Chapter 43
Sylvie's Plan
The moment I step on the cold pavement of Planeptune's sidewalks, the roads where most of the vehicles are riddled with holes and cracks everywhere wherever I look. Some buildings have parts of their walls lying around the streets (or the smaller houses and buildings' roofs, which are already struggling to stop themselves from collapsing from bird-like creatures sitting on them). There might be survivors around the area, trapped or unable to help themselves. Whenever there are screams or cries around, I don't hesitate to find them. Some get away with injuries, but others aren't as lucky as them.
As much as I want to help anyone else who needs it, I can't bear to find any more unfortunate people. The only way to stop this is to head for the source of everything. But for some reason, my chest won't stop pounding from the thought. I just hope my guts are wrong.
Whatever the Gorgon Spirit told me, I don't plan on waiting around to see what'll happen next. Plus I want to know if Nana is here. Even if the Gorgon Spirit wasn't direct with me about it, anyway. She could be here—she should be here. After all, Planeptune is the Land of Purple Progress.
Before arriving here, I heard from a truck driver, who was waiting around the outskirts of the city so he wouldn't get caught with the commotion, about the current situation here in the city.
"Monsters are swarmin' the city," he told me as he cowered behind the wheel of his truck. "Heard it from me boss on the radio."
"How long has this been going?" I asked him.
"Dunno. But I do know I ain't goin' back there till Lady Purple Heart do somethin' 'bout it."
"Interesting . . . Well, thanks for telling me. Stay safe." That's what I told him before heading in, but I meant it for him not to panic and hurt himself, and possibly kill himself, instead of monsters getting him first. You'd be surprised at how many people injure or kill themselves because of panic, even if the cause weren't from the monsters.
I run towards the path I remember that leads to the Basilicom. The first thing I want to do is get information from Histoire and perhaps from the CPUs if they're there.
It took me a while before realizing what the Gorgon Spirit told me about the Land of Purple Progress, though. I knew I've read it from a book at the library where Sylvie showed me, and it's a good thing I remembered otherwise I'd still be wandering around Gamindustri for who knows which moon color will it become before I find it. Oh, wait, Gamindustri only has one moon color, huh? Guess it's for who knows how many moon cycles instead? Oh, who am I kidding? I shouldn't get distracted like this.
As I make my way around a corner after passing through five blocks, I catch a glimpse of IF and Compa get captured inside the center area where a mix of light and dark pink petals are being held in place. It all happens so fast that I'm unable to act anything else other than running towards it, my eye fixated on them.
"IF, Compa!" Without realizing it, my hands reach in for the same daggers I used against the Gorgon Spirit. But an arm gets in between me and the flower, stopping me and blocking my path. A vein pops on my head, but it disappears once I hear a familiar voice.
"Don't," a soft, motherly tone says. If the tone is stern, people might mistake this as a mother who's scolding her child, but there's no hint of sternness at all.
I snatch the hand that stopped me but freeze after recognizing the familiar silver hair and half-pointed ears of the owner's hand. "Sylv? What are you doing here?" I ask, putting the other hand I have inside the inner compartment out of my coat.
"I was right. I knew I'd find you here."
The way she says things in cryptic confuses me. She knew I was here? Or did she find out from someone?
"Find me? What for?"
The giant flower shudders while closing its petals shut as it descends to the ground with IF and Compa inside it. I try to run past Sylvie to help them get out of there, but she grabs my shoulder hard and tells me to let them be. I stare at her with my eyebrows furrowed, but she's not letting me go at all. She's not joking around, is she? "What do you mean 'let them be'? They're Uni and the other's—" I pause. I shake my head and glare at Sylvie's eyes, but she responds with a smile. "They have nothing to do with this!"
"Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen to them. Count me on that. Nana only needs them to—"
"Need them for what?" The words come out with a quiver, and I don't bother to hide it. Especially when things involve Nana, who I thought Sylvie told me was waiting for me back at the temple, as well as her. "Sylv, tell me, what's the meaning of this?" I want to know. I want to know what's going on here and why everything is a disaster.
"Kyle and Nana need them to persuade the CPUs."
"You mean blackmail them?" My mind, upon hearing it however, shifts focus to the first name she mentioned. Kyle Ironblood. It doesn't sound surprising after hearing about her and Nana, but I never expect it, so it still comes out with a bit of a shock. "So, he's also here? I guess I should've expected that as well, but what are you three doing here? And where are they?" The only ones around are the few monsters lingering around the city. They aren't destroying anything per se, but I never trust these savage monsters. They never bring anything good.
