Chapter 9: CPU Baby Season
The woodland area that resided outside the border of West Nepstation was a place always full of a pending adventure.
Adventurers that entered its realm would never be disappointed in the things that they could encounter.
A brown-haired girl with a blue coat traversed a dirt path. She had her phone out with data of the area showing her key locations that interested her. "Alright, where is that apple tree?" She found herself turned around when she spotted two paths to take in front of her. "Ah, shoot. The info says that there's supposed to be a straight path to the tree, which means I'm lost."
A small cry of protest pulled her out of her worry. She looked down to see a pink-haired, pudgy, and cranky baby girl giving her intense gazes with her red eyes. The baby girl was Euri, and IF had her confined to a baby harness.
IF puffed some breath out. "My mistake, we're are both lost. But don't worry little Eu, I'll find a way to get us back on the proper path." She lightly ruffled the messy, short, and pink hair of Euri that earned her a jubilant giggle.
They both took the right path, seeing what results from it might hold. During their stroll, one of the many phones from IF started to ring.
"Huh? Let see who's calling me. Not my work phone... no, it isn't my other work phone either... backup phone... no... friend phone... not that one." The ring continued and she checked the other side of her coat that housed more phones.
While this was going on, Euri curiously moved her eyes around to get a better view of the funny faces that the brown-haired girl was doing in her harsh battle to find the right phone.
"Hunting contacts... no, not that one. Yeah, not the 5pb news watch phone either, but I'm not surprised there- umm, yeah, Euri, let's keep that one just between us, okay? Let's see... game phone... nope. Oh! Pfft, wow! It's the Compa phone!" She held up a pink phone that Euri made sure to express her joy at the color.
IF moved the phone to her ear. "Hey, honey- yeah, sorry for not picking up right away, but you know me and all my phones."
The voice of Compa could be heard from the other line. "Iffy, our phone bill would be a lot thinner if you trimmed down on the phones. And maybe then, you wouldn't let the phone ring twenty times before you pick up. What about the 5pb news watch phone or your gaming phone? You even have a phone just for me to reach you, so I think we can optimize all your contacts to fewer phones."
"Hey, I thought we put to bed this phone issue. Look, t-the 5pb phone means a lot to me and you- aside from Euri who has found out about that just now- knows that. Also, games eat up a lot of battery, too. As for the last one, I have that phone to reach you because I want to make sure your calls never go unanswered, especially when my phones have a habit of going off around the same time."
"You wouldn't need to have a dedicated phone for me if you didn't have the others… wait- you said that Euri found out about it just now? Is she with you!?" Compa's shouts were so loud that it made Euri react to the shouts when she had been staring into space for the last minute.
"Umm, no…" At the worst time imaginable, Euri joyfully cried out due to her attention coming back. If it wasn't made clear to a bystander, she seemed to find herself entertained when people got hilariously nervous.
"She is! Iffy… why are you taking care of her today when you told me that you had an adventure you were going to do today?"
"Oh, uh… Nep kinda threw the baby daycare day at me at the last minute, and I couldn't say no to her."
"So, you still decided on going to the woods to conduct your search for those random apples?!"
"They're not just any random apples. My contact from the Apple Seed Growers United tipped me off about a secluded tree that grows the best apples around. If this is coming from one of them, then it must be legit."
"Iffy, I told you that I didn't need anything special for the apple pie I was going to make for Nepnep. The store-bought apples would have been fine."
IF blew some hair away from her face at her exasperated nature. This didn't relate to her wife and was mostly her way of dealing with the mood. "Sweetie, aren't you curious about their taste? It would be a triumph to knock Nep's socks off with your out of this world apple pie that would give Noire incentive to try harder."
"Is that your only reason, Iffy? There's enough room for Nepnep's two chefs in her life, especially when one of them is her wife. Besides, I have you now to test out all my new recipes with, so let's not make this a one-up thing."
IF's heart melted from the touching words from her wife. "Okay, I didn't mean to have such a fire in my words about you out doing Noire. I do actually have another reason for getting those apples. I also want this little one to try out the best pie my wife can dish out." She tickled the underside of Euri's chin that sent the CPU baby on a mad giggle spree.
"I could have still made a mean apple pie regardless, Iffy. You don't need to go off on an adventure with Nepnep's daughter in tow for my sake. Does she even know that you took her out of the nation's limits?"
