Disclaimer: I don't own Date A Live or Hypedimension Neptunia in any way… if I did, the former would have an RPG video game by now!
"So Iffy, what's the first thing we're going to do?"
Having traveled for near half an hour from the point they've parted with Shidou, Compa and Noire, Neptune paused in her steps as she looked at IF expectantly. Surprisingly, there had been close to no monster prowling about during that time period and the few that did appear, were content to ignore them or ran off to the opposite direction.
"This should be far enough from the main path that we'd start meeting up with some of the aggressive monsters." IF answered finally taking out her new pair of katars. It lacked the sleek design and intimidating presence that her older set of katars held but as it had been given to her for free, she couldn't really ask for more at the moment. "For the time being though, I want to see how you fight on your own."
"How I fight? But you've seen me fight quite a lot in the past few days."
"I have," IF agreed with a nod. "But I haven't been observing your fighting style as much as I should have. Brute force is all well and good, as you have shown the capability of doing that and more, but devising strategies that fit your talents would require me to actually look carefully."
While IF wasn't exactly a strategist given that the majority of the quests she partook in only had Shidou as her sole party member, but she understood the necessity of knowing the abilities of those she partied with. It would often decide how much she could rely on someone to perform a given task or if certain plans could be executed because those with her have the skills to make it possible.
"Okiedokie then!"
At Neptune's agreement, a pair of wolves entered the clearing that Neptune and IF had stopped at. Their glowing red eyes would have paralyzed normal civilians in fear but neither of the two girls felt anything from the wolves growling at them despite the near darkness that the lack of lighting gave the surroundings.
Certainly, the pair held guarded postures that made sure they weren't lax, but they were far from tense and had enough presence of mind to keep their attention in the area around them.
"Alright cannon fodders! Time to meet your maker!"
"…haaa, that's just going to attract more monsters here."
Despite saying so, IF made no move to assist Neptune. It wasn't a case of making Neptune fend for herself, but simply because she had a feeling on how the battle would go.
After Neptune had quickly dispatched the first two wolves – a simple action that had Neptune swinging her blade horizontally as the two wolves leaped at her – another group of wolves approached her from the right and left side.
The purple-haired preteen didn't look the least bit perturbed and happily destroyed the wolves with little to no effort. Even being attacked from multiple sides didn't deter her.
"Luck? Or perhaps instincts…"
If the one she had been watching over was Shidou, he would have probably messed up at some point already especially once the numbers started increasing. Neptune on the other hand, while showing no obvious strategy or anything that could be considered a style, looked as if she could go on all day and she would still have energy to spare.
Her moves, while haphazard and filled with enough power to cleave through slews of wolves in a single swing, were nimble enough that it wasn't hard to see that the preteen was one and the same with the person she turned into when she activated HDD. There existed room for improvement but IF wasn't quite sure if it was either because Neptune simply liked to fight that way or that her fighting style became more refined in her other form.
Comparing the amnesiac preteen with her own amnesiac partner, their affinities couldn't be all the more apparent.
As much as Shidou would deny it, his skill set was more in-line with a more peaceful profession as his skills with fighting were negligibleand the only thing that made Shidou capable of being an effective adventurer was Sandalphon and his possession of mana reserves that made the reserves of even the most accomplished of mages dwarf in comparison.
If IF had enough time or she knew of a way to teach the arcane artes quickly to someone who lacked any memories of it, then it was possible that Shidou could have grown as a magic user instead of a great sword user.
Neptune on the other hand, while the preteen would love nothing more than to take the easy way in life, had battle ability in droves that it wouldn't be wrong to say that Neptune had a talent in battle that made her a force to be reckoned with. Even as IF observed the ongoing battle with the slowly increasing number of wolves, Neptune was unconsciously adapting to the situation by making her evasions timed perfectly when another wolf would attack her from the opposite direction. With barely a glance and sometimes not even then, Neptune had a grasp of the battlefield that made Shidou's own grasp of a battlefield a level down in comparison.
She had yet to evaluate the purple-haired preteen's magic reserve, and IF idly wondered if it would be a worthwhile venture to teach the girl a few magic spells to widen her repertoire.
"Is it talent? Or muscle memory? Who are you really, Neptune?"
Whispering those barely audible words, IF joined the fray to get some warm up herself. She had observed enough of Neptune's brief bout to know what sort of things she would need to do in preparation for the future.