"Calm down, Rivi." The way she tells me to calm down with an old nickname stirs something inside my chest. I like how she calls me that, but I also hate how she calls me that. "I can explain, so let me, will you? Soon, the CPUs will reach the Basilicom and meet with both Kyle and Nana. I'm joining them shortly after."
"Why?"
"They want something from them, and they'll do everything they can to get it. We gathered these monsters to search the whole place but failed, so our last resort is to ask them from the CPUs themselves."
"Wait, you're part of this mess? The reason this place is a disaster?"
"I won't deny that."
"I don't understand. Why are you telling me all this if you're with them? If you wanted to get whatever it is you wanted, couldn't you just—I don't know—asked for it instead? Without causing this much trouble and bringing IF and Compa into this? They have nothing to do with this." I've already caused them enough trouble in the past, and I can't forgive anyone who'll cause them trouble again. Even if it's Sylvie.
"I know that, and the CPUs will rescue them anyway so they'll be fine."
She sounds quite sure about that. I don't have any doubts with Noire and the other's fighting capabilities, and I know this from experience; I can't handle a fight against them one-on-one without any weapons (I'm pretty sure I'm already being an idiot to try to fight them with fists when I'm not a master martial artists), but Kyle never picks a fight he knows he can't win.
"That still doesn't explain why you're doing this." I just want to know why she's doing this. Anything else, I don't have a single care about. I want answers from her.
"Listen to me. Kyle and Nana don't know this, but I'm not helping them any more than this. I realized something while watching you go around with the CPUs. So, I have a plan. A plan to stop them."
"Stop them? I don't get it. You were helping them and now you're telling me you have a plan to stop them?"
Isn't she supposed to stop me in the first place? The Gorgon Spirit told me she was there to stop me from heading out (even though she kind of did in the end and gave me directions), so shouldn't it be obvious they figured out she failed? But Sylvie's telling me the exact opposite.
"Well, they told me to have you join us in our cause. Hence, the reason why I'm here standing before you right here."
"Join the cause? What makes you think I'll join?"
If it was something like Sylvie's case, which is about the permit to run a business, I would gladly accept helping them. But with the buildings around here in shambles, the people either on the verge of death or unfortunate, even with our past relationships with each other, there's no way I can accept it now. There's just no way. It reminds me too much of that 'day'.
Sylvie gets closer to me and holds both of her hands on mine. Whenever I touch them, they're always cold. But right now, they're warm. I'm getting sucked in from her warmth, but her voice snaps me out of it.
"Tell me, Rivi—and I want you to be honest about this—what are we to you?"
It should be obvious, right? Does she even need to ask?
"Of course, you three are the . . . are the—" my heart grows heavy and my lip quivers. Biting my lip, I strain my throat to say the word, "you're my friends, and nothing will ever change that."
Hearing myself say it again after retiring from my travels, it's a strange noise—foreign even. I sometimes hear the word inside my head, and it usually makes my stomach upset; but hearing it with my own voice, instead of becoming upset, it's in a rage.
This, however, earns me a warm and satisfied smile from Sylvie. "I'm . . . happy to hear that from you."
It's a good thing I know how to hide these things from people. How long have I been doing it, anyway? If I judge it based on Gamindustri's time, has it been years? Decades? Or centuries? I'm not sure which one is the most accurate, but it might be one of them.
"But, Sylv, even if it's like that, what you're doing is not okay." Despite being one of my childhood friends, this isn't something I can shrug off as one of their pranks again.
"I know, and that's why I said I have a plan to stop them. But you need to trust me on this one. You might not like it once you hear it."
I already didn't like the things you said ever since our conversation. The words never reach outside of my mouth. With her hands squeezing mine, it reminds me of the day we first met in that cave. When I grabbed her hands to take her out of it, she was feigning bravery. That very night, she never reached out to anyone. She could no longer trust anyone. So, I had to tell her to calm herself down.
"Remember what I told you when we first met at that cave?"
I'm not doing this to gain satisfaction.
"I . . . I don't remember. Was it when you told me to show you my bruised hands?"
I'm doing this because I want her to know I'll never abandon her even if everyone and everything turned against her. When I told her, they weren't to comfort her. It was to give her the will to keep moving.
I chuckle. "A bit later than that. I told you before and I'll say it again: no matter who you are and what you do, I'll be the first one to trust you, as you've done for me. Now, tell me the plan."
"Maki . . ." Her hands stop squeezing. She lowers her head for a while before facing me again with her usual stern stare. The one she usually shows me when she knows how to get things done. "Well . . ."
~0~0~0~
"You're kidding. You're not being serious now, are you?"