"No, but she could understand, it's Noire who would be difficult at explaining the situation. Don't worry, Euri could only be in safer hands if Noire or Nep were here," said IF with a confident tone.
"I guess that's true-"
"- you guess?!" Finished IF with a raised eyebrow.
"Just get back safely and keep her safe. There might not be any dangerous wildlife this close to the safety of the city's limits, but it's good to be safe."
IF paused on the trail when her eyes landed on a far-off tree. "Okay, it won't take long… in fact, I think I see the landmark my contact told me up ahead." She canceled the call before her wife could lecture her more about her decision to run off on a moderate or possibly dangerous mission.
They both made it to a grassy clearing that contained a pond.
IF stood in awe at the lone tree that stood tall and full. The radiating rays from the sun made it stand out like a divine sign, and the red apples shined like rubies. "Looks like we struck gold, Euri."
The next few minutes were devoted to picking out enough apples that filled IF's satchel with the ruby red apples.
Euri acted very animated at the sight of the bright apples that even for someone so young, could understand their quality.
IF wiped the sweat from her forehead after picking out the last one that topped off her bag. "What say we get out of here and get that apple pie rolling?" She got no complaints from the little one.
IF turned around to head out, but her path was cut off by two ferocious Fenrir, that slowly advanced on them. "What the... these oversized mutts aren't supposed to be lurking this close to the city." The brown-haired girl pulled out her dual Qatar and took a stance. "Easy now, big guys. There's no need for violence today." She backed away slowly to the side, but the second one orbited around her slowly, cutting her escape off.
Euri could sense the danger and violent nature of the mad beasts that encouraged her to start crying.
"Euri?! It's okay, little one. These two must want the apples that I picked. There's plenty of more attached to the tree, so there's no reason we can't share." She stabbed an apple that lay on the ground and threw it at them.
One of the Fenrir smacked it away with its snout and it landed in the water. It was clear now that they weren't here for apples, which was a fear that IF avoided in the hope that she was wrong.
IF gained a stern look when both Fenrir licked their mouths with dead focused hunger at the CPU baby.
Revulsion painted the girl's face. "You guys don't want apples, do you? Go to hell if you think that you're getting anywhere near her."
They powerfully lunged at IF, the force of their paws shattering the ground in their wake.
"Euri, hold on." IF jumped back and the first Fenrir came down at the location she had been at.
The second attacked her from the side, it's mouth-watering expression clearly unrestrained.
IF charged at it with one arm held firmly across the defenseless stomach of the baby of her best friend. Her free hand, ready with her sharp blade, swung it, making a serious side slash across its body. With her momentum, she leaped into the air once she was past the Fenrir. Her objective was the trees that would provide her with room to lose them.
The earlier Fenrir snuck up on her and completely blocked her escape path. "Freakin' hell, hold on tight, pudgy face." She propelled herself back with a claw uncomfortably missing Euri's baby-harnessed covered belly by a few inches. "Grr… you bastard!" She could feel her gun to her side that itched to be drawn out, yet she allowed herself to only use her Qatar weapons. Just the thought of firing a bullet close to Euri's ears made her throat dry with anxiety. This was all made worse that, because of Euri, she would have to limit her more extreme movements like backflips twirls, and anything that could destructively leave a loud sound in its wake.
The Fenrir blocking the woods charged at her with no lesser hunger than its friend.
"Come on, come on," challenged IF under her breath. Her anger was clearly shown toward these beasts that it would be a cold day in hell when she allowed a single claw to grace the soft and delicate cheek of her best friend's daughter. She jumped and summoned a glyph behind her that gave her a platform to use. Her legs, connected with the glyph and then launched her over the head of the mad beast. Her Qatar glowed brightly, and she projected glowing blue slashes. The slashes aggressively rained down on the beast without mercy, making the pond behind the beast its gravesite; she did make sure to cover Euri's eyes to this violent act.
She dropped to the ground just in time to see the water explode with particles, indicating that one of the beasts had been slain. "You okay, Euri?"
That was a bad question as the pink-haired baby's face was stained with fresh tears. IF couldn't catch her breath when the other Fenrir from earlier came back for more. With her quick feet, she evaded one slash from its claws, then another, and so on. Her eyes widened when she spotted another mad beast coming from the woods. "Another one, really?!" She spoke too soon when a shadow loomed over her with another one, now three, actively hunting her for the baby she had on her.
