Chapter 52: The Aftermath – Part 2

A dark, grey mist surrounded the snowy field, an invisible wind blew through and sent snow flying across the area, yet the wind did not have an effect on the four figures standing in the field in front of a slab of stone. The taller of the four, a brown haired girl wearing a white and blue hat along with an oversized white coat with fur ruffing, knelt down and placed a flower at the base of the stone slab, whimpering sounds came from two others, these were small girls who looked similar to the coat wearing girl except their coats were a pink and blue colouring. The fourth figure was difficult to recognise, only because the fourth figure was either a very young boy or girl around Rom's and Ram's height with scruffy brown hair, an oversized brown trench coat with stitches all over, grey pants and white shoes. The two young girls were crying while hugging each other, the kid was still as a rock and never uttered a single sound as he or she stood next to the older girl. The older girl wrapped an arm around the kid and brought them close to her.

"You alright?" the older girl asked the kid. "You're being quiet."

"Yeah, I just don't get it is all," replied the kid, the sound of the voice indicated that it was a young boy. "Who was he anyway? You barely talk about him."

The older sighed sadly and patted the scruffy kid's head, her hand running through his brown hair. "He… he was greatest person that I ever knew, apart from my sisters and you of course. He was a warrior, a commander, a gamer, an avid reader yet also prone to bursts of anger, full of hate and a deeply troubled person. I loved him despite all of his flaws and he loved me too." She said no more afterwards.

The kid looked at her and sighed before glancing at the stone slab in front of them, the stone was covered in snow and frozen moss, its vines wrapping around the object. The older girl wiped away tears off her face and continued to stare at the stone slab, her eyes were fixated to a single point on the stone, her eyes were staring at a few lines of words that were carved deep into the stone. It read: 'In memory of Brian the Shadow Walker, the last Ancient. Loved by those that he held close to his heart, hated by his enemies and feared by the rest'.

"Brian the Shadow Walker, eh?" the kid mumbled. "I wonder what he would have been like if I knew him."

"He would have thought highly of you, because… because…" the older girl tried to say, but her words got caught up in her throat and she never finished trying to speak, instead she gave up and pulled the young boy in a tight hug as tears flowed down her face. "I wish he was still here, I wish he was alive, I miss him." The snowy field began to disappear and the four figures blew away like sand in a strong wind, a white void took over the area and everything shattered like glass as a bright light appeared, then the sleeper's eyes opened and awoke.


The bright sunlight of Gamindustri woke the senior Lowean CPU up from her slumber, Blanc groaned and gazed around after rubbing her eyes, she quickly realised that her head was resting against the clothed chest of a certain Ancient who happened to be asleep, the rhythm of his chest moving up and down was slightly alluring and Blanc pondered whether to go back to sleep for a moment. As Blanc overcame the weary sleepiness she soon remembered the strange dream she had, it was sort of akin to a bad dream due to her, Rom, Ram and some random boy being sad about the death of Brian, she looked over at the sleeping Ancient and sighed with relief that what she dreamt of was indeed a dream. Yet there was one thing on her mind.

Who was that young boy that I kept close to me? I couldn't see his face so it's hard to say whether I know him or not. Still, there was something odd about him, something familiar, something that I cannot place… I'd ask Histoire about it but I don't want to trouble her when she already has enough to worry about. But why am I having more bad dreams lately? Is everyone having this problem?

Blanc was stirred from her thoughts by something she noticed Brian was doing: his left hand was twitching. The Lowean CPU knew that whenever Brian began to twitch it meant that he was usually having a bad dream or he was being too nervous, in this case Blanc knew that he was having a bad dream. Blanc gently shook Brian around for a few minutes but failed to get a reaction out of him, with a determined expression the CPU of Lowee grabbed Brian firmly by the shoulders and violently shook his about, his head constantly hitting the wall repeatedly. This was enough to awake him with an exhausted and painful look across his face.

"What… what the hell?" Brian mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head, he looked down to see Blanc staring at him, her eyes full of concern. "Oh, hello there, Blanc. Did you wake me up?"

"Um, y-yeah, sorry about that," Blanc apologised. "Its just… well, you were twitching again. Did something happen?"

Brian sighed, his right arm still around Blanc's body while his left arm laid on the ground, his legs felt numb while the back of his head was emitting a lot of pain. "I guess you could say that, it's nothing important, really."

Blanc stared Brian down. "Just tell me already, I can tell when you're lying you know."

Brian sighed and his gaze drifted away. "Well, remember back in Planeptune after the sleepover and when Neptune punched me out?"

"Yes, I remember that. Why are you asking?"

"Do you remember when I woke up and you lot told me that I had been mumbling and writhing in my sleep, then I told you it was all because of my bad nerves?" Blanc nodded, knowing where the conversation was heading. "Well, I lied. It was because of a nightmare that involved everyone I knew dead around my feet in Planeptune while the Dark Lord was resurrected amidst the ruins of the Planeptune Basilicom."

"Why didn't you tell us that when we asked you about it?"

