Chapter 138 - What happens next

2 weeks passed by since the incident with the Basilicom the Demons and other followers of Khorne invading Gamindustri, and from then on, a mybrid of events followed. Events that, as one would expect, took up a LARGE amount of time from each person involved.

The first thing that happened had been the inevitable fallout in the Invasion's aftermath. Not only did many Nobles (save for a few select ones who didn't bother with much) and other Guests to the Gala throw a nasty hissy fit about the lack of 'security' for the Gala (whilst also secretly blaming the CPU for her shortcomings), but they also made countless empty threats and promises towards her that Stefan and the other military representatives had to calm them down for, before they could end up doing something all of them would wind up regretting. More often than not, Stefan nearly ended up losing it on the Nobility as he tried to calm them and assure them that they were still safe and sound within MICROSOFT's walls. That they could still live their lives as they so desires. Arrogant, fickle-minded assholes didn't complain very much when Stefan offered to spend some of the military's budget in compensation for their troubles, something that Vert refused to allow without them getting some form of compensation as well for all the soldiers they had lost. It ended up with the Military getting a healthy stipend, with about 80% of it going to the Nobles for them to squander on whatever they saw fit.

Slobs.

Heck, there was even a few mocking comments towards the Nobles behind their backs, made by the Military families that got invited and were part of the forces guarding the Nobles whilst at the Gala. None of them saw eye to eye with these Nobles, and many of them shared the Spec Ops Agents desires to just end them already. Hatred burned in their hearts for the Nobles, to the point that whenever they were killed or something bad happened to them, on the surface they seemed remorseful, however deep down they actually celebrated their deaths, marking their deaths as a source of joy and twisted happiness. Hell, they'd probably throw a party for the ones involved with utterly shaming the Nobles, for in their eyes a 'good deed' involving the humiliation and killing of Nobles. In essence, they resembled powder kegs ready to blow at the earliest sign.

Not to mention, that most of the deaths that had befallen the Gala's count weren't even that many Nobles to begin with, like below a dozen at the worst. The count would have been higher if Compa and Lucy hadn't done their miracle healing though, so that was at least something. Though, the Nobles even undermined that, thinking of themselves and their interests which had been threatened, reasoning that thanks to them being 'invited' to the Gala, they were 'expected' to be in a place of security and safety, of which they believed didn't happen even when THEY had been the first ones to be evacuated thanks to MAGES.' transportation Seals. Said Mad Magician had wisely chosen to leave the city in these following days, so she didn't get caught up in all the turmoil that followed and basically threw the rest of them to the wolves, figuratively speaking. Though, if any of the girls had been honest with themselves, they likely would have done the same thing in her shoes.

In simple terms, beneath all the political and complicated bullshit that followed, it simply got classified as one big hot mess. A mess that Vert couldn't help but lament that she had been foolish enough to not see happening at the Gala. Even though the few who knew of her condition constantly tried to assure her that she hadn't done anything wrong. That she had other things occupying her mind that were just as important as the Gala like ascertaining Noire's intentions for the Gala and the alliance her Nation had been building from the Truce between Lastation and Planeptune. Like learning more about the enemy that currently tore through her country with reckless abandon. Still didn't lessen the sense of defeat and failure she felt though, something that Vert would be feeling for a while to come yet… though, those ways of 'coping' could be questionable at best. Fortunately, though, good news helped keep her mind from breaking in the form of the collateral damage being limited to the Basilicom itself, and not out into the rest of MICROSOFT, something which Vert had MAGES. to thank.

The second thing that happened was that Yvoire had recovered successfully from his little 'episode' with the poison, something which had immediately gotten Vert's attention the moment that piece of news reached her. Thus, spurred on by this information combined with the knowledge she had gleaned with the others from Biko, resulted in Vert confronting Yvoire at the earliest opportunity, leaving most of the political work she had to do to Chika (whom had made a full recovery at speeds that shouldn't be humanly possible, though when it came to Vert, Chika usually went up and beyond).

Thus, that confrontation revealed to her that Yvoire had in his possession a special neckless that he had inherited from his father and all his previous fathers before him. It was a necklace that had been with his family since their founding, and as such little is known about it anymore aside from the fact that it prevents the wearer or those that touch it from being mind controlled. Though, as Vert assumed it appeared to have done much more than that, for it seemed to have saved his soul from being affected by the poison, however just by looking at that item, Vert had correctly deduced that much of the item's power had been depleted, not overdrawn thankfully, and would need time for it to recharge.

