Morality is transient, as are all other things. Emotions, values, lives, even the gods themselves. In fact, even I will fade in time, once my task is done. The Graveyard, likewise, shall perish in the end. Even you know, it, Tome. Your mother's, Prisme's dream of throwing off the shackles of mortality is just that, a dream. A dream that no amount of divine light will ever turn into reality.
-A§"o!§e
IF shivered and buried her face in her coat; the cold of Winter had become worse recently as the new year neared. This was not helped by the fact the sun was soon to set, evening arriving with an early dark indicative of the near winter solstice
She had been first to arrive at the meeting place, right in front of Planeptower. This mostly just meant she was early as usual; Neptune and Nepgear left the Basilicom to join her five minutes later.
"Hey there, Iffy!" The older purplette cheered before jumping into IF's arms; Nepgear just raised her hand in greeting while IF indulged her sister.
That was, until another projectile hit IF in the back and toppled them all over; Neptune faked a strangled noise as more than three hundred pounds of women fell on top of her, though she also giggled. Passersby did not pay them much attention, considering that IF wore a hat and a heavier coat than normal; neither her nor RED were recognised, the latter just having bowled her over.
"Hey, Iffy! How are you doing?"
"...could be better, I'm currently buried under some clingy woman." Her dry retort prompted a laugh, then RED bent up and pulled her to her feet in the process; she was without her dragon this day, bundled up much like the rest of them. It did not prevent her from moving with a grace IF had to admire.
"Hey Lou," Neptune greeted the redhead with an easy smile before hugging her as well. "Good that you made it."
"Not like I'm going to miss this," the human woman answered with a grin of her own. IF considered asking for her actual name after the purplette brought it up, but decided not to do it. That was something they could discuss at another time.
Technically, nothing stopped the Makers from exchanging their own names, but she never felt the need to know aside from when one offered hers on her own; Maker names were public personas and titles, so keeping their actual name out of the public eye helped retired Makers fade into public life without being recognised.
They were also much more memorable, seeing that most Makers chose extravagant names; MarvelousAQL and CyberConnect2 were good examples of that matter.
IF was taken out of her musings when she saw the last two members of their little group step down from the walkways. Compa waved cheerfully and they quickly wandered over to them; Hubert eyed everyone else as they closed. "Is everyone here already?"
"And we even made sure we're on time," Compa noted with a chuckle that Neptune and RED returned. Nepgear smiled as well, though IF just shrugged. She was always early and used to the joke by now.
"Yup, but nobody wasn't here for long," RED told them before shifting her coat's hood. "Nice to see you two again!" Compa's mouth opened slightly upon seeing just who they were talking to while Hubert blinked at the redhead; they both bowed their heads immediately after, but she shushed them with a motion before they could speak. "I'm Louise today."
There she went and answered IF's previous question; she knew one or two Louise's of her own, as this was not an uncommon name, though those she met so far were still little girls.
However, seeing that RED had set the tone for this outing, she felt she should follow up to make it clear there was no rank dividing them this evening. "And I am Isabelle." Granted, there was rarely such a rank to the Makers, though most others seemed to believe in the existence of such a divide.
Compa and Hubert nodded while the CPUs beamed. RED, however, rounded on her with surprise quickly replaced by cheer, punching her fist skyward. "Just so, Isa! Let's have fun tonight." Only Neptune imitated the gesture, cheerfully pulling up her sister's hand as well.
IF could not help it, though."Does Chris know what you get up to with other women on your nights?" The stinkeye that brought her was well-deserved, but her comment also made the CPUs snicker at the side. Compa and Hubert were merely totally confused, so the brunette motioned for her colleague. "Her girlfriend as of a few months ago."
"Oh," they both echoed each other; now they understood the quip, though neither seemed to think it was funny. Compa blushed a little, about as much as RED probably had.
For all her boisterousness and cheer, the older Maker was surprisingly timid once it actually came to herself. At least once she became serious about her relationship. Which reminded her of the thing they spoke about a week ago. As they got going under IF's and RED's lead, the younger woman caught her friend's gaze. "Did you ask Nep about the transfer?" She kept her voice low, though the CPUs could probably hear her anyway. No matter.
With the way RED's entire face lit up, she already knew the answer before it was spoken. "Yeah, she talked to Lady Noire about it. K-Sha volunteered, so you're getting her for six months starting next year." She had obvious trouble to hold back her cheer, the beaming smile distorted by the streetlights.
IF was happy for her, too. Though also a little sad that she would not see RED for half a year. "Glad to hear it. You could have said that earlier, though." If she left that soon, this meant they likely would not see each other many more times. "At least we have a good occasion to see you off."
RED giggled and gave her a thumbs up.
Silence fell over the two of them afterward, their whole group letting the forcefield carry them toward their destination. They went northward, where Dreamcast Stadium loomed on the horizon. Their particular walkway did not lead directly to the place, though. It was still a few minutes until they had to switch to another that would carry them to their destination, so IF turned to look at her group.
