Flame Awakening Advent
Chapter 1: A Day in the Life of a Guild Agent
A/N: So, here I am again with another Neptunia fanfic, some things never change it seems. I really need to broaden myself across the fanfic site a little more, maybe I should get that Fairy Tail fanfic stated, and maybe even that Monster Musume one started later, then there is that Neptunia-Fallout crossover, not to mention a fanfic with a senile old man who's childish as hell, plus I've gotta update The Wandering CPU at some point. Damn, there's so much I want to do! Anyway, this is a story that I had on the sidelines for a couple of months now, been neglecting it for even longer than that though; I did promise to write a story with IF in it, and I aim to keep it. I'll be updating this story whenever I have the chance, and whenever I'm having Writer's Block with my other fanfics. Some chapters will be shorter than others, some will be longer than others, some chapters will have two to three thousand words while others will have six to eight thousand – my poor brain. Also, this fanfic will contain references from other fictional books, movies and whatnot, thought I might point that out beforehand. Regardless, enough blabbing about and making up excuses for my actions. Enjoy.
The sun rose over the eastern horizon of Gamindustri, the stars disappeared in the bright morning sky and the clouds spaced out into smaller groups, it appeared that the day was going to be a good one, climate wise anyway. In this particular city in a certain carefree country there resided one of the most fabled and popular Guild Agents throughout the four nations of Gamindustri, and at that moment of time this fabled Guild Agent was fast asleep in her bed, lost in a dream that managed to make her smile, at least partially. The city in which this Guild Agent lived in was simply known as Planeptune, incidentally it also had the same name as the country itself, yet no one really knew why, not even the one who ruled it.
As the city spurred to life, with people walking around or driving their cars, the Guild Agent awoke from her pleasant dream when her alarm clock burst to life, although if one was to ask what her dream had been she could not have told them due to forgetting it immediately after waking up – incidentally this was just one reason why she hated early mornings. The Guild Agent grumbled something about destroying every single alarm clock in Gamindustri as she smashed her right fist against the top of the alarm, silencing it for good. A groan or two later and the Guild Agent emerged out of her bed, her long brown hair stuck up all over the place, dark grey sleep fatigue patches were underneath her emerald green eyes, her face looked as if it had been through hell and back, her posture was a slouching mess and her short blue pyjamas were ruffled.
She walked over the thin black carpet towards her closet and opened it, revealing very little choice in the clothing department, out of the little choices there were only black tank tops and matching pairs of shorts, both seemed a bit small, especially the shorts. Next to them were a few coat hangers with several blue and black coats hanging off them, unlike the tank tops and shorts the coats appeared to be a few sizes too big. Next she reached up to a draw and pulled it open to reveal her bras and panties, she reached into the draw and pulled out a matching set. The Guild Agent sighed and pulled out a black tank top with a grey coloured 'i' imprinted on it, black shorts, a matching belt, a green leaf accessory and a blue coat with black and white lining, the belt had several empty slots where phones were usually kept.
The brown haired woman laid her selected clothing onto the bed and made sure that the blue curtains over the nearby window were closed, then she looked at herself in the mirror that was fixed onto the wall next to the window. She looked long and hard at, unable to decide whether she looked different or not. I guess I don't look any different than I did several years ago after I left school and became a member of the Guild. I wonder what my parents would say if they could see me now? She thought to herself as she brushed her hair, cracking her neck and sighed with relief.
The Guild Agent then dismissed the thought and returned to the business at hand. She removed her pyjamas and flung them onto her bed, then the Agent began to put on her chosen attire piece by piece, except for the bra due to her lack of assets which made her think about questioning the whole point of wearing one in the first place, so she threw it aside – it was most likely a dirty attire that needed to be washed anyway. As the Agent did so she could hear the sounds of a few of her neighbours starting to wake up and get out of bed or leaving for work. After the Guild Agent had gotten her clothes on, and adjusted a bright green leaf ornament onto the left side of her head, she made her way out of her room and into the kitchen. The brown haired woman walked over to the white fridge that was located in the corner of her kitchen and opened it, inside there were a variety of different foods and drinks. The Guild Agent pulled out a carton of milk and placed it on the green counter behind her before she went looking through the cupboards for some cereal, which she found. The brown haired yawned loudly and would have most certainly fell back to sleep if it had not been for her room-mate.
