Chapter 5: Mostly Lowee
The next day…
It was five in the morning when I woke up. Of course, I groaned since I wanted to lay there for at least a few minutes more. So, I slowly stood up, yawned, and then shook my sister awake.
"Mmh…? Sis…?" Venus mumbled as she stood up and rubbed her eyes. She then stretched out with a yawn. "What time is it…?"
"It's five in the morning…" I said with a frown before I noticed that she leaned on my arm, looking rather tired. So I ran my fingers through her hair. "Oh and morning to you…"
"Morning… Sis…" Venus said with a rather sleepy smile as she hugged my arm. After a few seconds later, I then stopped for a little bit.
"Sorry but could you step outside for a little bit?" I asked, which made Venus look up at me with confusion. "I kinda have to change… It's for something I have to do today."
"Oh. Alright." Venus said before she slowly slid out of bed before walking out. I then saw her slowly closing the door behind her as I sighed in relief.
'Okay… let's start with a few morning stretches…' I thought before standing up and starting to stretch my arms. It was something I usually do every other morning. Then I tried to touch my toes and failed to do so since I can't reach that far. After I finished up, I started to take off my pajamas before leaving them on the floor again. But instead of putting on my usual outfit, I went back to lying down on my bed while reflecting about the stuff that happened yesterday.
'Yesterday… was so… dumb…' I thought to myself before I shifted my body to lay my stomach. 'I had to transform a lot… Venus got hurt… and Filyn…' My face suddenly flushed when I immediately thought of her. 'She so… ugh! I don't get it anymore! She keeps doing that to me! And… And…' My face flushed even more. 'She called me cute! And she's so much cuter than I am! Her chest is a little bit bustier than mine! So calling someone like me, a flat-chested, sad looking girl like me cute is…' I then noticed my face going beet red before I buried my face into a pillow and started kicking the mattress. 'Argh! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I'm just going to ignore it for now!'
I then stood up from my bed, quickly changed my clothes, before forcefully opening my door and immediately ran out of my room. That's when I bumped into someone who I thought was Venus.
"Sorry Venus… I…" I said before looking up to see Filyn before looking away blushing when I saw what she's wearing. She has her hair down today, still has her eyepatch, but now she wears a black tank top that barely covers her midriff and white underwear. "O-Oh… M-Morning… Filyn…"
"Uh… Morning to you…" Filyn said before I caught a small glimpse of her standing before lending her arm to me. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah… I a-am…" I said as I took her hand before she pulled me up. Then I turned my back to her, trying very hard to hide my blush. "S-So…t-that's a very… m-modest sleepwear…"
"Yeah, it's something I want to try out today." Filyn told me very casually as well a hint of confusion in her voice. "And if you're wondering if Venus saw me… well… she did but didn't seem to care about it…"
"O-Oh… I see…" I muttered before starting walking away from her, not looking behind me. 'I must not look… I must not look… She'll tease me forever if I look…' I thought before I stopped for a little bit. "W-Well… I-I'm going to cook b-breakfast now… A-After that, I-I want to talk to y-you about… yesterday…"
So to get that off my mind, I then cooked our breakfast before serving them to Filyn and Venus. Of course, I had to stop looking at Filyn as I gave her food while trying not to spill it. And after eating, I then told her the story about what happened yesterday with Venus, to much of her expense.
"So let me get this straight…" Filyn said while crossing her arms as she looked at me. "You flew to an empty alleyway, saw a fight, and Venus…" She then looked at Venus with a calm look. "…suddenly went to try and stop the fight and got hurt. And you…" She looked back at me. "…knocked the guy out and drew on his face…"
"Y-Yeah, that's the gist of it…" I replied while slumping on the back of my chair, still looking away from Filyn. I didn't want to remind Venus about yesterday, but I promised that I would tell Filyn today.
"Sapphire… even though you had good intentions, you're gonna have to explain yourself to the people about this." Filyn told me, crossing her arms. "Also, you seriously need to train Venus… She could get hurt from someone or something when she goes outside, y'know?"
"But… like I said before, that's a big no." I said with huge uncertainty. I knew she needed to fight someday, but I don't know anymore. "I just don't think she's ready yet…" I told her before I then looked at Venus. "Sorry Venus…"
Venus just bit her lip, not responding to anything before noticing that I was looking at her. "No. It's okay!" She then turned to Filyn with a smile. "Yeah, I don't have to learn yet, Filyn. I'll be fine."
"Okay… fine…" Filyn said with a frown on her face. Though again I wanted to say that Venus should be trained to fight, I still had a hard time deciding what to do. Then we all heard a phone ringing from somewhere. It was my ringtone. "Um, are you going to answer that?"
"Yeah…" I said as I stood up and started looking for my phone. When I did, I picked it up and answered it. "Um, hello? Who's this?"
"A-Ah! Lady Sapphire! I-It's so g-great for you to a-answer!" I heard Mina's voice answered but there was a lot of what seemed to be something that was shattering.
"Oh. Hey Mina!" I said, quickly changing tone to a cheerful one. Though, I was a little confused about what was going on in the back. "Hey? Are you alright? Did something happen?"
"No, it's… something else…" Mina answered before I heard her yelling at someone. "No! Do not throw that! It's not something you should throw! Please! Lady Shift! Try to get her to calm down!" Before hearing what seemed to be something shattering. This got me really curious. "U-Um… I know we're supposed to meet here in the afternoon… but… could we meet earlier?"
"Of course! I'll be right there! See you there!" I then hung up on the phone before letting out a depressed sigh as I walked back to the dining table before sitting down and face planting on it. "Haaah… so… tiring…"
"What's wrong, sis?" Venus asked me with a rather quizzical look. She was looking over to see my face. "You look tired."
"It's just a call from Lowee…" I said rather tiredly as I lazily looked at Venus. "They asked me to come there earlier than usual…" I muttered as I started to pout. "But I still have paperwork to do…"
"You could always just give it to me." Filyn spoke up, leaning towards me. I then looked at her single eye before looking away. "I don't have anything to do right now. Plus, your Shares have increased ever since those games you've announced during that event."
"Yeah… I guess… but… never mind…" I said before I stood up again. "Well, I'm going to get ready to head over there…" I then walked to my room to grab my blue scarf and my earmuffs and put them on. I then looked for a purple ribbon before tying my hair into a ponytail. Then, I walked back into the living area, before turning to the dining table but trying not to look at Filyn. "Bye, Venus! Bye, Filyn! I promise to be back soon!"
Venus then waved before taking a glance at Filyn. "Yeah. See ya." She said as she also waved me goodbye, which somehow made my heart flutter. She then smirked at me. "And you better come back or else I won't forgive you if you make me do all the work. And I won't forgive you if you force me to apologize for you again!"
"Okay." I said before walking towards the balcony before immediately jumping off of it. Of course, I transformed even before I touched the ground then took off into the sky.
—
Filyn's POV…
Seeing Sapphire flying away, Filyn stood up from her chair. 'Guess I have to help with Sapphire's paperwork… again…' Filyn thought as she sighed tiredly before she stretched her arms out with a yawn, barely looking at Venus. Of course, with what she was wearing, her tank top would hike up past her stomach where she had to pull it back down.
However, she didn't really care if Venus was looking at her from how she dresses now or anything like that. She always has been like that to Sapphire or anyone that truly knew her. Of course, Venus was the exception to this since she's the sister of Planeptune's CPU. She frowned as she walked to the couch before she lay down on her back while resting her mind, recalling how Sapphire has been acting.
