Hello guys. Sorry for the late update. It took me a while to finish this as it was hard for me to decide a good end point. Now then please enjoy.
Chapter 4: Arrival at Lowee
The group arrived in the snowy nation as they began to understand that they didn't really prepare themselves for the terrain. Well at least a certain boy did.
"*Achoo*" sneezed Lelouch as he was hugging himself in order to retain whatever heat there was left in his body as the jacket he had didn't really help him.
"Can we go somewhere warm, please?" asked the boy with hope that his plead will be answered this time.
"You're a man, aren't you? Then start acting like one and stop whining." Replied IF who was getting annoyed at his constant groaning.
"Look on the bright side, Lelouch. The scenery really is breathtaking." Said Nepgear as she was walking around like a tourist in a vacation, looking at the scenery and what not.
"The scenery will become even more breathtaking, if could gaze at it from a window of a warm cafe or shop." Said Lelouch still being cold.
"Iffy, Lu-Lu's right. It's really cold out here. We should all buy some warm clothes to keep ourselves nice and warm!" stated Compa as she was shaking alongside Lelouch.
"Only if we have the time. Now let's go gather info, pronto." Said IF rejecting her friend's idea.
"I agree. To the guild, then?" asked Nepgear.
"No, straight to the basilicom. I haven't heard anything bad about the oracle here so we will be fine." Replied IF.
"Then let's get there as soon as we can!" said Lelouch who sped up his pace as he would prefer anywhere but out in the cold.
As soon as he did so the group took notice of a commotion happening close to them. They weren't really impressed when they saw Underling trying to promote ASIC by promising people random stuff for free.
"*Sigh* Why the hell do I have to do sales work? That's for low class grunts, passing out flyers and crap…" Started to complain Underling. "I wouldn't have gotten stuck doing this if it weren't for those stupid brats."
"Um, excuse me. Are we the brats you are talking about?" asked Compa as Underling continued to ramble.
"Yeah the dumb blonde, the transforming baby, the snob, the psycho and the 'wifey' musclehead." Said Underling still lost in her own world of complaints.
"A snob, huh. Didn't know that having proper manners came across that way." Said IF.
"*Sigh* Transforming baby? Do I really look that little?" asked Nepgear in disappointment.
"You have a lot of nerve to insult someone without even looking at them in the face." Said Lelouch, now his anger keeping him warm for the moment.
"Hey! Don't go hatin just because you're not on my hit list." Said Red offended.
"Uh-huh… H-hey! It's you all! What the hell when did you get here!? How'd you find me?!" asked Underling as she realized the situation she was in.
"We weren't looking for you, but this commotion makes you stand out." Pointed out IF.
"And this time you won't be getting away." Said Lelouch as he began to reach for his pistol.
"You've been a naughty girl, huh? I'm gonna have to punish you!" said Red still angry.
"Damn it. This could get real bad…" said Underling when she saw a little girl wandering around. "Hey, you! Stray kid!"
"Huh?" the little girl turned towards her. She had short brown hair, dark blue eyes and a light blue coat complete with a snow hat of the same color.
"Now, don't you dare make a move or this girl gets it!" said Underling as she took the girl as a hostage and positioned her in front of herself holding on to the child.
Lelouch got irritated at the display as he was already pointing his gun at the ASIC member.
"You coward! Let the kid go!" shouted Nepgear.
"How cliché." Said IF displeased at the situation.
"Shut up! ASIC is all about playing dirty." Said Underling with a smug on her face.
"*Sob, sob* Help, me Ram…!" cried the captive girl.
Lelouch was about to make Underling's head like a swiss cheese, but stopped himself since he didn't want to endager the little girl. As Underling ran with her hostage the group chased after her. Underling went into a back alley thinking that she lost her pursuers.
"*Sob, sob*" continued to cry the little girl.
"Oh come on, shut up already. I should ditch this deadweight kid." Said Underling as she then froze as a gun came in contact with the back of her head.
"*Pant* Let… *Pant* the girl go." Said Lelouch as he was trying to catch his breath from all the running around.
Then the others appeared alongside him.
"You should really work on your stamina." Said IF disappointed in the boy.
Lelouch didn't have enough air at the moment to make a remark, but the moment the little girl started crying again asking for help, he snapped and hit Underling in the head with the back of his pistol as hard as he could. From the sudden shock the girl let go of her captive as she was now holding her head in pain. The little girl ran towards the others as Underling took a swipe at Lelouch with her bat, but missed as the boy rolled out of harm's way.
