The following information is subject to future changes!

However, for example, do not expect the second chapter's update the match the eleventh's.


Bleached Angel


Now, for the love of God, let this Fanfiction begin!


Chapter #7: "Info Dump - Part Two"

(Part One was back in Chapter 3 with all the deuteragonist Guardians' information)

Location: Town Square, Carne Village, Unknown Kingdom

Date: Wednesday, 32 May, 2157

Time: 3:56 PM

POV: third, limited, Jacknyfe, aged 33 years


It took a good thirty minutes for the villagers to be sufficiently calmed before they approached their saviors with praise and tentative inquiries about their personal lives. Having been 'former nobles', as Jacknyfe so eloquently put it, they had innate knowledge on high class life, something to be coveted when handed the only kind of life the villagers had been provided.

Ulquiorra had given far more extravagant details than Jacknyfe had on the lives of highborns, much to the King's chagrin. He lamented the fact that he couldn't even trust himself to put together a well thought out dupe for what was basically medieval age level peoples. Some of the people he'd answered didn't even seem remotely satisfied with the answers he offered, instead immediately digressing from more important details. However, due to his high charisma, he'd been able to maintain positive influence.

The Three Beasts had taken to the queries with varied responses, he'd noticed from a distance. Each one followed quirks he'd tried to watch with meticulous observation while he was accosted.

Emilou had taken to the attention far too well, exceedingly bestowing knowledge of her fights onto the starry-eyed bunch of teenagers that requested tales of adventure with great exaggeration. A wide, open smile of shining teeth was on her face, and occasionally an embarrassed laugh that caused her to rub the back of her head sheepishly in response to exultation ("I wish I could be that enthused for being overglorified," Jacknyfe thought enviously).

Franceska was strongly enthused by the situation, much like her sister Emilou, although she boasted her personal strength instead, explaining that she had defeated several incredibly powerful foes in the past with her own fortitude. She was once set out, along with the other two Beasts, on a mission with Teal Spire during the time of EDEN to fight dragon class enemies, and she literally punched a low level one out of the area. The Devs had to step in to give the proper reward (and to also note the glitch for patches, because they came back several days later to find it no longer exploitable). Those all involved in listening to her were all young men and few women, beaming with hormones and estrogen respectively. Jealous individuals hid behind some houses with glares that could level cities.

Cyan was more or less composed the entire time and abused the ability [ Swift Evade ] (which was reminiscent of android evasions from the game NieR: Automata) to elude them to great effect, although the quick little people were persistent in following her. The children, no older than seven by Jacknyfe's calculations, were far too excellent in Hide and Seek.

Jacknyfe was eventually rescued by what he had come to call his pseudo-daughter, since she had been his personal creation - that, and her incessant need to remind him of her christenings: Padre and the like.

She'd eventually scared them off with her award-winning personality that would put most human females to shame and envy, only having to step towards him with heavy footfalls to gather all of their attentions simultaneously, and they'd scurried away.

Scurried.

Most of those who had swarmed him were young adults, likely early twenties, that had been easily intimidated by the look in Halibel's eye. The fact that she was wearing unusual armor did not help the situation.

To reiterate the form in shorter description: she was basically wearing shark-shaped bones all over her body and her old face mask that covered the lower half of her head, almost as if they had taken a page directly from Tite Kubo's manga from when she was in Vasto Lorde form, except that the areas that were uncovered were instead replaced by blue metal coverings referred to as Blausting, a type of difficult ore to procure from EDEN.

He'd been accosted for a good ten minutes, and having put the task on her to retrieve the Emmots from their reverse prison - as he'd inwardly dubbed it, to prevent miscommunication from breeding discord - he'd had half the thought to not put past her her likely vindictive nature for menial assignments, like escort missions.

Women were scary.

He'd learned this awhile back. He probably only learned the concept and not the lesson, however, for her glare, even while light, was piercing.

"Padre," she bit, not true venom, but enough to convey annoyance.

He could tell her to knock it off, and she will likely follow the order without a second thought, but he was running a faux kingdom with thoughtful subjects, not mindless machines. He let it slide, and allowed her a small victory through appearing vulnerable.

She was pleased.

"Oh, the things I do for you, my little troublemaker," he mused internally, a happy expression hidden by his mask.

