Chapter 49:

It's amazing how we were able to get out after walking straight for 30 minutes. Apparently, this cave has 2 entrances, one is the long-cut and the other is the shortcut. I feel bad for myself for going through all that. Skipping that, we're here in central city for a while. Why did I say for a 'while'? For one, we don't know where Colline is, so Iffy is making a call. And two, Neptune and Compa were getting hungry so we're at a food stall right now and the sun is about to set.

The food stall is a Japanese Yatai. It's a small stall with a counter and some chairs. On the other side of the counter are the peripherals for our daily food. Since this is an on the spot order-style, the food you'll be receiving will be served hot and fresh.

"Here you go, two pork ramen!" the cook serves them their order. Also they ordered a 12 inch diameter bowl of ramen. The cook is a black man by the way.

"Yay! The smell of hot, tasty, ramen tickles my stomach! I'm digging in!" Neptune slurps through her ramen with chopsticks.

"Nep-Nep the soup is jumping all over the place" Compa says as she slurps her own ramen with the same method.

"Here you go sir, the Golden City of Saint Floria" he gave me a bottle and a glass. I haven't drunk this bad boy in 3 months now.

I open the bottle cap, pour it onto my glass and with a lick on my lips I gulp it down all at once. What's tasty about this drink is that it's after taste leaves you sweet. It does, however, starts of rough, but it turns sweet and tasty making me want more. But drinks like these have a consequence; as such it's 80% pure alcohol.

"Damn, I didn't think I'd see the day that someone would drink that monster of a drink"

"Yeah, well I don't get drunk that easily" I pour in another glass and gulp it down.

"Really now, the other guys that had drunk this thing would pass out from just one glass"

"So that's why you serve it per glass"

"To avoid any unwanted charade from the customers"

"You got it rough. Here, want some?" I offer him a glass.

"Hell no, I've got a shop to run. Don't want to be a useless man in our family"

"I see, a father of sort?"

"Yup, I'm a father of two lovely girls and a husband to a good wife!"

"Then you must be one lucky man. Want to cheers for that?"

"Sure, I'll get my own drink" he pulled out a glass and a bottle. Judging by the smell it's…

"A Shiner Bock, eh? I love how it tastes good right of the bat" I pour another one my own drink into my glass

"Hoho, you know your beers"

"I was a drinking machine back then"

"So anyway, cheers, for my family and my daughters sweet fortune"

"Kudos to that"

*CLANG*

"*gulp**gulp*…Haa… That was great, so what you are you guys doing here? It's not safe for two lovely women, even with a man, to be out on the street at this time"

"Watch it man, I'll report that to your wife" I said so jokingly.

"Just saying, so anyway, what are your agendas?"

"We were hungry and we wanted to eat…*Sluuuuurp!*" Neptune answered in between her slurping.

"That's all? Well I'll be thankful that you chose this place to eat. What do you think of the ramen?"

Neptune and Compa gave a thumbs up while slurping their share. How long are you guys going to slurp on that thing?

"That's the part of it. We're looking for the place called Colline"

"Colline? Why'd ya want to go there?"

"Because that's where the old Basilicom lies"

"I see, well it's easy to get there by the way. You just have to go south from here. Then, when you get to the edge, you'll be able to see an unlit path. Follow it until you get on top of a small hill. From there, you'll see the building"

"Directly south?"

"Yeah"

"Thanks" if you want to get on an almost unattainable info get it from local stands and bartenders. They have what you need. I wait for the two to finish their food.

After meeting up with Iffy we then walk to our designated area. Indeed enough, there was an unlit path here going deep into the forest. It's late in the night and we don't want to finish this ordeal unattended because of certain reasons. One, the rumors might reach the Parliaments ears and they'll be hunted down to be kick again. Two, the sanctuary is the only part of the Basilicom in which we can attain info about the Parliament and Avenir. And three, they might move again. As came out to an opening the moon shines above us. We're on top of a small hill. So from here we should be able to…hmm…where the fuck is it?... oh, there it is.

As we arrive at the front of the Basilicom. And it looks old. Really, it feels like one of those abandoned churches where all the souls of the unrest gather and haunt the place.

"People seem pretty knowledgeable about the old Basilicom. Kind of weird that Iffy failed to find any info about it…" Compa says.

"I heard nobody lives near it. Maybe that's why information was scarce for me"

"I just hope someone is really here. This place looks way too haunted for normal people to live…" nah, it ain't that haunted, right?

"I d-don't see any lights…Maybe Mr. Heretic was wrong. I think we c-can still go home!" Compa tries to run away. I grab her shoulder.

"Hey, you're not thinking of running away right?" I said so jokingly and menacingly.

"Don't even think about running away with your butt between your legs! You've got me here" thanks for the back-up Neptune.

"C'mon let's get going" I say that and dragged the downhearted Compa until we reached the door.

"Excuse us, we're coming in!" Neptune opened the door.

"Stop! Are you part of Avenir, or are you from the Parliament?!" all of a sudden a silhouette of a man appeared in front of her. I quickly react and pull Neptune away, shielding her.

