Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.
Chapter 11: The Price One Must Pay
Noire kept an impassive look on her face, she wasn't about to give this 'Anonydeath' the satisfaction of seeing her riled up, as she walked up the path walk to the large set of double doors leading into the main area of the warehouse. The red brick path that she walked in was set in the exact median between two long warehouse extensions.
The warehouse was shaped roughly like a horseshoe with a main facility in the center, stretching north south, and two arms that stretched east from the main center. The long east stretching extensions were large, one-story structures that used to house larges crates of console hardware, before the company was bought up by another and storage was moved to a more advanced facility. The main building itself had three stories to it, and was where all the administrative work took place. The white painted concrete walls looked a dull grey, darkened by years of industrial pollution and whatever greenery had been planted on either side of the path had long since withered and died, choked by the smog.
In stark contrast to her dark mood, the sun shone high in a clear blue sky that wasn't choked by smog for once. The temperature was just right, neither too warm, nor too cold, and the few birds that lived in the area could be heard filling the air with their music. A westerly wind gently blew in, carrying with it the scent of trees and flowers, bringing relief to the smog choked air.
The CPU of Lastation stopped just before the large double doors leading inside and took one last deep breath to calm herself before she pushed the doors open and entered the building. The moment she entered the building her communication devices darkened, signalling that something was jamming their ability to send and receive.
She had passed the point of no return.
Making her way across the darkened, concrete floor, Noire headed for the central staircase that led up to the second floor. There had been additional instructions sent her way as she made her way to the warehouse, such as which stairs to take and what room to enter. She had also been instructed to inform her Oracle, Kei, that she would be gone until morning and that nothing was wrong.
She had complied, she had expected as much anyways. This Anonydeath had obviously put too much planning into this entire thing to be thwarted by the curiosity of a worried Oracle.
The second floor was made out of concrete much like the first, this warehouse didn't invest in any form of comfort. It was strictly utilitarian, and as a result seemed cold and dark. It was the perfect hideout for a criminal willing to use a dying person to coerce a CPU to do their bidding.
Noire didn't stop when she reached the designated door, it was too late for second thoughts. She opened the door and headed straight in without any introduction.
The room inside was almost as dark as the rest of the facility. The sole light in the room was provided by the dozens of computer screens that hovered in the air around various floating keyboards and just behind it all was a large server farm.
In sitting in a swivel chair in front of the entire set up was the person she had come here to see, the person who held the life of Lastation's future in his hands: Anonydeath.
"I'm here, now give me Uni's coordinates!" Noire demanded as she stopped in the middle of the room, a few meters back from the villain. She could think of no other term suitable for someone willing to sink to this level, regardless of his affiliation.
Anonydeath slowly turned to face Noire, he had one, long metal clad leg crossed over the other. His arms rested lightly on the arm rests of the chair, one hand hovered just over the two colored buttons, one of which would save Uni's life, and the other would end it.
The brightly colored villain slowly stood up. His tall, powerful form, towering over Noire and for the first Noire realized that Anonydeath wasn't just some run of the mill villain. There was real power and strength to back his intelligence and cunning. She held her ground however, and refused to show any signs of intimidation, even as her neck craned upwards so that she could keep her eyes focused on his face.
"Hm hm hmmmm…" Anonydeath let out a low, chilling chuckle. Noire prepared for the worst. "Oh! Please don't act so cold, sweetie!" the pink robot said in a high pitched voice as he began to wiggle back and forth, "just call me Anonydeath, although I'd prefer it if you called me something cute, like Anny."
Noire almost did a face plant right then and there at the sudden change in mood and atmosphere. She quickly collected her wits and pointed a finger at him, "I'm not going to call you anything but creep! Now release Uni!"
"Oh ho… is that so? Is that any way to talk to someone that holds your dear Uni's life in his hands?" Anonydeath asked, his voice going low and serious again. His finger hovered over the red button, tickling the top of it, so close that an errant sneeze would spell the end of Uni.
"No! Stop!" Noire shouted hurriedly, her finger turned into an outstretched hand begging him to stop.
"Well?"
She let her hands drop to her sides and shook in both anger and humiliation, "f-fine… A-Anny…" There was a light hint of pink on her cheeks as she forced the words out. It was humiliating to be forced to bow to the whims of this creep but she had no choice.
Anonydeath cupped his 'cheeks' in his hands and began wiggling in delight again. "Oh! Such sweet music to my ears!" He suddenly whipped out a small yellow camera and took a picture of Noire's embarrassed, blushing face, "Exclusive! You are just so cute when you're like this, much better in person."
The blush became more pronounced than before, "don't think you can distract me! You said you'd release Uni if I came here!" Noire said as she tried hard to fight down the blush.
"Yes, I did say that, however…"
"Don't you DARE go back on our deal or I'll tear you apart!"
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of that, sweetie," Anonydeath said as he began to type on the keyboard to his right without even looking. A screen moved away from the others and settled in front of Noire. "But I need to insurance that you simply won't run away after I give you Uni's coordinates."
"What insurance?!"
"Read."
Noire read over the screen in front of her. On it was an agreement, a binding one even for CPUs, that guaranteed that she would stay here, with Anonydeath, and be subjected to whatever whims he so desired until sunrise of the next day. In exchange Anonydeath would hand over to Noire the coordinates of Uni's whereabouts.
There were two things missing from it that prevented her from immediately agreeing to it.
"Uni needs medical treatment, if I stay here until morning, she'll die, and what guarantee do I have that you won't kill me if I agree to whatever your whims are?" If she accepted this agreement she would almost certainly be forced to go through with whatever was written there, even if she didn't like what it was being asked of her. She didn't know how someone like him could get a hold of a contract like this, usually only the CPUs could create these types of agreements, and only in respect to their own citizens.
"Kill you? Oh my dear, lovely Noire, I would never dream of such a thing. You're far too cute and fun to tease to get rid of. I plan to watch you for many years to come!"
She had to bite back a retort. There were so many things wrong with those words that she didn't even know where to begin, but at the same time she wasn't in a position to snap back at him. If only Uni wasn't held hostage she'd cut him apart and have the pieces hauled off to jail. But he sounded sincere, and while that worried her about the future, it reassured her about the present.
"And Uni?"
"I'll let you make one phone call, just one, and I'll be monitoring it. You can let your Oracle know about Uni's position and have her pick her up."
"I want that in the agreement!"
"Fine, fine, you can be such a prude sometimes, but I like that about you as well," Anonydeath said as he modified the agreement.
Noire read it over a second time and noticed that there were two changes to it, one swearing that Anonydeath would do nothing to her that would risk her life, and the other allowing her to inform Kei, and only Kei, about Uni's whereabouts. It also restricted what she could say to Kei.
That was fine, Uni would live, she would live, Lastation would survive.
She signed the agreement, her delicate fingers danced over the touch screen.
"There! I signed your stupid agreement, now give me Uni!" Noire snapped up at the giant robot.
"Of course I am a man of my word, or something like that," Anonydeath said as he reached over and pressed the blue button.
A signal was beamed from his systems across the wireless network to Noire's own. She knew where Uni was now. It was actually the basement of a small house situated rather close to the Basilicom, and almost next door to a hospital. Anonydeath had apparently anticipated her acceptance of his conditions.