Hubert was talking to Nepgear about something medicine-related while Neptune had lied down and played with her sister's shoes. Ignoring that, IF turned her gaze to Compa, whose eyes were wistfully directed at the stadium. When she noticed the brunette's gaze, she shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, I just would have loved to go."
IF took two steps back to clap her friend's shoulder without a word.
A moment later, a new streetlight illuminated her grin from below as she held Compa's gaze. The other woman tilted her head at the sight of her, taking until they were in relative darkness again before realising what was going on. "I-Isa, no way..."
IF's grin merely grew and she kept quiet until it was time to switch tracks, the whole group now going directly toward the stadium; there were more people around them now, a throng of concertgoers of which most were chatting idly. Compa's gaze wandered from the building up ahead to IF, then she hugged her friend tightly. The brunette chuckled and patted her back.
She also had to admit that Compa had put on quite a bit of muscle; she did not seem to hold back and was squeezing harder than she could before. "Careful, you're squishing me."
"Oh, oops. Hehehe..." She giggled and weakened her grip, then let go a few seconds later.
Meanwhile, Hubert apparently got the news from RED; he had refrained from hugging anyone, but appeared to hold himself back only barely. The CPUs were standing aside and grinning, though IF left them to it for now. She took her place back at the head of their group and exchanged a nod with her fellow Maker while the couple behind them began to chatter excitedly.
Minutes passed like this and eventually, moonlight fell on them, they touched down in the square before Dreamcast Stadium. Neither Maker was recognised amidst the mass of people loitering around there, either; luck was on their side for this endeavor, much to IF's relief.
The young woman turned to her friends and straightened up, grinning cheerfully. "Now then, I hope you are all ready because we're going to a concert!"
RED and Neptune cheered loudly, and some of the people around them actually joined in. Some waved 5pb.-flags and a wave of cheers quickly rolled over the whole square. IF fidgeted a little over the impact she had made unintentionally, but her friends just laughed about and moved on.
The building ahead of them was not as towering as normal planeptunian skyscrapers, but it stood many times as wide as any of them. Oval in form, it hosted sports events of all kinds and many other events throughout every year; polished metal made up most of the stadium's exterior, gleaming in the floodlights. Some blues and purples were mixed in, though they could not see those at night.
What they could see were the lights in the same colour, dozens of them lighting up the top of the structure; a giant 5pb.-banner hung above the front entrance, illuminated by stagelights that blazed as bright as the departed sun.
IF knew this place could hold four hundred thousand people. The tickets for the concert had been sold out in six hours anyway.
It took them a few minutes to get inside, but the lines thankfully moved quite fast. The concert would start in about an hour, giving them enough time to find their seats; while they were doing that however, IF took note of the three screens held up far above the central field by a metal structure. The stadium had no actual roof, but the lights inside made it basically impossible to see the stars above.
These screens depicted the flags of all four nations. Planeptune's cogwheel, Lastation's hammer and anvil, Lowee's bear, and the leanboxian flower.
Compa's question interrupted IF's observations: "How did you get those tickets, Isa?" Her friend apparently found the correct row, into which the six of them now filed one after the other.
IF shrugged and made for a non-answer, but RED chimed in with a snicker: "Hehe, just need to know the right person to ask." Then the older woman sashayed away, leaving her colleague with a bright-eyed Compa. IF did not need to see her face to know she was grinning.
"I know what you are thinking," she told her friend. "And you are right. So let's not talk about it, I didn't have much time to talk to her anyway." Which, coincidentally, meant she did not have to somehow find a way not to mention how 5pb. was off-stage.
They found their seats not much later, merely a few tiers above the lowest level. Their view of the screens above and the center stage below was almost perfect and the women all sunk into the cushioned seats to wait for the concert; they were early, but IF preferred that over being late.
Compa sat down to her right, growing more giddy with every passing minute; Hubert sat to his girlfriend's other side and held her hand, which did not seem to have much effect at all. Then again, he was about as excited as her.
On IF's other side was Neptune, who avidly discussed the supremacy of purple hair with RED while Nepgear tapped around on her N-Gear again.
By herself, IF wondered about 5pb. and what to make of her. She was not good with shy people, or most people in general; yet things had not gone horribly thanks to RED.
She felt somewhat sad about the fact she had been put on break; heading into the field with the Leanboxian would have been an experience for her, and she would have left Nicos by the time IF was to get back to work.
It was a missed opportunity without doubt, but she felt they would meet again either way; Makers often went elsewhere to help out and worked together with colleagues from other nations.
Shaking off the thought, IF pulled a folded weapons magazine out of her pocket; it was not too interesting, but she had little else to do, and the other thing that had struck her fancy was not something she would bring out anywhere near her friends.
Life could be weird, she felt; for her to have gotten interested in gardening of all things. Something about raising plants interested her; she could not say why for sure, but IF wanted to give it a try. As usual, this meant doing research first. Research she would do far away from prying eyes.