BGM: "Tear in my Heart" - TWENTY ONE PILOTS

"It's been twenty minutes and those notifications are getting slightly disconcerting." He'd jumped the first time, and he blamed previous traumatic experiences on reflex to prevent the villagers from prying; it worked. "The problem with lying is maintaining it," he sobered his self-directed loathing for immediately resorting to deception, "This will make the truth harder to bear - unless I'm humanized in their eyes or provide a decent enough reason; maybe..." He shook his head and waved away the blue box of words.

He looked back at Tia to find her raising a brow, silently querying his current disposition. "I'm okay," he assured her, but the curious look morphed into an accusing one, and he briefly and sharply sighed. "Alright, fine," he relented, "I'm not sure what to do from here. Suggestions would be appreciated," he added, well aware of her conversation with her Tres Bestias prior to their interrogation via inquisitive villagers.

Despite being well informed about her Majesty's intentions with his subjects' personal opinions on current situations, Halibel still blinked in surprise. He waited patiently for her response.

After a moment, she raised her head. "If I were in charge, I'd immediately attempt to gather information about the surrounding territories via the Elder Village Chief as compensation for the rescue, as some villagers have made whispers of anxiety concerning what we will do for recompense."

Jacknyfe nodded. "That makes sense," he thought. He looked over at the Three Beasts currently engaged in conversation with the villagers.

"I will tell them to act more professional, your Majesty."

"No need," Jacknyfe stopped her, catching her gaze. "Allow them to have their fun. I have missions for them in their upcoming futures, so they'll need the motivation; should they take any away from this, anyway." He turned around to face the direction of the Chief's home. "Tell them they can, inform Ulquiorra of my location, and you can guard the doorway."

She bowed. "Hai!" She disappeared in a Sonído to carry out her orders, and Jacknyfe heard short squeals of fright.

"Future note to self: don't let them use that in front of normal people anymore."

He began walking in the direction of the hut to begin what would be, as he suspected, a long and arduous meeting.


Location: Eld's Home, Carne Village, Unknown Kingdom

Time: 4:00 PM

POV: third, limited, Jacknyfe, aged 33 years


The room was Spartan, since the couple appeared to be childless. Idle preliminary chat revealed that the wife was infertile and he ended the conversation with a sympathetic apology in order to right the road, lest he earn them more of Ulquiorra's furthering ire. He was, at any rate, beginning to exhaust himself, so he figured that for the prospective non-violent information gathering, he'd temper Ulquiorra's growing dissatisfaction with the situation with the intention of hastening the matter.

"As I said before," he began, removing his helmet to reveal light green orbs and blond hair that reached his shoulders, untamed for the most part, "my name is Jackson Smith, a wandering former noble interested in the likes of adventuring."

Ulquiorra, unyielding in the removal of his helmet, maintaining his mysterious persona (and his personal hatred for cosmetic products), reintroduced himself. "And I am Peter Urquiola, a nomadic architect." Urquiola looked to Jacknyfe for a moment, earning the most minute of nods, and then continued with the newly added deception they'd decided on earlier. "Truth be told, I'm looking to settle down for once and use my learned craft in a city. However, thanks to my training, I am capable of self-defense. I hope you don't mind, but I will continue to wear the armor for personal reasons." The line appeared to satisfy the couple, but Jacknyfe supposed it would not hold up in future conversations.

Jacknyfe then continued with his own nod - this time obvious enough for the couple to look back at him. "Of course, we've come a long way and only now decided to study our surroundings, but unfortunately we are unfamiliar with the area and are in dire need of a map and information regarding our current surroundings. We will take this as compensation for the rescue of your villagers."

The couple seemed mildly stupefied for a brief moment, before they looked at each other, nodded, and turned back to him. Eld spoke first. "Would you truly be satisfied with only information?" he asked, and before Jacknyfe could respond, continued. "We could provide a monetary reward as well, as your currency may not be compatible with ours."

Jacknyfe thought for a moment, resting his chin under his thumb and index finger. "I'd really like to, but I wouldn't want to drain them of their money, since in reality we'd be high price mercenaries, in their terms." He looked back up at them, before sighing and producing one EDEN gold coin referred to as Sangre, since it was exclusive to Las Noches.