And the interference preventing her from contacting anyone outside the warehouse was gone now as well. She pulled a communication device from her pocket and placed it in her ear and dialed home to the Basilicom, specifically the direct line she had with Kei.
It didn't take long for Kei to answer. She was nothing if not punctual. "Is there something I can do for you, Noire?" Kei's voice floated into her ear over the communication line.
Noire hesitated for a brief moment. She had the Kei on the line right now. A single word from her could bring the entire military might of Lastation down on this warehouse in an instant and have Anonydeath arrested for his role in Uni's captivity. Breaking the agreement would be considered a black mark against Lastation and have serious economic repercussions in the future such as making it very difficult, if not impossible, to get businesses and corporations to sign agreements with her or invest in Lastation.
And even if she did shout for help, he still had that red button, and he could just as quickly send the coordinates to this 'Spybore' if she broke her end of the agreement. It also didn't sit well with her. This Anonydeath may be holding Uni captive, but he wasn't the one that had kidnapped her, or hurt her. In fact he wasn't even interested in her beyond her ability to get Noire to obey him for a day.
And if this CFW Brave had been on the verge of delivering Uni onto certain death then in a very real sense, Noire had Anonydeath to thank for Uni still being alive, still being in a position where Uni could be helped.
Her hesitation lasted only an instant, too quickly for anyone to suspect what was going on in her mind. She sent the coordinates to her Oracle and didn't call for help, "Kei, a villain named CFW Brave kidnapped Uni. I found her coordinates. Unfortunately I'm going to be stuck where I am until morning as payment for the information. I need you to pick her up, and bring a medical team with you." Her decision was made, there was no backing out now, but a little insurance of her own was needed. "If Uni isn't there, come get me." She had to stop herself from saying rescue. She glanced up at Anonydeath who appeared to be unconcerned by her last minute addition.
"Right, I have the place located, I'll head there myself. Do you have any idea of her condition?" If Kei knew, then she could bring with her the appropriate medical response teams.
"Critical." Critical meant that if Uni didn't get immediate medical attention, she was going to die.
"…" the line was silent for a few long seconds before Kei responded, "I'll make sure to dig up every ounce of information we have on CFW Brave and have it ready for you when you return in the morning."
"Good, I want that monster found," Noire said and ended the call. She pulled the communicator out of her ear and placed it back in her pocket. No sooner had she done that than the communications jamming came back in full force. "You better not have lied to me." She wasn't going to suffer through whatever it is he had planned for her if the coordinates he had given her were wrong.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that, my sweetie," Anonydeath said in a high-pitched sing-song voice. "She's there."
"She better be, now what do you want," Noire demanded. She wanted to get this done and over with. Perhaps she'd be let go early if she blew through every one of his requests as quickly as possible.
"I think you might enjoy this almost as much as I will," Anonydeath said as he snapped his fingers. Instantly dozens of screens appeared around the two of them. Each one had a large, blown up image of Noire cosplaying a different anime or game character.
"AHHH!" Noire screamed in surprise as she looked about wildly. She couldn't believe she was seeing images of her most private and closely guarded secret on display all around her. Not even Kei knew that she cosplayed in secret. "Wh-wh-why do you have all these!?"
"Why wouldn't I? Oh, to watch my lovely Noire in secret is such a delight!"
Noire quivered in anger, he may have saved Uni, but he was still a creepy peeping tom! She wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face and throw him behind bars for the rest of his life but she forced herself to calm down. The agreement bound her to obey him so long as he upheld his part of the bargain, and thus far he had.
"So, you just want me to cosplay for you? Is that it?!"
"Such raw, exclusive in person footage! Oh such delight!" Anonydeath began to shake with happiness. "I have gone ahead and acquired quite the selection of costumes for you to try on." He snapped his fingers and a door that had been hidden before now slid open to reveal rows upon rows of cosplay costumes.
Noire's eyes widened in absolute horror at what she saw hanging in there. Her face turned beat red and steam started to pour from her ears. "Y-Y-You can't be serious!"
"I am quite serious. I bought them from some mysterious person over in Planeptune, slightly used, but quite serviceable. I made sure to wash them first. I can't let my lovely Noire be defiled by some other woman's bodily fluids."
"B-But some of them are missing pieces of their costume!" Like the cat girl costume that had no bottom! And she didn't even want to think too hard on how the tail remained attached.
"I know," Anonydeath's voice wasn't nearly as playful as it was before.
A cold shiver ran down Noire's spine. It was only early afternoon, she had to do this until sunrise the next day. Suddenly she wasn't quite so certain about her decision anymore.
"Now, let's begin."
Noire swallowed hard as Anonydeath brought out the first 'costume.'
x~X~x
The snow clearing services, a complex system of nano-machines under Blanc's direct control, in Lowee made sure the road was cleared enough for pedestrians to walk unimpeded, but elsewhere snow could be seen. It was never very deep within the confines of Lowee, Blanc made sure of that, but there was enough to give everything a beautiful white snow cap.
It was snowing lightly, large, fat snowflakes danced through the sky before softly settling on the ground, joining the light dusting on the ground. Despite the weather it was a nice day, a little on the cool side, but few in Lowee noticed the temperature unless it got warm enough to melt the snow, which never happened.
If it got too deep, the snow clearing services dealt with it, bringing it down to a manageable size.
Blanc slowly made her way up the snow covered street that led from the entrance of Lowee all the way to the front gates of the Basilicom. Hawkers and shop keepers of all kinds lined the street, some were in stalls while others owned stores. Since it was the main thoroughfare through Lowee it saw the most traffic, and presented the most number of opportunities to sell wares.
She was heading back to the Basilicom after another fruitless day of searching. It would be her last day searching. She'd just have to rely on Mina from here on out. There were too many things going on for her to be wandering around out here and not at home taking care of business. Her projects were falling behind as well, and she hadn't been able to read a good story in days.
But before she returned she needed to pick something up from a street vendor that normally tried to sell her wares here. Blanc's eyes darted from stall to stall as she searched for the individual, the stalls weren't often in the same place, the vendors jockeyed for position every day; the closer to the Basilicom the better.
Her sharp eyes picked out the vendor just a bit ahead of her: A small girl that looked no more than eleven but had to be far, standing on a stool so that she could see over the counter where her wares were located. She had chocolate brown eyes and short cropped hair of the same color. One of the most notable features about the young girl was the giant white bunny cap on her head. Blanc could almost make out her dress, a light blue with princess-puff sleeves and ruffled lining. Oddly enough there was a brown belt with a gold buckle around her neck, instead of her waist, and a large pocket in the front of it, which was usually filled with an assortment of vials and potions. The outfit came complete with a pair of plain brown boots and white, rabbit themed gloves.
Behind the small, young girl was a large cauldron with a small stick, poking up from the top of it. Beside the cauldron was a large table with a wide assortment of ingredients and materials of all kinds. Blanc didn't even know what half of them were, and she had lived long enough to become familiar with just about everything the world had to offer.
The young girl's face lit up as Blanc approached her stall, "Ah, hello friend Blanc, did medicine work good?" she asked in a light, cheerful tone.
Blanc stopped at the stall and looked over her products for a brief moment before answering, "Yes, thank you, Gust."
Gust seemed surprised, and at the same time genuinely happy, "Oh, that's good, Gust happy. Experimental procedure so unsure of results."
