Oh goodness gracious, I am so sorry how late this chapter was. University's here and all that, sorry, so I'm preoccupied with assignments and reading texts that I didn't read before the semester started.

Saturn56: That is for me to know and you to find out. That is also for me to know and you to find out. :D

SS7x3: Well, it's Red/RED/R.E.D/Whatever. She's, like, the unsung hero of the first Neptunia. It wouldn't be right without her. Anyway... why would Plutia or Peashy appear here? They're Victory characters.

Eisenfaust: It's completely okay. I imagine that's a milder case of what today's generation goes through, yes she has, wait and see, that's either incorrect or correct, I guessed as much, ah okay, maybe or maybe not, maybe or maybe not, maybe or maybe not, I completely understand. Sorry it's taking so long.

And here is the next chapter!

Chapter 25: Roots

The morning light that signalled the coming of the next day cast itself on Neptune's bed from the window, filtered by the thin blue curtains. Yet, energetic little Neptune did not stir. Yes, she was in a state of discomfort but this state was present far before the light of dawn reached her closed eyes. The CPU's contorted face inferred to a battle taking place within, one that was taking its toll on her.

"No! I won't let you end this world's opera!" she yelled all of a sudden as she jumped up from the confines of her bed's thick pink duvet and subsequently fell to the floor face-first. "Ow, ow, ow…" she repeated in pain.

"Arf?!"

At the sound of the concerned barking, Neptune lifted her head to look at its source and found it to be ArfArf. "Ouchies... mornin', boyo..."

"Arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf..." ArfArf continuously barked out of worry for its master's accident.

"Ah!" shouted Compa as she sat up quickly from Neptune's bed. "What's happening? Are we being burgled?"

"Do not panic! I am here to help!" Nisa loudly declared as she jumped out of the bed, fired up and ready for a brawl.

By this point, the other five toy dogs in the room began barking out of time with ArfArf. "Arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf arf..."

"... arf arf arf arf arf arf arf..."

Another four dogs were situated in the corridor. When they heard the barking, they too barked with all their robotic might.

"... arf arf arf arf arf arf arf..."

"... arf arf arf arf arf arf arf..."

The remaining six dogs, barking as well, woke up IF, Gust and Jacob in no time at all.

"Ugh..." Jacob groaned as he forced himself out of bed. "What time is it...?"

"No time!" IF shouted as she ran to the door. "Follow me!"

IF took off towards Neptune's room, making sure not to trip over or step on any of the dogs, while Jacob and Gust tiredly walked behind her.

"What's happening?" IF worriedly asked when she got to Neptune's room.

"Arf arf arf arf arf arf arf..." the dogs kept barking.

With a grunt of pain, Neptune stood up. "Aw, it's nothing, Iffy. I just fell outta bed and my nose hit the floor... It kinda hurts."

IF gave Neptune her usual look of incredulity. "... Are you kidding me? You woke us up at who knows when in the morning because you fell out of bed?"

"Hey Iffy, cut me some slack time! Breaking your nose is serious business!"

"M-Morning, IF," Compa greeted, wiping her eyes.

Jacob and Gust arrived at the door. "So..." Jacob yawned, "... what's goin' on?"

"Arf arf arf arf arf arf arf-"

"Somebody stop that racket! The sun only just came up over the horizon!" yelled someone from a neighbouring room, making the party jump in surprise.

"There are rules against this, you know!" another neighbour cried out.

"I am this close to bringing my sledgehammer to each and every single one of those things!"

"Boys, be quiet!" Jacob called out to the dogs. Surprisingly, they all stopped barking. "... Huh."

Nisa pulled a few stretches in order to wake her body up. However, when she became aware of the bed's other occupant, she looked at her with confusion. "… Compa, may I ask why you shared our bed?"

"O-Oh, well..." began the nurse, "... IF kicked me out because I was snoring too much."

IF looked to be a bit disappointed with herself. "I'm sorry about that."

Jacob yawned again. He then focused on Neptune again when something caught his eye. "... Where are your pyjamas?"

"I didn't want to wear 'em. It's not snowy and it's kind of warm here, so I didn't need to," Neptune explained.

"At the very least, she wore the duvet this time," Nisa defended.

Jacob rubbed his face. "You know what, I don't care..."

Suddenly, the inn's guide appeared at the door, looking not as cheery as she did the day before. "What on Gamindustri was that racket? I've been to SingSun parties that weren't that loud."