Personal guild currency allowed for another part of EDEN called "nationalising," which took the concept of creating their own nation via their guild territory anywhere on the planet of EDEN. Las Noches only levelled in certain parts of nationalising, including its own agricultural system to provide fabrics and sustenance, and its personal currency.

"It was more of a raid location than a nation anyway." He returned to the present.

"This is a Sangre," he began, lifting the hollowed red coin for them to see. "It is the currency my people use." He placed it on the table. "The name itself, in your language, refers to the word blood, but rest assured," he raised his hands when he noticed they were mildly perturbed, "the paint is from a flower we cultivated. It is not actually blood from living creatures."

Having expected the answer, but still initially disturbed, the couple relaxed.

"How much virtual blood was spilled to get the flower seeds, though?" Jacknyfe thought idly, thinking back to the Flower Wars. "Can't believe the Devs let us get away with such a stupid name, and for it to be posted all over the damn News...it was one small region..."

The woman furrowed her brows a little at the sight of the thing before spinning around and heading to a drawer on the other end of the room, coupled with a window directly above it. Meanwhile, Eld stroked his beard before picking up the coin tentatively to inspect it, and humming when he found something interesting.

"What is the meaning of this symbol?" he asked, raising it up so Jacknyfe could see.

It appeared to be a hand, and the hollowed center was shown to be in its palm.

"That's where the Hollow Hole is located on an original character one of the guildmates created to be one of the most powerful Vizards-turned-Arrancar with a powerful story arc from one of the better Bleach Fanfictions, but at the moment, I can't really remember his name..."

Ulquiorra answered. "That is the symbol of an individual that is greatly respected, even among the higher ranked members of our society."

Jacknyfe gave him an approving look.

Ulquiorra replied with a sparkling thumbs up from under the table to prevent the couple from seeing. It was something you might see out of a quality anime from a character terrible with interactions with others.

"Wow." He shook his head.

"I see," Eld replied, stroking his chin. His wife returned with what appeared to be an apparatus with the vaguely suspected purpose of balancing in mind, much less any weighing to be done in the first place. Two circular plates rested either side of a spring located somewhere within the center mount. Jacknyfe assumed some of the inner workings were inlaid with magic to perfect the balance.

Wordlessly, the couple applied both the Sangre and one of their own coins, which was a simple golden piece on the other end of the scale. The difference in weight appeared to be that the Sangre weighed twice as much as the other.

"Is foreign currency decided by weight?" Jacknyfe queried.

"No," Eld shook his head. "It's the first part of deciding the difference between them." He turned to his wife. "Could you fetch the map for me, dear?" She nodded with a polite smile and went off to the same drawer to retrieve the requested items.

While his wife was obtaining the desired items, Jacknyfe leaned forward. "You wouldn't happen to have any sort of duplicate balance like this," he indicated it with a wave of his hand, "or know who built it, would you?"

"In fact, I would," Eld replied, smiling. "I do not have another item of the same make, but the man you're looking for is an inventor from the Baharuth Empire." His expression briefly screwed up in distaste, and his wife began to return to the table, "Horrible people they are for their annual attacks," he mocked as his wife set down the map, and he smiled up at her before continuing, "but their people are widely inventive in the art of mixing magic and machine in their products." His tone held respect and a mite of curiosity. "I'd love to understand the art myself, but I don't have the prowess. You'll have to worry about Mr Bareare for that."

"Who is that?" Jacknyfe interrupted.

The man chuckled. "A young pharmacist that specializes in all sorts of magic," he said with affection, smiling brightly. "The young man comes to our village occasionally to show us the beauty of what is called fireworks and the magic equivalent."

"Will he be arriving anytime within the next few days?"

"About a week and a half from now, perhaps," the man rubbed his stubble covered chin again, looking away in thought. "There are herbs deep in the nearby forest that he collects for his potions and other experiments. We request shows of magic and pay for the items he makes at a discount 'cause he likes a girl here," he laughed loudly at that one.

Jacknyfe laughed, too, for what it was worth. "Who might the lucky lady be?" he asked lightly for the sake of the light side of the conversation, but even Ulquiorra was not immune to the likes of manipulation routes. Luckily, the couple suspected nothing, for Jacknyfe was benevolent.

"Enri Emmot, one of the two ladies you saved," he leaned forward to chortle, "careful, you might take our pharmacist's interest away from this village!"