"Gr! That really hurt! Well then, this will be your opponent for today!" said the ASIC member as a huge Monster appeared before her.
Lelouch backed to the girls as they were about to face off with the monster, when an assertive childish voice spoke.
"Let Rom go, NOW!" demanded another little girl, who had pink hair, blue eyes with power button marks glowing in them and was wearing a skin tight white suit with red linings, as she karate kicked Lelouch who was sent flying to the wall behind him.
Everybody was confused at the situation when the little girl with the short brown hair ran towards the one that had owned Lelouch.
"Ram! *Sob, sob* Raaam!" cried the girl.
"No freaking way!? Another CPU!? On top of that she sent the dude flying like a football!?" Underling stated in shock.
"How dare you make Rom as your hostage and make her cry?!" accused Ram both parties before her.
"Wait you got it all wrong. We were trying to help the girl." Said IF trying to argue their case.
"Is she telling the truth Rom?" asked Ram.
"Yes, the mister you just kicked and his friends were helping me get away from that mean lady." Answered Rom.
The boy in question was out cold lying next to the wall with a little blood flowing from the back of his head with which he had introduced himself to the concrete. Compa went over to help him.
"Oh, ops." Said Ram as she turned to Underling. "Come on Rom activate HDD and let's beat up this jerk back to where she came from!"
"Uh- huh…" replied Rom as she transformed and looked just like Ram only her hair was blue and her eyes red.
"W-what!? Not one but two more CPUs!? This is getting so messed up!" said Underling as she started to slowly back away behind the monster.
"So those must be the CPU Candidates of Lowee." Said Nepgear.
"Nothing's holding us back now. Let's show them who's boss!" Said IF as the girls began to fight the monster.
Each took a turn at attacking it until they finally crushed it. Underling quickly took note of that and flew off before they could turn their attention to her.
"I'll get you next time!" she could be heard screaming in the distance.
"All right! We are the best Rom!" said Ram.
"The bestest!" added Rom.
Lelouch started to come to and was trying to figure out the situation.
"Everyone is all done, it seems." Said Compa as she helped Lelouch stand up.
"Yeah, I noticed." Said Lelouch holding onto the back of his head which was wrapped in bandages.
"Excuse me, but are you two the CPU Candidates of Lowee?" Asked Nepgear.
"Yep, I'm Ram and this is Rom! We're the CPU's awesome twin sisters!" stated the pink haired girl.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh." Started to nod Rom.
"I'm so happy we ran into each other. I'm CPU Candidate too. My sister is Neptune and…" began Nepgear when the two girls started speaking.
"Neptune? … Uh, she was from…?" asked Ram in confusion.
"Planeptune…" answered Rom.
"Oh right, I know that. That must mean that you are a Planeptune CPU." Said Ram to Nepgear.
"Yes that's right. I'm trying to save all our sisters and …" Nepgear was cut off again.
"That also means that you are our enemy!" accused her Ram.
"Enemy, enemy." Added Rom.
"H-huh, no not at all! Why am i your enemy?" asked Nepgear in confusion.
"You really have a way to antagonize people before you've even met them, Nepgear. I don't know If I should be impressed or disappointed." Said Lelouch from the side as he began to get annoyed at the slow pace at which the conversation was going.
"Do you really think so?" Asked Nepgear depressed at her new-found quality.
Lelouch turned to the two little girls who got somewhat nervous because of his demeanor.
"If you expect an apology for the kick, you aren't getting one. It was your fault for standing there." Said Ram in a childish fashion.
Knowing that logical discussion would not work with a child he decided on a way to resolve the situation. He walked over to the CPU Candidates, knelt as to get on eye level with the two girls and began speaking softly.
"I'm not mad at you for that. You were only trying to protect your sister. It is great that you two share such a deep bond. Before you decide to attack us again would you like to hear me out if I buy you an ice cream?" asked Lelouch with a smile.
The two girls didn't give things much thought as they changed back to normal. Lelouch noted that they were in fact twins as they stood at the same height and looked almost identical for the exception that Ram had longer hair.
"Yay, ice cream." Said Rom.
"Yeah, I guess you're not a bad person after all. Sorry for kicking you." Said Ram with a smile as the two girls started pulling Lelouch over to the ice cream vendor.
The rest of the group was shocked at the display, but followed. Lelouch bought the two girls the ice cream which they picked and they sat down on a bench, enjoying their treat.
"I think they'll listen to you now." He said to Nepgear who was looking at him still wondering at the actions of the boy.