How fast was the raven going exactly?
The raven was high up in the air that neither Noire nor Shidou could reach the raven even with their more than superhuman skill (at least in comparison to the average civilian) in fighting.
Shidou's jumping height limit in his normal form would be around as high as a tall single floor building or a short two floor building. Noire could probably reach higher with her nimble build, but without any platforms to find purchase in, neither of the two could reach the raven without using some more esoteric moves that had no guarantee in accurately meeting the raven head on.
Compa's weapon range was not particularly long either.
In the right range, Compa's weapon would not miss its target and she had shown quite the dexterity in previous fights to prove that she was at least unlikely to cause friendly fire yet be at a distance that the opponent shot at could not easily bound towards her.
For exact range, her comfortable weapon range was around 100m but it can fire to around 300m.
With Compa missing regularly despite her innate accuracy, this meant that the raven was around 250m or higher in height.
A mere 20m distance should easily be reachable for someone of Shidou's build and it wouldn't even be called a race if the opposing player was over 10 times in distance.
Yet Shidou unhesitatingly called up on a power that can easily destroy his body from within just so he could reach Compa.
The decision was not wrong however.
A sonic boom echoed in the air above, which lent an idea as to how fast the raven had gone.
Shidou's sudden acceleration was barely above that, and despite reacting a moment later, he had reached Compa before the transformed raven.
"Kyaaaah!"
Using his own power to cushion the impact between himself and Compa's body, he tackled her onto the ground just as the raven clawed at her.
With the momentum of the tackle, Shidou hugged Compa's body close to himself as he used his own body to shoulder the blow from the ground.
But despite the disorienting action, Shidou had enough presence of mind to quickly lift his blade to parry a follow up attack from the raven. However, the weight of the blow was much different from before.
"Guh!"
Grunting in exertion, Shidou quickly used enchant magic to ward the raven off but it was only when Noire came rushing in that the raven finally flew off.
"Shidou, Compa are you alri – you pervert!"
"Eh?" Letting out a sound of confusion, Shidou felt that the accusation came from left field. Although now that Shidou thought about it, there was a soft sensation coming from his left hand…
"Ah - !"
Letting out a sound that would chip away at a man's sanity, Shidou's attention quickly turned away from Noire's accusation towards Compa.
"Eh?"
"M-Mr. Shidou, if you squeeze any harder, y-you'll have to take responsibility…" Compa breathed out, her complexion not too different from the color of her hair.
"Take responsibility…?"
Shidou's eyes trailed down from Compa's face towards his left hand. He had not paid much attention towards where he had grasped so long as he could make it to Compa's side to pull her away from danger… although just by focusing on the sensation, it almost felt like he had grasped a part of heaven…
It was no surprise however, as his left hand had somehow grasped at Compa's soft yet supple brea-
"S-Sorry!"
Leaping back, almost as if his hands got burned, Shidou's own face burned up to match Compa's complexion.
"I – I didn't mean to do that! It was, I mean…"
Shidou's words trailed off, and he turned his attention towards the raven.
"…sorry, I'll apologize in depth later. Right now, we need to decide what we do next."
"Yes… I want to get an explanation as how that came to be." Noire said darkly, sending a shiver down Shidou's spine.
"R-right… Anyway, it seems like running is out of the window. That raven is far too fast now, if a bit predictable. Although I'm not sure how predictable seeing as it just changed forms."
"Going viral, huh… it's not common, but it seems to be happening more frequently as of late."
"You've encountered them before?"
"Y-yes… I remember something along those lines." Noire admitted a bit hesitantly.
Shidou nodded his head at that. Although viral monsters were 'uncommon', anyone who has been adventuring past the safe areas of the landmass would eventually encounter it. It was more odd to find someone who has yet to encounter one.
"So what's the plan?" Noire asked.
Observing the raven circling above them, Shidou felt that it would have been more prudent to run away at this point. There was no need to take it out, and doing so for a warm up exercise seemed a bit excessive. That said, if they left it behind, an unfortunate adventurer might come across it and may even end up losing their lives.
"…it's not like we can run, now that things have ended up like this." Shidou muttered quietly. "And if a monster like that remains here, I fear for other adventurers that might end up here."
"So we'll take it on?"
"Yes, but we'll need to either render its speed useless or have it work for us."