Not only that though, but Vert had learned how Nico and Yvoire had been arguing about what Count Mott had been up to, about how the guy had been conducting shady business deals and a whole load of other questionable actions that could have ended with his head on the chopping block if this were the older Leanbox. Nico had argued that something had to be done, but Yvoire had refused, explaining about how if he did anything then the long-term effects for the Nation may end up being disastrous for them. He told Vert that while Nico did have factual evidence to state the things that he did, his actions could have doomed Leanbox in the far future.

When Vert had tried to speak, Yvoire had countered with the following opinion: Who was Nico truly? Was he someone who did good and stayed faithful? In some sense, maybe after all he had done some good in his lifetime. However, when Yvoire looked at him, what he saw was SO much more than that. Instead of just what other people saw in him, Yvoire saw a powder keg waiting to blow up. He saw someone who he would have preferred to be A Noble considering his family background (something that honestly baffled him when he discovered it) as well as a follower of Lady Green Heart, but he wasn't. Instead, he showed open hostility towards anything regarding the Nobility of Leanbox, definitely making it clear what he thought of them. The teen had shown more than a few times how he did not favor any form of religion and had made his 'opinions' on the higher ups quite clear. In addition to that, he worked in a Nation that WASN'T his birth one for OTHER Nations, and had fostered companionship with an unknown amount of Agents who shared his views, powerful Agents at that. Not only that, but he had a strong charisma which, whilst not at its peek potential due to his upbringing, could very well rally anyone who believed the same as he did. All that, and he HADN'T talked about that abominable power that he possessed, that power which as much as he loathed to admit it, trumped that of the Goddesses as proven when he heard of how a single eruption of that power destroyed an entire Dungeon. He'd heard of THAT little incident not just from Nico's own mouth, but also not long after there had been reports of flames in the far distance, and after some investigation he had connected the dots. Therefore, how could he NOT be so cautions and demeaning of him? To Yvoire, Nico was the EXACT type of person who could destroy an entire Nation if he so wanted, he could bring an end to every Goddess in Gamindustri if he wanted to just from his potential alone. What kind of leader WOULDN'T be so cautious with someone like that running about?

The more Yvoire had explained why he felt the way he did, the more Vert began to agree that Yvoire did indeed have a point and a good reason for his actions.

Whilst Yvoire had been right about his views as a leader, Nico also made a good argument, and had seen potential for an even greater danger which he had apparently been trying to prevent from happening. Listening to what he had said, it told her that Nico did seem to be on a certain path to finding some deeply rooted corruption, however the talk Yvoire had given him had clearly seemed to stop those attempts. Odds were, that Nico likely didn't want to endanger the Nation that fueled her existence, not to mention it wasn't part of his creed to let innocents die, so he had refrained from continuing for the foreseeable future… even so BOTH of them had failed at that point, considering how messed up her Basilicom was.

Something she HAD to point out, and Yvoire thus let it slip that she would have understood the situation a LOT better if she had been here longer, about how much danger the Nation could be in during the long-run if he hadn't done what he could. Low blow, to be sure, but not necessarily a wrong one Vert had to reluctantly admit to herself. Yvoire then continued with how, despite his best efforts to provide the best security he had available, Yvoire still didn't have complete control over every military family in Leanbox, thus there would be holes in his security which the enemy could have exploited for this incident to happen.

A fact that the CPU had to admit that Yvoire had a point about, but part of her still felt like Yvoire could have conducted himself at least a little better.

Thirdly, was that everyone began to initiate their own types of training, evolving them from what they had once been in light of the new developments from this entire Invasion. For example, Compa had to, now that she had become a Spirit, accompany Lucy and Raven across the Nation, tearing through Abnormals at a rapid pace not to mention destroying the Demonic forces that occupied key areas around Leanbox. This form of training strengthened Compa's ability to fight with her six different Angels, the ones that were more combat-oriented getting quite the workout from them whilst support types like Gabriel, Haniel and Michael had been demoted to secondary usage, since Lucy had more than enough power in her one little finger. Heck, Compa became witness to some of Lucy's true power, and by the Goddesses did Compa find the redhead woman to be one of the scariest people she had ever met. The way she commanded the forces of Nature to do her bidding, ow she created plants and wilderness to either ensnare or kill entire encampments now that she didn't have to worry about her new comrade finding out her identity, made more than a few shudders travel down her spine. Not to mention the creepy, sadistic giggling Lucy would do whenever she saw her opponents try to 'resist' her, almost like she got a kick out of the experience…

Sometimes, Compa found her to be worse than any of the creepy, insane Demonic followers of Chaos.

Even so however, there was definitely ONE thing that she took from that experience…

(Flashback)

"#HUFF#... #HUFF#... #HUFF#..."

"Not bad, Compa, your power over Sandalphon is coming along nicely."

