued speaking whilst rummaging trough there, searching for whatever she needed. "It started about 6 weeks ago, whilst one of our business partners travelled down one of our trade routes, they apparently stumbled across a newly opened Abnormal Dungeon."
Now THAT got the CPU's attention, as evident by the surprised widening of her eyes. "What?! One of THOSE?!" she exclaimed, doing everything she could to remain seated. Abnormals, in comparison to Demons and their followers in Leanbox, were much easier to manage, even though they have been causing trouble to Gamindustri for over 500 years. If she were to gauge how much of a threat they were, then she'd say that Abnormals ranked just below the Demons in that respect, so whenever one encountered an Abnormal they were to flee on sight. It had been a while since she herself had dealt with one due to the whole Demon thing, but she had to keep in mind that not everyone was like her and her friends. "And you wanted to tell me this person? Why would you not report it to the Guild? Make it a quest for the Spec Ops to deal with?"
"I did, Noire." Chian stated, causing her to snap her mouth shut. "I set it as a quest the moment I heard of its existence, and that was 6 weeks ago. About 60 Spec Ops Agents in total have taken the Quest job, and god knows how many adventurers have stumbled upon it by accident. They all went into that place… and never came out. Pretty sure that you can guess what happened to them." Noire definitely had an idea implanted into her head when she heard this information, and nothing about it soothed her nerves one bit. "Only ONE Agent managed to get in there and make it out alive, though she didn't get very far in. Apparently she was one of your Generals or something but decided against sending platoons of men into it in favour of investigating herself. In any case, it was assessed that this Abnormal Dungeon was far too dangerous to be allowed to exist, so a group of high tier Spec Ops Agents would be required for this Quest to be completed. However, with how these guys are focusing more on the approaching Spec Ops Exam, everyone seems to be too busy to take it, something I learned through one of my trips to the Guild."
'Yeah, the Spec Ops Exam…' Noire thought, thinking back to when she had learned of this exam's existence during her research into their operations back before Avenir's invasion. She recalled how the Exam was held once every couple years, to recruit potential new Spec Ops Agents into their ranks. The exam, however, is said to be one of the toughest, soul crushing and mind-numbing experiences out there, way worse than fighting a hundred Abnormals. Even the interviews for serving as Basilicom Staff couldn't compare to the gruelling nature that this Exam possessed, though considering how Spec Ops Agents are these days, Noire could understand why.
Therefore, for over 60 Agents of this calibre to be MIA thanks to a single Dungeon…
"So, I ended up cancelling the quest and asking for your help directly Noire." Chian finally finished, locating what she had been looking for and taking it out of the draw, placing it onto the table. Noire found that it was a file, a file likely to do with this newly discovered Abnormal Dungeon, something that a look from Chian confirmed for her in her mind so she took the file and opened it up, scanning its contents. "Another reason why I took it down was because I'd heard that some parties connected to Avenir had also begin giving it this attention. Can you imagine what those guys would do with this kind of information? Nevermind with what Ganache did to you and your friends, whatever is in there could tip things back into their favour, just the act of quarantining it in their name alone would boost their Public image, not something I'd fancy happening." Neither did Noire, if she were to be frank, and she understood where Chian was coming from too.
'Hmmm… looks like this Dungeon's located deep within the West Wind Valley… how interesting…' she thought to herself, recalling how it had been in THAT specific Dungeon where she had her first encounter with Neptune, Nico and the others, as well as her first taste of Demonic Power which left her helpless when an Abnormal tried to eat her. She recalled having nightmares about that experience for weeks afterwards until both Neptune AND Nico helped calm her down. As she read the file, Noire felt the powers of Ashbringer and Balmung within her surging, seemingly drawn to this information and telling her that she needed to do this.
That ALONE could have convinced her to do this, she'd been developing relationships with these swords for a while now, so much that they'd become like siblings to her now. Sibling bonds forged through countless battles and training. After she finished reading the file, Noire put it down with the contents memorized into her brain, nodding to herself as she leaned against the chair with one leg crossed over the other. "Sure, I'll handle it Chian. I'll take some time off working to make sure this thing gets done." She stated in an assuring manner, earning a sigh of relief from the blunette Engineer/Café owner.
"Thanks girl, you're a lifesaver. Oh yeah, if you see any of your pals in the future, let em know I said hi, ok?" she stated with a wink, getting a chuckle out of the blackette. If it had been a while for her, then it would have been AGES since Neptune and the others had seen Chian. They'd likely have a LOT to talk to her about when they inevitably return to stop Avenir for good… as well as focus on these Key Fragments they're so hung up about, freeing Histoire from wherever she was located.
"Sure thing, I'll begin right now if you don't mind. This Dungeon won't get done otherwise, so take care Chian."
"You too Noire, good luck."
The moment that Noire left and stepped foot onto the streets of Lastation outside, she swiftly transformed into her HDD Form: Black Heart. The feeling of her HDD Outfit, the black leotard with detached sleeves, the legwear, her hair turning white with her eyes becoming teal with power button symbols… she missed the feeling.