Although the strength, vitality and speed of the raven had all increased, it did not necessarily mean that there was a sudden change in how it attacked or pursued its foes. To put it simply, it would be like a monster suddenly getting a huge dose of instantly working steroids – only the base physical stats were increased but its mental capacity had remained the same.
There have been instances in the past where viral monsters gained new abilities upon transformation, but the raven before the party did not look like one that had obtained any distinct ability. Most viral monsters that do gain an ability at least had some time living under their new forms.
"It seems like you have a plan… I thought you said you were pretty bad at making tactics?"
"It's hard to say I'm good at it..." Shidou said rather vaguely. "I just have something to base the tactics on. Anyway, here's what we should do…"
Describing the layout of the plan to Noire and Compa, Shidou made sure to keep the raven by his peripherals in case it made to attack. As the raven hadn't moved away from them despite its near prodigious speed, it seemed like it was intent on finishing the battle.
It was a good thing seeing as the trio would be hard pressed to pursue the viral raven, thus they couldn't let the chance go.
Once the planning session was over, they moved their respective spots and once Compa had hefted up her weapon, Shidou nodded towards her.
"Alright, Compa, if you will."
Compa nodded and once again aimed at the raven with her… giant syringe.
Seeing as neither Shidou nor Noire had anything that could reach the raven, it was decided that Compa would be the one to reinitiate hostilities with her weapon. There was a chance that it wouldn't work, but Shidou was confident that with the way the raven was, it would quite easily fall into place.
Like before, the shots that Compa fired had either missed or were avoided, but with hostilities restarted, the raven aimed its sights once again at Compa and flew down with unerring speed. It was a noticeably foolish move seeing as Shidou and Noire were not too far away from the nurse-in-training.
"It's like it forgot that we were here…" Noire commented, readying her rapier.
"Weak monsters that go viral aren't exactly smart, so it's to be expected." Shidou agreed with a wry smile. "Although they still have reflexes of a strong monster, so we'll just have to take advantage of their stupidity and their reflex."
Within moments, the monster was in range, but before it could even attempt to claw at Compa, Shidou slammed his left hand to the floor.
"Earthen Wall!"
Initiating one of the few magic skills he had in his arsenal, a large rectangular wall several feet in thickness suddenly sprouted out from the ground before Compa. The sudden appearance of the wall made the raven comically slam into it like one of those cartoon animals that hadn't noticed an obstruction on where they're running towards to.
The wall itself fractured from the impact, and although it looked similar in size to the structure that would appear when he called for Sandalphon, it neither had its integrity or its almost ethereal quality. Comparing the two would be like comparing a sand wall with a metal wall – it was simply far too different.
Nevertheless, the wall had done its job as it had halted the raven in its tracks, rendering it immobile for a few seconds if not outright incapacitating it.
Noire immediately took action, and with a flick of her blade, the raven shot up into the air. The black-haired swordstress pursued the monster with a single leap and upon reaching the necessary height, used her rapier to slash at the raven, she grimaced lightly to find that her rapier had done next to nothing.
"Tch… even my rapier can't pierce it like this? Shidou!"
Following up her attack with a heel drop, the raven plummeted towards Shidou.
Shidou didn't hesitate as he held his great sword above his head, and once the raven was within reach, the blade descended.
After seeing how Noire's attack had gone in the air, Shidou decided to end it decisively by tapping in to the power of Sandalphon, to momentarily strengthen his arms.
The result was evident as the raven was cleanly bisected into two and the resulting momentum of his blade caused the ground beneath the raven to crack and cause a small quake.
By the time that Noire had landed, the wall that Shidou had called up had sunk into the ground and the raven was already in the process of degradation. Shidou himself had collapsed by his back with Compa quickly acting by taking care of the blue-haired boy.
"Are you alright, Shidou?" Noire asked, her voice tinged with worry. "Did you get injured trying to save Compa a while ago?"
As far as Noire saw, she did not see anything to indicate that the raven had actually hurt Shidou during the brief exchange.
"S-something like that." Shidou said with a stiff smile. "And before you say anything Ms. Compa, it's not your fault. No one expected the raven to change like that, and I suppose you've never encountered or heard of a monster going viral."
"Yes… I've never seen that phenomenon before." Compa admitted a bit downheartedly. "Even during the times that it was just me and NepNep, we never encountered a monster suddenly becoming all big and mean..."