A creamy white coloured door opened slowly to reveal the room-mate. It was a woman around the same height or just a bit higher than that of the Guild Agent, but instead of being utterly sleep deprived she appeared to be in good spirits due to the cheerful look in her expression and how her posture was more upright than her friend's. The woman smiled as she passed her friend, who was by now regretting her life choices from last night. "Did you have fun in the Basilicom last night without me, Iffy?" the room-mate asked cheerfully, unaffected by fatigue.
The Guild Agent, Iffy or better known by her real and odd name as IF, glanced over at her room-mate and groaned. "What does it look lie to you? Neptune had me stay up all night just to play games with her and Nepgear, you were lucky to get out of it due to some sort of accident that some person had from being nearly killed by a creature. Be glad you weren't there, Compa, it was tiring."
Compa merely continued to smile as she rummaged through the cream coloured cupboards. "I'm sure you had fun, Iffy, you usually do even though you refuse to admit it."
"Whatever," IF grumbled in response as she poured milk into the bowl of multicoloured cereal. "Anyway, what was the situation at the hospital like yesterday evening? Must've been serious if you were kept there for most of the night."
Compa nodded as she began to plug in the toaster and get some sliced bread ready. "Mhm, that's right. The person, a woman, had been hunting monsters for a few quests that she got from the Guild, when suddenly she was attacked out of the blue."
"By the monsters she was hunting?" IF asked after swallowing some of her breakfast.
The nurse-in-training shook her head. "No, unless this monster had the ability to fire arrows that is. I had to help pull two arrowheads out of her body; one was embedded in her left shoulder while the second was in her lower spine. She isn't going to be walking again for the rest of her life."
IF was in the middle of eating some soggy cereal when Compa added the part where she pulled out the two arrowheads from the monster hunter's body, it did put the Guild Agent off her food. Nevertheless, the hunger that called out from her stomach could not be denied, so the brunette continued to shovel food down her throat. Still, she was intrigued with the news, although for different reasons. "Did you keep the arrowheads?" the emerald green eyed woman asked.
Compa nodded. "I got permission from the higher ups to keep the arrowheads so I could give them to you, they seem to agree that you might be able to see something that they can't. Hold on a sec, I'll be back with them."
Compa left the kitchen and made her way back into her room to fetch the two arrowheads that she recovered from her patient the previous night; IF was silently hoping that the arrowheads had been cleaned and sterilised. After finishing off her breakfast the Guild Agent saw her best friend emerge with the remains of two arrowheads in her right hand, she gave them to the brunette and watched as she began to examine them; IF was silently glad that the arrowheads were indeed clean and sterilised, otherwise she would have had a fit. The fatigued Agent gazed carefully yet wearily at the arrowheads in her right hand, examining every small bit of detail that she could find, yet all that IF could see were two arrowheads made out of steel. This confused her even more than before, and for good reason. The use of bows, crossbows, arrows and bolts was a thing of the past, barely anyone, possibly even no one, used such weapons in the modern day. Even if someone used arrows and a bow it would most likely be made out of some special material and fixed with mechanical parts, even the arrows themselves would have some sort of machinery fixed into it, probably even some sort of energy as well to make the weapon even deadlier. What IF was examining was archaic, which said very little to who could have been the attacker.
The nurse-in-training stared sternly at IF without blinking, waiting patiently for a response. Eventually IF gave them back to Compa, sighing heavily. "Well, I can't make out much from just looking at the arrowheads, except that whoever uses these sorts of arrowheads is living in the past. That's about all I can make of it, Compa. Sorry if you were looking for a better answer than that."
"It's okay, Iffy, I didn't think there could have been much to see from these objects," Compa responded with a smile. Just then the toaster popped out the slices of bread that the light orangey haired woman had put in beforehand, she looked over at it and began to butter the toasted slices up on the kitchen bench, humming away as she did so. Soon afterwards, however, Compa looked over at IF and asked a question. "So, Iffy, what's making you so tired, aside from Nep-Nep making you stay up some of the night for gaming purposes? Were you having another bad dream?"
IF gazed at Compa as if she was crazy; the Agent's eyes widened with shock and her words were mere stutter. "Wh-Wha?! H-H-How did you k-know?"