Whilst she panted heavily, kneeling on all fours, Compa barely raised her head in order to glance over to Lucy, whom stood in the middle of a crown of spikes made from wood. Each spike impaled more than a few followers of Chaos. Blood dripped down them from their impaled areas like small waterfalls, and each of them had that same look that Vert had told them about from her story of how she lost her powers as a CPU. "Th-Thanks…"

Both of them stood within the centre of a large encampment, filled to the brim with corpses belonging to the Chaos religion. This place had been the staging point for many raids on surrounding settlements, and Lucy had already teleported the rest of the survivors, the innocent civilians whom would have been sacrificed to their Gods (Khorne in this case) back to their respective homes. Thankfully, she used her teleportation ability to do so, ad by the time she had finished Lucy had found herself in that crown she had made early on in the battle watching Compa recover from the nonstop fighting.

Everywhere one looked, they would only see death. The tents looked like they were made from human flesh, with bony spikes covering them while a huge circle of spikes and barbed wire encircled the camp. Ironically, it reminded the girls of a circle of dark bushes and spiky thorns… except with the various 'skulls' of both monster and human impaled disgustingly onto the spikes as a form of warding off intruders. The camp itself had small alters all over the place, ones filled with a crimson liquid Compa and Lucy could only assume to be blood, and these alters were where they sacrificed their slaves, enemies or even their own brethren in arms to the Chaos God Khorne. Since he didn't care for where the blood came from, only that it flowed, it made a… disturbing amount of sense.

Even so, Compa didn't really think about that, instead she thought back to what had been going on. This had been what… the 500th, 510th Camp they blew up? Well, its been one of the many Chaos camps that they had destroyed by either flattening or outright just charging in and tearing everything apart. In this case, it had been the latter, and just like when fighting against the Demons back at the Basilicom, th fighting had been expectantly brutal… more on the enemy's side since Lucy went ape shit on them. Compa just followed behind her, dealing with any stragglers by knocking them down and finishing them off with one of her Angel.

Killing people wasn't something she had thought she would be capable of doing. Nope, no sir. Demons were one story, since they weren't like humans, but actual people? More than once did Compa shudder at the thought of killing actual people. However, her hesitation… it felt surprisingly minimal in the grand scheme of things. Like, killing someone came as easy to her as it had been to summon an Angel. Compa felt like the fact she no longer masked her feelings of inferiority, the fact that she had been bullied many times by other humans when she was a little girl, and the fact that she had become something inhuman had something to do with it. Her transformation into a spirit… had it changed her more than she thought? She didn't know, but it definitely struck her as odd, though to her surprise she didn't feel like vomiting when she first killed someone. Nothing like seeing blood on her hands did a thing to her, and that confused the heck out of her.

Plus, was killing these kinds of people… really that bad?

They each have done countless unspeakable horrors on a daily basis in the name of fanatical beliefs…

Her previous self would have been all like 'yes, it is! all life is precious, you shouldn't kill them, its not right!'

Now however…

"Just so you know Compa…" Lucy's voice broke her out of her thoughts and made her look towards her again. This resulted in her seeing Lucy click her fingers and release a wave of energy across the camp. Near instantly she began to see the corpses get absorbed into the earth, as well as the blood, spikes and pretty much everything else, until the entire camp got replaced by a large field of pure, clean wilderness. There was even this strange glow about the field that just screamed 'mystical' and 'divine' somehow. "Your no longer a human anymore. You may look human for the most part, you may not have any drastic transformations like IF that showcase her inhumanity, but never forget that you're not like the other humans anymore. This transformation into a Spirit has changed fundamentals in the human mind before, so its no surprise that it's took away your reluctance to kill." She explained, grimly.

Whilst a shudder did escape her on that one, Compa still felt like that wasn't all there was to it, especially when she recalled what she had learned about herself when she became a Spirit in the first place. Even so however, she nonetheless took in what her teacher had been saying. Lucy had told her that her power as the Spring Goddess had everything to do with creating life, and that sometimes for new life to grow, some life needed to be taken. Compa sorta understood, since in human population, when someone dies, as cold as it may sound their property usually goes to someone else who needs it, like a small or large family or so. "So… is this the last one or do we have more…?" she questioned.

"Hm?" Lucy began, having become lost in thought herself before Compa brought her out of it. "Oh, we still have like 100 more camps to go, I know their positions across the entirety of Leanbox. Everything touched by Spring I'm aware of as it's patron Goddess. But for now, we can take a small break, destroying over 500 camps in one day is quite an achievement." She explained, before her eyes narrowed and her tone grew darker as she summoned a small chair from the ground made out of earth, sitting down on it with her legs crossed. "Even though these guys replace their numbers fast, likely from getting more followers through those Hellgates spawning everywhere. In those camps, we only destroyed like 50 or so, so it feels like we aren't even doing anything against the real cause here."

