Authors note: So, slightly sort chapter, but it's all in preparation or the main stuff. Plus, new friend, so that always good.
Hope you like it?
"Lady Vert wished to speak to you."
"Oh thank . . . . You?" Louise replied, her tone quickly becoming confused when she found Chika nowhere to be found, and the door where she wold have been wide open. It was beginning to be become a normal thing, and it confused her greatly.
Since she and Vert had gotten back from her first monster fight three days ago, Chika had been acting odd. It was not like she was ignoring speaking to her, and she was never rude, but it felt like she was trying to ignore her presence, or like she was holding a grudge for something.
Which would have been difficult considering Louise had done nothing to warrant any grudges as far as she was aware. She had after all taken to spending every waking moment when not eating or being dragged around by Vert in the Basilicom's library, reading and researching the world as much as she could to make better sense of the knowledge in her head. Knowledge that seemed to increase in quantity overnight, much to her annoyance!
"I should go see what she needs." Louise says with a smile as she slipped a bookmark into the book and closed it, moving it away from the edge as she got up from the table. While she had only gotten slightly taller in this new life, she quiet enjoyed the shape of her new body and felt it was something to at least be inwardly proud about. As such she had taken to continue wearing skirts and shirts that were somewhat tight, but not overly so. She like her new body, but she wasn't about to wear clothing like Chika's or her sisters just yet, she just didn't think she had the body for it, and the attention and stares she would undoubtedly get would make her far from comfortable. Brushing off her skirt she strode out of the Library and headed down the halls for The Basilicoms office, where Vert would be, dealing with Paperwork.
She had quickly gotten used to knowing where everything was In the Basilicom, she had even gotten used to knowing what some random information was at a glance, though that could have been in part to her research. Either way, after a few moments she came to the office door, knocked twice and opened the door slowly, stepping inside.
The room was a simple one with green carpeting, and bookshelves covering each of the side walls. A large window sat at the back of the rom behind a desk, covered in piles of paperwork and two computer monitors, and behind it all sat Vert, looking exceedingly tired.
"You called?" Louise asked after a moment of watching Vert lifelessly move paper from one pile to another.
As soon as Louise spoke though, life flooded into Vert's face, and her eyes shone brilliantly as she stood up with a smile on her face. "OH you're here! Oh good, I can finally get away. . I mean. . Ahem." She stopped as she walked around the desk and compose herself. "How have you settled in?"
"I, think I'm getting used to things." Louise answered, knowing what Vert was referring to. "Using the library has helped a lot, I'm not getting headaches, or feeling confused from knowing things now."
"That is definitely a good thing. Do you believe you're ready to go back outside again?"
"I, think I am. Why? is there something you missed showing off?" Louise said with a smile, teasing her sister slightly. It felt good too, in her old life she tried anything like that she'd get berated and yelled at to go study more, but Vert either just ignored it with a smile or laughed it off.
"There is actually." Very said with a smile. "There's a concert happening this afternoon, and I was wondering if you wanted to go?"
"That sounds interest-"
"I may have also pulled some string so that I'll be officially announcing your existence at the concert as well." Vert then added, keeping her gaze to the side.
Louise looked at Vert in surprise, not fully sure how to react. No one hand she had never been good with crowds, especially those whose attention was undivided and on her. But on the other hand that was her old life, and she was now essentially a living goddess among the people, something for them to believe in. if she was unknown by the public, Leabox's shares could have trouble, as could her own powers and Verts. The people's belief was supposed to be directly proportionate to a CPU's power, and while as a CPU candidate it did not affect her as much, she could tell that it still did to an extent as in the last few days she had felt herself get ever so slightly stronger, when not really doing anything that would do so.
"Well, my existence will have to be announced at some point, right?" Louise finally said with a shrug, deciding that if it had to be done, that she would do it to the best of her abilities!
"Excellent!" Vert said with a clap of her hands before taking out a small green wallet. Unfortunately I still have some more paperwork to sift through, so would you be fine with going to the concert yourself? I'll head over as soon as I am done this mountain of work. Okay?"
"Are you sure?" Louise asked as she took the wallet from Vert and slipped it one of her vest pockets. " I can wait for you if you'd like?"
"No, I'm just happy you're willing to wait for me. But no, I don't want to take way from your enjoyment. There's some change in there for food if you get hungry, so please just enjoy yourself. I'll be there before the end of the concert where my announcement will be. So go have some fun, okay?"
Louise looked at Vert for a second and nodded before rushing out with a quick, "See you later!" The possibility of seeing the city at her own pace was too good to pass up after all!