Blanc ignored that 'experimental procedure' comment, that was just the way Gust was, and no one made medicine as good as her, no one even came close. "Do you have more?" Blanc felt she'd need more before the week was out. Her headaches from working long into the night weren't easily cured by standard medicine.
"Oh yes, plenty, not cheap, materials very valuable," Gust said with a happy smile on her face, "gave experimental discount last time. Consolation in case of fatal accident."
A sweat drop rolled down the back of her head. She'd have to be more careful when ordering new medicine from Gust in the future, get one of her guards to try it out first. "Price doesn't matter, it's a government expense, can't work if I can't think."
Dollar signs appeared in Gust's eyes and she rubbed her hands together gleefully, "that good to know, fifty thousand credits each."
Blanc jerked in surprise and her eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets. "Are you frickin crazy! They were only fifty credits last time!" she snapped at the small young girl angrily.
"Experimental discount, sold at great loss, needs recoup."
Blanc twitched and jerked as she reined in her anger. Getting angry at Gust wouldn't help. She'd just charge more and tack on some other ridiculous charge such as handling or delivery. "Fine, I want four bottles," she muttered quietly and placed her hand on a scanner. Her biometrics were read and two hundred thousand credits were charged to Lowee.
"Good doing business, Gust thanks you." Gust looked behind Blanc and tilted her head, "You have children following," she said with a curious look in her eyes.
"Huh?" Blanc said in confusion as she whirled around to look at what had caught Gust's attention.
There, across the street, partially hidden behind a small pile of snow between stalls, were a pair of girls, twins from the looks of it, and one of them was partially hidden behind the other. They both had blue eyes and straight brown hair, the hair of the girl in front was long and went down to the middle of her back while the other girl, the one hiding behind the first, only had shoulder length hair. They both wore winter jackets over plain gray and white overall dresses. One jacket was a pastel pink, while the other was a pastel blue. The jackets had puffed sleeves and a frilled center part with many golden buttons, a collar with a big bow and six puffballs strategically placed. At the ends of the cuff is white fur lining and a big golden button. Both of them were wearing caps like Blanc's and had boots resembling their jackets.
Both of them were looking at her. The one out front had a hesitant but confident look on her face while the one half hidden behind her looked shy and nervous.
Blanc felt like she had just been struck by lightning. She had spent this entire time looking for someone to match the Nepgear of Planeptune without any luck and here they suddenly appeared out of the blue just as she was about to give up. They had to be the ones, not only did they look the part, they felt the part. Of course she had her pride to think so she had to do this just right. She wasn't going to go rushing over there…
A pair of arms reached out from the alley behind the girls and grabbed them from behind. The two shrieked in terror and were yanked out of sight.
The street went dead silent.
"That not good," Gust noted nervously, "Gust should hide someplace."
"DAMN IT!" Blanc snarled in anger and shot across the street. She activated her HDD and transformed in mid-charge. Her white dress disappeared and was replaced with a skin tight white bodysuit with blue and black accents. The bodysuit covered most of her legs and arms as well, leaving just her shoulders, underarms, and upper thighs bare. A pair of steel gauntlets appeared around her hands and boots around her feet. Her eyes changed to a brilliant red and her hair changed to a bright cyan with very long bangs.
She reached the other side of the street within seconds and shot between the stalls into the alleyway beyond. "LET GO OF those…" Blanc trailed off and came to a stop, hovering just inside the entrance.
The two girls were sitting side by side in the snow, their legs sprawled out, looking very confused. Whoever had grabbed them was nowhere to be seen.
That knocked the wind out of Blanc's sails in an instant. With the twins alright, and no one in sight, it was hard to remain furious for long. She dropped to the ground and reverted back to her human form. "Are you two alright?" Blanc asked softly as she made her way over to the two of them.
"Ah, yes," the short haired girl said shyly.
"Of course! S-Something like this doesn't faze me!" the other one said with a grin on her face, although Blanc could tell that it was a struggle to keep it in place.
"That's good," Blanc said as she knelt down in front of the two, "who grabbed you?"
"I dunno, we were yanked in here but then we heard a scream and whoever yanked us got yanked themselves," the long haired girl said with a helpless shrug. "But never mind that! Feed us!"
Blanc blinked in surprise,
"Ah, Ram, ask nicely," the short haired girl told her twin.
Ram looked over at her twin and gave her a grin, "oh don't worry about that Rom, you're too nice, that NPC dude person said we could just demand whatever we wanted from the old lady."
"I AM NOT OLD!" Blanc snapped angrily at the two of them.
"But he said you're over four hundred… that's old right? I think it's old, I don't know what's past two hundred and fifty six."
A vein began to throb on the side of Blanc's head. The little girl, Ram, was right, she was old, she was the oldest living person aside from Histoire, but that didn't mean she liked having it rubbed in her face. When she found that NPC person she was going to give him a piece of her mind.
Twin growls suddenly echoed off the walls of the alley. The short haired girl, Rom, rubbed her stomach and gave her sister a painful look, "Ram, I'm hungry…"
Blanc's heart melted right then and there, she gathered the two girls up in her arms and held them tightly, "come, Rom, Ram, I'm hungry too, let's go get something to eat."
Rom started to sniffle and tears began to leak from her eyes, "thank you," she said softly and buried her face in Blanc's chest.
Tears began to leak from Ram's eyes as well, "stop, Rom, don't start crying, you'll make me cry too." She sobbed as she buried her face into Blanc's chest as well.
Blanc just held them tight, she didn't know what the two had been through before they had found her, but now that she had them in her arms, she realized they were really thin, too thin for someone of their age. They must have gone hungry for some time.
"Don't worry, I have lots of warm food, let's go," Blanc said as she slowly stood up, bringing the girls with her. She slowly made her way from the alley with an arm held protectively around each girl.
She had found her future, Lowee's future, but first, she needed to make sure that future got fed properly. She fixated her gaze on the Basilicom in the distance.
It was time to return with all due haste.
~o~
CRACK!
"GUH!"
The wall of the alley cracked as a small body slammed into it with bone breaking force.
It was an alleyway several over from the one that Blanc had rescued Ram and Rom from. Like the rest of Lowee, it was a beautiful, picturesque place, marred only by the flecks of blood that dotted the fresh snow.
"W-Who are you?" a whiny, female voice demanded fearfully.
"Do you honestly think I'd tell a pathetic worm like you, Linda?" a deep, angry voice retorted.
"Pathetic worm! I'm a great villain! You're just a shadowy outline of a character because you're too unimportant for the story to care about!" Linda snapped back at the random NPC. She knew it was a random NPC because of his lack of description, and the title above his form: Random NPC 60173.
Pieces of the wall she had been slammed into tumbled off her back as she picked herself up off the ground. Linda was a pasty, light grey-skinned female with lime-green hair, red eyes, and pointed ears. She wore a dark grey and black mouse costume with black military boots and black gloves. The mouse costume was opened at the front to reveal a pierced belly button and a tiny strapless bikini top.
The grey outline of a boot slammed into Linda's stomach and hurled her into the wall again. There was another loud boom and the cracks spread even more.
"Damn it! You don't know who you're dealing with!" Linda growled as she pushed herself from the wall.
A grey outline of a hand grabbed her by the face and slammed her roughly back into the wall. Linda grabbed onto the wrists and gasped in surprise when she realized she couldn't budge his arm. She was held in a grip far more powerful than anything she could hope of breaking.