"Wait, Ms. IF and Shidou weren't with you in the beginning?" Noire inquired, a bit surprised.
"Oh yes. We met Iffy and Mr. Shidou in a cavern in Planeptune. If they weren't there, that mean woman would have hurt NepNep real bad…"
"Mean woman?" Noire directed an inquisitive stare towards Shidou.
"We don't know the name of the woman either." Shidou said as he sat up. "Just that, she seemed to have it out for Neptune and was absurdly strong. She's almost as strong as or maybe even stronger than the woman we fought off yesterday."
Of course, it needn't be said that the woman Neptune, Compa, IF and Shidou had fought yesterday was also leagues stronger than any adventurer they had met before… but like the woman a few days ago, she seemed to be aiming for Neptune too.
Were they connected perhaps? Although now that Shidou thought about it, the woman from the day before wasn't keen on involving outsiders in their squabble and had avoided doing anything close to fatal when she was engaging anyone but Neptune. The former had no qualms on aiming to kill them when they had proved to be rather dangerous.
"S-stronger? Did this woman have green hair or perhaps blue hair?"
"Are there criminals with those sort of hair?" Shidou asked with a confused look. "Well, to answer your question, no. She had light purple hair and had a gothic appearance that made her seem like she came from some dark themed cosplay event."
It was a strange description but he felt it was an apt one nonetheless.
"…at any rate, I think I'm good enough." Shidou said standing up after seeing that Noire had no recollection of someone having that sort of description. "Let's go rendezvous with IF and Neptune. By this time, I think they should be finishing up their warm up or be done with it already."
Noire was still evidently confused by the description but left it at that.
"…so let me get this straight, you, Compa and Noire took on three ravens, and somehow, the last one turned viral and forced you to use that?"
IF was standing with her legs parted slightly, her arms folded before her chest and her eyes frigid as if imparting judgment down to whoever was unlucky enough to be the target of such a stare.
It was obvious who was the unlucky fool who had earned her ire, as the person in question was sitting at a seiza over the uneven grounds of West Wind Valley.
"I-I didn't really use it! I didn't even manifest it, just ask Compa!"
When IF glanced at Compa with menacing eyes, the nurse-in-training flinched at the stare and immediately began talking.
"I-it's true Iffy! Mr. Shidou only used the great sword he has right now!"
"Then how is it that Shidou managed to save you when the raven that attacked you was moving at speeds that nearly exceeds the speed of sound?"
"…"
As if taking the silence as confirmation of her suspicions, she turned her attention back towards Shidou making the blue-haired boy let out a soft 'Hiii' sound.
"And what's more… not only did you use a power I forbade from using…" IF's fist clenched tighter and tighter that Shidou felt he wouldn't have been surprised if it drew blood, "…but you also used that opportunity to cop a feel out of Compa's b-breast! I don't remember raising you to be such a perverted fool, Shidou!"
"It was an accident! I wasn't even looking when I dived to save Compa!"
"…but you still felt them, am I right?"
"…"
Shidou averted his eyes away from IF's gaze.
"…pervert."
"I'm sorry!"
IF gave a sigh, as if relenting and her expression turned softer.
"I can't say that I didn't expect this, but please look after your body some more, Shidou." IF said her voice tinged with worry. "It's a good thing I expected something like this to happen and sent Compa with you, but you need to have more awareness of yourself."
"…I'm sorry."
"Anyway, let's go eat breakfast. Nep already lost all of her energy…"
Looking at the purple haired preteen, she was collapsed on the floor clutching at her stomach while pitifully mumbling the words 'so hungry' in regular intervals. It made Shidou wonder as to what had happened during their absence, but decided not to pursue the subject since he was similarly hungry himself.
"Uwaaa! I didn't know that sandwiches could taste so good! You'll make a great wife someday, Shin!" Neptune said cheerfully, patting her full stomach.
"…it's husband, alright? He's male after all." Noire interjected, enjoying her own sandwich.
Based on the twin-tailed girl's expression, it seemed like this was the first time she had tasted a sandwich that tasted as good as the one she was eating.
"You know Shin, if you keep this up, my stomach might just convince my heart to marry you! Having food like this every day would be so sweet! Can you make pudding as well?"
Pulling out three disposable plastic containers from the basket, Shidou asked, "…what kind of pudding do you like?"
"Shin, marry me!"
"Get off of him, Neptune!"