"You always start mumbling in your sleep whenever you have some sort of bad dream, I could hear it from the other side of the wall in my room. What was it about this time? Was it another dream about some strange humanoid creature, or was it your parents?" Compa asked before munching into her toast.
IF's head sank down, as did her entire posture, she did not want to talk about the subject. "Compa, can we please not talk about it any more? It's my problem, not yours."
The nurse-in-training stared at her friend sternly as she continued to eat her toast while standing up. Eventually, once finished with her meal, she stood right next to the Guild Agent and stared down at her; IF was sitting down on a chair at the nearby dinner table with what was left of her breakfast. "Iffy, you're my best friend as well as my room-mate, so if something effects you it'll effect me. Your happiness is my happiness, your sadness is my sadness. Besides, I'm a nurse-in-training and have some experience with handling patients who have had problems similar to yours. Also, getting off your chest would probably be best for you; keeping it all bottled up will only make things worse."
The brunette stuttered for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Heh, alright then, you win." The emerald green eyed woman straightened her back in the seat and fixed her eyesight upon Compa, ready to tell the nurse-in-training about her dream. "Well, it wasn't about my parents, if it was then I wouldn't tell you. It was about… some weird daemon thing, but it was like a human too. Grey skin, long dark hair, some sort of strange armour, a long spear held in a grey skinned hand, cold eyes… then there was the sky, which was on fire. There was a ruined city nearby in the distance, but it looked different than any city I've seen before, it look like some sort of ancient city. It was like something out of the old tales that I read about. What do you make of it?"
Compa hummed thoughtfully to herself as she sat down next to IF, rubbing her chin while thinking about what could be the problem. "Hmm… I'm not sure what to make of it, it sounds a bit weird. Was there anything else?"
IF nodded. "Yeah, there was one more thing actually. "There was this… person covered in flame, couldn't tell who it was though, not even their gender. Soon afterwards, this flame-covered person leaps into the air and attacks the daemon-looking monster, then came an explosion, and fire. Before I could see anything else that damn alarm woke me up; wouldn't have minded a few extra hours of sleep even if I had to put up with that strange dream."
Compa chuckled, amused with her friend's overall grumpiness due to the lack of proper sleep. "It'll be fine, Iffy, you just wait and see. If it helps, I'll ask some of the doctors and nurses that specialise in psychology for some advice, maybe they can help you out."
This did not seem to go too well with the brunette. The Guild Agent grumbled to herself and sighed deeply, feeling a little frustrated with the whole situation, her words almost distant and sad. "Really, there isn't any need for that, Compa. It would just make me feel like some sort of person with a mental disability; I don't want to be thought of like that again."
It had not been the first time IF had a dream similar to the one she just had, even Compa knew that. The green eyed woman had been having either the same dream or something similar to that all throughout her childhood, teenage years and finally into her young adult life. No one knew why, and no one could understand why it was just her. Sometimes they seemed harmless enough, but at times they made the young woman wake up in the middle of the night with sweat running down her forehead, indicating that something terrible happened in her bad dream. At first, IF made no secret to the odd dreams she had, but after several years of it, and after some bullying, the brunette changed tactics and kept silent about it, even refusing to tell her parents what she saw. During her childhood they were rare and only occurred once every few months a year, but as she grew older the bad dreams continued to plague her at an alarming rate; at one point IF had suffered from bad dreams for an entire week. However, by the time IF had reached her late teenage years she began to suffer less and less from the dreams, until a time occurred when they would appear for years on end. But now it had returned, and IF was not too comfortable knowing it.
Out of all the people who knew about the strange dreams, or at least remembered about it at least, Compa was the one who felt the most defeated by it, knowing that at her level of expertise she was unable to give some sort of advice. It had always been like that, although it appeared that IF had been getting over the nightmares and dreams over the last few years of their high school days. Once they left high school the two best friends had done their best to keep in touch while they pursued their future occupations. Compa had gone to study to be a nurse while IF had gone to the Guild for a part-time job, never knowing that it would later take up her entire life, propelling her to famous heights as the most well respected and famous Guild member of all time. During all that time, however, Compa had not stopped worrying for her best friend.