'Lame', thought Jacob.

'Shut up', thought IF.

"It's nothing now, miss," Compa answered. "There's nothing to worry about."

"I know the problem's done now," she snapped. "I just want to know what caused it so that it doesn't happen again."

"Our dogs were making a fuss because Neptune hurt herself," IF explained. "We'll train them not to do that next time."

"You better." The guide then left to go back downstairs.

Nisa then turned to the CPU. "By the way, what was that about the world's opera?"

"Oh!" Neptune's eyes brightened. "That's right! Everyone, I had a dream sequence! It was about Histoire!"

"Really?" Jacob responded, just as surprised as the rest of the party. "What was it about?"

Neptune sat on the edge of her bed. "Alright, listen up. Some of the details are a bit hazy-pazy but I got the general gist of it..."

Now, it was a dark basement, blacker than a black hole. It was so dark that you could stand on a Reggo piece and hop around going "owie, owie, owie" if you weren't wearing any shoes. And then, I hear a voice!

"Histy!" it roared. "You have gone behind my back for the last time!"

And then the lights came on! Now I'm in a really flashy sci-fi room which was still dark but there were lights so I could see that the terrible evil that was speaking was none other than Arfoire! Now, I bet you're asking-

"Cut to the chase," Jacob snapped.

Jeez, fine! Party pooper. Anyway, I don't know what Histy looked like because I was lookin' through her eyes, which is annoying because I really want to know what my damsel in distress looks like. It'd also be nice if Arfoire wasn't looking right at me. It's not really fun to be looked at by an old lady and you can't punch her in the face.

"Eek! Please don't hurt me!" Histoire squealed.

"Answer my questions! How does the boy know who I am? Did you send a sexy goddess to the world below? I demand answers and you will-"

"Hold on," Jacob interrupted with a flat hand in front of Neptune. "Did she actually say that?"

"Yes! It's the super duper truth!"

The party looked at Neptune incredulously.

"... Yes! You don't need to look so suspicious like I ate your pudding!"

The party still looked at Neptune incredulously.

"... Okay, maybe I made some of it up."

"There we go." Jacob stretched his arms. "Alright, seeing as it's way too early, I'm going to go back to bed and maybe we can tal-"

Before Jacob could finish, a blinding light surrounded Neptune, forcing the party to cover their eyes. When the light dispersed, Neptune was sitting in her HDD form.

Jacob groaned and unshielded his eyes. "That was uncalled for."

"I know you all take me more seriously when I'm like this. This is urgent and I need you all to listen to me."

IF sighed and took a seat over at the table. "Fine. Lay it on us."

"Thank you." Purple Heart stood up and made her way to the middle of the room. Jacob was leaning against a wall, Compa and Nisa were in the bed and Gust sat down against the wall. "Now, let me start over..."

As I said before, it was very dark at first. Arfoire's voice, however, pierced the darkness. She demanded "Histoire, you will tell me everything you have done since I have sealed you."

Histoire then answered "I have done nothing, nor could I even if I wanted to. Your seal has restricted my power."

The lights then came on, revealing a very futuristic room. However, there was a... model of sorts in the middle of the room; a cluster of spheres joined together. I have no idea what it was for. Anyway, angered, Arfoire then roared "And you still lie to my face?! A goddess ventured to the world below even though a CPU only has one quarter of a goddess' power! They know about the Key Fragments even though there is no way that they could've figured that out on their own! And if that's not enough, they know my name! How much else do they know? What else have you done? Answer me now!"

Histoire was silent for a moment but then she said "I have no idea how they know your identity. That is a puzzle that I try and struggle to solve but to no avail."

Arfoire was about to shout again but then she calmed down, as if Histoire's words made sense to her. "That... is reasonable," she said. "The three girls in the party at the time were surprised when that boy brought up my name. Then, if he knows my name, who's to say he didn't tell them about the Key Fragments as well?"

"... What are you getting at?" Histoire asked with traces of fear.

Arfoire then smirked before saying "It seems I was wrong to blame you. I do apologise. Now, what do you know about that boy?"

"I know nothing about him... In this world with a past that I have a complete record of, he is the one question that has no answer. How he knows anything at all is beyond anything I can guess."

Arfoire's smirk grew wider. "He knows about the Key Fragments and my identity but he doesn't know about the Overlord... and he's from another world, too! So many questions about him that need to be answered..."