A low wince escaped the young Nurse-In-Training's features as she couldn't help but nod in agreement and understanding. Compa could understand her frustration on this matter, cause she felt somewhat the same way. No matter how many camps they take out, the more followers seemed to take their place. Not to mention that even if they helped the Military take back the Nation's territory from these Khornate forces, it didn't really affect much unless they find out how to stop the Hellgates from appearing once and for all.

"Aside from that Compa, surely you've noticed by now, right?"

"Eh?"

"Your powers. Whilst they do have great strength now, there is still ways for you to go before you unleash your full potential. If I were to make an analogy, you've only accessed one-coin side of your power, whilst the other side remains dormant and waiting to be accessed. For now, I doubt you'll be able to unlock it right away, so you should master your Angels first. I can teach you how to do the basics for them, but the best teachers you could ask for are the Angels themselves. They can teach you best, I can only point you in the right direction."

(Flashback END)

What Lucy had told Compa lead her to contacting the manifestations of her Angels, inside her mind, which lead to her asking them to help train her in their abilities. Each Angel had agreed to her request, even Camael who had ever the badmouth on her, not to mention that each Angel taught her how to communicate with them mentally, so they could talk to her as well as look through her eyes at the world around them. Not to mention that some of them (Camael, Gabriel, and Haniel) each had a bit of a pervy side to them, considering how they sometimes made Compa think of various… things, she would like to do to Nico when he eventually awoke.

She hadn't been the only one training, however. Neptune accompanied IF in her hunting of different Abnormals throughout the Nation, as thanks to these Demonic Forces there weren't as many as there had been before, and the Guild wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. Apparently, Abnormals had been an impressive display of 'sport' for the followers of Chaos, as most of the time travelling to different areas across the Nation (much like what Compa and Lucy did minus the special 'transportation' the latter possessed) Neptune and IF came across entire camps filled to the brim with Skulls cast onto piles reminiscent of various Abnormals, their carcases either hung out in various forms or having been chopped up into various foods to feed their troops. Not to mention some were impaled brutally on spikes to be used to ward off uninvited visitors.

A sight that made them shudder each time. Yeah, who would want to be near somewhere like that? They sure as hell wouldn't…

Well, maybe IF would, she could use the extra genetic data to fuel her mutations.

Even so, however, during the constant fighting against both Abnormal and Chaos follower alike, Neptune only used one weapon: her Soul Calibur. She used its various forms and abilities to utterly decimate her enemies, aside from her ability to manipulate crystal the way she could. She would learn more about crystal itself through those tests, increase her understanding of it's nature, how to make it, how to apply it to her purposes and just a general understanding of it. The more she did so, the more powerful hr Crystal powers became, to the point where if she were to face a Greater Demon again in the future (which she had no doubt she would if the Party's luck had been any indication), then she would likely stand a MUCH better chance against it. Defeating one in single combat? Eh, that would be a stretch for now, since the sheer strength and physical ability needed to fight one on even grounds still eluded her for the time being.

That strength however… there still seemed to be a way for Neptune to acquire it, she felt. Why did she feel that way, you ask? Cause of Soul Calibur's dual nature, is all. The weapon was both divine and demonic in nature, a natural and complete hybrid of the two energies. Therefore, she could definitely feel like she hadn't tapped into this weapon's true potential just yet. She'd been able to use it's divine side no problem, it was what gave her the ability to develop crystal manipulation abilities, however the problem was the Demonic aspect of the sword. Aside from using the negative emotions that she felt to empower itself though, Neptune felt like she didn't have much in the way of tapping into that aspect just yet. An entire reservoir pf power she had next to absolutely ZERO access to, a power which could shorten the gap between her and Greater Demons immensely. Something which frustrated her immensely, this weapon she got from her hubby still had a LOAD of potential she had yet to tap into, and yet she couldn't for some inexplicable reason.

Thus, that was why she chose to join IF on her training. Perhaps she could find a way for her to tap into BOTH of Soul Calibur's aspects fully with her.

Fourthly, would be things on Noire's side. Now, thanks to the events at the Gala Noire had to, well, fight on multiple fronts one could say. On one front, Noire spent as much time as she could allow to train with Balmung, to learn more about the sword and get just get a little closer to being able to tap into it's full power, to tap into and fully control such power actually. Balmung didn't make it easy for her by the way, but then again when was anything in life easy? If one found that their lives were easy, then they weren't doing things the right way. Even so, she still kept trying practicing alone with Balmung or having Raiden spar with her.