"Because it was my problem, and I had aimed to keep it to myself so no one would worry about it but then… well, you know what happened next."

Blanc nodded. "The Dark Captains attacked us in our nations." The Lowean CPU moved her right hand to Brian's chin and grabbed a gentle hold of it, she then forced his head to her left and her eyes met his. "Brian, y-you know that you don't have to burden yourself with all the troubles that are thrown at you, I-I'm here for you."

Brian held onto her hand and chuckled. "You're still not used to showing affection to anyone other than your sisters, and even that's rare."

Blanc growled in a way Brian thought was cute. "Shut up you damn idiot."

"But I'm your idiot now, aren't I?"

"Yeah, I guess you are, and I don't think I would have had it any other way."

Brian and Blanc stared at each other and smiled before breaking out into a chuckle, then their heads started to move together slowly, Brian had moved a hand behind Blanc's neck while she had moved both her arms around his neck. Just as their lips were about to press together the sounds of wooden planks being hammered and industrial equipment started up, Brian and Blanc sprang their heads back and broke out in a blush before the Lowean CPU grumbled at the noise.

"Bloody noise, it had to happen just as things were, er, getting interesting," Blanc mumbled.

"Oh well, it can't be helped," Brian said as he got up along with Blanc. "They are starting to clear away the rubble that was left over from yesterdays battle, that would mean that Noire, and possibly Uni and Kei, are down there as well. We better get back inside, I'm starving."

"Likewise," said Blanc as she giggled when Brian's stomach growled. "Let's go and find some breakfast, assuming Rom and Ram haven't eaten everything already."

Brian chuckled and walked to the glass door with Blanc behind him, one the young man opened the door – which was open ajar – and stepped in a bucket of hot water fell onto his head, the water ran down his body and his body began to burn. The Ancient hopped around and yelled out in pain while Blanc snarled viciously at Rom and Ram who happened to be hiding around the corner, Rom was hiding behind her twin sister while Ram was sniggering. "That's what he gets for not getting up early to play with us," Ram said in a victorious tone.

"You little brats… get back here!" Blanc yelled as she began to run after her little sisters, her anger overriding the pain senses in her body.

Brian threw the bucket off his head and his body began to twitch all over due to the boiling, steaming hot water that was dumped all over his, after seeing Blanc race after her sisters he noticed how she would slow down and start to limp before regaining her energy and resume the chase, yelling all the way. Brian was sure that Blanc's cursing could be heard from every corner in the Basilicom, it was like some sort of beacon in case anyone happened to be looking for her, and it seemed to work. As soon as Brian began to recover from the boiling water he heard the sounds of running footsteps coming towards him, he turned around and wiped away water from his face to see Neptune and Nepgear coming towards him, their faces beaming with gladness.

"Yo there partner!" Neptune greeted Brian as she ran up to him, she then noticed the water dripping off him onto the ground. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"Rom and Ram played a prank on me, nothing much," replied Brian as water continued to drip off him onto the ground. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Histy suggested that we should so something here to raise our shares and regain the faith of the people, or something like that anyway, I didn't pay much attention to her." With that said and done the purple goddess stuck her thumb up and beamed a big smile at Brian before getting close to him. "But who cares about that, I'm more interested in the news about you and Blanc. I heard that you and her are in some sort of relationship, is that true?"

Brian blinked a few times and glanced away from the two Nep sisters, his cheeks blushing a light shade of red. "Y-Yeah, that is true, we're dating."

"Congrats to ya and all," Neptune said as she gave Brian a pat on the back with a bright smile on her face, Nepgear nodded to affirm that she also congratulated Brian's relationship.

The young man could not help but notice that there was something odd about Neptune at that specific moment, her smile was cheery yet also tense as her teeth clenched together, her eyes were filled with a hint of sadness, overall Neptune was happy yet sort of depressed. "You alright, Neptune?" Brian asked. "You seem a bit tense."

"Hmm? No, I'm fine, no need to worry about little ol' me. Now then, I'm hungry so where's the pudding?"

"In the kitchen, I presume you know where that is."

"Cool, I'll try and save ya a pudding or two if you're lucky." Neptune then raced off down the hallway and disappeared from view.

Once Neptune was out of sight Brian turned around and looked at Nepgear. "Hey, did you notice anything weird with Neptune just now?" he asked her.

Nepgear looked quizzically at the Ancient, her head tilted sideways and a confused expression was on her face. "Was there something wrong with Neptune?"

"Yeah, she was happy yet also sad. What could that mean?"

"Hmm, actually, now that I think about, Neptune did seem a bit off from her usual self. I don't know why though."

Brian shrugged his shoulders. "It's probably something we shouldn't get involved with, just to be safe. Anyway, where are the others? I'd expected Plutia and Angel to be with you around here."

"Angel and Plutia are in the lounge room with Peashy last I saw, then IF, Compa and Victor were in Noire's office with Kei and Histoire but I think they left the Oracles to their own devices by now, Vert is still in Leanbox but is coming later this morning, of course Noire and Uni are outside helping people clean up and set up a wooden platform while also creating stands for food, water and what not."