Shidou had prepared a lot of sandwiches in the basket of food he had created in the morning. Since he envisioned Neptune to be the large eater type, he had made an amount that didn't seem to be aimed at merely feeding four people. Thankfully, the amount of sandwiches that he had prepared was a bit more than necessary and allowed Noire to partake in the breakfast without cutting corners for anyone.
He had also created pudding since he had some spare ingredients but it was somewhat unexpected he could do it so easily despite being half-asleep at that time… Was there someone in his past that liked pudding? It didn't seem like the reason why he could do it well was because of his own tastes.
"By the way Mr. Shidou," Compa started, her expression serious. "The way that you cooked these eggs to become so fluffy…"
"Hm? Oh, I just added a bit of mayonnaise, but since the mayonnaise that Ms. Chian had might damage the flavor of the egg, I made my own version using the supplies within Ms. Chian's kitchen."
"A home brewed version… I didn't even think of that."
"Well, it's less of a homebrewed version but more of a very specific alternative really."
While Shidou and Compa began conversing in hushed voices regarding cooking that made them look less like adventurers but more like chefs trading cooking secrets, Noire turned her attention to IF who looked busy trying to suppress… something as she took a bite out of her food.
Since the look on her face was one of bliss, Noire didn't think it was anything serious.
"Ms. IF –"
"W-wa!" Jumping in surprise, IF nearly had her sandwich drop to the floor but just before it could, she caught it with one hand causing her to sigh in relief.
"…"
"Y-yes, what is it, Ms. Noire?"
"…right. I was hoping to ask why you and Shidou had come along with Neptune seeing as you've been touring the landmasses on your own for the past year and a half."
"Shidou told you about that? Well, it's not much of a secret, but we consider Nep, despite her questionable sanity, to be a friend of ours." IF admitted, getting some of her composure back. "Even if I was against it, after a fight with a certain lady back in Planeptune, Shidou would probably feel guilty if he had left those two to their own devices."
"Shidou mentioned something about that… who exactly are you talking about? An adventurer? Why is that person after Neptune?"
"For an amnesiac, you sure seem worried about Neptune."
"W-worried? Of course not! There's no way I would be worried for that idiot! I'm just wondering, that's all…"
"Is that so? Well, I'm just calling it the way I see it." IF said, shrugging lightly. "Anyway, there's no need for you to know since you have your own matters to attend to. It's highly unlikely you'll meet up with the woman anyway, so there's little cause for concern. We have no intentions of remaining in this landmass for long, seeing as the Basilicom is hardly the most accommodating in comparison to other landmasses."
Noire flinched at the remark, as if stung.
The way that IF had said 'your own matters', made Noire feel apprehensive. Although she wanted to know more about this mysterious woman, but it seemed that pursuing the matter with IF would lead to nowhere or at the very least, it would lead to an odd direction that she wasn't keen on going to in front of the other three.
Although Noire did not know IF for long, she could see that she was quite perceptive unlike Neptune, Compa or Shidou.
"What's with that over the top reaction?" IF said with an amused smile. "It's not like it was your fault that the Basilicom of Lastation is like that, is it? After all, you're just an amnesiac fencer with cosplay tendencies."
"T-that's right…"
"Well, enough about that. What did you think of the way Shidou fought?"
"…that came out of left field." Noire said, slightly reeling from the earlier talk.
"I was never any good with swordplay, so I can't say for certain if I taught him well in that regard." IF admitted with a self-depreciating smile. "Although you use a rapier, as a swordswoman, you should have an idea on how well his attacks and movements flow."
"If you weren't any good at using the sword, then why let him use a sword? Let alone one as cumbersome as a great sword?"
Great swords are not particularly wieldy type of weapons. Apart from its daunting size, its weight made it difficult to use and it made it possible for one to injure one's self simply at the act of swinging. Unless the user already had the body type to wield a weapon of that size, then it would be foolish for someone who was not even well versed with sword play to own such a weapon.
"It's what he felt he had used before. Although he has no initiative in finding out his past, as his partner, I still wish that he would gain some of his memories back. So small feelings like 'I felt I've wielded a weapon like this before' would surely lead to something bigger. Even if it was something as little as seeing an anime or playing a game that used a great sword as a weapon, so long as it was a memory of his past, then it was fine."