And what was with her yesterday and today?' Filyn thought to herself as 'I knew she would blush when I teased her… that hasn't changed at all… and is something I like about her… I just felt something was different from before… Plus, she looked away from me this whole morning… like before… Does she really…?' She shook her head. 'Never mind… Hard to think about it now.' She then stood back from the couch before walking to Sapphire's office. She then felt a little poke on her side.
"Yes?" Filyn then looked to Venus before kneeling down to her level. The girl in question looked like she wanted to say something. "Is there something that you want?"
"Well… Do you promise not to tell Sis?" Venus asked as she was looking to the side. Filyn nods as an answer. "Um… Could you train me to fight?"
"Huh?" Filyn suddenly face-faulted at that sort of question. She seriously thought Venus was joking. "Wait! I thought you said that you didn't want to train."
"I know, but… I didn't really mean it…" Venus explained while biting her lip. "I don't know if Sis would train… and I… I don't want to be sidelined forever… so…" She looked up to the red-headed girl. "Please, Filyn… Can you please teach me?"
Filyn sighed as she scratched her head. "Okay, I will." She answered with full acceptance and seeing Venus's eyes sparkled with excitement. "But, we have to promise not to tell your sister yet, okay?" She said before Venus nodded. "So how about we start today? Is that okay with you?"
"Okay, Filyn!" Venus exclaimed as she smiled brightly as she put her hand behind her back. "And um… thanks."
Filyn just smiled before walking to her room before turning to Venus. "Well, I'm going to change now. So I suggest you should as well. Then we're going down right after." She said before she went into her room and closed the door behind her before turning her back from it and ducking down. "Haaa… What did I get myself into now!?"
She knew that Venus had to be trained since, unlike Sapphire who probably thinks that she's weak, she really saw potential in the girl. Her speed and her immediate drive to help others is one of the few things Filyn was able to catch on. But she also knew if she kept it a secret, Sapphire would immediately blow up on her when she finds out.
Filyn tried to ignore those thoughts as she stood back up before taking off her tank top before folding it and placing it on her bed which was arranged in the back center of the room. Her room was described as a little childish or very expensive to most people's standards but she didn't care. Her bed, where she placed her tank top, and her wardrobe, which was on the left side of her bed, looked like a princess ordered them. She also has a personal mirror that was right next to her wardrobe. She even has a bunch of stuffed toys grouped up in one place, which was in the left corner of her room.
Filyn then walked over to pick up one which was a very large teddy bear before letting her body fall on the rest of the stuffed toys. It was her favorite out of all of them, which she embarrassingly named the thing Mister Cuddles. She looked into black eyes with a rather uncertain look. "Mister Cuddles… I got in a huge mess, haven't I… So, what am I supposed to do now?" She asked the stuffed bear, which it obviously didn't answer back but she pretended it did. "Yeah… I was going to do it anyway…" She muttered as she hugged it for a little while, feeling the fur on her skin, before standing back up and placing it back.
She then walked to her wardrobe before catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She then stood in front of it as she touched the eyepatch that was on her right eye. She would always look at it like it was something really special to her. Most people would look at her and think of her as an edgy chunni that mutters about the weirdest stuff, but that's just rumors. The real reason is a discoloration in right eye which made it completely blind and is something that she is really insecure about. After all, her eye was damaged from something a very long ago. She hated the idea of everyone seeing it so she feels safe having an eyepatch over it. But…
'The few people who had seen it were Sapphire and…' Filyn then shook that thought off before she even continued it. 'Too many bad memories of that… but… Sapphire… when she first saw it… she called my eyes… cute… cute…' Her face then flushed into a light pink color before ducking again to cover her face. 'Aaaaah! She said that! To me!' She frowned. 'But would she say that again? Like at all?' She then shook all of those thoughts away. 'Eh. I'll think about it later…'
Filyn then stood back up before she opened her wardrobe, grabbed her white dress, black cloak, and white tights and started changing. Then she tied up her hair with hair bands that had spikes on them. When she was done, she closed it and grabbed her thigh-high boots and put them on before she walked out of her room and into the living area. And there was Venus sitting on the couch, obviously waiting for her. She too was changed into her usual attire.
"Yo Venus!" Filyn exclaimed, catching the blue-haired girl's attention. She then looked at the redhead with a curious look. "So, are you ready to go? We're going to use the stairs."
"Okay!" Venus smiled before Filyn then walked over to the front door, beckoning the girl to follow her to the stairs before she looked down to see it was a long way down.
Suddenly, Filyn turned her back and kneel down. "Venus. Climb on my back." She said, making the said girl really confused. "I can get us down here really quick."
"Okay. Just be careful." Venus said as she got on Filyn's back and wrapped her arms around her neck. Then Filyn stood back up, making sure the girl's arms were safely secure before giving off a cocky grin. Of course, Venus noticed this which made her feel a bit worried. "You're going to be careful, right?"
"Hehe. Don't worry… I will." Filyn said before she went over the railing and immediately dropped down. She fully expected Venus to scream or something like that, but she didn't expect her to let out an excited laugh. However she just shrugged it off before she quickly grabbed the railing to stop them falling all the way down with her free arm before she let go and let her fall before she later grabbed another one. She did the same process on the way down.
—
Sapphire's POV…
I was flying at high speeds and felt the wind blowing against my face with my hair flowing with it. I always loved to just fly around, even when it's just for a business trip. Sometimes, I would take hours to get to my destination to enjoy my time flying around, even if I would be late by then.
Either way, I think it would take at least an hour to get to Lowee but I can't really measure anything like time or stuff like that. The nation has always been behind the mountain range at the utmost part Gamindustri so I don't really care if flying over there would take really long. Anywho when I did reach there, I was immediately hit by cold waves of wind.
"Gah! It's so damn cold!" I said, immediately stopping before rubbing both of my arms. Even though an HDD form shouldn't have been affected by this, wearing something that is so skin tight doesn't do anything for me at least. "Stupid everlasting winter…" I muttered to myself before landing on the ground and disengaging my transformation, deciding to trek all there.
Lowee, from what I said earlier, is stuck in an everlasting winter. Everywhere you look is completely white, besides a few grey trees which have no leaves. Of course, it also means it always snows all the time, which is something I wonder from time to time. There would usually be Lowee Ninjas hiding underneath the snow, ninjas that catch travelers trekking in the snow and…
"Hold it right there!"
"Eep!" I jumped almost five feet in the air before turning toward the speaker. It was a ninja with dark red clothing with a mask over his nose and mouth. 'Not again!' I thought as I looked at the ninja that was running towards me. It would always happen almost every single time I come to Lowee.
And before he even got close to me or even said anything to me, I immediately sprint away as I tried to get away from him. Behind me, I heard him saying something like "Get back here" or "Don't forget me" very loudly, but I didn't even try to pay attention.
But the Lowee ninja somehow caught up to me, to much of my annoyance of getting chased ninety-five percent of the time. "You young lady is in big trouble now!" He exclaimed as he prepared his kunai. "You ran away from authority. Now it's time to—!"
"Okay. Alright. Let's fight now." I said coolly as I summoned out my rapier. "I'll knock you out in about three seconds."
"Why you little—!?" And before he said anything else, I used my free hand to punch him in the face and quickly hit him over the head with butt of my rapier, promptly knocking him out. I then summoned my rapier out of view before walking away.
"Haaah… Can't wait to get to the Basilicom and drown myself in sixty cups of hot cocoa!" I muttered rather happily, walking to my destination. I was just practicing my cheerful act before I even got there since it was still really hard for me to put up with that. "And then I'm going to buy a bunch of candy to take home! Or maybe I should do that first?" I then looked straight ahead before smiling. "Finally, I'm here." I said before stepping into the city.