After IF finished off her cereal, yet still remaining rather tired from fatigue, the nurse-in-training began to look the Guild Agent over, essentially accessing her health with eagle eyes. Before the brunette could even ask what the heck she was doing, Compa stood up and smiled cheerfully at the Agent. "You seem well enough to go out and do a few quests, at least for today anyway. Who knows, maybe a couple of quests might help you out, get some fresh air or something."
IF chuckled as she got up and placed the empty bowl in the kitchen sink. "Heh, not a bad idea, Compa. I might as well see what the Guild as in store for me this time, been a while since they had any decent quests." The Wind Walker of Gamindustri then proceeded towards the front door, stopping only to put her blue boots on. Once IF opened the front door and stepped outside she stopped and looked back at her best friend, a small smile adorned her face. "I'll be back later this afternoon, Compa, that's if I don't run out of things to do, otherwise I'll visit the hospital and see how you're going there. See ya later."
After the two of them waved goodbye, IF closed the door and walked down the street with her hands in the pockets of her jacket, a sense of easiness washed over her. The capital city of Planeptune was rather silent and empty, save for a few cars, motorbikes and even a few groups of people had decided to put all their commitment into their work – which was more than could be said for the patron goddess herself. Planeptune was under the light-heated rule of Neptune, also known as Purple Heart, who was a rather laid-back and a hands off goddess when it came to matter of governance. It was that sort of behaviour which, despite the best attempts of the Oracle of Planeptune, had become a national identity to the Planeptunians, and it was something that they embraced fully for whatever reason. IF did not mind it, in fact the Guild Agent found it rather funny that she, along with a few others, were rather un-Planeptunian.
IF and Compa's house was located in one of the residential suburbs that were located throughout the city, and it was the closest to the centre as well, at least a ten to fifteen minute walk of one was to never have a break. The rent was not exactly cheep, but with the amount of money that the two of them made in their separate professions they could have easily paid off the rent for the next several months without a problem. Working at the Guild had filled her account and pockets with enough coin to last a lengthy amount of time. As IF continued to stroll down the street at a leisurely pace, she began to feel a little more better than before, as if the walking and the smelling of the fresh, cool morning air had managed to toss away her fatigue.
Today is going to be a good day, hopefully though. Still, a couple of Guild quests is just what the doctor ordered, so I'm going to take it at my own pace. IF thought as she neared the Guild of Planeptune; the giant structure stuck out like a sore thumb due to it's architecture as well as its size.
The Guild Hall of Planeptune, most commonly referred to as the Planeptunian Guild at times, was a sight to see, other than the Basilicom where the CPUs would reside of course. The walls were high, the edges of the roof sloped over the walls while the rooftop was flat with a small area for people to walk and talk, the front entrance had two large doors that were taller than just about every tall person in all of Gamindustri. Then there was inside the Guild Hall itself. There were different sections of the Guild Hall, each having its own purpose and distinction.
First there was the hall itself, where members of the Guild, aspiring adventurers and even the goddesses would converge together for quest taking; the walls were high as were the thick columns, all were coloured in a creamy colour, a dark grey and a lilac colour as well. Many billboards and touch screen computers were littered all over the place, on walls and on desks. Secondly there was the mess hall, a place for people in the Guild and even special guests that would turn up without notice, such as the CPUs, would gather and practically party for a huge length of time; the walls were coloured the same way as the main hall, including the columns and the kitchen. However, the mess hall was under maintenance due to some old parts of the walls starting to cave in and collapse. Thirdly there were the offices where high ranking members of the Guild staff would sign away forms, documents, orders and any other paperwork; there was even a large conference room where members of the Guild Council would partake in meetings – IF had been offered a seat in the Council but chose to refuse it, why no one knew. Lastly there was the vaults, these sealed away rooms were in the lower levels, though there were a few smaller vaults near the reception area of the main hall for weapon and credit uses; the lower level vaults were filled with goddess knows what, not even IF herself had much of a clue, except possibly some forbidden weapons or even some extra credits.
The green eyed brunette approached one of the reception desks and leaned up against one of the pillars and yawned involuntarily, catching the receptionist's attention. "Crap. Sorry about that, just a little bit tired it all," IF quickly apologised.
The receptionist waved her hand and smiled. "It's alright, IF, everyone around here is a bit tired as of late. Anyway, was there a quest you wanted to do? You wouldn't be here for any other reason."
The Guild Agent nodded. "Yeah, that's right. Got anything good? I need to stretch my muscles out and get something done."