"Peashy? What's she doing here? I thought she was in the Ultradimension with the alternative versions of the CPUs? Plus, where's Wraith? And Histoire is here too?"

Nepgear chuckled for a short moment as her arms went behind her back, a smile remained on her perky face. "Peashy decided to come and visit us, if it hadn't been for her then we would have had some more serious injuries when fighting in the Zune District. I haven't seen Wraith I'm afraid, although Histoire is here because there is going to be an event held later today, you should talk to her soon to get the details."

Brian nodded, his brain processing the information that was handed to him. "Alright then, thanks for that, Nepgear. Oh, one last question, what's the time?"

"It's past eleven in the morning. Is something wrong?"

The young man shook his head. "No, its just me and Blanc woke up not too long ago, that's all. Anyway, I better get something to eat after I find Blanc and make sure that she hasn't broken anything, both nearby objects and her bones – she's still not in good condition due to her injuries. Come on, let's go find her and the prankster twins."

Brian and Nepgear roamed down the hallway at a leisurely pace side-by-side, neither one breaking into a faster or slower pace than the other. As they walked in the direction Rom, Ram and Blanc had taken Nepgear glanced at Brian through the corner of her eyes and noticed that he looked a bit more tired than she previously presumed, he also appeared to be more stressed than usual, the corners of his lips were tight and his eyes were droopy – a key clue to his worn out state. The purple haired Candidate knew that events over the last few weeks, and even months, were wearing him out completely, and it was showing. Brian glanced over at Nepgear and raised an eyebrow at her.

"What is it, Nepgear? Something on my face?" Brian asked her.

"What? Oh, n-nothing, nothing at all, Brian," Nepgear replied quickly as she looked away, causing Brian to mumble something in an incoherent voice. The Candidate sighed and continued to walk alongside the young man, but this time there was no talking, only silence from the two of them. That was the case until the sounds of people running could be heard coming from nearby around the corner.

Rom and Ram ran around the corner at full speed, Ram was holding two cups of pudding in both her hands and a huge grin was on her face, Rom on the other hand was running closely behind and no grin was seen on her face, instead a small smile was in its place. Running behind them with the fury of a wild boar that had been wounded by hunters in a corner was Blanc, her facial expression said it all – her glaring red eye burned through the souls of Brian and Nepgear. Much to the surprise of both Brian and Nepgear they saw Neptune running behind Blanc, she was wailing for the Lowee twins to give back her pudding.

"Get back here you damn bitches!" Blanc yelled at the top of her voice, her pace getting faster.

"Give me back my puddings!" Neptune demanded.

"Ha ha ha ha! Catch us first!" responded Ram as her speed increased, she and Rom passed Brian and Nepgear, both sighed and shook their heads.

"Screw you! I'll… gah!" Blanc uttered in pain, she stumbled forward and leaned against the wall before panting deeply, she held an arm around her waist and tried to continue running after her little sisters. It did not bode well for the Lowean CPU. Due to the pain running through her body she stumbled forward and fell to the ground, as the brunette CPU was mere millimetres away from the ground Brian caught her as quick as he could.

"You alright, Blanc?" Brian asked, his voice filled with concern.

"I-I'm fine, don't worry about me," Blanc replied as she was help up to her feet, the Lowean CPU winced in pain as she got back onto her feet before leaning on the young man for support. "Okay then, maybe not. I still hurt from those wounds."

Brian sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist while she wrapped her left arm around the young man's left shoulder. "You shouldn't be running around, it won't help you in recovering from your wounds. Come on, I better take you back to your room so you can rest for a bit longer." With that Brian swung his right arm underneath Blanc's legs and lifted the small CPU into the air, her head rested against his chest were his heart was located, a deep shade of red was on her cheeks.

"H-Hey! Give me some warning before you go and do that!" Blanc stuttered, despite that the CPU of Lowee huddled against Brian's chest, her hearing picked up the rhythm of Brian's heartbeat and she realised that it was racing, her thoughts were confirmed when Blanc saw the reddened face of the young man. They both stared at each other in utter silence before Blanc spotted her little sisters poking their heads around the corner, both had worried and guilty expressions.

"Um, a-are you alright, Blanc?" Rom asked as she nervously approached her older sister.

"I'll be fine, Rom, but you, Ram and I will be having some words later today."

Rom backed away as Blanc glared at her, growling noises emitted from the senior Lowean CPU's mouth as she then turned her gaze towards Ram, who was still holding Neptune's puddings, although it turned out that it was merely the cups that the Candidate was holding as she and Rom had eaten the sweet snacks, much to the purple goddess's dismay. As Neptune shed a tear over the loss of her food Blanc looked up at Brian to see him glancing at Neptune, who then noticed his gaze and smiled at him. The Lowean CPU noticed how chirpy yet sad Neptune appeared to be, and Blanc was sure that it wasn't because of the pudding. Soon enough Brian started to walk towards the direction of Blanc's room, the Lowean CPU clutching gently onto his shirt all the way with a tired look on her face. For several minutes they roamed down the hallways until they arrived in Blanc's dimly lit room, the sheets had been moved aside while her hat and shoes here sprawled across the ground.