In contrast to the white snow, the buildings are a lot more colorful than what my nation looks like. What I remember, Lowee is separated into multiple different districts, in contrast to the two districts that Planeptune is separated in. There's the housing districts, where most of the houses are shaped like mushrooms and the roof's color ranges from red, green, blue, and yellow. Some of them are just normal houses but the roofs are just as colorful as the others. These housing districts are scattered across different areas of Lowee.
The shopping district, along with the working district, leans more to the child-like nature than anything. It really makes you feel like you're living in a winter wonderland. There's also a lot of theme parks designed to match different characters that Lowee made over the years.
"I wish my nation had something like that…" I muttered to myself, looking down with sadness. "I wish mine was like this before…" I then immediately shook those thoughts away. 'Now is not the time to get depressed… Just keep it in and move along…' I thought before I kept on walking.
Even though most of the shops would be closed around this hour, there are a lot of people walking around here since those games were announced a few days earlier. A lot of them were talking about them; for example, there's that sequel game that everyone was talking about on the forums and comments on that video and that character that was announced in Mashing Ult is from a fighting game. I've even announced a few games at that event which seemed to boost both of our Shares, even though I don't really care about that.
Looking back up, I caught a glimpse of some candy behind the window. So I immediately walked back to where the store was and looked through it. The store on the outside was really colorful and had a sign that said 'Rainbow Candy Road' which I'm pretty sure it's the name of the store and from the looks of it, this is probably a new place that opened a few weeks ago.
'Maybe Shift won't mind if I take a while, right?' I thought before smiling with glee. 'You know, I'm just going to buy a few candies before I get there…' I then grabbed the door handle before opening the door and walked in.
The store was just as colorful as inside being a rainbow theme, in contrast to the black and white checkered floor. Each shelf has rainbow-themed candy, ranging from lollipops, candy mushrooms, gummy candy, candy stars. Looking around for about a few minutes, I was practically enamored by all of this.
"Welcome to Rainbow Candy Road." I jumped from hearing someone speaking up. I then swiftly turned to see a woman standing behind the counter. "Find anything interesting?"
I nodded my head before taking twenty lollipops before placing it on the counter. "I-I'll be taking all of this." I told her, trying to sound confident but came out rather shy.
However, the woman didn't judge and just smiled. She then typed a few things before ranging up the cashier. "It will be five hundred credits." She told me.
"U-Um… okay!" I piped up before taking out my wallet and paid the exact same amount. Then I saw her put them in a paper bag with a receipt before lending it to me.
"Thank you." The woman said before bowing in gratitude as I took it from her. "Hope you come again."
"O-Okay… bye!" I said as I waved the woman goodbye before quickly walking back outside with the bag in hand before walking straight ahead while completely ignoring the other people that I bumped into. 'Haa… That was so embarrassing! Why did I talk like that!?' I thought before immediately trying to shake those thoughts away. 'Argh! Stupid me! Don't act so shy! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' I thought when I was speed walking all the way. However, when I looked up, I was somehow in front of the Basilicom. "Wow… that was quick…" I muttered to myself as I looked up to it. The rather huge building has a rather huge dome as a room, something kind of like a mushroom house, but the colors were half red and half blue. The main section of it, which is cylinder-shaped, was light grey with a rather huge red and blue door from where I was standing and a bunch of windows plaster around it. Also, there are four towers that were set across each other that had a similar design as the main one like you would see in castles. I also remembered what the main room looks like when you walk in, which is rectangular shaped with a red and blue color as a floor and a grey counter in the back. I remembered it having three pillars on each side and an opening on the left and right side where both take you to a hallway.
And honestly, it's amazing that it's viewed by most people because of its size and the way it was designed. However I thought it looked like a giant mushroom, though I didn't want to say that in front of Shift or anyone that works there because I seriously don't want to be mean. But then again, it seriously looks like a giant mushroom.
"Okay… So how should I make my entrance… while congratulating her…" I muttered to myself, wondering whatI wanted to say. "Hmm… how about… Hey Shift! Congrats on the… No… that sounds too generic…" I thought for a little bit. "Wassup Shift—! Nah… that sounds stupid…" I thought even more while ignoring the glance from the people that were just passing by. "Should I start with a cheerful 'Hi' first…? Yeah… maybe that could be it…" I then grabbed the door handle before pushing them open. "Hi Shift~! What's—!?" I exclaimed before something huge was immediately thrown at my face before hearing something shattering around me while hearing the door slam shut behind me. This made me fall on my back, making me drop my bag that was full with candy.
"I got them!" I heard a very young girl's voice exclaim. It was someone that was very unrecognizable. "Big Sis! Look! Look! I killed the stranger!"
Then I heard a soft groan from Shift. "Lite… That is not a stranger; she's a friend." I heard her say as she walked over to me to lend a hand to me. "I'm sorry about her, Sappy. Lite has a tendency to jump to conclusions." She said rather tiredly.
Noticing that Shift was there, I forced a huge grin. "Hehe. Don't worry about it! I'm sure that my face is tough enou—!" I then l was caught off guard by her appearance. "Woah! What happened to you?" I asked as I looked at her before I took her hand. Usually whenever we meet up, Shift, the short and childlike girl, would always dress appropriately but this time was different. Her hair with unique colors of half red and half pink, which used to be a braided ponytail, is now completely untied and rather messy and there are now bags under her silver eyes. And to top it off, she also wore a button-up pajama dress and its colors are also red and pink which is wrapped around with a blanket.
Shift sighed as she then pulled me up. "Becoming a sister… and finding out everything that comes with it…" She said, rubbing her temples. "I'm sorry if I look a little rough… I haven't had the time to tend to myself…"
"It's okay! You don't have to worry… Wait…" My voice trailed off when I realized what she was saying. "By sister… you mean…she's a Candidate?" I asked which Shift tiredly nodded. We both knew about Candidates since Ilike to talk to her about some of the random stuff I could think of. And one of things we happened to talk about, it was the question of if we had sisters, what would we do? 'Wait… is this why I was called here?' I thought before I then smiled. "Woah… that's… really amazing Shift! Like really amazing! Congrats!" I then quickly dropped down and picked up the paper bag before digging through it, which somehow all of the candy didn't spill, and took one out and gave it to Shift. "Here's a lollipop to congratulate you on this achievement!"
"Thank you…" Shift said as she took one before unwrapping and putting it in her mouth. "It's good… Where did you get this?"
"Hehe. Well, I got this from…! Huh?" I looked over to see that there's nobody at the counter. "Hey. Was there supposed to be someone over there? Because I'm pretty sure there was a little girl's voice somewhere around there." To which Shift looked at me with a bit of confusion. "It's the girl who chucks whatever that thing was in my face. I'm pretty sure it was your sister…"
Shift groaned again from hearing that "Sappy… Please wait a second." She said before tiredly walking away. "Lite… Where are you? Where… are…" Her voice then trailed off as she collapsed on the floor.
"Shift!" I exclaimed as I rushed over to her before kneeling down. She looked like she could barely stay awake for at least a few seconds. Then I remembered that there was the Oracle. "Mina! Where are you!? Shift needs help!"
"Um, Sappy… Mina got knocked out… before you came here…" Shift said very tiredly, trying her best not to fall asleep. She was still sprawled on the floor. "She was trying to help calm down Lite… Unfortunately… that ended in her head being hit with a jar…" She then let out a tired sigh. "And now, Lite has disappeared… and I don't know what to do…"
"I see… So that's why you're so tired… taking care of your sister named Lite…" I muttered, thinking for a little while. 'I know she has to find her sister… However, she can't do it in this sort of state…' Thinking a little bit more, I finally got an idea. I then placed the paper bag back down and without giving a warning, I then picked Shift up in my arms.