"Hmm, there might just be something that you could take a look at, let me take a look first," the receptionist said in response as she sat down and began to search through the quest catalogues on her computer, typing away furiously to gain access to the quest list, afterwards she gently scrolled down the pages to find something that the Wind Walker would find interesting. "So, did you hear about that adventurer who was sot in the back with arrows?"
IF nodded grimly. "Yeah, my friend was in the hospital when that unlucky woman was taken in for surgery, apparently she won't ever walk again due to where the second arrow pierced her. Why do you ask? Got some sort of quest related to that or something?"
The receptionist shook her head, her long violet hair shaking around as well. "No, not yet, but I think you should know some of the circumstances surrounding the whole thing. You see, the adventurer's name is Sayo and she's practically a newbie to the Guild, only came in for a monster hunter profession a few days ago, said she really needed the money. Sayo was out in the southern woods of Virtua Forest where she was attacked and shot in the back twice, she was found soon afterwards by some passing hunters who happened to be hunting some creatures, they took her to the hospital and that's that."
"So was there anything strange about the whole things, aside from the attacker using archaic weaponry?" IF asked as she stretched out her back and neck, silently sighing in relief as she felt her muscles and bones start to get over the early morning fatigue.
"Well, there was one other thing that strikes me as odd. The southern portion of Virtua Forest is usually filled with monsters who prey on people who pass through them, so any monster hunter from the Guild would go there for a quest to clear out the fiends. Only Sayo wasn't registered in the mission logs, meaning that she wasn't out on a mission when she was attacked. When questioned in the hospital after the operation, Sayo didn't say why she was out there in the first place, nor did she even describe her attacker. It's suspicious, but she did seem to be a little too tired for extensive questioning." Soon afterwards the violet haired receptionist returned to her computer, where she soon discovered a quest that seemed suitable for her talents. "Hmm, here's something for you. It's a request from the owners of some farms down in the south, they want a pack of Fernirs who have been ravaging their livestock to be wiped out, the reward is around one thousand credits. Wow, looks like these farmers really want the Fernirs to be terminated."
The Wind Walker raised an eyebrow, seemingly curious in the prospect of hunting Fernirs. "Sounds interesting. Where're these Fernirs held up?"
"The southern woods of Virtua Forest, apparently they've made some sort of home there." The receptionist then gave IF a printout of the details. "Here's everything you need that details about the mission, good luck. Also, if you do find the Fernirs down there can you also have a look around for any signs of Sayo's attacker? I'll mark the location on this map for you. If you do find anything do report it, though I doubt the higher ups want to fill out more incident forms."
IF nodded as she took the piece of paper. "Alright then, guess I better be off. I'll be back later once I've completed the quest." The brown haired Guild Agent then departed the Guild, ready to take on the first quest for the day, despite still feeling more than a little bit tired.
It took a while for IF to reach her destination, but the long walk was worth it; she had a motorbike, but it was in repairs due to a few loose gadgets. Along the way she had met with the farmers who had filed the request to the Guild and extracted some further information from them regarding the attacks made by the Fernirs, it seemed that the wolf-like monsters had made their lair in some old ruins deep within the southern woods, the farmers said that they would have dealt with it themselves if it had not been for the large number of Fernirs that occupied the ruins. With little need o ormore encouragement, the Guild Agent walked down the dirt path from the farmstead and entered the southern woods of Virtua Forest; it was the largest patch of trees that stretched for miles upon miles, making it the largest forest in all of Gamindustri, even larger than the Colovian Forest of the western landscape of Lowee.
It was rather peaceful in Virtua Forest, which was something that IF was glad about; most people in Planeptune come to Virtua Forest not only to hunt monsters when sighted, but to merely have a nice holiday. Obviously things had turned downhill as of late, especially with all of the recent monster sightings, and they were only increasing as time wore on. After adventuring through the southern woods for what seemed like several hours, although it only had been at least half an hour, IF stumbled upon the spot where Sayo the Guild adventurer was attacked, and from what the Wind Walker could see there was little to make out. "How the hell am I supposed to find clues to the attack if there's nothing here? Jeez, people just have too much expectations," IF grumbled as she searched through the small glade in the attempt to find any clues.