"What are you planning?" Histoire asked out of concern.

Arfoire merely chuckled. "In due time, you will see. For now, take solace in the fact that my plan will go on beyond this world's end. Yes... soon, the curtain will fall and Gamindustri's nonsensical opera will end!"

"Did you really need to be so melodramatic at that last bit?" IF asked.

"I felt it was necessary," Purple Heart answered.

Jacob anxiously rubbed his hands together. "So... Arfoire's coming after me?"

Purple Heart immediately rested her hands on Jacob's shoulders. "She will not lay a hand on you. I don't know what her plan is but it will not succeed."

"We must keep up our guard," Nisa cautioned. "Who knows when she'll strike next?"

"Really wish I knew what this Arfoire looked like..." Gust complained.

IF had her arms crossed as she thought. "She thinks that Jacob told us about the Key Fragments even though it was Histoire..."

"What are you thinking about, IF?" Compa asked.

"Just what she said. She knows that Jacob knows about the Key Fragments and her name but she doesn't know how he knows. What's really getting to me is that she says Jacob doesn't know about the Overlord..."

Nisa looked at IF with confusion. "But don't we? I mean, Lady Black Heart told us herself."

"That's exactly it. Also, why does she think Jacob doesn't know? What gave her that impression?"

"What don't we know about Momus?" Gust asked.

"That's also something I don't get. What does she know about Momus that we don't know? What Noire doesn't know?"

Jacob paced about the room to think. "She thinks I know more than I actually do, she knows something about Momus that we don't... she also thinks I'm more powerful than I actually am, given that one quarter power thing..."

"It's good that Arfoire is targeting Jacob," Gust commented with a smile. "When she comes, we can defeat her and interrogate her."

Suddenly, something registered in Compa's mind. "Wait, didn't Histoire warn us about Arfoire back in Lastation?"

The rest of the party sharply turned to look at her.

"Hang on, that's right," Jacob responded. "It was after we met the heretic. We haven't met her since."

"So Arfoire's not coming for us after all? Well, I suppose that's a relief," said Nisa with a trace of disappointment.

IF sighed. "Hopefully, she means it this time. We definitely need some answers."

Purple Heart rested her face in her palm and exhaled. "There is too much drama here..."

Three days passed since then. Back in Jacob's house at night, Sharon was sitting at the dining room table with her laptop, browsing Facebook with disinterest.

"We're back!" called Zac from the door before he and John appeared in the kitchen. John carried three pizza boxes in his hands as well as a DVD case on the top.

"Well, that didn't take you long at all," Sharon commented sarcastically before shutting the laptop. "What movie did you get?"

Zac took the DVD case. "Batman Begins."

"Well, at least we haven't seen it before. Get the plates out."

Minutes later, the four members of the Winters family were sitting down on the L-shaped lounge suite. On their laps were plastic plates holding slices from the pizzas that were on the coffee table in the middle of them all. The movie played along on the large flatscreen TV and the family watched in silence.

"You know, I've been thinking..." started Zac.

"What?" responded Hannah as she turned up the volume.

Zac grinned. "Without Jacob here, we can finally watch movies without him reviewing it all the way through."

"Oh, for..." Sharon quickly moved her plate to the table to lean forward and massage her head. "Hannah, can you pause it?"

"Sure." Hannah hastily paused the movie.

When the movie was stilled, Sharon looked at Zac with disbelief. "Now? Are you kidding me? You had to bring that up now?"

"Well, I thought it'd lighten the mood!" Zac responded defensively.

"Zac, we are this close to pulling our hair out," explained Sharon with gritted teeth. "We're watching a movie to get away from the issue of Jacob being somewhere we don't know. This is not one of the times where we talk about it."

"Okay, I'm sorry! I'm only trying to help!"

"I know..." responded the mother, fatigued. "I know..."

An uncomfortable silence filled the living room.

"So do you want me to play the movie again?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," said John.

The family then focused on the TV again as Batman Begins continued playing.

Hannah decided to speak up. "What do you think Jacob would say about the movie, anyway?"

"Well, if I was Jacob," started Zac, "I'd probably say I'm thankful that Batman's not wearing his jocks on the outside of his costume."

A smile cracked on the faces of John, Sharon and Hannah.

"If I was Jacob," added John, "I'd probably just say that the bat ears are a bit much."

The family sniggered at that.

Sharon decided to have a go. "If I was Jacob, I'd probably say that the ears should be pointing backward."