And then to her horror the grey shadowy outline began to dissolve to reveal someone that was very much NOT a random NPC. Blood red eyes glowed malevolently from within a darkened face framed by vibrant, short cut, spiky green hair. Strapped to his back was an elegant and deadly looking double-bladed spear. He wore a powerful looking black breastplate of some unknown material that stuck to his frame like a second skin, showing off an incredible set of abdominal muscles. His arms were bare save for a pair of elbow length black gloves and a pair of grey bracers used to ward off weapons. Around his waist was a black belt with a dark purple gem inset in the center of it. The belt tucked in a loose black skirt with purple trimmings that went down to his boots. The skirt was opened at the front to show that he beneath it he was wearing leg armor of the same material as his breastplate. On his feet was a pair of black army boots.
"W-Who are you?!" Linda asked fearfully. The name tag still said Random NPC 60173, and that fact terrified Linda almost as much as his appearance. This was an individual that could be anyone, or anything. He couldn't just impersonate someone; he could cross the boundaries between descriptive and non-descriptive. He could overwrite and subvert the very laws of Gamindustri!
In a way he was almost as terrifying as her boss.
"I will ask the questions here, not you," the mysterious man snarled angrily, "why are there so many of you after the twins?" This would make the third villain to go after them. First CFW Trick, then CFW Magic, and now Linda? While Linda and Trick obviously followed Magic's instructions, she wasn't being true to her nature, which meant someone was ordering her around.
Linda was now quivering in fear, the pressure the man was exuding was unbelievable, it made her think of her boss, but she knew it wasn't him. "I-I-I-I…"
"If you don't answer me properly…" the grip on Linda's face tightened.
"N-no! I-I'll answer!" The grip loosened, "I was just doing what I was told to do! Honest! The boss is a really scary person, we don't dare say no, he can squash us all like bugs in an instant."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I-I don't know why! He just wants the CPU Candidates dead and the Sharicite Crystals stolen! He doesn't tell us anything!"
The mysterious individual tsked in annoyance. Typical super villain personality, always keeping things hidden. "Then one last question. Who?"
"I don't remember exactly… I only overheard it kinda. I-It was Spy… something or—"
"Spybore…" the man interrupted her, spitting the word out like it was poison.
"Y-Ya! That's it!"
A roar of anger and rage erupted from his throat. Lowee rocked and shook as his power exploded from his body for an instant. Liquid splashed across his face and arm. A pillar of light pierced the heavens and blew away the dark clouds that hovered above the city, bringing with it a momentary period of light. He clenched his jaw and reined his power in. He still needed to interrogate Linda about the location of…
His thoughts stopped for a moment as he focused on Linda once more, or rather where she had once been. The snow around him was rapidly darkening as Linda's headless body pumped litres of blood from the gaping wound. What was left of Linda's head was splattered across the wall and himself.
He growled in annoyance, "how annoying." Humans were so fragile, now he had no lead to go on. He had already arranged for 'Mina' to be exposed. CFW Magic wouldn't be in Lowee for much longer and he didn't feel like trying to hunt her down. She could be very elusive when necessary and there was no guarantee he could even make her talk, or that she wouldn't just spout nonsense just to save her life, she wasn't easily cowed like Linda.
The best way to do it would be to locate one of the Sharicite Crystals, and lure some villains there so he could interrogate them at length. He knew where Lastation's crystal was, he could leak that information to whoever Spybore had snooping around down there.
An alarm bell went off in his head as he sensed someone powerful heading towards him very quickly. His gaze whipped to the northeast, it had to be Blanc, drawn here by his accidental display of power. He needed to get out of here before she arrived. She'd definitely demand answers he wasn't prepared to give.
And he'd hate to have to kill her to keep his presence a secret after he had gone through all that trouble to setting her up with Rom and Ram.
The light around him bent and twisted and suddenly he was nothing more than a shadowy outline again. He placed a hand against the wall opposite of Linda's smeared head and injected a bit of code into it, changing it from a solid wall into a door. He opened it and hurried inside. The moment he shut the door the natural code took over and returned the wall back to what it once was.
Just in time as well as he sensed Blanc fly down into the alley where he had just been.
"What the hell!?" Blanc's distinct voice was audible even through the thick wall.
He shook his head and glanced south, it was time to head to Lastation. He had a date to schedule.
~o~
The alley quickly filled up as the Investigative Unit combed over every inch of the alley and Special Forces unit stood guard around Blanc. The investigative unit was a special branch of Blanc's law enforcement that delved into figuring out the when, why, how, and whatever else they could about various crime scenes. The Special Forces was an elite force of body guards that didn't normally see much action. They served two purposes, protecting Blanc from hidden threats, or being used as a hidden threat to deal with situations that could be made known publicly.
They were different from the standard city guard, like the ones currently stationed around the alley cordoning it off from the regular citizens, and the royal guard that served as the 'normal' defence force for the Basilicom. They were the units that actually got shit done. Each individual in the unit was at least level thirty and were a credible threat to anyone outside of the CPU's themselves.
The headless corpse on the ground was a big enough incident to warrant both units arriving. While Blanc couldn't say that her city was a perfect paradise where crime never happened, rarely did someone have their head blown into bloody chunks and splattered across an entire alley way. That alone warranted the arrival of the investigative unit to figure out exactly what happened.
It was the surge of power, however, that brought the Special Forces. There wasn't a single person in Lowee that hadn't felt it and while Blanc had rushed here right away with a single minded purpose of figuring out what the source was, she had to admit to herself, at least in the very depths of her mind, that she didn't want to find out what the source was..
Whoever had been here had been immensely powerful, far more powerful than even she during the height of her power when she was the sole CPU in Gamindustri, more powerful than anyone she could ever remember.
It frightened her, a little, and that made her upset, angry, and wanting for answers.
Blanc gnashed her teeth as she stared down at her people combing over alley, a low growl escaped her throat. "Damn it! You have to have found something by now!" she snapped angrily. She wanted to smash something, but everything needed to be left intact as 'evidence' and she couldn't go back to Rom and Ram until she had at least SOMETHING to go on. So instead she just floated there in her HDD form with the head of her giant axe resting on the ground beneath her fuming impotently.
One of the members jerked a little, the female head of this particular unit, and slowly rose to her feet. She turned to face Blanc and swallowed nervously, "Ah, yes Lady White Heart. We have determined, from our investigation so far, that the victim, ah, seems to have had their head blown off."
Blanc gave the woman a long, cold stare that made her, and everyone around her, sweat nervously.
After making the woman sweat for a time Blanc raised a hand and pointed at the headless corpse, "No shit, what frickin gave that away? The damn corpse without a head or the chunks of BRAIN splattered across THE FRICKIN WALL!?" The poor woman was a quivering ball of flesh on the ground by the time Blanc finished her tirade. Blanc was well known for her explosive anger and while she had never actually lashed out at any of her own people because of it, it didn't make them any less scared when she did erupt.
"Whoever did it was a man, tall too, almost six feet in height, and very powerful from the looks of it," a new light feminine voice picked up from the side.
Blanc turned to look at the new source of information. It was another woman, who looked almost identical to the first save that the insignia on her coat indicated that she was a subordinate of the first.
"And how did you determine that? By pulling shit out of your ass?" Blanc snapped angrily.