'Well, now that I have some important matters to take care of, I better get started. This Dungeon Chian told me about won't take care of itself…' the blackette thought to herself. In any case, she took off into the skies and flew in the direction which led towards this Abnormal Dungeon. The file had codenamed this Dungeon 'DMC Castle' for some reason, but she felt like it had been a reference of some kind, though she was certainly no Neptune when it came to this.
Strapped to her back, behind her blue plane-like wings, were both Balmung and Ashbringer, the latter sword's larger frame easily dominating that of the former. The Ashbringer constantly glowed a brilliant golden colour, making her look like a black, silver and golden blur as she zoomed across the skies to her destination, almost as if the blade itself eagerly awaited the chance to punish those who dared to oppress humanity for their own gain. It made an excited grin spread across Black Heart's face, a feeling of excitement and comfort following suit.
Through the countless hours she had spent training and researching it with the von kessal family's archives as well as that of the Spec Ops, Black Heart had discovered that the Ashbringer's power could easily match that of Balmung's own, with a whole arsenal of holy attacks which fit quite well with her Divine Energy. Whenever she used it, Black Heart always got hit with the feeling that this blade carried the hopes of everyone who forged it, almost like the blade had the hopes of every human being on the planet. Something told her this feeling wasn't just that though, a feeling, thus it led her to believe that the blade held just as many secrets as Balmung itself does, making it nonetheless an excellent addition to her arsenal.
'Even though it's not NEARLY as active as Balmung…' the CPU couldn't help but mentally remark when she glanced at the hilt of the sword she had obtained before the Gala even began. More than a few occasions had passed when she heard a disembodied voice echoing within this blade, enough times to show Black Heart that this thing possessed a level of sentience she had not expected originally. This discover… sort of unnerved her, yet not at the same time. Most of the time she heard it was either in training and usually it was quite helpful, even if it didn't speak in proper sentences, or showing her images of things she had realized either happened in the past (one time she even saw images of her own battles with Neptune back up in Celestia), present like the tidings of Avenir which had helped her keep ahead of them, or the future… though that part seemed to be a bit blurrier.
So yeah, bottom line, aside from her HF blade, these two weapons held WAY more secrets, perhaps too many.
Black Heart thought this as she continued her flight towards her destination.
A while of flying later, Back Heart found it to be about middle evening, sunset having just happened, when she found the location of this Abnormal Dungeon. As for her HDD form, she'd been able to maintain it for a while, simply due to the recent rejuvenation of faith in her thanks to her efforts. It filled her with pride, knowing that her hard work bore fruit, though she didn't pay this much more attention than that in favour of looking at the entrance.
"So… this is the place, huh?" she whispered beneath her breath, eyeing the Dungeon entrance with a calculating gaze. "Looks different compared to what I've heard and seen of these places, for sure…" That thought both troubled and excited her for obvious reasons, something which got reflected by the swords on her back.
According to previous reports, these Abnormal Dungeons usually formed as Portals of something of similar nature. That had been what Team RAIL had encountered, plus the majority of the Spec Ops forces here in Lastation… but this one? Nope, this one looked more like the entrance to an underground cave or something. This one seemed to be built into one of the many cliffaces throughout West Wind Valley. There were two incomplete looking stone walls jutting out to form a corridor-like passageway, with an arch connecting the two of them. It reminded her of Leanbox's fortresses now that she thought about it, and THAT seemed enough to cause her to grimace.
"Well, at least it was easier to find…" Noire, having retaken human form, muttered under her breath, summoning her HF Blade and drawing it from its sheath. The weapon constantly vibrated with electricity generated from its internal current. "Still though, looking at this place… I can't help but feel like there's something dangerous about it. More than the average Abnormal Dungeon…" She'd been able to clear dozens of these Dungeons up until the Gala whenever they were formed, and when she had Noire had reaped quite the few benefits that she gave to her Nation to help it recover from all these attacks. However, this one just gave her all kinds of bad vibes, way more than those she had cleared previously.
This didn't change the fact she had to go inside, but it was still something to take notes from. Noire thought this whilst nodding to herself. "After clearing it, I'll have a platoon of men come here to see if they can make this place available for study, the monsters here are generally quite weak so it wouldn't take much to clear them out. Thoughts for later, I suppose." With those thoughts spoken to the outside atmosphere, Noire strolled inside.
Chapter end
Here we go, the first chapter complete. If anyone is curious, I won't be making this story as long as the main one, that would be just stupid. Despite that I WILL be making sure to describe everything that happens as detailed as I can, cause thats how I write these days. Again, since this is a side story, it would be good if you read the main one at least up until chapter 148. It may sound like a lot, but it'll make this story awhole lot easier to understand.
Hope you all enjoy this, and i'll see you all either here, or in OEG Rebirth
Peace out!
