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Neptunia Guild Files: Fate/book one

A Hyperdimension Neptunia Fan Fiction

by Derald Snyder

Section 23: Call From A Friend

(Jeanne D'Arc- Begin)

"...So, do you have a grasp on how it works now?"

"Yes! I cannot thank you enough for giving me this magic tome! With this my revenge shall finally be at hand!"

"So what of your little experiment?"

"Oh, she was killed by some rider woman. Too bad, but she was expendable anyway."

"...You did make sure her enhancement could not be traced back to you..."

"Oh, don't worry! They are completely clueless! It never even occurred to them that I was the one driving the car that separated them! They likely thought it just some random passing motorist!"

"I see. It's too bad she couldn't at least eliminate that homunculus, but oh well. So what shall you do now?"

"Is it not obvious? I shall set my plan for revenge in motion! If only my friend agreed with me... but now, with your help, I can make something just as good!"

"I shall leave it to you then. Good luck with your revenge..."

"Oh, indeed! And thank you again, Sir Merlin!"

*One week later...*

"Good morning, everyone."

"Saber! Good morning!" Nero greeted jovially. "...Ah, have you finally been cleared of your darkness?"

"Mostly," Saber nodded. Indeed, her hair and skin tone had reverted to normal, though there was still a glint of gold in her green eyes... even her wayward strand of hair had regrown. "Leona says that as long as I don't get hit with a dark magic attack, I will not revert..."

"Thank the goddesses," Archer sighed as he walked up behind her. "Having to deal with dark Saber was the worst... it was like her food preferences completely inverted! Hamburgers, hamburgers, and more hamburgers!"

"What?!" Rider stood up from her desk in shock. "Saber, you hate hamburgers!"

Saber heaved a sigh and nodded. "I know. I feel awful, making Shirou cook those for me... even if I did recompense him afterward."

"Do you mean 'sampling dessert', mikon~?" Tamamo teased, causing the two to blush profusely.

"So wait, do you two live together?" Nero realized. "Are you married?"

"...not yet," Archer answered after a moment. "Our work schedules make it really hard to organize a formal ceremony... and last time we tried, Morgan intervened."

"Intervened?! She completely destroyed the venue!" Saber growled. "That led to our previous confrontation, where Shirou mistakenly believed that woman had met her end..."

"That's terrible!" Nero gasped with her hands over her mouth. "But, at least she will not be able to object again..."

"One silver lining to this whole incident," Archer sighed. "Now all we have to do is pray for another miracle, another lull in guild activity..." Just then, a phone rang nearby. "Not today, though. Saber, that's yours."

"Oh, right!" Saber quickly went to her desk, picking up the phone. "Hello, Planeptune Guild, Agent Saber speaking..."

"Hello, Artoria. It's Jeanne."

"Jeanne?! Oh, how nice to hear from you!" Saber replied happily, sitting in her chair. "How have you been?"

"I've been doing fine. ...though I didn't call to catch up. This is business, I'm afraid."

"Oh, yes, of course," Saber's tone turned serious. "So what's the situation?"

"Do you remember my friend, Gilles? I'm afraid he's finally gone over the cliff, figuratively speaking..."

"Oh, no, what happened?!"

"It seems he got his hands on some dark magic tome," Jeanne explained. "It's warped his body and mind, and now he's obsessed with carrying out revenge on those who wronged us when we were children... My words can no longer reach him. I'm sorry to trouble you over this, but I can't do this alone..."

"Say no more. Archer, Rider and I will be there as soon as we can," Saber promised. "Actually, we have two new promising recruits, would you mind if we brought them along as well?"

"...Certainly, if you believe they're up to the task," Jeanne replied after a moment.

"I believe that they are. We should be there by tomorrow."

"That works. Thank you so much, Artoria..."

"Think nothing of it, Jeanne. That's what friends are for," Saber said with a smile.

"In that case, I will see you tomorrow. Good bye for now."

"So, what's the situation?" Archer asked after Saber hung up. The blonde promptly explained what Jeanne had told her... "Gilles got corrupted by a dark tome?! Damn... that's not good."

"Who is this Gilles?" Nero inquired. "And Jeanne, for that matter? I assume she is a fellow agent?"

"That's right," Saber turned to her. "She works in a small Guild branch to the south of here... she goes by the codename Ruler. Gilles is her childhood friend."

"Their hometown was burned to the ground when they were children," Archer took over. "Jeanne and Gilles were the only survivors... while Jeanne chose the path of forgiveness, Gilles was... more conflicted."

"But who would burn their hometown to the ground?! And why?!" Nero cried in distress.

"You know that this world, Gamindustri, has an economy based upon the creation and distribution of video games," Saber stated. "However, there are those people who do not play video games at all... they are known as 'non-gamers'. Jeanne's hometown was mostly populated with non-gamers, including Gilles and Jeanne herself. Unfortunately, a few decades ago, back when ASIC was still active, many gamers believed that non-gamers were acolytes of the Deity of Sin herself... while the CPUs have all stated that people are free to play games or not as they choose, not all chose to listen..."

"So basically, you're saying Jeanne and Gilles lost their home to pro-gamer supremacists?!" Tamamo gasped.

"That's right," Rider nodded. "To be fair, a few of those bastards were caught and convicted of facilitating mass murder, but quite a few others walked due to lack of evidence, or so I read."

"And Gilles won't be satisfied until each and every one of them pay for their crimes," Archer appended.

"But, what if they have repented of their actions?!" Nero pointed out. "And what if Gilles slays the innocent along with the guilty?!"

"That's where we come in," Saber answered. "It falls to us to help Jeanne stop her old friend from carrying out his reckless vengeance."

"So, another road trip, mikon?" Tamamo guessed.

"This won't be quite as long a trip as last time," Rider assured her. "Still, you should pack a change of clothes, just in case..."

"We move out tomorrow morning," Archer stated firmly. "So make sure you go to bed early tonight..."

*Elsewhere...*

The woman sighed as she hung up the phone. "So, how did it go?" someone spoke behind her.

"They took the bait. Hook, line, and sinker," she turned to face Gilles. "But will we be able to handle two extra agents?"

"If they are rookies, it should not be a problem," Gilles shook his head. "Let us plot how best to deal with them when they arrive tomorrow, Jeanne..."

"Heh heh heh..." 'Jeanne' grinned, her eyes shining a pale yellow. "I'm gonna enjoy burning them all to ashes and dust... and then all those who wronged us in the past as well!"

The two villains laughed together in anticipation... while off in the distance, another woman, similar in appearance to the first, struggled futilely against the thick ropes that bound her...

*To be continued...*

Uh-oh, Jeanne Alter's on the scene! And Jeanne is a captive! This doesn't bode well...