Shift suddenly let a small yelp in surprise, almost dropping her lollipop, as I wrapped her blanket around her. "What the—!? Sappy! What's with this carrying!?" She asked, looking a bit nervous and, of course, surprised. Shift seems rather tense in my arms for some reason.
"Well… We're looking for your sister together, of course!" I said as I looked down and forced a smile. "Plus, you're too tired to move and I'm not leaving you lying on the floor, okay?"
"Alright, alright…" Shift said with a groan as she let her body go limp, probably letting her tiredness take control of her. Seeing her eyes slowly closing, I tried tickling her which made her eyes shot awake. "H-Hey! S-Stop that!" She said before giggling.
"Then you shouldn't go to sleep just yet!" I said before I stop tickling her. I then, with Shift in my arms, rushed my way towards the left hallway where I thought where her sister might be. After a few minutes of looking around for where she could be, I then looked down at Shift again. "So Shift, what's your sister like? Is she really like that?"
"Yeah…" Shift said again very tiredly before looking at me with the same tiredness as her voice. "She's really a handful, but she's not too bad." She then looked away from me. "And I'm sorry about her again… I keep telling her not to throw jars at people…"
"Oh! So that's what it was! Always wanted to smash my face into one of those." I joked while giggling about it to myself. Even though I would never do this kind of thing, I just like saying the most funniest things and see their reactions when I do say them. Then Shift suddenly laughed at it, making me force a grin on my face. "Hehe. I made you laugh again."
Shift then smiled as she started to look a little less tired than before. "Thanks Sappy." She said before yawning for a little bit. "I really needed that." And a few minutes later, she looked like she noticed something. "Sappy? Are we going around in circles?"
"Hehe. Yep!" I said with a very awkward tone in my voice before chuckling to myself. "I kind of forgot where most of your rooms are… Can you point me where your sister could be?" I asked before Shift suddenly laughed again, making me stop running. "Hey! What's so funny?"
"Oh. I-It's nothing… Sappy." Shift said in between giggles, making me pretend to pout from hearing that. "Well… Lite seemed to always go into my office… Maybe we can start there?" She told me before showing me where I needed to go as I started running again.
So when we finally reached Shift's office, which is a noticeable red and pink door, we noticed that it was slightly open before hearing someone or something messing around with something behind it. "Hey, Shift? I think she might be here." I said as I looked down at her as I felt my arm feeling a little bit tired, probably from running around with someone in my arms. "Oh and I'm gonna let you down now, okay?"
"Oh. A-Alright." Shift said before I let her down, looking rather glad that she's finally able to stand up. She then glanced at me with a rather worried look. "Um… I hope she hasn't made a mess… yet…"
"Yet? What do you mean by…?" I stopped myself. "Actually… never mind…" I responded before putting my hand on the doorknob before slowly opening it. "Hello? Is there anyone in…?" My voice trailed off before looking towards the person that was there. "So that's her, right?" I asked as I turned to Shift.
From the looks of the office, which was a medium size room, everything looks really neat. There was a bookshelf on the right side, which was organized with books, while the TV was on the left, which had Lowee's console plugged into it and a couch in front. And the dark brown desk that was in the middle of the office, which wasn't too cluttered. And looking at the girl, which I'm pretty sure she's Lite, who was similar in hair color as her sister but had a short hairstyle, which was half red and half pink, and grey-colored eyes, was trying to turn on the TV. Her attire consists of a light blue button-down shirt, which the buttons are yellow, and white shorts. Over it was a red jacket which was worn like a cape while wearing grey socks and blue shoes.
"Yeah… that's her." Shift said as she nodded in confidence as she then sighed in relief. "Lite? Could you please come here? There's a friend I want you to meet."
"Huh…? Okay, Big Sis!" Lite said before she looked towards us before her eyes widened. "Gah! It's you! Miss Zombie Stranger!" She then grabbed something which I'm pretty sure it's the remote controller before chucking towards my forehead. And unfortunately, the thing actually hit me before it landed on the floor. However, the thing didn't knock me to the floor so I was just standing there, processing what just happened.
"Lite! I told not to do that!" Shift exclaimed in a rather upset tone, making her sister jump in surprise. "And again she's my friend! So please apologize to her!" She said Lite then walked towards us with a very sorrowful expression.
"Don't worry about it, Shift. My head is fine." I said, giving an awkward chuckle before immediately turning away. 'Ow! Why do these two things that Shift's sister threw hits so freaking hard!?' I thought before turning back to the two. "After all… I'm really strong that way, y'know." I then grinned very widely. "Because… I'm the greatest CPU Heroine of all of Gamindustri… CPU Sapphire!"
Lite, however, suddenly looked with complete and utter confusion, in contrast to the sorrowful look from earlier. Meanwhile Shift just laughed very awkwardly. "Big Sis? Is your friend okay?" She asked her older sister as she looked at me and back at her. "Because she sounds like a big dummy!"
"Um… well beside maybe her little headache, she's fine…" Shift assured her sister while giving her a kind smile. "It's just how she is. And she may not look like it but she's kind, positive, and really smart."
'Shift… I'm really not all of those…' I thought as I sweatdropped after hearing this from her. 'You're so much better than me when it comes to kindness and being positive.'
"Really?" Lite then looked at me with a clear disbelief before I noticed this and waved at her with a smile. "No, she's not! She just looks like a big dummy!"
"I'm not a big dummy!" I exclaimed as I fake pout at her as I put my hand on my hips. "I'm super duper smart! Why?" I then put up a peace sign. "Because I'm the greatest CPU Heroine of all of Gamindust—!"
"Big Sis! She's spouting nonsense again!" Lite exclaimed as she pointed at me accusingly before looking at Shift. "Can I throw something at her? Please?"
"No." Shift said rather flatly, catching the little girl off guard while I silently giggled to myself.
—
Filyn's POV…
When they finally touched the ground, Filyn then kneeled down, letting Venus climb off on her back. As she turned around to the young, blue-haired girl, she saw that Venus looked rather excited or ecstatic about what just happened.
"Filyn! That was so amazing!" Venus exclaimed with sparkles in her eyes with a rather wide smile. "I want to go again!"
"Hehe. Well… I would do that again, but your sister might come back soon since she would sometimes come back at a random time when she goes off somewhere." Filyn said as she crossed her arms. "Plus, we need to be quick when doing this kind of thing, okay?"
"Okay, Filyn. I understand." Venus said as she put her hands behind her back before looking at her with curiosity. "But, why did Sis ask you to take the stairs before?"
"Hmm… that question has a very long explanation actually…" Filyn replied as she gave it some thought. "She always asks me to go up and down the stairs in case my identity is revealed to the public, however…" She paused for a second before continuing. "She seemed to forget that my identity had already been revealed before… I mean… this isn't the first time this has happened before, plus I just forgot to remind her about it…."
Venus nodded in agreement. "Yeah… I guess Sis is a bit overprotective to us both." She said put her hand behind her back.
'A 'bit' is an understatement… a real understatement…' Filyn thought before shaking that thought away, not wanting to continue it anymore. "Alrighty then, there's something I want to show you first before we start training." Filyn told her before giving Venus a smile.
"Huh? There's something you want to show me?" Venus said with a bit of curiosity as she looked at her with a perplexed look. "What is it?"
"Well, how about we go outside first before we do that. That way you will see for yourself." Filyn said as she grabbed Venus's hand and led her to the grey door, in contrast to the white room. Then she grabbed the door handle, opened it before going outside.