Soon enough, however, the Guild Agent stumbled upon the discarded shaft of an arrow; it was lying amongst the densely covered shrubbery. IF bent down on one knee and picked it up, yet there was little to make of it. Further away was a small pile of blood, it was dry and happened to be spilt all over the place. "Looks like she was hit here, yet there's nothing else I can do right now," IF mumbled to herself as she stood back up. "Oh well, no use in worrying about it, if there's nothing to find then there's nothing to find. Might as well get that quest done though, would be interesting to see those ancient ruins."
IF always felt a tickle of excitement whenever she stumbled upon ancient ruins, it only made her thirst for adventure increase. She had been across just about all of Gamindustri, and there had always been some sort of ancient ruins hidden within the wilderness. It was even said that Planeptune City was founded on what was left of an ancient city centuries ago, that was where the Guild hall was apparently from. It always puzzled and annoyed IF about the lack of knowledge regarding their ancestors, this was most evident during her school days whenever she was in a history lesson and the teachers would fail to even mention much about the ancients of Gamindustri. The only things that everyone knew about them was the odd architecture of their ruins, and that they might have worshipped a long forgotten goddess, but that was it. Not even Histoire seemed to know much due to a loss of knowledge, to which she was not sure how it happened in the first place.
As IF walked through the southern woodlands of Virtua Forest, a light breeze blowing through the trees and bushes, the Guild Agent reached into the belt that was strapped around her blue coat and pulled out her pink cellphone, she flipped it open and checked the screen for any new messages as well as the time. There were no new messages and the time read 9:29 am; still a little too early for most Planeptunians. It was not long for IF to reach the ruins where the Fernirs had set up their lair, it was just up ahead along the heavily ruined stone road. Many of the trees parted away to reveal ruined stone walls covered in vines, several columns were sprawled over the ground in separate pieces, loose pieces of stone from the old walls were all over the place. Inside what looked like a ruined house was the Fernir lair itself, the different wolf-like monsters were all over the place with sharp fangs that dripped with saliva and piercing eyes that glared at everything around them, their fur was mangled.
The Wind Walker grinned as she hid behind a small ruined wall, her gaze peeking over the wall. She materialised her Qatars – two short blade that were attached to her wrists – and leapt over the ruined wall. The Guild Agent slashed a blade upwards through the closest monster, slicing its head off. As the Fernir turned into pixels the rest of the pack noticed what was going on and jumped to attention, their snarling barks echoing through the morning sky. IF did not wait on the defence, instead she struck forth and stabbed a Qatar through a Fernir's head before launching a roundhouse kick against the beast, sending it crashing into a few more of its brethren while turning into pixels. One of the monsters leapt up at the young man, but her speed was enough to counter it with a swift blow across the Fernir's throat while fending off another monster's attack.
"Jeez, you guys sure are trying harder than the last time I fought your species," IF grumbled as she slew several more Fernirs with swift strikes, almost a blur if some people were around to see the fight. After slaying another of the wolf-like monsters the brunette jumped back several paces and stood in a defensive position while the rest of the Fernir pack gathered around her, the largest of the group were huddled together in front of her, making it an easy target for the young woman. "Heh, but you're not good enough for me! Daemon Flame!"
Fire burst forth from IF's right hand, a bright red rune appeared underneath the group of large Fernirs, then came the explosion of flames that erupted from under the wolf-like monsters. They howled and screamed from the pain that they suffered, some died from the fiery attack, those that did survive did not last for long. IF struck forward and, with an almighty cry, sliced apart the remaining survivors. The rest of the Fernirs were cut down easily, although one did manage to pounce up on the Guild Agent from behind and slash a tear into the right sleeve of her coat. With a savage glare IF stabbed both of her Qatars into the last monster and threw it into the nearest ruined stone wall, slaying it instantly. "This is favourite coat dammit!" IF shouted furiously at the dissipating pixels.
The Fernirs were now all dead, and that was all that mattered. IF sighed with relief, yet she knew that it would cost her a bit of money to have the coat stitched up, unless Compa knew how to do it. The Wind Walker chuckled to herself as she received her loot, a few healing grass and some pelts, and began to make her way back to the farmstead to tell them the good news, and to claim her reward. Hmm, speaking of Compa, I should visit her in the hospital after a few more quests, maybe even get something for dinner as well. Ah, a day in the life of a Guild Agent. It isn't too exciting though, used to be a few years ago when I joined up, but now it's getting… dull. Maybe I should go on another adventure around Gamindustri, just like I used to. Yeah, that's a good idea. IF thought to herself as she walked through Virtua Forest, her destination aimed towards the farmstead, then Planeptune City.
