PS: "Anateria/Ataneria" is the same person.
PS to Share: "Anateria" is the younger sister of Andromeda from Greece, although she isn't mentioned officially in the book of 'Perseus'. It is one of the unexplained characters that just suddenly disappears and appears.
~「Chapter Three - "She Is Of The Nishizawa"」~
Planeptune's Countryside
It was a small city with relatively peaceful life. A certain caravan galloped its way slowly through the open and less crowded area. The location is somewhere near a market where most people could be seen carrying loads of necessities.
Meanwhile, good ol' little Shana peeked out with her eyes twinkling of stars and amazement. Compared to her previous world, which held imbalance powers and crazy advancements of break through's made by the Earthenious, this city feels like normal looking one: not too shabby and not too poorly. One can say that this isn't a very changing city. She saw people wandering around and vendors using their own 'Softwares' like microphones, lights and other eye catchy to attract costumers.
She looked around for more before having enough and pulled back in tthe tent. She first fixed her brown hair before looking around. She only carried a small amount, basic but important items. There from her right is a large bag filled with her clothing for the week and food that would last three days. Though she could've asked for more, Anateria wanted her to be dependable. Although it was harsh for a 9 to 10 year old, but it's a good thing as well.
Shana shook her head before crawling close to the bag and unzipping it. She then started to rummage through it. "Let's see..." She mumbled under her breath.
She pulled out a small sheathed dagger with a strap. She held the dangerous weapon for a second before pulling it out of it's sheath. It was an ordinary dagger with a strange blue markings on its hilt. One would think it's some ordinary weapon, but only a fool would think that it's was some run off the mill weapon. It was given to her by Anateria as a use of self-defense, just in case anything goes down south. It was a cold dagger capable of freezing an opponent with each strike. Although it's a valuable weapon, Anateria was willing to give this to her, for the giant woman was already strong enough not to be messed with.
Shana smiled for a moment before sheathing the dagger back. 'I guess I can expect more from this world I'm in, I wonder where everyone is though. It's quite sad thinking about that I am the only one that entered this new world.'
Thinking back, Shana couldn't help but sometimes think about what happened to others back in her real world. She wondered if they were all safe without her, but tried to cope until she finds a way back home. She knew that loosing a Holder could be disastrous, and the Masters will move to defuse the situation, but that could only give a reason for the corrupted Masters to control a country.
Not unless the Holder of Redisheds could try to fend off the great Masters.
"France..." Shana quietly voiced out a name with worry. She knew the man could be in trouble at this very moment, and she feared that her lover might not win, especially if the Masters fought him altogether. However, she couldn't afford to be thinking negatively right now. She slapped her cheeks lightly before concentrating on the task at hand.
She was currently on route towards Youthful Academy. She, and like all the other students who intended to apply, will go register at the academy and take a test. If they pass, depending on their skills and abilities, they enter the academy. Now, what it means depending on their skills and abilities is that the student will face a monster that they're capable of defeating but if they themselves were to be defeated, then they would be kicked out of the academy.
She looked to her left and saw a pair of hammers, all made up of metal. This is her main weapon, that of which she personally created. Over the course of her training and voluntarily work, she refined a hammer that she named...
"Steel Star Hammers..." Shana said, inspecting the weapons before she grabbed the pair of hammers.
"Little miss, we're almost there!" The man shouted from the outside.
"Okay!" She replied. She started to fix herself up, straightening out and tying her jean coat around her neck and tightened it. Next she wiped off the dust on her white uniform and her black skirt as well. She then stood up and walk towards the entrance of the caravan, she pushed the cloth to the side and looked around.
She saw that she's already far away from the market she first saw, she was now in a much calmer area and place is now more of a school considering the fact that many children with their parents. She also saw kids drinking potions, probably strengthening and toughening themselves for the basic requirement of skills and abilities.
Battling a monster at such a young age can obviously make one nervous. Back in Heavenier, where she rules back home, you can became a strong warrior by simply obtaining rightful faith. If you have strong faith within you, then you can defeat a monster even if you're not that physically strong. Spiritually speaking, Heavenier is a place of strong willed people.
However, her eyes then spotted a little girl just a distance away. She couldn't help but noticed that little girl looked similar to one in her previous world, but the sudden halt of the caravan shook her off from her thoughts.
"We're here now, little miss."
She exited the caravan and thanked the caravan man before walking away towards what she think is the gate. There were two waiting lines, one was long and one was short. She looked at the long one and she can tell all of them were commoners with their bright faces, hopeful that their children could pass the harsh trial. Meanwhile, on the short one, the people that waited in line had only nobles or high ranking officials, judging by their clothing and arrogant looks.
Shana pouted at the mean looking nobles before choosing the long line. Well, it really might take awhile.
After several minutes later...
Finally! It was her turn! During her own queue she noticed the man who was in charge of the register seemed to be expecting the arms of the children, then he just sighed everything off like it was normal and casually waved them off.
"Your name?" The man asked, appearing to be around 40s, her without meeting her look.
"U-Um, good morning, I am Arfoire from Caller Village." Shana said her name.
Arfoire. It was her true name, at least the name that belonged to the original owner of the body she was using. It was given to her by the original owner's mother who later abandoned her in Caller's Village when she was young.
"Eh? Caller Village?" The man suddenly looked at her with shocked expression.
This startled Shana (or Arfoire) for the moment before recomposing herself. "Y-Yes sir, what of it?"
She didn't get the reply she wanted as the man simply waved at her with a laugh. "You're simply wasting your time here miss. Best leave now, it'll be better for you than getting bruises. Most of the weak children came from that village, and we wouldn't be surprised if none of them got to enter any other academy. What a pitiful village."