Filyn then led Venus around the neighborhood which were just basically white and light blue apartments and some of them were just white houses with blue roofs. She knew that there were a few people that wanted to hurt others for the fun of it. So, Filyn was trying to avoid the places she knew that those types of people were in to avoid fighting them because unlike Sapphire who was a bit forgetful about some of the small places, she would know where they were. She also knew that the guards aren't always around since there was a limited number of them as of right now. Filyn suddenly spotted some people before immediately stopping as she then pushed Venus against a nearby wall of an apartment before pushing herself up against her, concealing the young girl in her cloak.
"Filyn! What are you—!?" Venus was about to ask before the redhead girl immediately clasped her hand over her mouth. "Mmph!?"
"Shhh! Don't make a sound!" Filyn quietly hushed her before peeking from behind the wall. There were multiple people dressed in biker gang uniform crowding the whole street where they were supposed to go through in order to get into the shopping district. 'I seriously don't want to fight right now…' Filyn groaned before looking down at the clueless girl who she backed away from to give her space. "Venus? Could you stay here real quick?" She asked Venus, who was still a bit confused. "There's some people that's blocking our way, so I have to deal with them."
"Okay, Filyn." Venus said before she pressed her back against the wall, trying very hard not to move. Filyn then walked over to the crowd without saying a single word before whistling rather loudly, grabbing all of their attention.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Filyn exclaimed, crossing her arms around her chest. "You all are clogging the streets!"
However, all of them didn't even hear them at all. They all started ogling at her and saying stuff like, "Woah! Look at this beauty!" or "She's a total bod!" This immediately creeped her out because getting complimented by a bunch of strangers isn't something she wanted.
"Ahem!" Filyn cleared her throat, grabbing all of their attention again as she now put both of her hands on her hips, feeling a bit annoyed. "So as the CPU that is sharing Planeptune with Lady Cyan Heart, please clear the streets immediately."
After hearing that, all of them then started murmuring to each other in complete disbelief. Now they're saying stuff like, "Is she serious?" or "She's definitely joking with us." However, she overheard one of them who seemed like he wasn't very interested in her said, "Is this kid for real?" or something like that which honestly made her furious in contrast to being annoyed.
"Okay… That's it! I had enough of this!" Filyn exclaimed before she immediately charged in and kicked one guy in the face, knocking him out. Every single one of them were caught off guard by this. Without even saying a word, she then quickly punches another guy in the face.
Hearing one of them saying, "Get her!" and seeing another one of them throwing a punch from behind her, Filyn quickly turned around and caught that. And with her other hand, she grabbed the man's arm and threw him at his friends. One of them tried to pounce on her in which she quickly got out of the way, giggling when she saw him fall flat on his face. Another tried to sneak attack her, however she roundhouse kicked him away. She noticed that all of them tried to surround her, but she's not having it right now.
"So you want more, right? Fine!" Filyn said as she then summoned a rather large scythe. The men that tried surrounded her, looking at her with fear. "Leave. Or else I'll…!" And before she said anything else, the gang members quickly grabbed all their knocked out friends and ran away out of fear. When they were all gone, Filyn then summoned her weapon away before immediately crouching down and clutching the both sides of her head with guilt. 'Aw man! I did it again! When word gets out about this, I will never hear the end of it from both the Guild and Sapphire!'
Filyn then caught a small glimpse of Venus walking up on her. "You alright, Filyn?" Venus asked as the redhead looked up to her, seeing the look of awe yet concern on her face.
"Yeah, I'm alright." Filyn said as she stood back up before scratching the back of her head, chuckling to herself very awkwardly. "And sorry if you saw that. I got mad a little bit…"
"It's okay!" Venus exclaimed as she gave a huge smile. "Besides, you were really cool! Like really amazing! Like no one was able to touch you!" She said before looking at her with curiosity. "By the way, why did you say that you're also a CPU?"
"Oh. It's because I am… At least, I think I am…" Filyn said before seeing Venus looking at her confused look. "I mean I'm pretty sure I am… At least, that's what your sister told me a long time ago." She kept trying to explain to her. "I mean… I actually lived for a long time with your sister, y'know?" She then turned away from her. 'Gah! It's so hard to explain to her about this! I should have let Sapphire explain this to her later!" She thought before looking back at the young girl. "Sorry if I'm confusing you, okay? I'm not good at explaining things that are hard for me to understand."
"It's fine, Filyn." Venus replied looking a bit understanding as she then smiled. "Because I think I kinda get it."
"Really!? With that terrible explanation!?" Filyn exclaimed, shocked by how she probably got that. "I mean… if you want a better explanation, we kinda have to ask your sister…" She then sighed before giving Venus a smile. "So, how is it about time I show you that thing I said earlier."
Venus nodded before Filyn then grabbed her hand and led her to the shopping district. Of course, there weren't a lot of people walking around since they woke up rather early and some of the stores were closed down. However, there were some stores that were still open since they open 24/7 or that they're early birds like Sapphire. Of course, there was one store that Filyn knew that was open at this time and she knew where it was.
"Filyn? What is this place?" Venus asked when they finally reached the destination, which was a weapon store. And of course like all of the stores, it's colors were white with light blue energy surrounding the perimeter but this one was very special.
"Well, it's a weapon store." Filyn answered, stating the obvious. "It's kinda the place where it's the first thing you go to when you want to start training." She then crossed her arms around her chest. "So if you want me to teach you, then you kinda have to get equipment first before anything else. I have a friend there that could help you choose one or point you in a certain direction."
"Really!? Okay, Filyn!" Venus said as she nodded with understanding and a bit of curiosity about what's inside.
So when they finally entered the weapon store, Venus looked around with curiosity and a great interest. It was rather large in both width and length with a bunch of different types of weapons ranging from swords, spear, rapiers, guns, and even scythes displayed on the walls and a counter on the right with a small service bell on the table. Behind that counter was a young girl with very short blue and red hair and in a cargo uniform sleeping, resting her head on her hand.
Seeing this, Filyn groaned at this site. 'Her sleep schedule is still just as bad as ever…' She thought before turning to Venus. "Hold on a second…" She said before she turned to the counter and repeatedly slammed her hand on the bell over and over. "Oi! Wake up, Atlus! I need your assistance right now!" She yelled into the girl's ear, making her immediately fall on her back, crashing a bunch of stuff on the way down.
Venus meanwhile winced by all the noise before walking over and tried to look over the counter. But since it was a little too tall for her, she wasn't able to see the girl. "Are you okay, ma'am?"
"Yeah, yeah… I'm okay…" Atlus groaned as she stood back before her red eyes fluttered open as she looked at Filyn. "Well, well, well… isn't one of my best friends! It's been a while, Lady Filyn." She jokingly said while giving the most neutral look ever before getting back up.
"Yeah… Please don't call me that again…" Filyn muttered to herself as she crossed her arms. 'Atlus… One of the few people I know…' Filyn thought to herself. 'She used to be a thief before she met up with Sapphire's CPU Form who helped her change her ways. And now she does part-time jobs for others and somehow becomes one of my closest friends… even though she's still a thief…' She then shook her head as she sighed to herself. "And as much as I want to catch up to you, there's something I need you to do right now." She then beckoned her to look towards Venus. "Is there anything that would suit her?"
"Really? Okay." Altus said as she then looked towards Venus with a rather surprised look. "Oh, Hello. Welcome to the best weapon store in Planeptune! My name is Atlus! It's very nice to meet you… um…"
"Venus, ma'am. I'm Venus." Venus replied in a rather polite tone. This was a little surprising for Filyn since she never saw her act this way before. Ever since she was born, Venus has been seen either crying or very excited when she reacts to things.