Heh, its funny, for even if she had the benefits of being both Balmung's wielder as well as a CPU, she had not ONCE managed to defeat her teacher, not even get a graze on his Cyborg body. Years of experience on the front lines as a child soldier probably had something to do with that, but that shouldn't be all there was to it since Noire had fought the other CPUs for hundreds of years at this point. It truly went to show that the stronger Spec Ops Agents, the ones who took their training and roles within the community utterly seriously, had the strength to fight a Goddess on even ground…

Something that honestly concerned Noire.

Aside from that, Noire also had to fight in political battles, conversing with Vert and her representatives about the alliance that she and Planeptune were starting to veer into. Both the pros and cons of such an agreement, everything got laid out with the proper documentation to prove the claims made from both sides. Of course, Leanbox's representatives felt threatened by this possibility, therefore to appease them, and in light of recent events, Noire decided to extend her offer to Leanbox as well. That way not only would Planeptune and Lastation be in an eventual alliance, but Leanbox as well.

If she had not seen the way Vert had been acting before, then she likely wouldn't have decided to do this and instead left Leanbox to rot. However, thanks to that NOT being the case, the Lastation CPU had went and made a completely different route instead. Now, not only would Leanbox be part of this truce-eventually-alliance, but they would also be involving Planeptune politicians in this. Something that Noire found herself being sure that they likely wouldn't like very much, though they'd nevertheless not make too much of a fuss over it. If they could ally with Lastation, their arch rival, why not Leanbox, a Nation of which their animosity would be considered extremely smaller in comparison?

Part of her wondered if she would have to involve Neptune in all this, since she WAS Planeptune's CPU and as such deserved to have a say in this alliance of theirs, but she had decided against it mainly because of her amnesia. If she didn't recall anything about her Nation's politics, then odds were that she'd not be of very much help. Not to mention that she'd probably say something like 'being friends is all I care about, so do the whole signing thing or whatever'. Plus, she had her own thing going on with collecting the Key Fragments to save Histoire, someone whom Noire wanted to meet herself just to see what all the fuss was about. She may not be involved with Planeptune's politics, but at least Neptune was actively taking a roll with helping to save Gamindustri from the threats that were surfacing through every corner of the world…

And beyond, lets not forget that.

As for Helen herself, she had much on her plate as well. Not just her daily work of managing the WDD from Leanbox, she also had to take part in the negotiations between Leanbox and Lastation as a Planeptune representative. In political terms, she had become a major piece on the chessboard, though in Helen's eyes she already had become one with her current position and… interest to the higher ups in the Basilicom back in the Land of Purple Progress. Interest as in they kept tabs on everything she did in case she were to rebel against them for what they did to her adoptive son, something she had fought tooth and nail to have the rights to do she might add. One didn't need to know the hardships which she had went through to get that chance, and even then she had also been given the position of head of the Weapons Development department, though to her that position resembled something else:

A chair, a Pedestal… surrounded by searchlights and engrossed in poisonous spiky thorns.

In addition to her other duties for her position as both WDD's head and the sole Planeptune Representative, Helen also conducted an investigation of her own (with Vert's approval of course since this WAS her Nation after all). An investigation into the events leading up to the poisoning of A: one of Planeptune's Agents on foreign soil, something that could be grounds for all-out war between the two Nations due to the fickle status quo they shared (though this truce may change that in the future) B: An attack on the technical Leader of the Land of Green Pastures. Someone like that would be classified as a priority target for the Nations to bring down, as if they were to attack a Leader of such status, then what else would they be capable of? Not to mention that, as much as Helen loathed to admit it, something like attacking a highly important National figure like Vert would be seen by the Nation as much more important than assaulting a Spec Ops Agent. It was understandable, as who would pick an Agent who had done little for them in their eyes in comparison to their Goddess? Any Nation would agree to that, much to her frustration. And C: the identity of the one whom dared try to take her beloved adoptive son from her. She wanted to, like she had promised to the girls and to herself, find the one responsible for, in her eyes, one of the greatest crimes imaginable.

To her, that would always be the most important reason, politics be damned. She'd never wanted this position anyways, and she didn't give a crap much about politics in general, only her position forced her to. If she had her way though, she'd be back out there on the field, doing what she had been thought and what she felt she could do best even at her age.

A mother should never have to see her son in such a state, it was something she felt certain any mother would agree with her on. She could only imagine what the parents of those who died in monster attacks felt when they saw the mangled remains of their children, and therefore, she couldn't help but worry for her son's safety. In fact, she felt certain every time she came across Vert, Noire, or any of the girls her son had befriended, that whilst they each had their own thing going on, it was really to just mask the worry and dread filling their guts for Nico's safety.

She couldn't blame them, not without being a hypocrite herself since she felt like sometimes she'd collapse from the worry she had for him.