"That'd look stupid on Batman," Hannah argued.

"Yeah but that's the kind of thing he'd say."

Hannah shrugged. "True."

"Bloody hell," Zac exclaimed. "We're becoming Jacobs."

Another round of laughing ensued. After they got it out of their systems, they settled back into watching the movie but with smiles on their faces.

"Do you think he'd like this movie?" asked John.

Sharon shrugged. "It's hard to tell with him."

Back on Gamindustri the following morning, IF received a message on her phone asking for the party to come to the Basilicom for a bounty job. Finding no reason to decline, they ventured to the holy building.

"Hello?" Neptune called as the party entered the Basilicom. "Did someone call for us to do something for them?"

The Sanctified turned to face them, possibly with a smile, and approached them with a cheery gait. "Ah, thank you for coming," he greeted as he pulled out a map and gave it to Neptune. "This is a map for a dungeon that we'd like you to go to. We've put in as much detail as we can."

IF looked over Neptune's shoulder as she opened the map and read it with the CPU. "Looks as standard as they come. We'll clean it up by lunchtime. Are you sure this is all you need?"

"Most certainly. Most of the other dungeons have been taken care of, thanks to our Archbishop," informed the Sanctified.

IF looked at the Sanctified with a raised eyebrow. "Really? He must be pretty good."

"He is a benevolent and respected leader for us," the Sanctified began with a hint of pride in his voice. "He is rather strict, though, especially to heathens, heretics, and the Guild. There are those that disagree with him but, out of all our Archbishops, Yvoire has the strongest faith in our CPU." The Sanctified then snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's right! Once, the Parliament rose in power far too quickly and were close to taking over the landmass. It was only because of Yvoire negotiating with the Aristocrats that the Sanctuary managed to gain back power before the worst happened. At least, I hear that's how it goes."

"Are you talking about me?" asked Yvoire from the side, making the Sanctified jump a bit.

"S-Sir! You surprised me... But yes, I was just talking about you to the party that we hired for the dungeon."

Yvoire turned to maybe scrutinize the party. "I see. So you're the party in its entirety..." Compared to his identical silhouette, the Archbishop stood straighter and passively exerted more authority. "You know Jacob, I never would have believed you before if you told me these children were your superiors in the art of fighting monsters."

"Well, we went to most of your dungeons and we're not dead yet. Take that for what it's worth," Jacob responded.

Yvoire nodded. "The Evangelist has also thrown in a good word for you all. I have to say, it's rare to see a party travel around the landmasses and fight monsters. It's even rarer to see such a large party doing such a thing. If I may ask, what are your names?"

"Glad you asked!" answered Neptune with an excited shout. "I'm Neptune, the leader of this here party! The serious one's Iffy-"

"IF," the serious one corrected. "I-F."

"- the nurse is Compa, the hero is Nisa, the rabbit is Gust and- wait, you already know Sparky?"

"Who?" Yvoire asked.

"The boy," said IF.

"Oh. Yes, he came to ask about the dungeons of this landmass."

"Oh, right. Coolio," Neptune replied.

IF took the map out of Neptune's hands and put it away. "Well, if that's all you need, we'll take care of it. Just make sure to pay us when the boss is dead."

"We most certainly will," answered Yvoire. The party then exited the Basilicom.

The Sanctified turned towards Yvoire. "They're an odd bunch, aren't they? Not what I'd expect from a monster hunting party at all," he commented jovially.

"Well, they are clearing out dungeons left and right so we can't complain." Yvoire then looked at the other silhouette. "That said, I would like you to run a background check on all of them."

"Why, sir?" the Sanctified asked, confused.

"Just as a contingency. They are helpful but we don't know much about them."

"Very well, sir." The Sanctified then turned to leave.

Jacob sighed as the party walked to the gondola.

"I'll bite. What's wrong?" inquired IF.

"It's nothing important," responded Jacob.

"Not buying it. Tell us now."

"Are you homesick?" asked Compa.

"That too, but..." Jacob sighed again. "Four days. It's been four days and nothing's happened. Even after all the dungeon combing. We even split up to take on the dungeons individually and nothing turned up."

IF was typing on her phone again while Jacob ranted. "Jacob, calm down. We finally have something resembling a story dungeon. Hopefully, we'll find something there."

"Who knows? Maybe Lady Green Heart will attack us, meaning we can beat her up and you can persuade her into telling us what's going wrong with the landmass," said Nisa in an attempt to cheer Jacob up.