"I told you you wouldn't like it. Are you going to back off from this?"
"Yeah, not until you tell me what you wrote on that small piece of paper at the cave when we first met."
"Hey, I told you, that's private." Her face turns to a shade of pink and her hands try to hide her flushed cheeks.
I wave a nonchalant hand to her. "I'm kidding. I'm not backing off on this. I told you, didn't I? Let's do it. Oh, but I can't just waltz in there from behind them or from the Basilicom. It might work if I come from the sky. They won't expect it at all. It's perfect. But that also means I must apologize to you in advance. I'll make sure I don't go overboard."
Sylvie shakes her head. "Don't be. They won't believe it unless it also affects me. How are you going to land from above, though? Can you fly?"
"No, but I know someone who can." I grab my phone from the inside compartment of my coat and press the name of someone I know. After placing it near my ear and the beeping stops, I greet her. "Where are you right now? If you don't mind, I'd like to request something."
"Don't beat around the bush and just tell it to me straight." The voice is, without a doubt, coming from the phone, but it's also coming from behind Sylvie. A shadow looms over her, which causes her to shriek and turn around.
"Eavesdropping again?" I ask the girl, who's shorter than Sylvie, behind her.
"What of it? Was I interrupting something?" she scowls, spreading the wings on her back to stretch and revealing its feathers as dark as the night.
I look around for the other person who is supposed to be with her at all times until he is given an order.
"Lookin' for me?" Ragnor's voice resounds from behind me. But when I turn to face him, he greets me with the tail-end of his war mace. "How's you and your girlfriend hanging on after playin' around with that metal-head? Got a room yet?" He laughs, but the other girl smacks her sole on his toe. "Ow! The hell's that for, bitch?!" He rubs his foot, dropping his mace. It makes a loud thud on the ground.
I swear, he has a sharp tongue and has no fear using it on anyone, regardless of Title or status.
"S-sir Ragnor? Is—is that really you?" Sylvie stutters.
Huh? Wait a moment. Something tells me I'm missing something here.
"Do you know him?" I ask her. How does she know him? And also, sir Ragnor? Really? I keep repeating the phrase over and over again in my head and don't realize I'm holding myself back from bursting to full laughter. Ragnor doesn't ignore my reaction and scowls at me.
"Yes, I do," she answers. "But who's this girl? And why does she have wings on her back?"
Both the winged girl and I look at each other, flashing a grin. "Don't know if you know this," I start, "but she's the youngest daughter and second heir to the Soleil throne." I might be getting excited about this than necessary, but this is the first time they both met each other, so I can't help it.
"I'm Priscilla Soleil, the Fallen Serenity," she spreads her wings while running her fingers through her long, straight, black hair.
Sylvie stares at her, her mouth agape. I know I expected her surprise, but she's more surprised than I thought she would be. "Holy mother of Yggdrasil!" It's the name of her old hometown before moving to my hometown, by the way. "I didn't think I'd meet Princess Minerva's younger sister in person."
"Wait, you know about Celes—I mean, Minerva?!" Priscilla and I say in unison. Now I'm the one surprised.
She waves her hands in front of her. "My father—he would always visit the castle and took me along when I was a bit older. I met her around the Queen's Garden."
"That's surprising," I say. "This is the first time I heard you went to the castle. Let alone meeting the princess. Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I did, but you never listened. It was almost a full white moon when I told you three about it."
"I-I see . . ."
"Alright, enough chattering," Priscilla announces. "Let's get over with the plan again, shall we?"
I know she hates long banters, but this is the first time I got annoyed from hearing it from her. I don't usually get this feeling. But I'm getting it today for some reason.
We go over the exact same plan as Sylvie told me. Only this time, I add about Priscilla dropping me from above and Ragnor's arrival to stop Kyle and Nana from using their last resort, the Demon Spirit and its Spiritlings.
As soon as we finish discussing, Sylvie appears in the scene below. Priscilla holds both of my hands and carries me, while Ragnor uses the shadows to lie in wait until his cue to come out arrive along with Priscilla.
"Let's see . . . Maki, was it?"
"Don't call me that."
We hover over the whole scene, watching Neptune, Nepgear, Uni, and Rom get entangled and trapped. Can't say I like what I'm seeing, but I can't let myself lose my composure and go in too early and ruin the whole plan.
"What should I call you then?" she says in a mocking tone.
"The one I told you."
She laughs with her high-pitched voice. If she wasn't Minerva's sister, I would've let go of her hand right now and jump off to scare her, but I can't fool around.