Heck, she arguably felt it worse than they ever could, since she herself had trained him in order to prevent something like this from happening. After all, if something like this did happen, then Nico wouldn't be able to seek medical help due to the discrimination that he constantly went through thanks to the Basilicom higher ups forbidding him from seeking such help. In their eyes, his healing factor meant that he didn't even need such things as 'hospitals' to take care of himself, though in reality they just didn't want the guy around at all. They hadn't been very happy at being told to keep him alive, so they just used him to end their problems instead. Thus, it devolved Nico into the dog that he had become.

So far though, to Helen's frustration she had gotten few leads on who it had been that poisoned him. She'd looked into this 'conversation' character and had met with some of her former associates from her Spec Ops days, people whom had a lot of experience with Lowee Basilicom figures to see if they recognized the name. Unfortunately, she didn't get anything cause Lowee's Basilicom had closed off all contact to their Nation a while ago, making it so that they had isolated themselves from the other Nations. That had rung more than a few alarm bells in Helen's mind, especially since the Party her boy was in would likely be going to Lowee soon enough, likely after the Spec Ops Exams which would be held soon so their resident BOW could join the community, thus gaining their protection from the Basilicom.

Shame that whilst they can't do anything to the Agents there, that didn't mean those assholes couldn't target other people they cared for, and the Spec Ops higher ups were largely under the employ of the Basilicom, too. How else would they keep such a group under control?

So yeah, things were getting heated, more so than when the Demonic Invasion happened…

Little did anyone else know however, that this would only be the beginning…

Especially since a huge storm began brewing in the near future, one which would soon collide with the present.


Once 2 weeks passed, things began to kick up once more.

"Alright, looks like things have largely been dealt with." IF began as she stood beside the door. Everyone: IF, Neptune, Noire, Compa, Helen and Vert, all of them stood within the blonde CPU's bedroom. Whilst Team RAIL would have been requested to come along as well, they got swamped with Spec Ops work at the last minute, making it so that they wouldn't be able to attend this little meeting that Vert had worked on. Though, since most of them were in Leanbox with one or two being delivery Quests for various monster items in Planeptune, Raven had promised them that they'd be able to return soon enough, but to start the meeting right away as the enemy wouldn't wait for them otherwise. The brunette then took a couple steps away from the wall, pocketing her hands inside her coat pockets whilst she gave everyone looks. Her eyes cast themselves over the group, taking in their individual states of being. Needless to say, each of them had a look of apprehension on their features, as thanks to there being little to do they couldn't ignore the worry rising within their chests. "Therefore, I think we can get to the issue at hand."

Vert's eyes narrowed as she crossed one leg over the other as she sat on her bed, placing her hands together over her lap. Her eyes also showed a hidden troubled expression as she gazed back towards the brunette BOW. "Yes, indeed. Unfortunately, it appears that Nicky has yet to wake up from his recovery state. How is he by the way?" Vert questioned Helen as she looked over to the physically older woman. "We were not able to visit him as much as we wanted to because of what we did these last few weeks, me, you and Noire especially." She queried.

It was true though, and it was something that honestly the girls had mixed feelings about. On one hand, each of them felt like Nico wouldn't want them to worry about him, that their training would be more important than just waiting on someone like him to recover. Many times, now they have heard him stress over the importance in priority training had to be considered as, especially in the dire situation Leanbox had been in. Vert had been busy with politics to consider training being an option, so she had that to fall back on, whilst the same could be said for Noire. However, she had also prioritized training over winding down from the events at the Gala, following her Nation's motto of 'Lastation can only do everything', thus proving just how much of a workaholic she truly was. Definitely earned some teasing from Neptune though, much to her dismay (she would never admit to almost launching a TWILIGHT WAVE at her more than a few times. Nope, not at all).

However, on the other hand, they couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for not being able to visit him. To them, the fact that he would be recovering well thanks to the Sky Poison Pearl and these 'elements' Biko had spoken of assured them enough. It wasn't like they didn't want to visit either, it was just that seeing him in such a pathetic, sorry state frustrated them so much that they didn't know what to do with themselves. Compa especially since not even her BARD OF HEALING from Gabriel showed much effect on the recovering male's body. Heck, when she thought nobody around, Neptune would let her mask fall down and showcase her extreme worry by sitting down and fretting over what could potentially happen to her hubby. If someone like NEPTUNE would feel that way, then one could DEFINITELY tell that something was quite bad.

So yeah, there had been an air of depression about the girls throughout these two weeks, and their efforts merely were a way for them to cope with what had been happening.

"Well, I've done some research, did some digging and found little on Conversation." Helen finally replied after a moment of silence. That moment, whilst short in real time, felt more like an eternity for the others. Especially for the more impatient types such as Neptune and Compa. "There's little on her background such as where she came from or who her family members are. She has no biological relatives, not even any form of identification. According to what I was able to gather, it seems she just appeared out of nowhere and fund herself part of Lowee's Basilicom staff as her Evangelist. Now, I don't need to say this, but for those who don't get it, this likely means that until about 6 months ago, Conversation never truly existed."