"Ah, okay… Venus. Hold on a sec…" Atlus said with the most neutral and the least judgemental look ever before she jumped over the counter to get a closer look at her. She then, with her fingers, pokes both of the young girl's sides, making her yelp in surprise. "I see… You're the athletic type… huh…?" She looked at Venus with a very intense look before then turning back to Filyn. "Yeah… From the look of her, she might either be a melee type user or a range type user… maybe even both."
"Huh? So she's like…" Filyn then stopped herself from saying Sapphire's name out loud. Even though Atlus knew who Sapphire's HDD form was, from how many times she visited this place in that form, she doesn't know her human form. "I mean… What are you talking about?"
"Well… I'm thinking about letting her choose whatever she likes…" Atlus said before looking towards Venus. "If you don't mind, of course…"
"Are you sure it's alright?" Venus asked her, looking a bit confused and a little intimidated about what Atlus told her. "I mean… I'm totally fine with it but… is it really alright?"
"It's fine! Boss is the one that gets these weapons so he doesn't mind too much what's going on here so I'm just an employee here." Atlus told her, putting her hand on her hip. "And to add on to that, my job right now is just deciding if you're a melee-type user or a range-type user from my observation and we can go off from there. Makes sense, right?"
Venus was still a bit unsure about it so Filyn went up to her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah. Don't worry about it, Venus." She reassured the young girl. "Like she said, Atlus is just here to help you out, y'know? So, don't feel like you're doing something wrong. Just go with your gut, okay?"
"Um… Okay, Filyn. I'll try." Venus said as she nodded before she started to look around for a little bit.
Meanwhile, Atlus leaned towards Filyn while Venus wasn't looking with a small smirk. "So? Did you do the thing with Lady Cyan Heart?" She asked, making Filyn look back with a confused look. "Like tying the knot? Did the deed? Y'know stuff like that?"
"O-Oh… you mean that…" Filyn said as she looked down sheepishly. Atlus was also the only person that knew about her secret. "I mean… N-No… I don't think that's even possible… In any sense of the word" She then shakes her head. "Why are you saying that to begin with?"
"I don't know. You brought some kid that looks very similar to her… probably just my imagination, right?" Atlus said, as she put one of her hands on her hips. "By the way, where is she now? Did she disappear again or something?"
"Well, she is still around… but she's just too busy right now. The workaholic that I know." Filyn told her before she closed her only visible eye after hearing that. Letting her own thoughts go wild, she thought about what happened a few months before Venus was born. 'Yeah… I remember Sapphire leaving for at least a few months without saying anything… I sort of had to fill in her shoes around that time… and… It was around the time I started to look at her differently…' She then shook those thoughts away. 'Either way… when she did come back… she told me that it was a business trip or something like that… and after that… she started avoiding me for some reason…' She thought for a little bit more. 'I mean I'm used to her acting like that… but she doesn't avoid me consistently when I talk to her… And it was after Venus was born, Sapphire became a lot more expressive and started talking to me again… little by little…' She smiled widely when thinking about that, feeling really giddy from that. 'Aah~! I'm still in love with her blushing face when I teased her! She's just so cute!"
"Um? Filyn?" Filyn then opened her only eye to see Venus standing right in front of her. She was looking at her with a rather curious and confused look. "Are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah! I'm okay! Hehe." Filyn said, giving an awkward chuckle as she scratched the back of her head. "I'm just thinking about something."
"Okay. So… about you two said…" Venus said before looking at Atlus and back to Filyn. "I think there's something that might suit me."
"Huh? Really?" Filyn said with her only eye widened before giving her a huge smile. "Alright then, tell me! Which one do you want?"
Venus then pointed to a very odd looking scythe that was hanging on the wall that was out of reach from her perspective and which is something Filyn recognizes immediately. She had seen that weapon hanging there almost all the time when she comes here to buy her weapons. However, she didn't want to buy the thing because it looked very intricate. By intricate, it means that it looks like it has some sort of extra features, like some of them looked like parts of a rifle.
"Oh. So you picked my weapon choice! A very good choice indeed! But…" Filyn then turned towards Atlus with a rather quizzical look. "Atlus… haven't this weapon been here for who knows how long?"
"Yeah… we just got that back from a few weeks ago… and the last customer was very upset with their purchase…" Atlus said as she scratched the back of her head before she then crossed her arms. "Even some people before them who gave it back told me that it's either broken or cursed… But when I showed this to Boss, he told me that it's not the weapon that's the problem, it's the person who used it. But…" She told both of them before she walked over to the wall to where the weapon was before she took it off it before giving it to Venus. "I'll let you give it a few swings… if that's the thing you're interested in…"
Venus then took the scythe from Atlus and looked at it up close. She then looked to Filyn with a very quizzical look. "You said this is what you used, right?"
"Um… Yeah! Didn't you see what I had before when I fought those guys?" Filyn asked as she crossed her arms around her chest. "And why did you ask that? Is it too complicated for you?"
"No! It's nothing like that!" Venus waved her hands as she then rubbed her head. "It's just that I wasn't exactly looking when you fought those guys." She said as she laughed rather nervously. "So I kind of didn't really see your weapon."
"Oh. So that's it?" Filyn said with a rather small smirk before looking at her with real concern for Venus. "But are you sure you know how to use it? It's definitely not a very easy weapon to use."
"Well… I think I sort of have an idea…" Venus said as she tried to swing it to the side multiple times, trying to show Filyn what she does know. The movement looked rather slow and very awkward. "But… it just feels weird…"
"Yeah… it's going to be like that at first…" Filyn said, putting her hand on her hip. Even though everyone who looked at her using a scythe thought that it was probably easy for her to use when she first touched it, it wasn't. Her earliest memories with it are throwing it at someone by accident, hurting them in the process, or having its blade stuck into the ground, leaving her wide open for Dogoos to slime her. Either way, she still uses it because she just got used to it. "But, it's going to be a-OK! With me on your side, there's nothing you can't do!"
"Yeah. Thanks Filyn." Venus said, giving a smile as she clenched the weapon before slightly relaxing them. "I'm glad to have such an experienced teacher now."
"Hehe. Thanks. How about I pay for your…" Filyn then turned to Atlus, who was sleeping while standing up right. 'How is she even doing that!?" She thought before looking at Venus. "Hold on a second." She said as she flick the girl's forehead, making her tumble down again while crashing into a bunch of stuff on the way down. "Heh. Works like a charm!"
"Does that… always happen to her?" Venus asked as she turned towards Filyn. The redhead didn't say anything but she did smile and gave her a nod. "Oh… That's kinda…"
"Bad? Terrible? Alarming? Yeah, I get that a lot…" Atlus said before she stood up again as she was still looking at Venus, immediately ignoring Filyn. "So? What do you think about it? Does it feel okay for you?"
Venus nodded to Atlus's question as she gave her a small smile. "It's okay… The weapon feels a little weird, but…" She looked at Filyn then back at her. "Filyn can help me with that…"
"I see. That's good enough…" Atlus said before she immediately jumped over the other side of the counter again and turned towards Filyn. "So? Is that all you need?" She asked in a rather polite tone, which Filyn nodded. She then typed something on the cashier before she rang it up. "Okay. That will be a thousand credits."
"Really? That much? Okay…" Filyn said as she paid the exact amount to Atlus. "And drop that polite act you do every time you ask for payment from me, okay?" She asked in a very casual way.
"And why would I do that, Lady Filyn?" Atlus asked as she gave her the receipt before bowing, much to Filyn's annoyance. "Anyway, thank you for coming! Hope we'll see you then!" She said with a tone that sounded like she's mimicking someone.