"I doubt Green Heart's the kind of person to pick a fight," countered IF.

Neptune walked up to IF. "Iffy, why wouldn't she wait for us to get in her line of sight and make us fight her? That's what the other CPUs did."

IF stopped typing on her phone. "... You have a point. Still, don't get excited."

"I'm never excited," Jacob replied.

"Then don't start now."

The gondola came into sight of the party. This one looked like a golden royal carriage.

"See you all at the top." Jacob was about to fly up to the dungeon but Nisa grabbed his arm.

"I don't think so! Something is clearly troubling you and I want to know what it is! Now into the gondola with you!"

Nisa lifted Jacob over her shoulder and threw Jacob through the open door of the gondola and onto one of its seats. By the way, the gondola was about ten metres away and Nisa threw Jacob fast enough for the impact to make an audible bang that made the party cringe and the gondola rock to the side before righting itself again.

Nisa dusted her hands. "He can take it."

The party, led by Neptune, slowly approached the gondola. Neptune nervously peeked inside the transport to find Jacob upside down with his head against the floor. The wall he was lying against was distorted slightly from his impact.

"... Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly.

Jacob made a sound halfway between a whimper and a groan.

After a bottle of reflex, another bottle of gelatin and some rest, Jacob was healed by the time the gondola reached the dungeon. The party stepped out of the gondola but, once they saw the dungeon, Jacob, Neptune and Compa stood still and looked up at it with wide eyes.

"Whoa... That is a very big castle," Compa noted.

The party was standing near the edge of the island to see the ends of the side of the castle they were standing near and the large double doors were still only a few steps away. It was also a simplistic castle though, with a grey wall surrounding a cluster of grey towers and buildings of varying shapes and heights. At the top of each building was a blue roof of either the hipped, conical or even onion shape.

"I'll say. If that map is indeed to scale, this place must be flipping huge. How are we supposed to find the boss in this?" Jacob asked.

"You think too much," Gust answered. "Castle just like any other dungeon."

"Aw."

Nisa and Neptune walked to one of the doors and, using all their power, pushed it open, allowing the rest of the party to walk inside before they shut the door again. "Man, that door was heavy..." Neptune complained as she wiped her forehead with her hoodie sleeve. "What happened to the good ol' days where the doors would just open up for you when you had the right coloured key?"

Compa passed a water bottle over to Neptune which she eagerly opened and drank from. At the same time, the party observed that the dungeon, on the inside, was very very tall. It was so tall, in fact, that the party could not see the beginnings of the long purple swallow-tailed flags that hung from the roof and ended a few metres off the ground. Consequently, it made the party feel rather short, even if there were small arch-shaped windows that reached the floor. The grey stone walls and standing on the wide red rug that ran in the middle of each corridor on top of a black-and-white chequerboard tiled floor didn't help with that, either.

Neptune took a few steps forward and triggered a random encounter. It was pretty much instantly ended with Neptune Break. The party didn't even break their stride.

A sigh came from the CPU. "Hey, do you guys remember when dungeons were fun?"

"No," responded IF and Jacob in tandem.

"What do you mean by fun, Nep-Nep?" Compa asked.

"Y'know, when things actually happened! Monsters showed us parts of ourselves or we learned awesome cool attacks! I'm cool with hitting Sparky in the face again by accident."

"Stop calling me Sparky," complained Jacob.

"Wait, what is this about accidentally hitting Jacob?" Nisa asked.

IF raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I want to know what this is about."

"Okey-dokey!" Neptune became much more cheerful as she turned to the rest of the party while walking backwards. "See, in our very first dungeon when it was just Sparky, Compa and yours truly, I decided to practice dual wielding my gun and my sword. I tried to shoot down a pipe and bat it away but I missed and got Jacob right in the face by accident."

Jacob cupped his left cheek.

Nisa sniggered. "Dual wielding, huh? Have you gotten any better at it?"

Neptune shook her head. "Not really, no. I'm better at cutting things than shooting them and trying to do both is really hard."

"Good choice," said Gust. "Two-handed weapons are your forte, anyway. Stick with what y-"

"Holy crap!" Jacob shouted in alarm.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed the entire party with one exception.

"Jacob," started an irritated IF, "if this is another set of stairs, I swear..."