Helen's answer sent waves of shock through the girls, something evident by the group gasp they had done after she finished explaining what she had found. Neptune became the first to respond to this information, beating Compa by a few milliseconds as if it had been a race between them to showcase their response. "Seriously? Wow, now that's lame. I thought we could have gotten a little more info than that, like." She exclaimed, pouting in annoyance whilst kicking the ground beneath her feet. She was standing up by the way, whilst Compa sat on top of a beanbag.

Speaking of beanbags, Noire who sat on one herself, rolled her eyes at the preteen's comment. "Its no surprise YOU wouldn't get it Neptune, but it just means that its very likely that Conversation isn't actually a person, or anything at all. Its likely that name is just that, a name and nothing more, like an alias of some sorts. There are those who go by different aliases to hide their true identities after all." She explained, and as she did so Noire recalled how there were more than a few Spec Ops Agents back home, including Raiden, whom had aliases of their own to hide their identities when out on the field.

"Oh? Ohhhhhhhhhh…"

"Noire's right Nep…" IF began as she too continued off after the Lastation CPU, having sat down on the bed (at Vert's behest, and who could deny someone like her, right? Especially since IF respected her…). "Not to mention that it all seems too fishy to me. I mean, I did some research of my own, and I found records of Lowee's CPU and how she tends to do things. Now, these records date to not long after Nep fell from Celestia, so they're fairly accurate. According to what I found, she likes to deal with her problems on her own terms as shown when she's going on Abnormal killing sprees, much like a certain Spec Ops Agent we know." She explained, everyone thinking about Nico when she made that comment. "Therefore, it wouldn't make much sense for her to try something like poison, right?" IF questioned, glancing over to Noire and then Vert.

The latter soon nodded her head in agreement as she thought back to the Console War. "Yes, it does not seem like something she would do, though I cannot be completely certain. Back in the Console War, that brat had too much of a short temper and a dependence on smashing things she didn't like with her Axe to consider anything structured like tactics or strategy. She would much rather smash her problems to dust than do anything covert, so its likely that this Conversation if that is her real name, would have an agenda all of her own." she explained. However, what she didn't say was that, before hearing Helen's words, Vert had begun suspecting Lowee's CPU to be involved with stealing her powers. The reason that had been so was because originally herself and Neptune had been targeted, and the only connection between them had been that they were Goddesses. She believed that there were few who would actively try to kill a Goddess, which limited the list of suspects to the other Goddesses. Goddesses such as Noire or Lowee's bratty CPU.

However, with Helen's testimony, she began to wonder if that was truly the case. Like she had said, Lowee's CPU had a temper and a 'smash it and its dealt with' attitude, so she wouldn't bother with covert operations in favor of blowing things to bits with her Axe. Therefore, would she really try to do something so underhanded as to covertly sabotage another Goddess like that? Part of her whom had bad experiences with her said, but the rest of her wanted to confirm everything with that CPU in person first. That thought process, ironically enough, had been born from meeting and talking to the other Goddesses at the Gala, then fighting alongside them.

This would be her stance on the matter until she found a way to meet her.

This made a nod come from Noire as she cupped her chin in thought. One could almost read her thoughts as lines of text if they looked into her eyes, that was how intensely she lost herself in her thoughts. "Makes sense. From what I've gathered about this whole situation with Nico, Yvoire and this Conversation, is that she approached Yvoire first and specifically gave him a poison which was meant to be given to Nico after her first attempt to takeout Neptune using IF got foiled. Odds are, she could have originally targeted someone high up like either Vert herself or Neptune, but once she found out about Nico's power to transform, she saw HIM as the greater threat, and now he's incapacitated." That last word almost made her choke as she restrained a fiery rage inside of her from overwhelming her calm demeanor.

Everyone looked down, a mix of sadness and anger spilling like an exploding dam into their eyes as their moods darkened. The thoughts of their companion being reduced to that horrible state, something which burned itself into their minds making forgetting it an impossible dream. Eventually, Neptune hopped into the centre of the room, her eyes now shining a mix of anger and determination. "Hey guys, quit acting all downers! You guys know that Nicky wouldn't want us to be moping bout right now, instead he'd want us kicking booty and taking names! Namely, the one who did all this to begin with, conver-whatshername!"