Going out into the city on her own turned out to be extremely liberating. She could look at what she wanted, take time admiring the sights for as long as she wanted and even could stare at all the different kinds of food, becoming annoyed that it made her hungry instantly. Why did she have such a big appetite here?!
Calming herself down after grabbing a bag of fresh baked pretzels Louise headed for the concert hall. On the outside it was large, but inside, it was even more massive. A large stage sat at the bottom, with a half circle of seating going up from it. Hundreds if not thousands of people were already gathering in the stands, yet it was still at least half an hour from the start time, and many seats were still unfilled. After finding her own seat Louise placed her food on the seat to hold it and went down to find the washrooms. Only to find a peculiar scene before her.
at the end of the hall by the washrooms was a pair of men, wearing shorts and vests, standing over a woman who was wearing a jacket that looked far too heavy for the weather, that went down to just past her knee's. From the way she was landing back she clearly did not like the men, and a Louise got closer it became clear as to why.
"Hey there, just come with us okay?"
"Yeah, we'll show you a great time! you won't want to forget it!"
"We promise!"
"So just stop being stubborn and come have some fun with us yeah?"
"N-no, I have to be somewhere, please I just-" the girl weakly responded, clearly not wanting to be there.
"Really?" Louise aske herself as she stormed forward, thinking up a plan, and hoping it would work. "Oh here you are!" Louise called out loudly, getting both the two men's, and the girls attention just before she pushed between the men and grabbed the girls hand. "I thought you said you'd be right back? Let's get back to our seats okay?"
"R-right." The girl replied weakly, understanding what Louise was doing as she dragged her back between the two men, who looked very bewildered.
Unfortunately they recovered from their surprise annoyingly quickly. "Hey what do you think you're doing?" one called out as she began following with his friend in tow.
"Yeah, you can't just interrupt us like that!"
Louise stopped as she realised that they were not going to make this simple, and turned to the two men. "Look my friend and I need to get to the concert, so please don't get in our way!"
"Your friend eh? what's her name then?"
"Catherine." Louise replied instantly.
"No it isn't!" one man yelled back as the other just stared at Louise.
"Then what is her name if you think you know so much?" Louise snapped back.
"Err, that is . . . um." the one man grumbled, not knowing how to answer.
"Let's not worry about what our names are!" The other man suddenly exclaimed as he eyed Louise and smiled. "You look pretty nice too, very pretty, so let all four of us go have some fun, what do you say?"
Louise was nearly growling while the other girl slipped behind her, clearly not liking the idea at all. "What was the rule again?" Louise muttered under her breath.
"Pardon, what did you say?" the one man asked as he stepped closer.
"Ah, right. No violence unless it's against, Monsters, bad guys . . . or scum!" Louise yelled as she kicked out her leg, right between the men's own. She swore she heard a crack on contact, and after making the most hilarious face in existence, her grabbed his crotch and went down instantly, gurgling something under his breath.
"Why you little-" The other man called as he stepped forward and raised a fist to swing down at Louise, until there was suddenly the tip of a spear pointed at his face, a bare inch away from it.
"It feels like it's been ages since I felt this angry, and I always used to just let it simmer out, but you've put me in a bad mood, so I'll say this only once." Louise said calmly, before her voice turned to a full hiss of disgust filled hatred and anger. "Take your friend and get out of my sight before I castrate both of you!"
The man instantly looked afraid and nodded, stepping back and grabbing his friend by the leg, only to pull him away, his friends head catching on at least one door frame before they disappeared.
"Haa, that could have gone better, sorry about that. It was the only way I could think of helping." Louise said to the girl, doing her best to look apologetic.
"N-no, that's fine. I should be thanking you. Those two were a little too pushy." The girl said as the hood on her jacket slipped off, allowing Louise to see her face. She had gorgeously long and silky blue hair and bright purple eyes with a freckle beneath her left eye, and while Louise could not see anything else of her body due to the coat, she had a feeling she had a shapely body as well.
Everyone has a nice body here. came a condescending voice in the back of Louise's head.
"Yes, they were." Louise said with a sigh as she ignored the voice, still not sure if it was her own thoughts or something else entirely. "Are you here for the concert?"
"Um, oh, y-yes. I guess. You are too as well?" the girl asked.
"Yes, my sister is coming a bit later; it should start soon though right?"
The girl pulled up her wrist and looked at a watch upon it, her eyes going wide. "Oh no, I'm late I need to, to meet my friend, sorry!"