Jacknyfe laughed as well, but was genuine in his next set of words. "Trust me, sir, I have no desire to deplete your source of pharmaceutical equipment and aid!"

Both continued to snicker for some time and the wife and Ulquiorra lamented their idiots.


Eld cleared his throat before pointing at the map. "The Forest of Tobb is directly northwest of us, and north of them is the Dwarven Kingdom, [and this]" began Eld, pointing at the respective forest and "-[]mountainous region serves as both its personal kingdom and an undisputed border between our Kingdom, the Re-Estize Kingdom-" he pointed to the left of the range, "-and the Baharuth Empire," he pointed to the right one. "The latter engages in annual wars with the Re-Estize Kingdom due to their warrior and magic cultures."

He pointed to the south, "to the southeast is the Katze Plains, disputed territory between the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire, and the Slane Theocracy, resting Southwest of us. East of them," he moved his pointer finger, "is the Draconic Kingdom."

At this, Jacknyfe leaned forward, showing interest. "A demi-human kingdom, I presume."

The man nodded. "Yes," he affirmed, "and they are greatly hated by many humans. We have no issue with demi-humans here - we will occasionally accommodate them."

Jacknyfe turned his head to the right to look through their kitchen window, detecting Tia through it. He watched as she was interacting with a vendor on the other end of in the village. The man she was working with appeared not to mind the fact that he was practically talking to one of these demi-humans.

Tia shifted, and looked directly at Jacknyfe. Her expression softened, and he could see that just over the half face mask, her eyes shut briefly, indicating a smile. She waved at him before turning her head back to the vendor.

"I can see that," Jacknyfe nodded to the Elder. His respect for this village skyrocketed. Ulquiorra even seemed more positively inclined than before with the humans, for treating them with respect - although he still detected a dislike.

Luckily, the bat man hadn't started calling them trash to their faces.

"He must be holding back for my sake."

The Elder must have noticed the shift and nervously fidgeted and cleared his throat. "Yes, as I was saying...

"To the west of the Slane Theocracy are the Abelion Hills, full of demi-humans and inhumans who are in the middle of a war with a nation even further west, the Holy Roble Kingdom."

"Two religious sects so far, three demi-human locations, a bloodthirsty empire, and a biased representation of a human kingdom with an indecipherable name - at least in the regard of discovering their objectives." He stroked his chin in thought. "I'll leave the demi-human areas and religious sects alone for now. I'll focus on the closest two nations and the nearby forest."

"The Holy Roble Kingdom," continued Eld, unaware of Jacknyfe's internal thoughts, "is currently split in the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. Due to the war straining trade routes, we don't have much further information of their current situations."

Jacknyfe nodded. "Anything else to worry about?"

"One thing," he said, "though we don't really know much about it. The Argland Council Alliance," he pointed north of the Re-Estize. "Dragons are known to be in the region, so I'd recommend steering clear of them unless you're sure you can engage with them diplomatically."

He raised a brow. "Not even aggressively?" he challenged prospectively.

The only answer he needed was the couple instantly paling and sweating bullets, but they answered many negatives on the matter until he could sufficiently calm them.

He concluded the meeting shortly thereafter with the receiving of 1500 copper coins and the following notification:

Information Gathering Event completed!


It was soon after that Jacknyfe and Ulquiorra had extricated themselves from the couple, and before he decided to go over and scold the shark lady for getting distracted from her guard duties, he moved to earn an understanding of Ulquiorra's current mindset with the humans he'd encountered.

"How's your opinion on humans doing?" he asked, and he suddenly hoped he wasn't bringing the impression of a constant monitor over Ulquiorra - he didn't want to appear overbearing.

"My assessment is approaching positive," Ulquiorra began, and Jacknyfe's heart swelled with pride and hope, only to be brought down by the simple following statement:

"But they are still trash."

Jacknyfe internalized his sigh to prevent his displeasure from producing the impression of disapproval; something Ulquiorra would likely translate as an order to instantly change. As stated earlier, Jacknyfe wanted Ulquiorra's personal opinion to be desired, not forced.

"Let's just go see what has Halibel's current interest."

Ulquiorra nodded, and the two began walking across the village square, gathering the attention of a few residents who threw a few cursory greetings to them. Ulquiorra only stared at them as they passed, and to prevent negative influence from building, Jacknyfe replied to them.