IF felt that Shidou saw too little value within himself as a person. Although he was leagues better than the state she found him over a year ago, the scene at that time left a great impression on her. As Shidou slowly began to build himself up and began making ways in allowing IF to venture the different landmasses, that vague feeling she had felt back then intensified to something as concrete as 'to have Shidou earn his memories back.'
She felt grateful for Shidou as the earlier days of being an adventurer was made more tolerable and all the more possible because he existed by her side.
To that end, she had changed to be able to become more supportive of Shidou gaining his memories.
If she hadn't met Shidou before, how would she be now? Before meeting Shidou, she had never found any impulse to party with other people or actively take requests from the guild. She had been content on wandering the lands, taking pride in her title as a 'Wind Walker' and even then, that had its limits as she didn't have the same battle prowess that she had now compared to then.
Shidou had admitted wholeheartedly that he didn't mind the life he had now, and was extremely grateful towards IF but it was because of those feelings that IF would not stop at finding fragments of Shidou's lost memories. If not for Shidou, then it was for herself who felt a feeling greater than gratitude to the instance that she had first met him.
It was partially due to those feelings that IF had no qualms in joining Neptune in her quest to find the key fragment regardless of how dangerous things had turned out. Shidou had shown an initiative unlike before and furthermore, this 'Histoire' person who had been contacting Shidou in a dream for around a year now, may have some knowledge as to who Shidou exactly was.
"…so even now, he barely has any recollection of his past?" A look of pity crossed Noire's face as she looked at the blue-haired boy.
"Yes. Unless you count muscle memory, and the names of 'dishes' as memories, then he hasn't recalled anything of importance apart from his name. I'm hoping Nep isn't of the same case as she also has no memory to call on as of the moment, but it's hard to say since it's only been a week or so since she had lost her memories."
As far as IF knew, Neptune had yet to regain any memories. Even when she transformed, the only thing Neptune really knew about it was it was called 'HDD' by Histoire and that she had an obscene boost in power. Her fighting skill was also more refined and she had a kind of disposition that was without a doubt, serious and reliable… although IF still felt irritated at Neptune regardless of which form she took.
IF had never seen such a power in all her time traversing the lands, but the same could be said about Shidou's own power.
Despite being an adventurer for a great portion of her life, there were a lot of things she still hasn't learned – things she has yet to see and experience.
"…well, there's no use thinking about those things." IF finally said. "Even Compa said that there's no one cure for amnesia. If the memories will return, then that's great – but if they're happy the way they are now, there's no need to rush getting them. Hey, Shi – Nep, what are you doing?!"
"Nepu?"
Neptune, for whatever reason, was currently hanging off of Shidou's back. The latter seemed unperturbed as he was apparently absorbed with a conversation with Compa – still talking about food apparently – and Compa had a look of concentration that immediately told IF she was unaware of anything apart from the words spilling out of Shidou's mouth.
…it made an irritating feeling spill out of her heart, but it wasn't like they were doing anything wrong. Although she'd like it if Shidou had some more self-awareness... Thus her ire naturally turned towards the next viable target.
"I'm obviously trying to make Shin reconsider! Hearing Shin and Compa talk like they're from some cooking anime has made my stomach decide that Shin is the one for me!"
"…rather than aiming to be the wife, you seem more like you're aiming to be a child."
"Child? No way! If that was the case then they'd expect something of me in the future! I'd rather just be the housewife~"
"So you revealed your true colors!"
Looking at the four before her, Noire felt in her heart that the party was far too easy going.
By the time that breakfast had dutifully ended, the sun had risen to the point that the biting cold of the morning air in Lastation had faded away to a cool soothing breeze.
Author's Notes:
And thus the first half of the training has ended… I'm still conflicted on how the second half will go but I suppose I'll just let my whims decide it once I get back to that portion of the story.
My life has been rather hectic in these past few months and I've been met with quite a bit of misfortune hence I sometimes find myself playing more games than necessary to alleviate the stress of both work and other things that happen in my life. April will end up a rather busy month for me, so I probably won't get any more writing done for this month and May is pretty much an unknown at this point.
…so no promises when the next chapter will come.
On another note, I'm glad many of you enjoyed the 'interlude' chapter before this one. I'll probably write a few more of those sort of things (with different characters as a focus) to illustrate the events that had happened before Lost Fragments began but it won't be anytime soon… at least, that's what I'm planning. I sometimes have no idea what I end up writing as I sometimes let the story write itself…
Anyway, until next time!