He continued insulting Caller Village, the place where she grew up in, even if she spent less than 2 years there and called her home. She couldn't just accept such an insult in the place where she was given another chance to live.
So, with defiant words, "No, you're wrong!" She talked back to the man, who seems to caught off guard to what she just said. "Caller Village is my proud home and all of us there works together, if you think that the people there are weak, then think again!"
"Oi, you might need to tone your voice, little miss." The man looked down on her with his eyebrow raised and mocking look. "Big words for such a small child, what can you do? Carry grains from the field? Buahahaha!" The man laughed off.
Shana pouted as her cheeks flared in embarrassment. She wanted to fight back but she had nothing to prove. So, with a heavy sigh, Shana entered the school carrying a heavy heart. But Shana herself was quite sad about it...
However, the body known as Arfoire was another story entirely, for the body was fueled with anger.
Union Dormitory...
Shana approached the wooden door of a small house. She opened the room only to see three bodies of young boys lying around and they appeared beaten up.
"Huh?! You wanted to fight? I'll give ya a beating!"
"N-No no no, I-I don't want t-to fight in the first place, please spare me...!"
A pair of voices caught her attention in the middle of the room. There, a huge boy with a gripped fist pointed towards the little girl whom she saw just this morning. Shana noticed that the little girl was currently crying and her clothes were a little messed up but still organized to say the least.
Driven by the desire to save others, Shana shouted at the bully. "Hey, stop right there! That's bullying!"
"Eeeh?! Who's that?!" The huge boy looked around for a second before noticing Shana by the doorway. "Oh? Another girl?" The boy said in a cocky tone. "Submit to me as your boss or else I'll beat you up."
Wha- how cruel! This world is definitely not friendly when you're simply a commoner, well she wouldn't deny that she saw such abusive people who greed for power but for a child to bear such deeds?
Shana pouted before she thought of a plan. Although she needed to be out of character first...well, she is out of the character considering she has two different personalities in one body. So, she simply closed her eyes and leaned on the door frame.
"You're hardly worth the effort, boy." Shana said with her eyes rolling. She cringed at her own act. 'Waaah! What am I doing?!' She mentally cried with teary eyes.
"What did you say?! Come here!"
As expected, the big boy charged towards her with anger. However, Shana just jumped towards the boy and launched her hands towards him, managing to stop the boy by grabbing his face and jumping behind him, pulling his face down to the ground from behind.
Fortunately, the wooden floor isn't that hard to begin with...well, at least Shana hoped so. The brown haired girl removed her hand from the big boy to see his eyes swirling in dizziness.
Shana let out a sigh before facing the girl from before. "Don't worry, everything's fine-" However, after seeing the girl's reaction, she hesitated for a brief second. Her eyes were filled with fear as she cowered from her. Shana let out a weak laugh and a sweat drop. "Ah, ah n-no no, I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry."
The little girl looked at her, still a little suspicious that she might hurt her. "A-Are you sure? Big sis?"
'Big sis?' Shana thought, a little unsure what to do. But she then let out a warm smile. "Yeah, big sis here will protect you."
Somewhere deep inside the little girl she felt...secure. She reluctantly nodded before standing up slowly. This got the attention of Shana. The little girl had light blue hair and which looked incredibly smooth, if not only some hair tangling around and a little messy. She wore a white uniform and over it was a red overcoat. She also held a little red with four edges in her right hand.
She has a few bruises and her white uniform, along with her red overcoat, had some dirt on it.
The little girl slowly approached Shana until she stood up in front of her. "A-Ah, thank you v-very much for saving me!" She bowed her head down in appreciation.
Shana smiled as she pat the little girl's head. "Don't worry, you're safe now."
Something deep inside, Shana wanted to protect this girl. The exact reasons were unknown, but it was a warm tingling feeling she couldn't ignore.
She then noticed the little girl as she looked up at her, from the corner of her eyes, the little girl appeared to be holding back her tears. She shook out her thoughts and hugged the girl, she patted her back lightly and reassured the little girl. "Now now, I'm here, big sis is here."
Because of this warmhearted gesture, the little girl couldn't help but suddenly cry. She hugged Shana back and buried her face on her chest, meanwhile the brown haired girl simply let her flow out the emotion she's been...Enduring.
Shana wiped off the tears that were attempting to escape her eyes, she also wanted to cry, at least that's what Arfoire wanted. She wanted to cry ever since her mother left her alone in the wilderness.
Shana couldn't imagine if she appeared in a different village where cruelty reigned. She wouldn't be able to endure such torment if that was the case.
After a while, the little girl stopped crying as she looked up at Shana. Her eyes slightly red from the tears and cheeks so red. Shana couldn't help but giggled at the cuteness of the little girl. She wanted to pinch her cheeks so badly now. "Hmm, if you ever need something," she said as she wiped off fresh tears from the girl's cheeks, "Don't forget to call big sis here, 'kay?"
The little girl now wore a bright smile. "Y-Yes, Onee-chan!"
'I guess that's fine.' Shana smiled, before remembering something. "Oh, I forgot, I'm Arfoire. What's your name?"
The little girl looked up at Shana with that dark azure eyes with a look of admiration. "I'm Mina. Mina Nishizawa!"
Beta Read by: Mr. Van Helsing
And this is where we shall end the chapter. The introductions of two of my favorite characters in Neptunia: Arfy and Mina. To be honest, Arfy is just the third while Magic's first and Mina's second.
Anyway, that'll be it for today's chapter. Thank you all for taking the time to read this story, I greatly appreciate it, especially those who reviewed and give a bright follow and be part of their favorite self.
Oh, every 5 chapters of the story, I would be honored to say the names of those people who put a follow or favorite on this story, just like old times.
That's all, and thank you for reading chapter four.
~A