"By the shape of the splatter marks on the opposite wall," the woman said nervously, licking her suddenly dry lips. It was remarkable that she managed to keep that much composure in the face of her Goddess' anger. "The victim was held up against the wall when killed, the blood stains all radiate out from this spot," the woman poked a singular point on the wall, "when someone is held up it's either to bring them up to eye level, or to raise them high above, however the splatter stains on the far wall," she pointed to the wall behind Blanc causing everyone to turn and look, noticing for the first time additional bloodstains, "suggests that it was the former, and the individual was bringing them up to eye level, perhaps for intimidation or questioning. What's more the clean section directly behind the explosion of blood closely matches with the typical outline of a male, although there are some discrepancies suggesting that it could be a male with a unique description, something that is almost unheard of. The size of the foot prints in the snow, and the depths at which they have sunk into it, also suggest that it was a large, unique male. The standard ones don't have their own unique set of treads."
"ANSWERS! Finally…" Blanc said in relief and turned back to the second woman, "you're in charge now." She looked down at the first, the failure that had done nothing save state the obvious, "and you, go find a new profession."
There was a whimper from the first as the guards grabbed her by the arms and escorted her from the crime scene. Now that Blanc had stripped her title from her she had no right belonging there. Being the sole, authoritative power in a nation had its benefits, and its downsides.
"There also seems to be something odd with this wall here," the new head of the investigative unit said as she brushed her hand against a section of the wall opposite of the brain stained wall.
Blanc turned to the newly promoted individual and gave her a questioning look, "what do you mean?"
"Well, the rest of the alleyway is old, you can see small stains of dirt and grime, marks from cleaning and scuffles, but this part of the wall right here, looks brand new, and it's in the exact shape of a door."
Now THAT was interesting. Blanc was already certain she'd made the right choice to promote her and dismiss the other, "I see," she said as she floated over to her. She raised a fist and slammed it through the wall, knocking it out and revealing a room beyond, a room that had wet foot prints on the floor. "Find him, whoever he is, but don't try to capture him." He'd likely be too powerful for them anyways even if they tried, "and get back to me at the Basilicom. I want to have a word with him. I have something I need to take care of elsewhere."
"Yes, Lady White Heart," the new head of the investigative unit said as she bowed before her Goddess.
Blanc nodded in satisfaction and took off into the air. The Special Forces disappeared into the shadows with her departure. Their only task was to serve as her personal shield and sword and didn't belong there without her presence.
She rocketed across the city, heading to a small inn near the main road. She hadn't enough time to make it all the way back to the Basilicom before the explosion of power had erupted. Instead she had entrusted Gust with Ram and Rom until she had investigated the cause of the explosion. Gust was one of the few trustworthy people in Lowee, at least one of the few that Blanc trusted anyways.
She was thrifty and often overcharged for her goods, but she had a good heart, and that meant a lot. The only thing Blanc worried about as she made her way to the inn was how much Rom and Ram had managed to charge to her account in the time she was away.
Not that she couldn't afford it, but Mina would never let her hear the end of it if she spent a fortune on nick-knacks that didn't benefit Lowee as a whole.
She dropped out of her HDD form as she landed in front of the inn and made her way inside. There wasn't much to comment about it, it was your stock average inn with wood walls, a large fire place, countless round tables with chairs positioned around them, some were filled, some were knocked over, some broken over the heads of drunken idiots that got too touchy feely with the waitresses.
The proprietor of the bar jerked in surprise as he watched Blanc enter, he knew who she was, everyone did, so he didn't bother her in the slightest as she made her way through the main room and up the stairs. If she wanted to speak with him, she would, otherwise he'd mind his own business and let her do what she wanted.
It was safer for his inn that way, less chances of him having to replace a wall in the future.
Blanc found the room easily enough. Ram had a very distinct voice that was easy to pick out even through closed doors. She opened the door and walked in without knocking like she owned the place, which she technically did. She owned all of Lowee and rented out land and space to its residents. It ensured a steady stream of revenue.
The room was the classic inn room, cheap, barely furnished, and not kept very well. There was a small side table beside a wooden bed with a single lumpy mattress. Aside from that there was only a short table in the center of the room and a wooden dresser propped up against one of the walls. There were no candles or sources of light beyond what the small window inset in the outside wall provided. Gust had said she was fine with it, it was cheap, and allowed her to focus her money on her projects instead of her rent.
Gust was sitting on the right side of the table, her legs stretched out under it, with her body twisted as she pawed through a large bag at her side. The clinking Blanc could hear indicated that there was a lot of glassware, or other fragile items, therein. On the table was four plates of food, three of which were emptied, two were completely licked clean as if their owners had been ravenously hungry.
It didn't take a genius like Blanc to figure out that the two cleaned plates belonged to Rom and Ram, both of whom were on their feet and holding unique and interesting looking staves in their hands. Rom held on to her staff tightly with both hands, hugging it to her chest, while Ram waved hers around above her head without a care in the world.
"Ah, welcome back, Blanc," Rom greeted Blanc shyly as she entered the room, she was the first to notice her.
Blanc noticed Gust let out a sigh of relief and quickly hid something back inside her bag. There were some nervous sweat drops on her forehead that she quickly brushed away, but Blanc took notice of them.
Ram stopped waving her staff around when her sister drew her attention to Blanc. A huge smile appeared on her face. "Hey, hey! Do you see this?" Ram asked Blanc excitedly as she ran up to the CPU. "It's a powerful magic staff! I'm so going to beat up all the bad guys with this!"
"Yes, it… looks nice," Blanc said quietly and gave Gust an inquisitive look, it was obvious that the two got them from her.
"Dangerous outside, needs protection from bad guys," Gust explained with a slight shrug of her shoulders. The little alchemist pointed at the staff in Rom's hands, "Staff of Arland, good for defense," she gestured towards Ram's staff, "Staff of Dusk, good for offense."
"And expensive," Blanc added, noting their unique design. Something that looked that unique, and felt that powerful, had to cost a fair bit of money.
"Of course, must make profit on venture, lots of risks obtaining staves," Gust said with a smile, agreeing with Blanc's statement. She waved her hand though, as if trying to alleviate her concern, "but no worries, already charged Lowee, you had funds necessary for purchase."
Blanc swallowed hard, almost dreading the answer to her next question, "how much?' she didn't want to know, she really didn't, but she had to know so she could figure out just how large a dent in her piggy bank this was.
Gust had a bright smile on her face. "Threw in bulk discount, only one million each."
"GURK!"
Blanc trembled, a tiny stream of blood leaked out of her mouth and down the side of her face as she bit her tongue hard enough to make it bleed. It was taking all her will power not to belt out a long string of profanities.
Two million credits, gone, just like that, in an instant. Combined that with the two-hundred thousand from earlier and she had just wiped out an entire month worth of revenue in a single day.
Mina was going to flay her alive with her tongue when she got word of this.
"Then there were accessories…" Gust continued, holding one hand with the other and using her fingers like she was ticking things off a list.
"See my cool new bracelet?" Ram asked as she proudly showed off a gold bracelet studded with countless precious gems.
A second stream of blood joined the first, this time dribbling out of the other side of her mouth.
"Accessories precious, five hundred thousand credits each…"
Another million, gone, just like that.
"Aren't my matching anklets awesome? They let me jump higher!" Ram said as she happily showed off a pair of anklets around her ankles. Rom had a matching pair around her own ankles.