Brian walked up to Blanc's bed and gently placed the CPU underneath the bedsheets, she clasped her hands on the sheets and yawned loudly much to her embarrassment. The Ancient chuckled and patted Blanc on the head as he sat down on the bed next to her, causing the CPU to pout at him. "Why do you have to be such an ass?" Blanc asked, her tired expression growing across her face.

"Hey, you confessed to me first so I wouldn't be complaining if I were you," Brian retorted cheekily.

Blanc smiled at him before yawning again. "Yeah, so I did, and I still don't regret it." As the memory of that night came flooding through her brain the Lowean CPU blushed madly as she remembered the intense make out session that occurred during the confession, it was not something she had expected would happen but it did highlight what could happen if they both let their anger and passions get the better of them.

"Anyway, I have some catching up to do, I'll be back as soon as I've chatted with Histoire, there's something I want to ask her about."

"You mean about us?"

Brian nodded. "I want to know if it is even allowed for a human and a CPU to be in a relationship together, I hope there' good news to that. Well, have a good sleep and I'll see you soon."

Before Brian could get up Blanc, with all the strength she could muster, leaned upward and swiftly wrapped her arms around Brian, she then brought his head towards her and locked lips with him. After a few seconds their lips parted and Brian saw the smile on Blanc's embarrassed face. "See you soon," Blanc said to him.

"Not if I see you first," came the cheeky reply, as soon as Blanc closed her eyes and swiftly drifted to sleep with a smile on her face Brian stood up and walked out of the room, he silently closed the behind him and walked down the hallway towards Noire's office.


"Are you sure that we can pull it of?" Kei asked Histoire, the tomboy-looking woman stood next to Noire's desk and had one hand on the table while the other was over her left hip.

"I can see no other option, it will have to do for now, I have confidence that it will succeed," the tome fairy replied, her expression austere.

I hope you are right and this event restores the people's faith in the Goddesses, they sure could use it right about now."

Histoire nodded in agreement just as Brian entered the large office with the Lowee Candidates attached to his arms and Nepgear walking beside him, the two Oracles turned to look around and small smiles broke out across their faces, Histoire was especially happy to see the young man again after such a long time away from Planeptune. The keeper of Gamindustri's history floated over to the Ancient and beamed a bright smile at him.

"Hello there, Brian, it has been a while since we last met face-to-face," Historie greeted him. "I hope you are feeling better after yesterdays ordeal."

Brian nodded. "Good to see you again, Historie, and yeah, I'm feeling better. Blanc is also getting better but still needs to rest for a while."

"That is good to hear, I heard about what happened when we were able to re-establish a signal with Lastation city, then we heard about the catastrophe that occurred. I guess we are lucky that there were no large numbers of casualties."

"How bad is it?"

"Not as bad as some of the reports make it out to be," Kei replied. "Several dozen dead on both sides, many more wounded and a quarter of the city destroyed. The dead have already had a ceremony early this morning and much of the rubble has been cleared away."

"Well that's good and all but what's this about an event taking place sometime today? I heard about it from Nepgear when I bumped into her."

Histoire smiled and rubbed her hands together. "Ah yes, the event. What we have planned for today during the afternoon will hopefully restore at least some of the people's faith in the Goddesses. You see, I've been doing a bit of research prior to this and I have discovered that there are four reasons why faith towards the CPUs is in decline. First reason is because of their association with you I'm afraid, second reason is because of the dissatisfaction with the signing of the Friendship Treaty, even though Neptune abolished it, the third reason is because of their lax attitude of late which ties in the fourth reason: propaganda. This is why there are many Dark Followers who fight with the Dark Captains. This event will act as a counter-attack to these reason, the CPUs and the Candidates are to hold a festival later today and mingle with the people and hopefully help them out whenever needed."

"We'll just see how that goes." Brian wondered if it would be enough to help the people regain their trust in their rulers, personally he thought it would not do much, but it was a step forward to tackle the problem.

"I think it'll work," said Nepgear.

Rom and Ram nodded their heads in agreement. "Yeah, we'll be awesome out there!" Ram told everyone in the office.

"Uh huh, everything will work out fine," Rom added.

"That remains to be seen," Kei said, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Well, I better be off, I gotta find soemthing to eat," Brian informed the Oracles, just as he was about to leave he looked back and a grim expression appeared on his face. "By the way, have you two had any nightmares or any sort of bad dreams lately?"

"How did you know?" Histoire asked, she appeared surprised that the young man knew about it.

"Because I had one last night, or early this morning anyway. From the looks on people's faces this morning I'm guessing that most had some sort of bad dream. Why is that?"

Histoire sighed. "Honestly, I'm not quite sure, but it always happens around this time of year, every single year around this specific period just about everyone in Gamindustri has nightmares on all sorts of scale. I have been doing some research into it but hardly any information has arisen to give me answers."