"Whoa! Wh-Wh-What's up with this? Do we look like bonanza people or something?" Bonanza? Isn't a TV show back in 1959? I watched it and it was pretty damn good. I was glued on the screen the whole time.

Then as my eyes got used to the sudden change of light, I see a peculiar priest-like man in front of me. Why I say priest-like? Because his clothes looks like a rip off from what priest wears during mass. I step to the side showing zero hostility for the man. I'll dub him Mr. P. for conveniences sake.

"…Oh, just a few little girls and their brother. I'm sorry. We're not used to visitors. Are you selling cookies?" brother? When did became a big brother for these three?

"No… you all seem so tense. Is someone trying to hurt you or something?" Compa asks.

"Very much so. Avenir's automated weaponry have already paid a visit to a few of us" well that sucks, for them at least.

"What? Why would Avenir be such a bully? The Parliament got their cake and ate it when they took over the Basilicom, right?"

"It's not that simple, Neptune. I'd imagine that these guys went against the Parliament and that's how they ended up here"

"Right. They'll never rest until every last one of us are dead"

"But wouldn't that cripple the Basilicom entirely if it does?" no one can stand on one leg for a long time right?

"I don't think it can. Even after being driven out, the public eye still believes we're part of the Basilicom's system. Oh, come on in" realizing that we're visitors and that we should be treated somewhat not prematurely, he led us inside.

The interior of the church looks like the one in Monteriggioni. It has wooden seats and a wooden altar and behind that altar is a door, he led us inside. Wow, is all I could say, this place is humungous and beautiful at the same time. A dome of glass surrounds you, as the background of the starry sky and illuminated moon brightens this place. A there are curtains that block a specific part of this place. From the gaps, I can see a table and the foot of a statue of some sort.

"Wow! The outside looked like it was about to collapse, but inside it's no different from other Basilicoms" Compa exclaimed.

"We remodeled this room. We couldn't possibly welcome the goddess in such a filthy place" Mr. P started explaining.

"We typically don't use this room for guests, but I'll make an exception"

"Question! Is the CPU gone right now?" Neptune suddenly asks.

"Not just now. We've not seen her for nearly three years. We're concerned something's happened to her" Hm? There's an inconsistency in what actually happened when I first came here and about what he said.

"Can I ask?"

"Hm?"

"How long have you guys been here?"

"Quiet sometime actually. For about three months"

"I see…" so that's it. It was around that time that we arrived here. And that's why the Sanctuary and the Parliament don't get along. They've been driven out a long time ago.

I was thinking about their conflict for quite a while now. How could two, closely related groups, have conflict? Answer: Money. Remember the Parliament being in love with Avenir. And when they say that money is the source of all evil then they are a perfect example. You see, the more the Parliament gets involve with Avenir, the more narrow minded they become, until they refuse to listen anymore. From what I can gather Avenir has been around way before we even came here. So if I knew this info back then, then I wouldn't be surprised if the Parliament has gone AWOL and kicked the Sanctuary out. But it was so secretive that no one noticed and was inferred as 'being ignored'. And that's why those rumors have reached have started up.

Well that answers question #2. Now I got 2 more to worry about.

"So we can't talk with her about Avenir…Is there anything else we can help with?" Compa concluded.

"We'd like the assistance, but we have no solid proof of Avenir's activities due to… many reasons"

"What about Chian's factory? It was totally crushed by Avenir. That's a whopper of proof!"

"That's not going to work Neptune. The Parliament will hide that incident entirely. In most likely cases, we would end up like these guys if we ever don't play along"

"Your right. Plus their military and political might is engulfing Lastation from both sides" Mr. P added.

"We're thinking of a countermeasure. As soon as we can find a connection between Avenir and the Parliament…"

"…We worked with Avenir a few time. I remember a Basilicom member substituted once to explain our job for us" Iffy said.

"Oh, that's right. They were saying scary stuff like 'dead or alive!' for some monster tissue and stuff!" Compa added.

"If that's true, the equipment made from the monster's tissue could be our proof. If only we could get such a thing"

"Wait a minute, Mr. P"

"Mr. P?"

"Ignore that. Are you gonna use the Geneva Convention against Avenir?"

"It's the only closest case that we can file against them. Plus…"

"…you're going to let the domino effect to unfold" interesting. It's like Avenir made a house of cards, expose one, and the rest will fall.

"All those mechanical meanies are Avenir's product, right? I'm sure they'll poop one out if we keep bustin' 'em up!" uh… what did the hell did Neptune said again?

"I don't know the odds of such a peculiar drop, but that's the only way to go about this" wait, are we seriously going to look around poop!? I can't say that since it would turn them off.

"It sounds like a lot of work, but if it's for justice. I'll do it. Even small efforts can be the seeds of great success" nice quote Compa.

"*sigh*…The things I do for love…" I say that under my breath. Hey, it's been so long since I said that.

"Thank you for this invigorating discussion. We'll await your return with the hardware and expose those cretins"

Saying our thanks and goodbye's we left for our inn. And I was all the while thinking, please let me not search for something at some random poop.