Make that three million, over four million in total, gone. That was two months' worth of revenue…
"And then there was legendary book of ice magic…" Gust went on.
Blanc fainted.
x~X~x
Morning of the next day…
Noire rested against the back of the elevator as it made its way to the top of the Basilicom where her sanctuary was. Her head was tilted back against the side of the elevator, her eyes closed with one hand covered them while the other dangled limply at her side.
It was over, the nightmare she had to endure was over and she was finally home, safe and sound. What she wouldn't do for a large bottle of alcohol, some painkillers, and that bottle of contraceptives she threw away, just in case.
Technically it wasn't possible to get pregnant from what she had been forced to endure, but everything considered, she wouldn't put it past Gamindustri to pull a fast one on her just to watch her suffer some more. Because she knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, after what Anonydeath had done to her, that Gamindustri was indeed out to get her. There was simply no other way life could be so cruel to her otherwise.
And those costumes had been 'gently used' as well. That meant there was someone else out there that had been forced to endure the same pain as her. She was going to make it her mission in life, a side one of course, to hunt down the sick, sadistic bastard that made those clothes and force whoever it was to wear them as well. And then she was going to take pictures, lots and lots of pictures, and forever shame and humiliate them in front of the entire world.
There was a soft ding as the elevator reached the top floor but Noire's mind didn't hear it, so lost in her thoughts of revenge and suffering.
Well, regardless it was over now, and so long as those pictures and videos Anonydeath had taken of her never reached the masses, she'd survive. Although Noire was well aware that Anonydeath now had an incalculable amount of blackmail material to use against her, but he was also aware that should they ever reach the public he wouldn't live long enough to see the resultant worldwide reaction. Noire would personally hunt him down and make sure of that.
She shifted and shivered as a chill ran up her spine. While some of the costumes had been 'gently used' some had obviously been used a great deal more than the rest and she was suffering as a result of that. At least no one would ever find out about THAT bit. She had made sure to conceal that no how uncomfortable the walk back to the Basilicom had been.
But at least Uni was safe, or at least she was assuming so since Kei hadn't come to her rescue. If Kei had not come then it meant the information Anonydeath had provided had been genuine. He was, if nothing else, faithful when it came to upholding his end of the agreement.
Which, despite what he had forced her to endure, still placed him ahead of half the people she dealt with on a regular basis. Many of the corporations she had regular dealings with tried every single underhanded tactic they could to get one over her. Had she been in any of their grasps things would have ended far worse for her.
"NOIRE!"
She was jerked from her thoughts by the sudden shout. In front of her, in the elevator, was her Oracle, Kei, looking at her with concern etched on her face. Noire started in surprise, she had reached the top floor without even realizing it, and had apparently worried her Oracle to no end.
"A-Ah, sorry, j-just… thinking," Noire said as she tried to reassure her Oracle that everything was alright.
It didn't work. "Is everything alright, Lady Noire?" Kei asked, concern even more evident in her voice than before. Kei was far more perceptive than anyone else which was one of the main reasons Noire had actually picked her to be her Oracle, of course in times like this it was a little inconvenient.
"Ah, yes, I-I am," Noire said hesitantly. If she had to be honest she was still a little dazed after what had happened to her.
Kei frowned, she didn't like the condition her CPU was in. She had been ordered not to interfere while Noire was engaging in the business transaction, and she hadn't, but nothing prevented her from going there after the fact. Kei was definitely going to take a squad of Lastation's best and scour that place from top to bottom to see if she could pick up any leads on who did this to Noire.
Just like Kei knew Noire too well for her to hide anything, Noire knew Kei, she knew that look on her face. "You don't need to go check," Noire said hastily as she tried to halt Kei's plans to go back and check things over. "Everything is fine, besides, that perverted creep is probably long gone by now."
"Perverted creep?" Kei asked, an eyebrow raised curiously.
"N-Nevermind that!" Noire stammered as she fought down a new wave of blushing that threatened to spread across her face. She didn't want to be forced to remember any of the details that'd happened to her. "Did you find Uni?"
Kei sighed and let it go, if Noire was being this defensive it must have been bad enough that she didn't want even her to know what had happened. "We found Uni, right where you said she'd be," she said as she stepped backwards, out of the elevator and turned to the door at the back of the room, "it was close, had we reached her much later we would have lost her. She's resting now in the one of your spare rooms. Between our doctors and Planeptune's state of the art medicine, she's expected to make a full recovery."
"Good, I want to see Uni for myself," Noire said and stepped out of the elevator, letting the door close behind her. She gingerly made her way across the room, making sure each step was as soft and light as possible. Each step still sent a shiver up her spine that she had to work hard to suppress. There was no way she would admit that it was starting to feel good.
"Are you sure you're alright, Lady Noire?" Kei asked as she fell into step beside her CPU. Anyone could see that she was walking differently than normal, a lot different. It was almost as if someone had taken her purity...
But no, that was impossible. There was no way Noire would ever let someone take her chastity from her. It was unthinkable that she would give it up for anyone… anyone except perhaps Uni.
Kei shook her head, banishing those thoughts from her mind.
"I'm…" Noire wanted to say fine, but she wasn't. She was anything but, but did she dare admit that to Kei? She trusted Kei, of course, she wasn't one to spill secrets like Neptune or cause a scene. In fact, of everyone Noire knew, Kei was probably the most trustworthy to keep her secrets, well, a secret.
And she needed help, she had tried to solve her issue herself and had simply made it worse in the process.
Noire stopped at her desk and let out an annoyed grumble. She'd have to ask for help. Uni was the only other person she'd trust with this and she did not want Uni to see her in this condition. This needed to be resolved before she met with her.
She turned to Kei and rested her fists on her hips as she gave Kei an even look, "You must not speak of this to anyone!"
"Of course, Lady Noire," Kei replied with a bow. She knew there was something wrong, she'd keep it a secret of course, she cared about Lastation's reputation, and Noire's, almost as much as Noire did.
"I-I wouldn't be asking this normally b-but the situation has escaped beyond my ability to control!"
"Of course, Lady Noire."
"I-I mean, if I had enough time, I could obviously fix it myself, b-but I need to see Uni quickly and…"
"I understand, Lady Noire, how can I help?" Kei asked, cutting her CPU off. If she didn't Noire would probably go on for the next ten minutes justifying her request for Kei's help.
Noire bit her lip as she stared at Kei for a long moment before finally nodding her head. "Alright, you better not speak of t-this to anyone, you hear!" she stated firmly and turned her back to Kei. She reached under her skirt and pulled the panties down to her ankles and bent over the desk, sticking her bare rear end into the air.
Kei blinked in surprise and a nervous bead of sweat dripped down the side of her head. She stepped up behind Noire and looked over her rear end carefully. From the outside it looked perfectly normal, there was nothing there to indicate what it was that Noire was asking help for.
"W-Well? I don't have all day!"
"I don't see anything wrong, Lady Noire," Kei said in a light tone that belied her real feelings.
Noire blushed when she realized she hadn't actually mentioned what it was that she needed help with. It was so embarrassing to even think about it, let alone talk about it. She swallowed hard and steeled her nerves as she forced out what she never thought she'd ever say, "i-it broke off i-inside me. I-I need you to… to take it out." Her face was beat red from embarrassment. The only thing that saved her was the relative privacy of her sanctuary. Only Kei was here to see her like this.