After a while, they eventually reached the woman, who was in the middle of a conversation with the vendor he'd spotted earlier - a young man attempting to sell a product to the woman.

"What use would a necklace be for me?"

"It's a beauty accessory! Many women wear accessories to accentuate their beauty!" he answered.

"An object is meant to describe one's wealth, not beauty."

"It can do both," Jacknyfe argued, stepping for them. "How much for the necklace?"

"Uh, 10 copper pieces."

Jacknyfe stuck his hand into his inventory to retrieve the desired amount so quickly it was like he'd spawned the things from black fire. He dropped the ten pieces onto the wood behind and took the purchased object from the awed man.

He approached his pseudo-daughter with the pearl necklace, the small orb carved to be a dolphin of some sort that was unique to this world jumping from the waters.

"The craftsmanship is phenomenal," Jacknyfe commented genuinely as he had Tia - who was wide eyed - stand in front of him sto be given the object. As he placed it on her, he turned to the man. "Who made it?"

"I, uh...I did, sir," he hesitantly replied.

"What's your name?"

"Orco Banely, sir," he answered, straightening himself at the praise, albeit still nervously.

"Where did you acquire the material for this?" Jacknyfe continued, pulling Halibel's hair - the three mini-tails - out from underneath the fine metal links, and patting her shoulders. She spun around so he could scrutinize the look.

"I, uh...sometimes I'll buy from a vendor that passes through here," he said, "He jumps between the Baharuth Empire and the Re-Estize Kingdom to sell products during the annual wars since it increases profit. He always has everything since his twin sons work in those countries as adventurers. I believe his name is Marco Valeat."

"Valeat Twins, hmm?" he hummed, thumbing the necklace Halibel now owned above her bust. He pointedly lifted it as to lower the awkwardness factor. He nodded to her, a silent communication that it did as expected, and the woman bowed.

"Yes, I forget their names," Orco fidgeted, rushing behind his slipshod stall and stumbling his hands over what Jacknyfe suspected to be disorganized objects, before pulling out a thick book, full of rough, yellowed paper - or whatever these peoples' equivalent was - with more sticking out as side notes. He placed the book on his desk and opened it. He thumbed through it quickly.

Halibel bowed out. "I should round up mijas, Mr. Smith. I will be a moment, and as soon as you are ready with Mr. Urquiola, we will leave."

Before should leave, Jacknyfe held an arm out. "Please refrain from utilizing Sonídos, it frightens the villagers."

She bowed again and left, and Jacknyfe turned around to find that Ulquiorra had remained through the hole ordeal, meanwhile only staring at Halibel's retreating form.

"Interested?" Jacknyfe teased, expecting to gain nothing from him.

"She's not my type."

Jacknyfe detected a little heat falling off of him.

Who knew the bat man of all things had a crush on the shark?


End Chapter 7

No Ulquibel. Sorry.


Comments:

Soulbow109: "I don't know about you but a guy wearing black armor calling himself a nomadic merchant sounds pretty suspicious to me. Especially after Jacknyfe said that person was a wandering noble. At least I would certainly feel confused there. Couldn't help but laugh after that comment about Tier being bad at smiling.

On another note, the v1 Apacci felt really OOC to me. While I wouldn't call her an idiot all that calculation didn't seem like her."

Reply: "I think I fixed it a bit by saying personal reasons, but I assure you that a better lie will be reserved for people who can see through the initial one. Also, I changed Ulquiorra's deception a bit, saying that he was a nomadic architect looking to settle down in a city and also having some training in fighting. Also, changed the comment just a tad.

"Yeah, I noticed that, which also coupled with your comment about the Three Beasts fighting, so yeah. Thanks for the comment!"


Dictionary:

Blau: Blau is German for "Blue".

Sangre: Sangre is Spanish for "Blood".

Banely: "Bayn-lee."

Valeat: "Vayl-ee-at."


References:

NieR: Automata: "The actual game. It belongs to Keiichi Okabe, Yoko Taro, and Platinum Games.

"-award winning personality-": Refers to Attack on Titan Abridged by Numbskulls when Jean suggests Annie uses her "award winning personality" to save Eren's Titan form from the Pure Titans.


And now, for the love of God, let the next Fanfiction begin!