The three encroached on her slowly, and she could see that she was surrounded. "Take a hint, you mutts. CPU baby isn't on the menu, but we do have a healthy serving of skewered death!" She unleashed the same attack as before on the one that loomed above her that had landed behind her.
The beast was agile enough to avoid the blue energy slashes and opened its mouth for a big portion of CPU baby. What it got instead was an enlarged flaming aura from her Qatar. The Qatar's fire acted as a fine sharpness that pierced through the mouth of the beast.
"Don't like skewered death, huh? That's okay… have some red-hot death!" She increased the power output of her heat, along with the glowing length of the aura outer blade that made short work of the beast.
The next one had been charging at her and it finally reached her just as she dispatched the current one, she had been fighting. Its headbutt came as a rude awakening to her that violently threw her a few meters away. The pain from the attack was directed more to her shoulder and back as she succeeded in shifting her body on time. She used herself getting knocked away to gain some distance from the other Fenrir, one of the originals, that had the side scar from her earlier attack.
The one she focused on came at her with extended claws. She charged at this one with a speed that got her underneath the beast and past him. It landed on the ground opposite of her with confusion until it turned around. The last thing it saw was a flurry of wild swings that moved along with her like a wild tornado. Before it knew it, it was already dead from countless slashes across its body.
Euri, during the whole ordeal, had acquired a dizzy head from the constant rapid motions from the brown-haired girl's attack. If it wasn't for the intense threat near her, she could describe this motion similar to when her mommies would twirl her around while they carried her.
Particles blinded IF's face for a second that gave the final beast a perfect opening attack. From its brethren's death, it was able to bring down its claws close to Euri.
IF's world slowed down, but not enough for her to sidestep in time. The gut reaction that resonated with her was to use her body as a shield for the baby. She made up her mind in that fraction of a second between life and possible death. Her body turned quickly, and the claws came down on her toward her back. She yelled in pain as it tore through her clothes and drew enough blood to make her lose her breath.
Euri's cries only increased as IF's world started to get blurry. Her eyes moved upward to see that the beast was going for its final strike that would do both in. IF grunted at sheer failure and frustration that it was all going to end this way. She closed her eyes with pain filling her heart of the inevitable conclusion to her life. Many dark thoughts entered her mind like Compa becoming a widow, Noire and Neptune being forced to live with a broken heart that could lead to the fall of the nation, and Euri's life ending before she even had the chance to come into her own as a CPU. Those dark thoughts drowned her into a whirlpool where nothing could escape. However, it didn't last long when her dark thoughts departed from her mind due to a radiating pink glow that came from Euri.
IF's eyes widened as Euri's whole body was enveloped in a blinding glow of pink. This pink glow rejuvenated her with positive thoughts that filled her with warm and friendly hope. With this light, she felt that nothing could hurt her. This was only the start of the effects as she also felt her back wound healing instantly.
The wild beast flinched from the light's presence that felt overpowering on the beast's presence. It was then blasted back into a tree with a violent crash. The light shook the beast to its very core and decided to cut its losses as it understood that it wasn't welcome near that light.
The light faded away and IF stood dumbfounded with her knees on the ground. She slowly looked down at the small baby that no longer glowed radiantly like a lightbulb, instead, she glowed differently with a carefree smile on her face.
"Whoa, that was share energy, wasn't it? And a lot of it for sure." She unrestrained Euri and pulled her out of the baby harness to look at her. "You not only dished out an energized blast of share energy but also healed my injury- and I'm not even a CPU. Talk about a miracle. Thank you." Euri grabbed IF's nose as a response to the brown-haired girl's praise.
IF playfully scoffed back at the baby that looked in better spirits. "Let's get out of here before more of those mutts come looking for trouble." She sighed and walked over to pick up the satchel of apples that dropped during the chaos, and that was the reason for this adventure. "I really did bite off more than I could chew. I'm going to have to tell your mommies what happened, though. Europa, you might have saved my life, but momma Noire is going to kill me."
I am going to be doing a follow up to this chapter that will be out soon. I figured it was time to start getting the story moving a bit, and while these short stories are nice, I don't find myself naturally writing them like I thought I would.