The morning had turned into afternoon, which was replaced by evening. The sun began to settle over the western horizon as the capital city of Purple Progress continued to be lively as ever, the citizens of the laid-back city would usually stay up late and play games just for the hell of it, sometimes it got a little too annoying for visitors and tourists that Planeptune weekend nights became infamous throughout Gamindustri, just as or even more infamous than Leanbox weekend nights. As people roamed down the streets, minding their own business from time to time, two women were strolling down the street from the hospital, a thin box that smelt rather excellent was held in one of their hand. IT was IF and Compa, and the two of them were returning home after a long day at their separate professions.
Compa sniffed the air, smiling hungrily at the thin cardboard in IF's hands. "I didn't know you liked pizza, Iffy, if I had known that you did I would have made some during our time living together over the last few years."
The green eyed woman chuckled with amusement. "Well, I haven't had pizza for a long time, not since I was still a kid who lived with her parents. Heh, those were good times… sort of."
The nurse-in-training quickly realised her friend was starting to get down-in-the-dumps once she began to think about her parents again. Compa shook her right shoulder and smiled brightly at her, the smile was enough to brighten up her evening. "Hey, it'll be fine, Iffy. All of that's in the past, it's time to live in the present, with pizza."
IF stopped walking and stared at Compa with wide eyes for a short moment before chuckling. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I've gotta stick to the present. Hopefully these bad dreams and the lack of good quests at the Guild won't effect it. Maybe I actually should go on an adventure around Gamindustri again, that would be a good change, some excitement would be pretty nice."
"Be careful for what you wish for, you might regret it eventually."
IF gave the nurse-in-training a surprised look as they began to walk down the street again. "What do you mean by that? Why would it be a bad thing to get what I wish for?"
"Sometimes it isn't the best to get what you wish for, especially if you wish for some excitement with adventure. You may get adventure, but not in the way you think it should go. At least that's what my parents told me when I was a kid," Compa replied in a serious tone.
IF chuckled and shook her head; the Guild Agent did not believe that bad luck could strike her down, and adventure is an adventure no matter how bad it could get. Before the brunette could give her thoughts about the small piece of wisdom that Compa spoke of, she noticed a person walk past her, and he or she looked rather odd. The person in question was wearing a tattered, dark green cloak and hood with several stitches, an almost black coloured leather-like vest with thick string tied around several places in the centre and the shoulders, a black shirt underneath it, dark brown or possibly even black coloured pants, black leather boots, a black belt and leather braces. What was most interesting about the figure was the two shortswords strapped to either side of the waist, the leather-bound quiver filled with arrows, the longbow strapped onto their back, the dark blue eyes, the silver bangs over the forehead and the silver necklace with the blue stone that hung down from the person's neck; the blue stone shone brightly for a few seconds before growing dim, there was some sort of symbol inside it yet it was hard to make out what it was.
Compa stared at her friend, oblivious to what she was looking at. "Is something wrong, Iffy?"
IF glanced back at Compa for a moment before looking back to where the strangely clad person was, but he or she had mysteriously disappeared, as if they had vanished into thin air. The Guild Agent swiftly gazed around for the mysterious person, but soon gave up and turned her attention back to Compa. "No, it's fine, Compa. Just thought I saw someone, or something, walk past me and disappear into nothing; could be my eyes playing games on my mind. Anyway, let's get back and eat this pizza before it gets cold."
As they continued to walk own the street towards their house the two women failed to see the hooded figure gazing at them from a corner down in an alleyway. After IF and Compa disappeared the hooded person continued on their stroll, yet where they were heading not even he or she knew. However, they got the feeling that it would not be the last time that they would see the green eyed Guild Agent, there was just something off about her that made him or her feel uncomfortable. I'll keep an eye out for her, something is off about her, I can feel it. Now then, which part of the city am I in? Been too long since I was here and now I'm lost. Damn. The strange, hooded figure thought as they walked down the alleyway, secluding themselves in the darkness.