"Well, ok." Replied Nepgear as she turned to the twins. "Anyway, I was about to ask you if…"
The two girls were already done with their ice cream and stood up and dashed off to god knows where waving goodbye to the group.
"Thanks for the ice cream, mister!" shouted Ram.
"Have a nice day." Said Rom.
"And there they go." Said IF.
"Don't get yourself down Ge- Ge, they are just playful children." Compa assured Nepgear who was starting to get depressed from being ignored.
"Well, with that out of the way, I'm going for the nearest clothing shop. You guys can head to the Basilicom without me, I'll catch up with you later." Said Lelouch as he was still cold.
As he was walking off he removed the bandages from his head, at which Compa went histeric.
"Lu- Lu! What do you think you are doing? You are injured you can't just take off the bandages." Said Compa.
"But it doesn't hurt anymore so I figured there's no need for them." Replied Lelouch as Compa got behind him to look at his head where the wound was.
"Huh? I'm sure, you hit yourself somewhere here." Said Compa surprised to find not even a scratch left on the boy's head.
"Its fine, isn't it. If you poke around too much you'll just open up the wound again." Said Lelouch as he separated himself from the girl.
"If you say so. Then we'll be going for the Basilicom." Said IF as the rest of the girls went on their way.
Lelouch went to the nearest clothing shop and purchased suitable wear for the climate. The manager of the story conveniently taught him storage magic so he doesn't have to carry extra luggage with him. Lelouch used said magic to store away his leather jacket and put on his new long dark purple trench coat with a hood. He gave himself another check in the mirror, to make sure he looked presentative as he was in fact going to a Basilicom of a nation. He left the store and began walking towards the building now feeling very satisfied with himself as he was no longer cold.
Upon entering the Basilicom he saw the familiar faces of the girls that had gone ahead of him and a person who appeared to be the oracle of Lowee. Said woman was a light blue haired woman with red glasses and a red scholar dress.
"Oh there you are Lelouch. Come over we were just about to leave for the Mascot." Said IF as she noticed the boy.
When Lelouch got to them he was greeted by the girl who he presumed was the oracle.
"Good evening. I'm Mina Nishizawa oracle of Lowee." Greeted him Mina.
"Good evening, miss Nishizawa. I apologise for my late arrival." Said Lelouch with a slight bow of his head.
"Nonsense. I'm the one who should apologize as I could be of no help to your quest." Apologized Mina. "Still, it would be rude of me to shoo away such well-travelled guests, without giving you something, so…"
"How about a story? Do you know Lowee's lore regarding the Deity of Sin- Arfoire?" continued Mina.
As she said that Lelouch was hit by a headache, though not a severe one as he was able to keep his face from giving away the fact that he was having one.
"I've never heard any stories about it, no." said Nepgear.
"Arfoire is said to have been born in Lowee. Before I continue do you know what the Deity of Sin is?" asked Mina.
"Now that I think about it… No, not really." Replied Nepgear.
"ASIC is trying to revive it, so I figured it was some kind of god that'll grant them power." Said IF.
"No, such a convenient god does not exist in this world. In fact 'deity' is hardly an approapriate description, considering that the CPUs are considered goddesses." As she said the last part Lelouch's headache started to intensify, though not to a degree as severe as the one in Lastation. "The Deity of Sin exists solely to bring destruction and chaos… No mortal can control its power. It is even said that Gamindustri was on the brink of disaster when the Deity of Sin was first born."
As she said that the headache was starting to reach a boiling point and Lelouch as he went over to a couch and sat down holding his head with one hand.
"Are you ok?" asked Nepgear.
"Yes. It's just the headache again." Groaned Lelouch as the pain was starting to subside.
Nepgear turned back to Mina.
"Wow Gamindustri's destruction…" she said baffled.
"So why would ASIC would want to revive a big baddie like that?" asked Red confused.
"Yeah, wouldn't they be hurt too?" Added Compa.
"ASIC doesn't truly wish to revive it. It's a tool used to increase their organization's clout. If they had done proper research on the Deity of Sin they wouldn't spread word among the public." Said Mina
"Typical terrorists." Thought Lelouch.
"Maybe, the lower ranking members of ASIC are being used, too." Said IF.
"If so I question their leader's sanity. This would ultimately lead to their own destruction, as well. I hope this story helped to shed a bit of light on the situation." Said Mina.
"A being that acts as a harbinger of destruction… Arfoire… So that's what ASIC worships." Said Nepgear.
"Wow, I know I'm short but this is going way over my head. What do we do now?" asked Red now even more confused at the situation.