"Wraith might know something, he's been all across the dimensions and he was an Oracle before all of this so he might have some answers."

The tome fairy nodded. "Good point, I will try to locate him as soon as possible then."

"Alright then. Oh, one last thing. Is it morally alright for a human to be in a relationship with a CPU?"

Histoire raised an eyebrow before chuckling. "Oh dear, have you and Blanc confessed to each other already?"

Brian nodded. "Just a few days ago actually. I'm just wondering if it's alright for me to date her is all."

"Of course it is alright, in fact there are records that date back to a many centuries ago when a CPU was in a relationship with one of her citizens. At any rate you two will be fine, and I give you my blessings. Now then, you better have something to eat, it is going to be a big day ahead."


The day was bright in the afternoon, the clouds had all but disappeared and yet the air was cool. On the main street that led from the Basilicom to the east of the city dozens upon dozens of wooden stores piled together side-by-side, there were many items for sale at low prices at each of these stores, there was even a small open bar filled with alcohol and fizzy drinks. Hundreds of people roamed the street in a jubilant and cheerful mood, and for a good reason too: the CPUs were going to spend the day with them for the victory festival. As the hours passed away a commotion occurred at the centre stage that was located closest to the Lastation Basilicom, as the people gathered around a few noises came out of the speakers that were placed all around the place and finally the main attraction appeared. The Goddesses of Gamindustri had arrived, and in their HDD forms no less.

As the Goddesses arrived on the stage everyone in the crowd paid every attention to their rulers, especially a certain Lastation-born citizen by the name of Hiroshi Fujita. Nearly all of his attention was placed on a certain tsundere who had flown onto the large, wooden stage. As Black Heart gazed upon the crowd before her and her fellow CPUs her eyes came into contact with those of Hiroshi's, the two stared at each other for a short moment before Black Heart broke into a small smile and discretely waved her hand at him, even if she was a tsundere she could still be caring the young man reasoned. Although that was not the only thing Hiroshi had noticed about her.

"Whoa, she's beautiful," Hiroshi muttered to himself, a small blush appearing on his cheeks.

"Well, I can certainly give her credit for that at least, if nothing else," a voice coming from behind said in response.

Hiroshi turned around and saw a peculiar man walking towards him, the strange man stopped next to the Lastation citizen and looked at him. "Who are you?" Hiroshi asked.

"The name is Victor, some call me the Wind Mage of Gamindustri. I am an acquaintance of the CPUs, although the Planeptune girls would claim that I am their friend, but I barely know much about the other Goddesses. What's your name?" Victor responded.

"I'm Hiroshi Fujita of Lastation. Are you here for the festival as well?"

Victor nodded. "Correct, I came here during the morning at around eight with the Planeptune Goddesses and a few friends, there's three of them over there." The top hat wearing man then pointed to the left at a small group of four people huddled around a pole, the smaller one was sitting around the young man's neck. "That one is Compa, then there is Angel, the one around his neck is Peashy and finally the sleepy looking one is Plutia. Angel, Plutia and Peashy are CPUs as well, in fact Plutia rules an alternative version of Planeptune. She's a bit… er, weird so don't get her angry as well as Angel, got it?"

Hiroshi nodded, he could sense the sadistic vibes coming from Angel and Plutia even fro ma long distance away. Then a thought occurred to him. "Hold on, isn't Angel a friend of the Shadow Walker?" Hiroshi asked the slightly taller man.

Victor looked at him and nodded. "He is, although his real name is Brian so if you meet him, which is highly, just call him that."

"Alright then, but what do you mean by all that?"

"Just look up at the stage, you'll see in a few seconds."

Hiroshi looked up at the stage and glanced at the CPUs standing there, in the front row were the senior Goddesses of Gamindustri, from left to right – in Hiroshi's prospective – were Green Heart, Purple Heart, Black Heart and finally White Heart, all four were wearing dresses that matched the colour of their names. Behind them were the CPU Candidates in dresses as well, they stood just behind their older sisters and they too had serious expression – except for Rom and Ram. It was then, to everyone's shock and amazement, that the last person they had expected to show up walked onto the stage and stood alongside White Heart – Brian. The Ancient had a serious expression plastered across his face, his hands were by his sides and everyone could see the bright, blue glowing right hand of his. Unlike the Goddesses Brian was wearing his usual attire, even the now battle damaged white, Lowean styled trench coat – which some on the crowd thought was pretty cool.

As soon as everyone was quiet the four senior CPUs cleared their throats and readied themselves. Black Heart was the first to speak. "People of Gamindustri, we thank you all for attending this festival. For all those who come abroad we all know that you have travelled far to see this and commemorate the ending of a crisis that had engulfed our land ever since the comets were first sighted."

It was Purple Heart's turn to speak. "Despite all the praise that has been given to them, the Dark Captains have shown their true colours by attacking the people and ravaging the lands on which you all live on. They have stolen, burned, murdered and sought to destroy all that is great about our world."