"How do you plan on fighting them without your sword?" she asks without the mocking tone this time. "Don't say you'll figure it out when you get there. Even if my sister knows you better than I do, I know enough you can't handle them without a weapon."
"Glad to hear you're worried about me, but there's nothing else I can do."
"There is one." We land on top of a nearby building to the scene where Nana pulls on Uni's hair. I feel a hand grabbing my wrist and pulls me back from the edge of the building. "Don't. It's not the time yet."
"I know," I say, but it's more directed to me than to her. "But I'm losing patience here."
"I'll be the one to decide when you'll go."
I nod, and she continues.
"Use those daggers. You'll stand a better chance if you fight with them."
"No," I answer without thinking or stuttering.
"This is not a request."
"Even so, my answer won't change."
"You won't last until the sun moved an inch for the plan to work. Do you want to let that half-elf down?"
"She already let everyone down," I say. Priscilla opens her mouth, but I add another statement before she makes hers. "And so did I."
The warm breeze moves her wings as she sighs. "I have nothing else to say. It seems you already know the answer." She spreads her wings as the fight below us begins.
She extends both of her hands and I take them.
How many times have I rejected but meant the opposite? What am I even thinking now? But since we've already let everyone down, I might as well add it even more. To survive this fight—no, to win this war, I need to make sacrifices. And for this war, in particular, I'll need to make an exception with my Mad Jester's Daggers.
In a heartbeat, one I thought could have stayed silent forever instead, Priscilla and I take off from the roof of the building and hover above their fight, waiting until Sylvie gives us the cue.
I remove one hand from Priscilla's grip and keep it in place right on top of my eyepatch.
"I'll dye your neck in red if you got me in that," she tells me not with her usual aggressive tone, but a casual tone. When was the last time I heard her like this?
"Don't worry. It'll end sooner before you make any appearance." I mean it. I can't let Sylvie down now that I told her to trust me.
At this point, the clashes below turn silent. Sylvie makes her way and uses a message charm on Uni.
~0~0~0~
"For this plan to work," Sylvie says after Priscilla's arrival with Ragnor, "we need Uni to cooperate with us on this."
"Won't that run a risk of the others overhearing the plan? And what if she refuses?" Priscilla asks.
"It won't, and she will help us. I'm sure of it. Also, I have this." Sylvie pulls out a black card. The same size as the one I saw in a whole pack along with more of its kinds but with different pictures and numbers and shapes.
"Whoa, neat—" Priscilla slaps her mouth and coughs. "It looks interesting, but how does this piece of paper work? I'm sensing excited magic energy flowing around it, but it's not the same kind as the common magical energies wizards and witches have."
Sylvie beams and twists the card around her fingers. "I'll demonstrate. Don't worry, this isn't the only one I have."
"Entertain me, then."
With her approval, Sylvie whispers something to the card and throws it to Priscilla's direction. The card explodes, revealing the letters forming in the air to spell the words wrapped in flames: You can't have him.
After I read the message for about three times, the letters burn and fade into ashes. I don't understand what the message meant, but Priscilla growls while her cheeks turn into a strong shade of red as she glares at Sylvie; and Ragnor, on the other hand, goes on all fours, releasing his obnoxious and hearty laugh without a care in the world yet again.
I have no idea what the message is supposed to mean, but Ragnor and Priscilla never explain it to me no matter how many times I pester them and give up trying.
~0~0~0~
"It's time," Priscilla says from above, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"You can let go of me now. Get in position and wait until it's your turn to come out."
She releases the remaining hand of mine holding onto hers and flies off into position somewhere below where no one can see her. As I fall, the CPUs and Sylvie's group ready themselves to fight again, but I activate 'it' before they get a chance to clash blades once more.
Placing the eyepatch back in place, I land on the ground with a great thud, creating smoke around me.
It's a good thing they can't see me because I'm still trying to get rid of the shock moving from my feet to my head. I've gotten quite rusty at making these landing. It might be good to retrain myself sooner or later, but I need to focus on other things first.
I fix my posture once the shock fades and scan the area around for Uni. When I find her clutching her head on the ground, I approach her to tell her about the next part of the plan. She should get the gist of things after seeing Sylvie's message.
However, the closer I get to her, Noire's blade flies straight towards me while she yells, "Get away from her!"
It forces me to duck and kneel to dodge it.
I look at Noire, but if I look at her like the usual times whenever our eyes meet, she might not believe I'm a threat. And I can't look at her with pity especially, or she might catch on.
To counter that, I remember the event where Priscilla got her hands on a small notebook from the small bag I left behind when I went out to get them drinks to recreate the same stare I gave her back then. And judging from Noire and the other's reactions, it works.