"Nothing's changed. We just have to beat up ASIC, their leader and whatever gets in our way." Stated IF.
"I suppose that's a way of putting it into simple words." Said Lelouch.
"Oh, okay! Much easier to understand." Said Red as she then continued hitting on IF.
Suddenly there was some noise as two little girls entered the room.
"Mina, food!" demanded Ram.
"Hungry…" added Rom.
"Now, now. Mind your manners kids. We have guests right now, so could you please wait a bit longer?" asked them Mina.
"Guests? Oh! It's you guys." Waved at them Ram.
"Hello…" greeted Rom.
"Oh, you know each other?" asked Mina.
"Well actually just before we came here…" said Nepgear as she continued to explain what had happened to the oracle.
"I see. I apologize for their misbehavior." Apologized Mina.
"No, please there's no need to apologize." Started to fret Nepgear.
"No, as their guardian and their educator I must extend my apologies on their behalf." Said Mina as she turned to the twins. "Now what do you say kids?"
"Lame! Why do I gotta apologize to this CPU dummy?" protested Ram.
"Yeah, yeah…" added Rom.
"No, that is not what you are supposed to say, try again." Scolded them Mina.
"They were the ones who started it!" continued Ram.
Mina then asked them with a dangerous smile on her face.
"What, do good little girls say in this situation?" She asked as her eyebrow started to twitch.
The two girls got frightened and dashed off behind Lelouch as he had gotten up from the couch and had walked towards them before that. Lelouch sighed at the situation. It looked like he had to be the mature person to set an example for the kids again.
"Come on, now you have to listen to what your patron is telling you." Lelouch said in a soft voice again. "Besides the CPU miss over there isn't a bad person, you just have to give her a chance."
The two girls, strangely, seemed to trust the older boy as they thought about what, right now their shield from Mina, had said.
"I'm sorry." Apologized Ram.
"Sorry." Added Rom.
With that Mina calmed down and it felt like a tension had left the room.
"Did anyone else feel a scary aura?" asked Compa.
"Please don't worry about it." Said Nepgear to the little girls with a smile as she then turned to Mina. "We actually wanted to ask them for help too."
"As their guardian I must refuse that request. As you can see they're still children." Refused Mina. "However if they do decide to help you as CPU Candidates I might make an exception."
"No! We don't wanna." Said Ram as Rom agreed with her.
"Well, whatever. We came and said what we had to say and got what we came here to get. Let's go guys." Said IF as the group bid the oracle and the two CPU Candidates farewell and got on their way.
Now outside of the Basilicom and walking without any obvious direction, they were discussing a plan of action.
"I didn't expect things to work out anyway, so maybe we should think up a new strategy." Sighed IF.
"Yeah, you do that. I prefer to have solid information when making a plan." Replied Lelouch.
"What do you mean Lu- Lu?" asked Compa.
Before he could answer Nepgear asked for permission to go to a restroom and went off.
"As I was about to say, we will try to gather some more information on the situation here. You three go in that direction and I will go in the other, ask locals about what they know but try to do it without making them suspicious of you." Lelouch gave out the instructions and was on his way.
After a whole day of walking around and asking around for information concerning their journey the group gathered back at the same spot. As they were wondering about a certain missing member, the girl in question appeared.
"I'm so sorry, I'm late!" started apologizing Nepgear.
"Now that's an understatement. How long did you plan to putz around in the bathroom?!" criticized her IF.
"I know. I'm sorry." Said Nepgear.
"Hey, aren't we in a major hurry?" asked Red interrupting the two.
"Yeah, you're right. There's no time to be scolding each other." Said IF.
"Oh? Did something happen?" asked Nepgear curious.
"It would seem that they managed to find some useful info." Said Lelouch who was a bit mad that he didn't manage to acquire anything of use.
"Yeah. We overheard Miss Underling talking on her phone!" said Compa. "She was saying things like 'Mascot' and 'Block Dungeon' and other nifty keywords…"
"So she has gone to the dungeon in question I assume." Guessed Lelouch.
"Now that you guys know let's get moving. We will get there ahead of her!" said IF as she led the group towards the dungeon.
"O-ok!" said Nepgear as she followed the others.
Wow, was this a hard one. I'm hoping it turned out okay, because i feel like there was a lot more going on this chapter and i hope i covered everything accordingly. With that said, a bit of Lelouch's character as a caring person was flowing more to the surface here. Just a heads up, I'm going to try to get the next chapter on time for tomorrow, but i might not make it, we'll see. Anyway thank you as always for reading and enjoying the story. Have a nice day :).