Now Green Heart spoke. "With the devastation that has been wrought upon the Leanbox Basilicom and the city of Lastation as well as the casualties that have followed we have found it necessary to restore the trust between human and CPU, today we hope that we can be counted on again."

White Heart was next. "In order for this to happen we swear to find the last remaining Dark Captains and Followers, we will find them and bring them to justice. We will remember those who fell in the defence of their homes."

Brian said nothing after White Heart finished, instead he merely nodded in agreement with what the CPUs had just said, for most people that was good enough. Then all the eight CPUs on stage, along with Brian, bellowed as one voice. "Hail the victorious dead!"

"Hail!" the crowd bellowed in return, and thus the festivities truly began.

"Well then, things have gone off without any trouble, that's good," Victor said as he turned towards Hiroshi. "I have to catch up with a friend of mine, she's been looking over the security of the festival all day so far, I think she needs a bit of company, plus I think her shift is over. Have a good time, Hiroshi."

"Yeah, same to you too, Victor," Hiroshi responded as the man began to walk away through the dense crowd, the Lastation citizen soon lost sight of Victor in a matter o9f seconds due to the crowd. "Well then, I think I'll go over and say hello to Noire, looks like she and the others have left the stage."

Hiroshi walked through the crowd and made his way towards Black Heart and Black Sister, both were surrounded by people at a store filled with figurines of anime characters. Once Hiroshi managed to get close to them Black Heart glanced around and noticed him, a small smile was on her face when their eyes met contact. "Hiroshi, good to see you.

Are you enjoying yourself so far?" Black Heart asked.

The young man shrugged. "I don't know, the festival only just begun you know."

"Well, I suppose that's a reasonable answer, but you better enjoy it."

"Don't worry, Noire, I will."

It was then that Black Sister noticed the young man. "Hmm? Hey, Noire, who is this?"

"Oh, Uni, this is Hiroshi Fujita, we met yesterday during the battle."

"Yep, I was the one who helped your sister get back to the Basilicom in one piece, she was about to get finished off by some creepy guy when I came in and saved her, then I patched her sprained ankle up."

Black Sister looked astonished yet also suspicious, she turned her gaze towards Black Heart and saw her starting to heat up with nervousness. "Is that so? Noire here said that she was the one who saved someone, not the other way round, then Kei was the one who patched you up. Isn't that right?"

Black Heart tugged at the collar of her almost revealing black dress and stuttered. "Wh-Wh-What? Um, y-yeah, that's right. Stop lying already, Hiroshi!"

"What? I'm not lying, Noire!"

Before Black Heart could retort a hand grasped her left shoulder, the three of them saw Kei with a glass cup filled with alcohol and a grin on her face. "Noire, you shouldn't lie to the young man and your sister, it sets a bad image of you."

The tsundere CPU was humbled into submission thanks to Kei who had now turned her attention to Hiroshi. "Hello there, Hiroshi, good to see you again after yesterdays events."

"Same to you, Lady Kei," Hiroshi responded with politeness.

"No need to be that formal with me, just call me Kei, that's good enough for me. Say, are you and Noire friends yet? She is a rather lonely person so I was just wondering."

Hiroshi shrugged in response while Black Heart blushed madly while getting angry. "Wh-Wh-Wh-What?! I have friends thank you very much!"

Kei laughed and patted Black Heart's shoulder while the Candidate giggled. "I know that, but it always gets a reaction out of you," Kei said, as she began to walk off she stopped next to Hiroshi and smiled at him. "You're a lucky person if you do manage to become friends with Noire, she's a good person but has trouble trying to show it. Good luck."

As Kei walked away and disappeared from view Hiroshi looked at Black Heart and noticed that she had an embarrassed expression on her face, she looked away and twiddled her fingers around. "Um, hey, Hiroshi, w-w-would you like to, er… w-would you like to c-c-come over t-t-tonight? W-We're having a party in the Basilicom so I thought-"

"I'd like to go, sure thing," Hiroshi interrupted the CPU's stuttering rambling.

"R-R-Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course, how could I say no?"

"But what about your parents?"

Hiroshi became quiet after that, his expression grim and distant. "It'll be fine, trust me."

The look on Hiroshi's face did not escape the notice of the tsundere sisters, but for the young man's sake they decided to leave it be and focus on the invitation, which Black Heart was rather happy about. "Great, that's great! I'll see you at the Basilicom at around seven tonight. See you then."

As this went on Brian was on his own in another part of the festival grounds, his back was leaning on a wall while his arms were crossed in front of him, his head was low and one leg was crossed over another. Everyone was avoiding the Ancient completely while he too avoided them, it was not the best impression he could give after how the CPUs made their speech with him alongside them. The young man gazed at the crowd nervously and his fingers began to twitch, he started to look around and spotted an open path back towards the Basilicom, with swift legs Brian walked towards the direction of the tall building and abandoned the festival now behind him. Brian failed to see a pair of red eyes belonging to a certain CPU watching him.