And that perverted creep that had cameras all over the place, but he already knew. She would need to do a thorough sweep for those after this.
"I see," Kei said as she placed a hand on Noire's cheeks. She felt a shiver run up Noire's body and quickly realized that this was going to be a very, very uncomfortable situation for the both of them. She gently spread the cheeks to expose the tightly clenched hole beyond.
"D-do you see it?"
"No, you need to relax."
"R-Relax?! With THAT in me?"
"Just breathe deeply, in and out."
"Whuuuu hoooo-EEP!"
That was a cute sound Kei had never heard Noire make before.
"I'm opening you wider."
"I-I don't need a step-by-step play! Just do-AHHH-it!"
"Please don't clench, Lady Noire, it makes it harder."
"Y-You don't need to tell me that!"
"I have three fingers inside now, can't feel anything."
"EEP! S-Stop feeling around so much!"
"I'm stretching you more."
"NO! I'm already stretched far enough!"
SLURP!
"AHHHHH!"
"You're really tight, Lady Noire."
"N-Not-AHH-w-what I want-EEH-t-to hear!"
"My hand is inside now… I think I feel it."
"J-Just-AH-get-AH-it out."
"Some kind of bead… got it, pulling out."
With one swift movement Kei ripped her hand from inside Noire, wanting to be done with this entire embarrassing fiasco as soon as possible. Out with her hand came a string of five beads, obviously part of some other item as the string dangling from the bead in her hand was frayed and snapped.
Unfortunately in her desire to finish the entire ordeal as soon as possible she hadn't counted on the reaction her swift extraction would garner from Noire.
With a cry filled with both ecstasy and shame, Noire was pushed over the edge. Her legs gave way and she collapsed to her knees. Fluid poured down her legs and splashed all over the floor of the Basilicom creating a pool of clear, yellowish water as the sexual high joined what she released from her bladder.
She'd been holding both in the entire time, refusing to give Anonydeath the satisfaction of seeing her in this state. However she wasn't with Anonydeath anymore, she was in the safety of her own Basilicom, and the stimulation she had received due to Kei's assistance had simply been too much for her to handle.
And as a result she was now creating a rather large puddle on the floor beneath her, much to her embarrassment.
"Y-You will never, I mean NEVER, speak of this to anyone!" Noire hissed in shame and embarrassment.
"Speak of what, Lady Noire?" Kei asked as she feigned ignorance of the entire ordeal, much to Noire's relief. To be honest Kei wished she could erase it from her memory as well. Exploring the... inner workings of her Goddess was not one of the things she expected she'd have to do when she accepted this job. "I didn't see anything, however the cleaners seemed to have spilled some water on the floor, let me find something to clean that up for you. You should go get washed in the meantime, we can see Uni when you are refreshed."
"Y-Yes, of course, I-I was just thinking that myself!" Noire said. Using the desk as leverage she pulled herself up to her feet. She glanced down at the shame that was still pooling around her feet. Holding it in for over eighteen hours had taken a monumental amount of will power, and now that the will power was gone her body was determined to empty itself of everything, against her will even.
She stepped out of the panties that were wrapped around her ankles and kicked it across the floor, "and burn those please, I don't even want to look at them again." Those weren't hers, she had been forced to wear them after her own were ripped in half accidentally.
Then she turned and marched from the room.
Two hours, and one long, warm luxurious bath, later, found back at her desk feeling clean, wearing a fresh pair of clothing. The mess had long since been cleaned up and no evidence of its existence remained.
She had already checked in on Uni, she needed to see her with her own eyes. Like Kei had said she was healed, and resting now. Noire had opted not to disturb her and let her awaken on her own.
So here she was now, going over all the information she had on the one that had kidnapped, and nearly killed, Uni.
"You're sure this is everything?" Noire asked as she pored over the documents.
"Yes, Lady Noire."
Noire hummed as she memorized all the information. CFW Brave was, up until now anyways, a petty criminal that worked to make little kids happy by illegally distributing hardware and software without paying for it. Honorable, brave, large, powerful (he was at least level sixty) and boisterous were some of the words often used to describe him, although a few did mention angry and hot-blooded, but that was mainly from the testimonials of criminals that preyed on young children and ended up on his bad side.
He was doing wrong in order to do right. All in all, had he not kidnapped Uni, Noire would have felt for the guy and could almost see herself working with him to achieve his goals, legally of course.
But because of him, Uni had been taken. Because of him, Uni had been hurt. Because of him, she had been forced to endure eighteen hours of that… humiliating nightmare. She had been forced to dance and pose and… she didn't want to think of what else she had been forced to do, all at the tune of that perverted creep!
Three more zeroes were added to the number beside his name, upping the bounty on his head from ten thousand credits to ten million.
Later, if one were to ask, one might almost be able to make Noire admit that she was feeling more than a little vindictive and had gone just a tad bit too far with the bounty price. One might even be more than a little curious why she didn't even think to add a bounty to Anonydeath's head.
Unfortunately even with all the information at her disposal, none of it gave any hint or indication as to where he was now. His trail was cold. It simply disappeared at the edge of the city. It was possible he transformed into a jet and flew off. Those types of mechanical units did exist. If he could fly that would make it doubly hard to track.
As for his 'employer…' this Spybore that Anonydeath had mentioned. Noire couldn't find any information on him at all, not a single ounce or scrap of it. There were plenty of hints that someone or something was organizing all the major criminals worldwide, but nothing about Spybore himself. It was like everything he did was through an intermediary.
"Is the information satisfactory?" Kei asked. She was more than willing to continue to dig out information on this CFW Brave for Noire. Considering everything he had been directly, and indirectly, involved in, Kei was almost as interested in bringing him to justice as Noire was.
"Yes," it wasn't, but Noire knew the time and effort to get more wasn't worth it right this moment. There was something else more pressing. "I want you to change your focus, search all of Lastation for glowing Sharicite crystals." There had to be one for Lastation. If Planeptune had one, and Vert had gone on an adventure to find hers, game logic dictated that there existed one in Lastation as well. Lowee too, but she didn't care about any crystal found up there.
Things fell into place for Kei. Noire had always cared about Uni but she seemed extra driven to rescue her no matter what. "You wish for Uni to become a CPU Candidate?"
"She's obviously way better than this Nepgear or anyone Vert and Blanc could dredge up, she'll have the shares rolling in like nothing." Noire said with an imperious sniff. She flushed when she realized that she had hinted at being something less than perfect, "of-of course, I'm not saying I couldn't keep Lastation afloat by myself, I alone am better than everyone else, but it doesn't hurt, you know, to reward her hard work." That sounded a lot better to Noire.
"Of course, Lady Noire," Kei said with a ghost of a smile on her lips, "I'll redirect the focus of our search immediately."
x~X~x
Blanc groaned as she slowly woke up. She placed a hand beside her and used it to prop herself up out of her bed. The bed sheets slid down her body and a hand went to her forehead, rubbing it gently as she tried to wipe away the last vestiges of a nightmare she had been having. It was a nightmare where two cute little girls had just spent the worth of the GDP of her nation in the span of two hours.
"Ah, good morning friend," the familiar voice of Gust pierced the haze of sleep that clouded her mind.