"Yeah… yeah… I'll see you next week…" Filyn said as she took the receipt from Atlus before turning to Venus, who still has the scythe in her hand. "Okay, Venus. Let's head to the Guild. I'll help you get registered there." She said to Venus, who nodded before inspecting her new weapon. Then Filyn walked out of the store, leading Venus outside by hand.
As they started to walk to the Guild, which was multiple blocks away, people, who were just starting their morning, were staring or taking a small glance at Venus like they were judging her. The reason was obvious since the young girl was still inspecting the scythe a little bit since she was still holding Filyn's hand. Meanwhile, some people actually greeted Filyn, who always has been addressed as Lady Filyn, always taking a slight glance at the young girl. Filyn did see that Venus had noticed them looking at her, but probably didn't really care. However, Filyn did.
"Hey! Citizens of Planeptune! Stop looking at her, okay!?" Filyn exclaimed rather loudly, catching everyone's attention. "It's getting annoying seeing you people glancing at someone! So mind your own business!" To which everyone looked away immediately. "Creepos…" Filyn muttered under her breath as they kept walking.
"Filyn? Was it really that bad that they were staring at me?" Venus asked all of the sudden with confusion in her tone.
"Yeah! Of course it's bad!" Filyn exclaimed as frown at Venus from not really getting it at all. "I mean… who would stare at a little kid? It's like they're judging you and I hate it." She then quickly waved her hand away. "I mean! Not that you're a little kid at all! I mean… you look like one! I mean… It's just from an outsider's perspective, okay? Um… Sorry for saying that."
"No, no! It's okay! Really!" Venus exclaimed, a bit surprised and still a bit confused about what Filyn just said. "I still don't completely get it, but you're just looking out for me, right?"
"Yeah. Of course I'm looking out for you." Filyn told her as she gave her a smile before it slowly turned to a frown. "It seems like you sisters have a lot more in common than I originally thought…"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Venus asked as she looked at the redhead with confusion. Filyn sighed, guessing that she had to explain to the girl what she meant by that.
"Well… your sister is a lot more stubborn than she lets on…" Filyn explained to her in a quieter tone as she looked straight, still walking to the Guild. "She barely even cares what happens to herself… getting herself hurt when she doesn't have to. So I always have to look out for her so she doesn't get hurt…"
Venus was surprised when hearing that. "No way… But that's—!" She exclaimed but her voice slowly trailed off to a similar quieter tone as Filyn. "That's terrible… Why would Sis do that?"
"That is… I actually have no idea as to why…" Filyn answered, still frowning at that since Sapphire was very secretive about it. "…She never likes telling me anything that's very sensitive to her." She took a small breath as she looked a little bit towards Venus. "The only thing she told was a little bit about her past, like how she was treated poorly from how special she was by the citizens around her, like hitting her and…" She then saw Venus looking visibly upset, feeling a bit ashamed of telling this to her. "Oh! I wasn't supposed to talk too much about her! It's not my place to talk about your sister without her here! Sorry…"
"It's okay, Filyn… It's just that…" Venus frowned at that as she let go of her hand and stopped to look down at the ground. "Why would they treat her so poorly…?"
'Damn it… I should have kept my mouth shut…' Filyn thought before looking at her. "Yeah… Sorry… I can't say anything else…" She told her, crossing her arms. "Your sister will get mad at me if I tell you her story in full… so I'll let her tell you all that…"
"Oh… okay…" Venus said as she nodded with understanding as she clenching her weapon. "I'll ask her when she gets home…"
"Yeah… but don't think about it right now, okay?" Filyn said before looking towards the street. It was only about a few blocks away. "We're almost at the Guild…" She then turned to lend her hand. "Come on… Let's go."
Venus nodded before took Filyn's hand again and walked with her to the Guild. When they finally got there, which was a rather simple building, they walked inside the building. Inside looked rather nice, having a bunch of tables to sit at, a few potted plants, and a reception center in the back with what seemed to be a tablet. They also saw a bunch of people either sitting at some table or leaning against the wall that Filyn didn't think anything of. However, Filyn then noticed one person stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Wait… Isn't that…Hey! IF! Right here!" Filyn exclaimed before walking up to IF while accidentally pulling Venus with her. She was just standing around with her phone out, probably checking some messages on it. When she looked up, her face looked a bit bruised which made Filyn winced a little.
"Oh. Hello, Filyn." IF greeted her rather dully as she frowned before she noticed Venus standing right next to her. "Huh? Who's this kid?"
Venus's lips then turned to a frown. "I'm Venus. Don't you remember?" She asked, before seeing IF shaking her head. "I was the girl who tried to help you and the other one with that nasty jerk."
"Yeah… but I was knocked out at the time, kid…" IF told her as she frowned a little as she put away her phone. "My friend told me that the CPU name dropped a young girl by the name of Venus… I don't know why though, but… how do you…? Actually, never mind… you wouldn't tell me anyways…" She then turned to Filyn. "By the way, the Guild's manager asked me to tell you that the CPU has come to her office as soon as she can… for that yesterday…"
"Wow… word gets out fast…" Filyn muttered to herself. "Alrighty! Though…" She then narrowed her eyes at her, a bit confused about what she just said. "Why would the Guild's manager tell only you that and not anyone else…?"
"Well… Since we technically worked together multiple times, she figured she would tell me first." IF said, crossing her arms as she frowned. "Y'know… Lady Cyan Heart should control her anger… She probably doesn't know what she's doing now…"
'Yeah… but, I'm not always here all the time! And why is she even saying that about Sapphire!? She doesn't even know her!' Filyn sweat-dropped as she chuckled nervously. "Haha… I see… I'll make sure I'll tell you that. Bye, IF." She then turned towards Venus with a smile. "Come on, Venus. Let's go."
"Okay?" Venus said, looking a bit confused about what's going on. Then Filyn grabbed her hand and pulled her away from IF and towards the counter, confused on what's going on.
When they got there, Filyn immediately ranged up the service bell. "Hello? Um… Excuse me?" Filyn called out to the counter where a woman with long turquoise hair in a black suit with her back turned, trying to either organize papers or trying to find something. "Hellooo!? Can you hear me!?"
"Ah! Sorry! I was trying to find some files!" The woman said as she grabbed some sort of files and held them in front of her face. "Ah! Yes! I found—!" She peeked over to see Filyn with light turquoise eyes. "Oh… Hello, Lady Filyn… Is there something you need?" She asked in a rather disappointed tone.
"Hello to you, Crypto." Filyn said, crossing her arm with a frown. "Um… Is there any sort of an easier quest like an E rank or something like that? I'm helping someone train here." She then looked at Venus who was looking at the young woman. "Um… are you going to introduce yourself?"
"Oh! Umm… hello! I'm Venus." Venus introduced herself, smiling a little as she bowed to her. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Crypto."
"Huh. I see…" Crypto said as she then narrowed her eyes. "You look rather familiar to someone else… Like there was a person that helped me once who wore blue and purple clothing… Some girl who saved my life before…" She then shook her head. "Probably just my imagination…"
'That's Sapphire for you… about twelve years ago you first met her in her human form.' Filyn thought before internally smiling to herself. 'She told me that this girl could be a diva when she grows up… and after meeting up with her in her HDD form and now that she did… she's been helping us out as a part-time receptionist, as well as being a diva… or idol… And somehow able to manage fanboys from swarming into the Guild…' She then sighed to herself. 'Y'know… when she's a diva, she's a bright young woman… when she's a receptionist, she becomes emotionless… not that I need another one…'
Filyn didn't really care that Crypto knew what Sapphire looked like in her human form, even though she couldn't connect it back to the CPU. However, Venus, when she looked at her, was just smiling very brightly. "Yeah… Maybe you're right." She said, seemingly like she's trying to change the subject as she clenched her weapon. "So… about that quest…"
"Oh… Wait a sec… I think I might have one…" Crypto said before she typed some stuff on a tablet. "This might take a while… about five to ten minutes… maybe less" She then narrowed her eyes towards Filyn. "Should I register her into the Guild?"