IF looked at the end of the corridor that Jacob was looking at and found another set of stairs, this time T-shaped. These stairs were much larger than the previous sets and had an extravagant railing to go with them. IF turned to the male party member with a look that was anything but happy. "What is with you?"

"You don't get it! These stairs go somewhere!" Eagerly, Jacob ran over to the stairs and climbed them. The rest of the party stood back and watched his progress, agitated from the previous scare. He turned up the left branching staircase, stepped over a rope barrier and turned left again down the narrow walkway with a waist-high wall to stop him from falling off. When he was roughly in line with the party again, his speed came to a screeching halt, much like his enthusiasm. "Well, that was fun while it lasted."

"Make any fantastic discoveries up there?" IF called.

Jacob sighed and crossed his arms on the smaller wall to rest his head on them. "Okay, this castle has stairs that can be used to access a higher level. They would be useful if there was anything at all on the higher levels apart from this walkway that has no use whatsoever. What is the point of this castle?"

"What do you mean?" Compa asked.

"Let's get something out of the way here; this place is massive. It's also a man-made structure as castles tend to be for some silly reason. Yet, despite this, all the space seems to be used for a single level of ridiculously high corridors and rooms with no furniture or anything. Castles are places for people to live in so what's the deal?"

IF sighed as she ran a hand down her face. "Jacob, can we just accept that dungeons just happen for no reason and move on?"

"No," answered Jacob as he flew over the railing and back to the party. "Whatever kind of sick and twisted place this is, you can't have massive structures like this just appear as monster dungeons because lolz."

"You can in Gamindustri," Gust remarked.

Jacob flared his nostrils at Gust and raised his hands, flexing his fingers to help him exaggeratedly gesture the point he nearly shouted. However, he instead sighed as his head and arms fell limp. "Can we please just move on...?" he requested with a broken spirit.

So the party progressed through the dungeon again. Another random encounter appeared and Neptune made short work of it.

IF turned to the heroine. "Hey, Nisa?"

"Hm?" Nisa turned back to IF. At the same time, another random encounter was defeated.

"Why do you have your jumpsuit unzipped?," IF asked as she looked at Nisa's attire.

"Oh." Nisa tugged at the collar of her jumpsuit. "I left it zipped up when I took up my oath to protect the world from devastation. Unfortunately, a few savings in, I discovered that it got uncomfortably warm so I leave it unzipped to let the air flow inside."

Another random encounter was swiftly defeated.

"Ah," responded IF.

After several more random encounters and inane conversations that never went anywhere, the party finally arrived at the boss monster. It was a headless knight wearing teal and bronze armour and it had a large bronze medallion hanging by a chain from the neck armour. Oddly enough, it wore a teal cape on both the front and back of its body. It held in two hands a large teal sword with a spade-shaped tip.

Neptune drew Armas and extended its blade again. "Alrighty, let's clean this up and-"

"Wait, where's Jake?" asked Compa.

Snapped out of their boredom, the party looked around and found that Jacob was nowhere to be seen and his snide remarks nowhere to be heard.

"Oh no," IF groaned.

"Sparky! Hey, Sparky!" Neptune shouted. "Bigsissymanwithboobiessayswhat?!"

"What?!" Jacob shouted back as he flew around the corner and landed back with the party. "What'd you say?"

"Where did you go?" IF asked.

"I got bored so I decided to fly around and practice a bit," Jacob answered. "Honestly, I thought you'd notice me flying above you."

"Camera sucks. Can hardly look up," responded Gust.

Jacob rolled his eyes before turning to the headless knight. "Oh, a headless knight. Bit smaller than I'd expect for a boss."

"Whatever! A boss is a boss! Can we defeat it now?" Neptune whined.

"Why are you asking me?"

As was always the case, the boss was quickly defeated. The party just stood in the one spot.

"So that's it?" asked Jacob.

"That's it," answered Gust.

Jacob let out a small sigh.

"Whatever," said IF. "Let's just go back."

Back at the inn later that day, Jacob was lying on his bed reading a book. It would have been very peaceful if he wasn't talking to himself and the book.

"Come on Soldier, you know better than to trust him." Jacob then turned a page. "Good on you, mate. Wonder what he's gonna do after that?" Jacob turned another page. "Well, that looks painful."

"Oh, am I interrupting?" IF asked as she entered the room.

"No, you're alright. I'm just reading Compa's GG manga."

"Shouldn't you be training?"

"I asked Nisa for a break and she said yeah. I needed something to do so I borrowed this off Compa. Where did you all go, anyway?"