When Brian entered the Basilicom and arrived on one of the balconies he looked down at the festival below and sighed. "I hate these sorts of social events," Brian muttered to himself. "It always makes me feel awkward."

"I know what you mean," mumbled a voice coming from behind Brian, the young man turned around to see Wraith standing with his back straight and his arms at his sides. "Greetings. Just as I promised yesterday I have come to talk to you."

"About time, I was wondering when you would show up."

"Alright then, ask away, I'm sure you have a few questions that you want to be answered."

Brian nodded and turned around, his full attention was directed towards Wraith. "Tell me about the Royal Bloodline, what is it?"

"The Royal Bloodline was made up of powerful Ancients who ruled the rest of their species with an iron fist, it is also known as the Cursed Bloodline due to the highly common bouts of madness, anger tantrums, bloodthirsty ambitions and overall evilness. Surprisingly they managed to hang onto power for two thousand years before everything fell apart, before The Sundering of the Ancients."

"What happened then?"

"After two thousand years the Royal Bloodline became so corrupted by power, by madness, by hatred that the rest of the Ancients decided to get rod of them and their supporters. The last straw was when an earthquake shook them to their very core, cities and towns were destroyed, a whole coastline fell underneath the sea and thousands upon thousands were dead. Civil war broke out and for many years the Ancients slaughtered each other, until the Old World sank beneath the sea, causing the few thousand survivors to make the journey east across the Sundering Sea to the shores of the New World – Gamindustri. Ironically the New World of Gamindustri was also responsible for the earthquake when the continent rose from beneath the sea."

The story mesmerised the young man, the tale about the fall of the Ancients was an enthralling one to him, although it did leave a few questions. "So what happened to the Royal Bloodline? Who founded it and who was the last member?"

"The founder of the Royal Bloodline was a young man by the name of Bleddyn, he was a farmer during the waning years of the Elder Era who rose to power and united the Old World under his rule, he was Emperor of the Ancients. Bleddyn also called himself the first Ancient, just as the Prophecy says that you are the last. As for the last member of the Royal Bloodline, well, I'm talking to him right now."

"Wait, you mean me?!" Brian was at a loss for words.

"Who else would I be talking to? Of course you. Doesn't it all make sense now? Have you ever wondered why you hate people so much? Why you always want to see the world burn? Why you always loose your cool in battle and give into bloodthirsty rages? It's because it is in your blood, it is in your nature to hate everything and everyone."

"Blanc can change that," Brian muttered. "She has always helped me whenever I need it, even if I destroy or kill she is always there for me, I love her for that. Just because it is a part of my bloodline that doesn't mean I have to be controlled by that fact."

"That may be so, but you shouldn't ignore it either, to be ignorant of it and to ignore it will lead you down a path which you will learn to hate. Trust me, I know of it first-hand. If you're wondering why I know all about this it is because I was worshipped by the Ancients as the God of Time so I know a few things. Anyway, I better be off, you better keep an eye on that nosey CPU of yours."

Brian turned around and looked at the open glass door, peeking through the doorway was White Heart. The Ancient sighed and smiled at her before looking back at Wraith, only to discover that the God of Time had disappeared. "Why does he keep doing that? He's like Batman with those disappearing acts."

White Heart walked up to Brian and stood next to him, she noticed how the young man's face tensed up and he glanced away as if he was guilty of something. "Um, sorry for eavesdropping, Brian, I saw you leave the festival so I wondered what was going on with you, then I heard the conversation between you and Wraith about the Royal Bloodline and The Sundering."

Brian glanced at the ground and began to twitch nervously. "What Wraith said about my ancestry, about hatred, bloodlust and corruption being a part of my natural psyche, does that change anything between us?"

The Lowean CPU look sternly at Brian for a moment before breaking out into a laugh. "No, it changes nothing you idiot, nothing at all. It just makes me want to help you more."

"Really? Damn I love you."

"I love you too." As White Heart gave Brian a hug she asked him a question. "Hey, us CPUs are going back to our nations tomorrow and I was wondering… would you like to come back and live in Lowee permanently with me, Rom, Ram and Mina? I can get you a job in the Basilicom, or even the Guild if you want."

Brian smiled and patted the blue haired woman gently. "You've got yourself a deal, I'd love to live and work with you."

White Heart tightened her hug and beamed a bright smile at the Ancient. "That's awesome! Come on, let's read a book to pass the time, I'm not one for festivals either. Plus we're having a party tonight and I heard that Noire invited someone."

Brian raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Seriously? Noire invited someone? That's new, I have to see this tonight."

The CPU laughed as she nodded her head. "Yeah, that makes two of us. Come on, let's read a book, I have one of my novels with me this time."