"'Morning," Blanc replied as she stretched. She let out a wide yawn and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
It was about that time when Blanc realized that something was wrapped around her waist. She glanced down and noticed Rom and Ram sleep on either side of her, the two of them were still sound asleep with their arms wrapped loosely around Blanc's waist. They were only wearing their plan grey and white dresses they normally wore under their winter coats, everything else had been taken off.
They had apparently done the same for her as she was dressed in little more than her white and brown mini-dress. It was then that she realized that she wasn't wearing any panties; the two of them had even removed them for some odd reason. She hoped they had at least kept theirs on.
Still, Blanc wasn't upset at them in the slightest. Seeing the two of them sleeping beside her with a pair of content looks on their faces banished any annoyance or anger before it could even form. She reached down and gently stroked their hair, the two of them made cute murmurs in their sleep and hugged Blanc tighter. A soft smile spread across Blanc's face. She had been pretty sure before, but she was certain now that these were the two that she had been looking for.
"Sorry bout last night, maybe took things too far," Gust apologized from where she sat at the table. Blanc looked over at her, the small alchemist looked as if she hadn't moved from her spot since the night before.
"That… wasn't a nightmare, was it?" Blanc asked cautiously.
"Gave refund on magic book, not for me to choose path," Gust replied, dashing what few hopes Blanc had left that her nightmare had been just that, a nightmare, and not Gamindustri screwing with her.
Blanc twitched and let out a long sigh as she let it go. She should be erupting violently right now but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to. Rubbing her hands through the hairs of the two young girls sleeping peacefully beside her may have had something to do with that.
Instead Blanc asked the dreaded question, "what… was the final total?" She just wanted it out of the way so she could think up of an excuse to give Mina for the waste of funds. Gust usually never gave refunds, the fact that she had done so with the magic book was a miracle in and of itself, even if it was a miracle born from the depths of hell itself.
Gust did a quick tally in her head, she hadn't totaled them up before, just kept charging as Rom and Ram wanted more stuff. "Grand total, eight million credits," she said after tallying everything up, "with books, would have been twelve, but gave refund for good friend and repeat customer." To be honest, while the goods were rare and legendary, she had also marked the prices up by several thousand percent so giving a refund on one or two items didn't really hurt her bottom line.
And Ram had traded Blanc's panties for a pastel blue purse for herself and a pink one for Rom. Blanc's apparel, especially used ones, went for a good price on black market. But Gust thought it was prudent not to mention that, especially since she already had a buyer set up. There was some good credit to be made there.
Had Blanc found out about that, she probably would have exploded, even with Rom and Ram sleeping peacefully at her side. As it was, the grand total was still almost enough to do it alone. She had to work hard to rein her anger. Eight million was an astronomical amount. Blanc always ran a surplus in her nation, as a result the coffers continued to expand year after year. Eight million however had just knocked out ten years of surplus savings.
She still had a lot more in them, but Rom and Ram had certainly managed to put a rather large dent in it. There would definitely be some conversations in the near future about wantonly spending the Lowee's money on frivolous things.
Although considering how dangerous Lowee had become the past few weeks, the staves and the magic book may end up being a sound investment. It still wasn't going to be much of an excuse though, she could have probably gotten close to the same quality of goods from another vendor for a fraction of a fraction of the price Gust charged.
Thinking of Mina however made Blanc realized she needed to get back to the Basilicom. Her Oracle was always worried when she was gone for too long. It was strange, and lucky, that she hadn't check in on her as of yet.
"Ram, Rom, time to wake up," Blanc said softly as she gently shook the two girls beside her. The two of shifted in their sleep and let out small groans as Blanc shook them from their slumber.
Rom was the first of the two to wake up. She slowly sat up, untangling her arms from around blanc and rubbing her eyes with them. "Ah, good… morning."
"I wanna sleep some more," Ram complained as she tried to burrow her face further into the pillow. Ram was not a morning person, especially when she was in a soft, for her anyways, warm bed.
Blanc's eye twitched and she bopped Ram gently on the head, "no more sleep, we have things to do."
"Awww," Ram complained as she slowly sat up as well, rubbing the sleep from her eyes in an identical manner to her twin.
"Thank you," Blanc said to Gust. Despite having charged Lowee an arm and a leg, along with just about everything else, she had provided a safe place for Rom and Ram while she dealt with other issues.
"You going to Basilicom now?"
"Yes, I need… to do things," she said softly. Things such as transforming Rom and Ram into CPU Candidates as soon as possible. As much as she trusted Gust, she didn't want word to get out just yet.
"We're going to the Basilicom?! Yay!" Ram cheered for a brief moment and then stopped. She tilted her head as if she just remembered something, "Hey, hey, Blanc, this weird random grey outline dude told me to give you something before going to the Basilicom…"
"A Random NPC?" Blanc asked.
"Ya! Random NPC 601-something or other, whatever, doesn't matter, anyways, he gave me these to give to you," Ram said as she pulled out a pair of broken red-rimmed glasses smeared with blood.
Blanc's blood went cold the moment her eyes rested upon them. She'd recognize them anywhere. Mina was the only one in Gamindustri that wore that particular set of glasses.
"… I don't know why he'd want me to give you a crappy pair of broken glasses but—" Ram yelped in surprise as Blanc snatched the glasses roughly from her.
She glared at the glasses in her hands, they were definitely Mina's, and that was definitely her blood on it, mixed with other, less savory fluids. Something was very wrong here, Mina had been perfectly fine yesterday morning. She had seen Blanc off for the day. There was no way this was possible. "Did he say where he found these?" Blanc demanded roughly as she shifted her gaze to Ram.
"AH!" Ram jerked back, suddenly wondering if she'd done something wrong.
Blanc struggled to get her glare under control, it wasn't Ram she was upset with anyways, "I'm… not… upset at… you, just tell me!" her words came out broken as she tried to contain the anger bubbling up from inside her.
Both of the girls were scared, neither of them had ever seen Blanc truly upset. The brief exposure in the alley way had been overshadowed by confusion. "He-he said… from the dungeons…" Rom said nervously.
"Dungeons…?" Blanc muttered to herself. There were no dungeons in Lowee, aside from the standard hunting zones outside of the city. She had gotten rid of the prisons long ago after realizing that they were only a drain on society and didn't actually fix anything…
Wait… there were dungeons under the Basilicom. Blanc had almost totally forgotten about those. Leftovers from the early days of her rule when things weren't as… civilized as they were these days. That first century after the rise of Planeptune had been a rather dark time in Gamindustri's history.
Blanc climbed over Ram and set herself down on the floor of the inn room. "Sorry, for waking you two, you can go back to sleep. I'll be back after… I've taken care of something."
"Gust thinks something bad is happening, does friend needs Gust's help?" Gust asked as she stood up as well. She was much stronger than she looked, and her alchemy abilities gave her an incredible amount of utility and support.
"No, just… keep them safe until I return, and have them start learning magic from those books," Blanc said in a terse voice. It was taking a great deal of self-control to prevent herself from erupting right there. The only thing that was managing to hold her back was Rom and Ram. She didn't want to frighten them any more than they already were.
"Will do friend, no charge this time," Gust said with a friendly smile. Even she knew that something far too serious was going on to be thinking about profit.
"Thank you," Blanc said and left the room. The moment the door closed behind her, her eyes went pure red and she instantly transformed into the HDD form. She didn't bother with the front door, she made her own exit, straight through the roof.
She was going to get to the bottom of this, and there had better be some heads for her to crack.