Blinking owlishly, each and every one of the room's occupants got caught by surprise by the sudden influx of determination that shot through Neptune's words. She looked like one of those fiery furnaces that erupted to life after being cold and silent for so long, or even a volcanic erupting happening way later than it should have. In the end though, a small chuckle escaped IF's lips as her eyes started to regain their old determination. "Heh, can't believe that this is happening, but Nep's got a point. What's sitting around here being all mopey going to get us? If we want to avenge our comrade, we gotta fin out where this Conversation is at right now, then go over there and kick her ass." Let it not be said that IF had begun imagining all the kinds of torturous activities she planned to unleash on that woman once she got her claws, or hands, on her. Lets just say that expert torturers y or may not become green with envy with all the screams IF planned to hear from that woman.

"Um, Iffy. Ni-Ni's not dead…" Compa began to say with a sweat drop, before a bright and cheerful smile formed on her lips as she pumped her fists in excitement. "But Iffy's right! We gotta stay positive right now, so we can kick that mean woman's booty! For everything she's done, we need to repay her tenfold!" she proclaimed, and the combined positivity from the two 'purer' girls (Neptune and Compa) served to rouse the spirits of the others.

Just as that started to happen…

RING-RING-RING!

"Huh?" Helen blinked when a ringing sound echoed throughout the room, getting confused looks from the girls. Where the heck did that ringing come from, and why did Neptune get the feeling that this was plot relevant? She would have yelled that out too, had Helen not realized that she knew that ringing and quickly took out her Phone from her coat pocket. "Oh, it's a message from one of my contacts." She explained, opening the message tab. "Us Spec Ops are trained to type messages in all kinds of situations, even when not looking at the screen we could make an entire mission briefing just with our hands. Trust me, we have records to prove it." she said, each girl being prompted to wonder how that could be a thing.

Not to mention how Noire nodded like she knew what Helen had been talking about. When they looked at her, she simply stated "Raiden." And they each stopped questioning it. That made sense in their eyes.

"Hmmm… Oh, it seems that my contact just sighted Conversation!"

"EH?! ALREADY?!" Each girl yelled that out, their eyes wider than dinner plates when they heard Helen's words.

A nod came from her in response as Helen glared down at the screen, her eyes alight like a bonfire of anger as she read the passage she had received. "Military jargon aside, she's been sighted to be heading to Halo Mountain. I distinctly recall that place is close to the western borders of the Landmass. Why else she's going there I don't know but…"

SLAM!

The sound of a door slamming shut rung through the room, and when the girls realized what happened, they quickly looked to the source and found that it ad been Vert's bedroom door. "Huh? Wha…?" Helen began, only to realize two of them had gone missing from the room, and then a groan of realization escaped her lips. "Oh geez, I think I know just what happened…"

"Gosh damnit, those two!" IF growled under her breath when she realized that a certain pair of girls had already vanished from the room. Odds were, that the moment they heard the name and location, the two girls had rushed off with thoughts of fiery wrath in mind. Ugh, sometimes she just wanted t throttle someone with the frustration she got from their antics. "Those idiots! They're going to get themselves killed if they act too recklessly! Everyone let's move! We'll figure something out along the way!"


Chapter end!

Whew! A lot of exposition in this chapter, so sorry for those who get bored of that kind of thing. But, even so I still think that it's necessary. After all, it explains what has been going on in the background of the story, not just with the girls. Politics, drama, complexity, all of it came about from this Gala, and as such this event should be seen as something with drastic effects on people's lifestyles.

As for the Nobles and those who are members of the military families, the relationship between them isn't so simple as mere disliking of each other. The Nobles who didn't have much to say are staying quiet because they are some of the better ones. It just so happens that there are so many bad ones that the few good ones are just simply ignored. Thus, the military families all are under the belief that Nobles are bad and that they deserve everything bad that's been happening to them. They also showcase their violent, savage roots as well with some of their actions, which gives rise to Yvoire's claims back before the Invasion began.

In addition, Yvoire is now seen as someone who is trying to do what is best for his Nation, even whilst it is morally wrong. Though, if a leader were to think of it from his perspective, it isn't really that wrong of him or unexpected. For, if you think of Nico from his perspective, Nico could be someone who serves as a personification of a Nation's end. His personality, powers, attitude, they all point to that direction. Therefore, why would Yvoire be kind when regarding him? Its like a mouse being kind to a cat which was about to eat it alive.

So yeah, their relationship isn't so simple.

Once again, i'd like to thank King Carlos with helping me with this. He's a great dude, and we MAY or may not be working on a little something together whilst we have our own stories to make.

Then, there is Vert and her opinion of the CPUs. In CANON she believed that White Heart was responsible for stealing her powers away from her at this point. However, I've decided to go a different route, instead i'm going to do something that could be considered a much darker, more violent route. Believe me, the darkness hasn't stopped yet.

Read, fav, follow, review, etc.

Peace Out!