"Don't worry about it," Louise said with a smile as the girl ran off before she had even finished. "Oh, I should have asked her name." Louise mumbled as she went to do her original business, and then headed back to her seat. Halfway there she began to hear cheering, and when she entered back into the hall she saw why.
The stands where now jam packed with hundreds of people, many holding glow sticks in their hands as the stage blow was lighting up with floodlight, tight beams and colorful effects. Then as Louise, with some substantial amount of struggling, made it back to her own seat, the crowd roared louder as the Idol came out onto the stage.
She was wearing boots, a skirt and a simple bikini style top, all dark black with purple accenting, showing off a substantial amount of skin as she walked on stage. A musical note was tattooed on one side of her stomach. Her long blue hair was enhanced by a pair of headphones over her head and ears, and there were numerous small, but similarly colored accessories like bracelets on her wrists and ankles.
Then it struck Louise. She was the same girl she had helped just a bare couple minutes ago!
So much for meeting with friends!
"Hey everybody, 5pb here, how're you all doing today!" 5pb called out in greeting to the audience.
The entire audience responded with a roared that made the entire stadium shake. Everyone was excited and fervently full of energy that Louise had never before witnessed.
"That's great everyone! Before we start everything up though I'd like to give thanks to a girl I just met who helped me out earlier, I don't know her name, but thanks a bunch, and of course thank you to all of you here today for coming down to hear me sing! Now let's begin!"
Louise watched in amazement as 5pb sang and moved across the stage, never fully dancing as she knew it, but still moving in ways that attracted attention none the less. Her voice was smooth and soft, strong and powerful, and made a warm feeling fill Louise's body. she had no idea music could be so amazing, the music in Halkeginia was all orchestral ensembles that were basically the same wherever you went, nothing like this where one single person could entertain so many hundreds at once!
Song after son 5pb sang nonstop, only stopping to call out to the audience for requests and thanks, and one time for a bottle of water, which she drank the entirety of one that was thrown to her from the crowd. Despite her thin looks she seemed able to sing nonstop, and the audience enjoyed every second of it!
"You look to be enjoying yourself quit a lot."
Louise looked over to see Vert sitting down beside her, a smile on her face.
"When did you-?"
"Just now actually, I finally finished all that paperwork." Vert explained as she looked down and watched 5pb for a few moments. "She's Leanbox's number one Idol, what do you think?"
"She's amazing! Her voice is so strong, and her songs are wonderful. She's so different from earlier too."
Meek and nervous. sounds familiar in a way.
"Oh, you met her already hmm?" Vert said with a smile as the current song began to wind down. "I believe that was the last song, lets head down to the stage." She said as she got up, motioning for Louise to follow.
"Ah, wait, I'm going with?"
"Of course, you have to introduce yourself!" Vert said with a smile.
"Oh, I should have seen this coming." Louise grimaced as she followed Vert to the side of the stands and then down to a dark area by the stages one side, just as the last song finished to a roar of clapping, cheering and shouts from the audience.
"Thank you everyone, did you have a god time today?" 5pb asked out to the audience, getting an energetic roar in reply." That's great! That was the last song for this concert today, but we're not quiet done yet! We've got an important guest with a special announcement for everyone!"
In that moment Vert walked onto the stage as elegantly and graceful as ever, the noise from the audience quieted down to a dull murmur as everyone wondered what the CPU could be present to say as she gratefully took a microphone from 5pb with a nod of thanks.
"Thank you everyone for coming here today to enjoy 5pb's wonderful concert. Her skills and love of song is a gift to all of Leanbox!" Vert began, making 5pb visibly blush at the side. "Speaking of gifts however, you all have managed to give a most wonderful gift, and I one to you as well! "Vert continued as she gestured to Louise with a wink. Taking a deep breath Louise nervously walked onto the stage as Vert finished, "Because I now have a Sister, and Leanbox a CPU Candidate!"
Roaring cheers echoed out in response, the audience above excited and glorified by the news. It was amazing and strange, being so well received by people just from the sight of her. But Louise's real surprise came when Vert handed her the microphone, clearly saying, introduce yourself.
She did say I had to.
Takin the microphone with a gulp Louise too a step forward, and the entire audience in front of her calmed down to nothing, waiting to hear their candidates voice. All eyes were on her, and it felt like her throat was freezing on the inside, until 5pb stepped up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder with a smile.
Louise nodded in understand and took a deep breath, and then spoke to the masses for the first time. "Greetings everyone, I am Verts younger sister and the new CPU candidate for Leanbox. I am CPU Candidate Louise, and it is a pleasure to meet you all!"