Night had begun to fall across Gamindustri and with that the festival had ended in an utterly joyous mood, faith towards the CPUs had risen highly and it felt as if nothing had changed from when the Dark Captains had first arrived. As the noises in the city quietened down the matter was different inside the Basilicom, completely different. A game was about to be played and all manner of words were about to be uttered. In the gaming room of the Basilicom were Brian, Angel, Victor and Hiroshi, all four of them were sitting on the couches with the latest console Lowee had devised and sold – despite the price it was going pretty well so Blanc was pleased about that, apart from the festival the new console had helped increase her shares even further. The four men were playing a game that had yet to be released on the new console, but what they had was a prototype that Blanc asked them to review by playing it. Little did she or the others know how dangerous it would become.

The game was called 'Plumber Cart 8', and right from the very start things were pretty good. Angel mastered the controls fairly swiftly while Victor grumbled about how difficult it was for him to do anything, Brian and Hiroshi had nothing to say. Then came the character menu. Brian chose a fat man in bright yellow clothing who had terrible facial hair, Angel chose a red baby plumber, Victor chose a young male mushroom man and Hiroshi chose a little green dinosaur wit ha shell on its back. For vehicles Brian chose some sort of bike as did Victor, Angel chose a fancy high-speed car while Hiroshi chose a drifting specific car. Then the race began.

The race course was a farming meadow filled with cows and grass mounds, Angel got the head start due to his car's speed as well as a mushroom from the first box he got, Hiroshi was in second until he drove into a cow which let Brian and Victor come in second and third. Hiroshi grumbled as he entered fourth behind Victor, that was until he got a blue shell in a mystery box and threw it, landing on Angel and Brian who were fighting for first place.

"The hell was that?!" Brian yelled.

"Fuck me life!" grumbled Angel.

It was only an image of what was to follow soon afterwards when the next race began after their time in the meadows was over, with Victor coming in first – much to everyone's surprise. The next was a highway filled with cars and trucks, despite being in first Victor did not hold the title for very long due to a red shell and a car, he snarled viciously before coming in fourth place. Hiroshi was in first and grinned as he threw a green shell behind him at Brian, hitting its mark and causing the Ancient to stamp his feet in rage. "Screw you, Hiroshi!" Brian snarled at the blue eyed Lastation citizen.

"Hey, just playing the- ah! The fricking hell?!" Hiroshi yelled, his anger building deep within him.

Some time later Victor was hit by two red shells, a small brown creature and finally a banana peel, with the rage within him exploding he yelled and smashed the small table next to him. "Can you not?! WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG YOU FUCKTARDS?!"

After that for the next half hour it became a full blown war between the four men, each threw shell after shell and banana peel after banana peel at each other while yelling, shouting and cursing one another. Brian had activated his Share Energy, Angel had transformed into Wolf Heart, Victor was just yelling while Hiroshi was doing his best to avoid the dark blue mark on his chest from activating, yet he remained pretty pissed off. As this went on Blanc, Plutia, Noire and IF were watching the four of them argue almost violently with each other. The tsundere turned and looked at her smaller, book loving counterpart.

"Maybe you should put 'may cause violent rages and use of bad language' in the small print," Noire suggested to Blanc.

"Er, maybe," was all the small goddess could respond with.


The Void, that was the name for all space between the dimensions. It was said that no one could live in it, no one could survive in it, no life could be supported. However, something, or someone, did survive in the endless Void, someone was living in it, someone was surviving it. The only way for one to survive the endless vacuum of the Void was to be one with it, or just be a spirit, and thus Agandur the Dark Lord had managed to survive ever since he was defeated by the combined efforts of Wraith and Uriel. The Dark Lord floated in the empty nothingness that was the Void, his thoughts had drifted towards his past failures as well as his predicament, that was until the spirit felt something, something off.

What is this? It feels as if some of my energy is returning. Can it be? Has one of my Captains fallen to the blade of another? Actually, make that two Captains, more energy than I thought is returning. Could it be Wraith's doing? Possibly, yet he would have had allies with him. Curse that man!

There was also something odd going on, it felt as if the links between the dimensions were weakening, Agandur had been sensing that for a few days already but not on this scale, it felt as if the fabric of reality was being torn asunder. The spirit of the Dark Lord looked around the darkness of the Void yet nothing appeared out of the ordinary – if one was to call being in the Void ordinary anyway. Then he sensed something else: energy, powerful energy, an energy that could tear dimensions apart. Agandur could sense it gathering in one point in some faraway dimension, then came a connection to another, a dimension which the Dark Lord knew well and hated: the dimension where he had been defeated.

So the legends are true, the Legion is preparing for war once again, and it feels as if they are preparing to finish off the work that I started. Uriel, the Ice Emperor of the Imperials, if only you knew what was coming. Heh heh heh…


A/B: Got this finished ahead of time, so that's good. Like the Mario and Nintendo Switch references I made with this chapter? I was planning on doing that for some time already. What could Blanc's dream mean? Who can say.

I wasn't actually going to put in the scene with the Dark Lord in this chapter but I thought it would be good for what I had planned for next time, and as for the next chapter there will be quite some action involving fighting, killing and magic. Yes, I know, I did say that the next dozen or so chapters were to be peaceful but I decided against it, don't worry it will be peaceful after that. If you have any suggestions please tell me and as always have a good day readers.