IF sat down on her bed and pulled out her pink phone. "I don't know. Maybe they've gone to the arcade. All I know for sure is that Neptune is sleeping in her room."

Jacob turned his face to her. "What? At this time of day? Is she okay?"

"I think she's tired from the way the plot's going. We're still going around in circles."

Jacob turned back to his book. "Ah, that makes sense."

IF looked at Jacob. "Hey, you don't mind if I play the radio, do you? Hi-Five Radio's about to come on."

Jacob shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind. I'll make sure to keep quiet."

"Thanks." IF was about to turn on the radio on her phone but she stopped at the last button to ask Jacob another question. "Hey, how are you coping with the whole Arfoire seeking you thing?"

Jacob exhaled through his nose. "I'm okay. All I need to do is hang around the lot of you at pretty much all times when we go out and I'll be fine."

"'When we go out'?" IF repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"From what I remember, we're only ever attacked if we're in a dungeon or, in my case, heading towards a dungeon. If I stick with you, I'm..."

IF looked at Jacob with concern as he trailed off. He put down the book and sat up suddenly. As if looking for something, he turned his head this way and that.

"Jacob, what's wrong?" IF asked.

"I think I hear... plot." With energy long forgotten, Jacob jumped off the bed and dashed to the door, much to IF's shock. He raced into the hallway and around the corner to see Archbishop Yvoire talking to the sleepy Neptune through her room's door.

"... Jacob," greeted Yvoire with mild surprise at Jacob's enthusiasm and nearly wild eyes, "it's good to see you again."

"The feeling is mutual, Archbishop. I had the strangest feeling something important was to happen and I arrived as quickly as I could."

IF walked around the corner. "Oh, the Archbishop's here? Surprising. What's going on?"

Neptune yawned. "Yeah, what's up...?"

Yvoire cleared his throat. "As I was about to say before I was interrupted, I come bearing a gift from our Lady Green Heart."

Neptune's fatigue instantly gave way for energetic curiosity. "What? Are you for serious? What is it?"

Yvoire, with the slow pace of a professional, pulled out a sealed envelope from his clothes. Jacob and IF moved closer as he took out a letter opener to unseal it and take out the folded piece of paper within. "In the face of the results of your last bounty job and what Lowee's Evangelist has informed us in regards to your journey, our Lady has seen fit to hold a banquet at her Red Ring Table in the honour of you and your party."

The jaws of the three party members dropped so low that they only needed to be slightly tapped in order to break away from the faces of their owners and fall to the floor. Neptune's jaw hung the lowest and her eyes sparkled with disbelief and amazement. "A party?! Oh my golden sun, this is amazing! We're gonna eat so much food that our HP bars will break and glitch the system!"

"Wait!" IF shouted. "Will Lady Green Heart be attending this banquet?"

"I cannot guarantee that. The monster ordeals take up most of her time. It is entirely possible that she'll arrive, though," Yvoire answered.

"Hold on, I thought the monsters were taken care of?" Jacob inquired.

"For you and I, yes. However, Lady Green Heart's responsibilities extend far beyond us. We may be able to handle one area but that is nothing compared to what she must endure."

"Well, we have to try anyway!" exclaimed Neptune. "Arceus shop, my party's coming to this party and we will we will rock you!"

"My title is Archbishop, like the shape and the chess piece, and I am pleased to hear it." The silhouette handed the paper to Neptune. "This invitation has the time and place of the banquet. We will be eagerly anticipating your visit." Yvoire turned around and walked back down the hallway.

IF and Jacob were quickly at Neptune's side to read the letter with her. "Trap?" Jacob asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," answered IF.

"Well, hope for the best, plan for the worst. Still, I am freaking pumped!" Jacob paced around Neptune's room excitedly. "Finally! Honest to goodness progress! We have to learn something at this party to get the plot going!"

IF smiled and crossed her arms. "Well, let's get prepared. Who says we find the others and have a good dinner to celebrate?"

"I do!" cheered Jacob and Neptune simultaneously.

Again, I am so sorry this is so late. Hopefully, the inclusion of plot progression will make up for it.

By the way, I haven't watched Batman Begins. I have an interest in the Dark Knight trilogy but I'm currently occupied by things I'd rather do and things I'd rather not do, like studying and assignments.

I can't guarantee that the next chapter will break the lateness trend but I hope so.