"No, I'm just training her. There isn't anything more to it than that." Filyn answered as she frowned at that sort of question. She does know that Sapphire usually doesn't check the Guild files since she figured that Crypto can deal with this. However, if there was a chance that she does, well… that's a line she'll cross later.
"I see… Does she at least know about the ranking system?" Crypto then narrowed her eyes towards Venus. "Well? Do you know anything about it?" She asked before then seeing Venus shaking her head. "Huh. Well then… I'm just going to go while Filyn explains to you about that."
"Wait! Hold on! You know I can't explain something like—!" Filyn then sees Crypto going through the door behind her before seeing her closing it. Sighing before turning to Venus, looking at her expectantly. "Welp… I guess I'll try to explain the best way I can." She said before putting her hands on her sides. "Basically there are six ranks. S, A, B, C, D, and E. If you do a certain amount of quests, you move up a rank. And the quests get harder every time you move up. Any questions?"
"Nah. I think I get it now." Venus said, probably having some sort of grasp on it. "So I start from the bottom of E and move up to D, and so on, right?"
"Yeah. Even if you're not even registered to the Guild, you still get rankings if you put your name in." Filyn explained to her before giving her a frown. "However, if you are registered with the Guild and somehow get to at least a B rank, you do get special perks like special missions issued by the Guild. Kind of like the secret kind of stuff or something like that. But I don't think your sister would let you do that… or anything like that…"
"Oh. Okay." Venus said as she put her hands behind her back. "I understand now. But…" She then looked at her rather curiously. "But how do you know about that?"
"Well, I'm actually an S-Rank Guild member!" Filyn revealed very proudly as she put both of her hands on her hips. "I went on so many secret missions that I lost count on how many!"
"I see… So… Can I ask you something?" Crypto suddenly spoke up from behind her, which Filyn turned her attention to. She just stood there, crossed arms, with the tablet still in her hand. "Why are you telling her about that? Didn't I say that to just tell her about the ranking system? Not telling her about yourself?"
"Oh! Ahaha… Oops! My bad!" Filyn said very awkwardly as she scratched the back of her head. Seeing Crypto's eyes narrowed, she waved panically. "I mean! I wasn't going to say anything, y'know!" She then noticed the tablet in the woman's hands. "So… you already found a quest? That was quick!"
"You're already changing the subject, huh?" Crypto then showed her the tablet. "This is the only E-Rank quest we have right now. It's a Dogoo infestation in the upper part of Planeptune. You need to defeat all of them." As Filyn is about to accept the quest, she immediately pulls it away from her. "You're required to have at least three party members… which means I can't give you this quest."
"Seriously!? An E-Rank that needs three people!?" Filyn exclaimed as she looked at the woman with irritation. "That's a total scam! Plus, you know I'm already strong enough to fill in two people."
"Sorry but, I have to be fair to every single one who comes here and asks for a quest… unless…" Crypto then smirked, teasing Filyn with the tablet. "You let me join up with you, of course."
'She totally rigged it to have her join up with us! There's absolutely no way this is a coincidence!' Filyn thought, giving her a shock yet irritated look. "I can just ask someone else, y'know? Like IF or—!"
"I had IF off for a few days and I'm not letting her go on another quest." Crypto immediately responded, cutting her off. "And you know the reason why, right?" Filyn was about to speak again before she was cut off again. "And if you're about to say that I shouldn't leave the Guild receptionist area, you do realize that there are receptionists other than me that can do the job, right?" Trying to speak up again before Filyn was cut off for a third time. "And if you're going to make any more excuses, I will throw you to the ground." Which immediately shut her up.
Hearing laughter, Filyn then turned towards Venus who stopped before smiling, trying to stifle the giggling. "Sorry. Couldn't help it." She said in between the giggles. "But, looks like she got you good, Filyn."
"Yeah…" Filyn said as she frowned as she crossed her arms. She obviously didn't want Crypto to come because she might figure out who Venus is. However, she also needs that quest to train Venus. So she then looked at Venus directly into her eyes. "But… what do you think about this, Venus?"
"Oh um… It's okay, Filyn. Don't need to worry about it." Venus said as she reassured the redhead, still smiling. "I mean… She wants to join us then why not?"
"O-Oh… I see…" Filyn said before going into deep thought. 'She must have an ulterior motive for her to suggest this… Is she getting suspicious of Venus? I thought I was being careful! Man… Sapphire is going to explode on me even more… and I've already done two things that's even worse…' She then imagined Sapphire yelling at her with a rather furious look in her eyes. 'And she didn't want people to know she has a sister yet… I mean… from what I was told from Sapphire about yesterday… it's pretty obvious… and…' She then remembered the last time that blue-haired girl got mad at her. 'She was so mad that she locked herself in her room, so I had forced her out with a lollipop so I could apologize to her…'
"So? What will it be?" Crypto spoke up, snapping Filyn out of her thoughts. She was still holding the tablet used for the quest. "Will you let me join or not?"
Filyn just sighed in defeat as she slowly nodded her head. "Fine… You win…" She said as she saw her smirk. "I'll let you join in."
"Good. I guess we're on the same page now." She said as she typed up a few things before pressing the screen and hearing jingle. "Quest accepted. Oh and by the way…" She then went around the counter to look at Filyn. "I already told one of my coworkers that I'll be leaving for a little bit. Also, I don't trust an idiot like you with training someone." After that she walked away, leaving the two behind.
Venus just looked at Filyn, who was completely confused on that last part. However, the redhead shrugged at that. "Eh. Probably something random." Filyn then smiled at her as she lent her hand to her. "Shall we follow her?"
To which Venus nodded as she took her hand as they followed Crypto. And for some reason, Filyn remembers that she hasn't taught her how to put away her weapon.
And that's all for now! Thanks again to decode9 for helping again. I don't have much to say other than a few things to say.
Originally, The Lowee Ninja scene wasn't in there when I first wrote this but I decided to add it because it's funny. And to make it even funnier, I added the "Don't forget me" line from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 from the Ardainian Soldier lines.
The scene I also added was the beginning scene with Sapphire and I had to change some of the stuff that the other character said. I want people to see how she acts in the morning (like five o'clock in the morning).
And to the two new characters, they were definitely not planned at all because I originally wanted them to be some very generic NPCs but I kind of have so many already so I gave them names.
Atlus (which I'm pretty sure you guys know who this is referencing) is a character that is going to be very interesting to write. She's a character (as Filyn mentioned) that works almost everywhere which is a sort of a reference to Persona 3-5's part-time jobs system (I think it exists in Persona 3).
Crypto is a reference to Crypton Future Media, who owns Hatsune Miku and vocaloid. She very much wasn't planned at all where I haven't even made a concept of her yet (technically so did Atlus as well). But I do like how she turned out since she's a character that I think might fit. I feel that her having a little bit of her robotic personality is kind of like how vocaloids sort of are with their voice.
There wasn't too much action but next chapter, there might be a few amounts of action. Why? Because I feel like Shift might want to train her sister, unlike Sapphire.
Either way, Please Review and Stay Safe!