Some time passed as she attempted to focus on her magazine and failed because her mind went back to other plans. Compa and Hubert were whispering with each other, so they mostly left her be; Neptune was another matter, though. The purplette quickly included IF in her chat with RED.
Their conversation did not hold for long, either.
Soon enough, floodlights flickered to life and cast bright light onto the empty stage from all directions. Noise around the stadium died down in an instant, everyone waiting for the idol. The silence that a crowd as large as this one could hold was almost uncanny.
Yet nothing happened. 5pb. did not appear out of nowhere within moments as she had done in the past.
IF knew that grand entrances were a part of the show, though she rarely repeated the same entrance; which meant that this had to be something new. Looking around, she found other people doing the same and wondered where her fellow Maker may be. Then she frowned and looked up, finding the woman of the hour; 5pb. stood atop the structure holding the screens, far up high and barely visible in front of the dark sky.
Other people called out and fingers were pointed, the whole stadium soon becoming aware of her position; the idol remained in place for a long minute, waiting until everyone saw her. Only then did she raise a hand, letting a rain of multicoloured sparks shoot into the sky from her palm. The crowd cheered loudly, even Compa joined in.
In this moment, IF felt happy about the fact she forgot to take out her ear protection. The noise level was deafening.
She herself did not cheer, more curious about where this would go; she could guess what the blunette was planning, or at least narrow it down. Which led to neither her, nor RED, nor the CPUs being surprised when 5pb. leapt off her position and plummeted toward the ground, a few final sparks following her descent.
There were some alarmed shouts in the sudden silence, but IF felt no worry. She could make that kind of fall at this point and the woman up above held seniority in regard to being a Maker.
Just as expected, 5pb. slowed her fall before even reaching halfway down and by the time her feet touched the ground, her magic had made the descent about as fast as if she had taken the stairs at a leisurely pace. It was much more elegant than IF's method, who shrouded herself in her Awakening to absorb the fall; she also left craters whenever she did that, so it would have been unusable in an inhabited area.
Once again, cheering broke out and 5pb. waved at the stadium as a whole. "Good evening, Nicos!" Her voice covered the entire room, carried by wind magic. "Are you ready?!" The moment she asked, the screens up above sprung to life and displayed her as well.
The roar that answered appeared to delight the blunette; IF could see her smile, much more freely than what she saw in private before.
When the audience began to quiet down, 5pb. took the guitar off her back; it was a sleek instrument, held in a dark blue much like the woman's hair. She played a few gentle tones that rolled over the entire stadium, held in a perfect volume by her prodigious use of wind magic; IF knew that was what happened, but she could not feel anything of it. No waste, nothing.
It was as if the idol played for every single listener personally.
Once everyone had fallen quiet under the music, 5pb. began to play in earnest.
. .
. .
IF was in a trance even after the concert ended; she always liked the music, but no record could compare to a live performance. Not only were 5pb.'s pieces delivered marvelously, they also sounded wonderful and horrifying and calm and lovely, all depending on the mood she was going for with a song.
IF could tell that 5pb. put as much work into her craft as she had put into hers. The idol's music had reminded her of the countless hours of practice and preparation; it was invigorating.
No one spoke as they left; some people quietly talked about the concert, but most others also kept their silence. Compa was leaning against Hubert, both of them serene, while Neptune and Nepgear wore faint smiles as they wandered after everyone.
The lull faded slowly, leaving all of them with many feelings and few words that needed to be spoken. IF sighed and decided that this was an evening well spent. She would have liked to compliment 5pb. personally, but the woman would probably prefer some solitude for the time being.
This thought produced an idea; IF nudged RED's side with her elbow. "You have her number, right?" The other woman stared at her blankly for a few seconds until she understood who was meant. When she nodded, IF continued: "Do you mind passing it to me?"
RED actually mulled that over for a full minute; they slowly made their way out of the stadium in that time, the crowd dispersing toward the different means of transportation. In the end, the redhead sighed and motioned for IF to hand over her cellphone. "Okay. You're reasonable and I trust you with this. Even among coworkers, she doesn't really like people spreading her contact information."
The younger woman nodded quietly and held out the device. "Yeah, I get that. Don't worry." RED nodded and quickly thumped in 5pb.'s phone number, then handed it back. "Thanks."
"It's no problem... Isa." Her name was spoken with a mischievous note, though IF simply ignored it.
. .
. .
That night, after bidding everyone farewell and returning home, she was brooding over what to say. Messages like this were quite impersonal, but IF decided that this would be easier on 5pb.; not to mention that she could actually get her thoughts in order first.
The music still repeated itself in her mind even after she changed into her pyjamas and wrapped herself in a blanket. Her tea was half empty, the heater making her living room quite cozy despite the cold outside.
She decided to start off with an apology about having gotten the number from RED instead of 5pb. herself. That felt at least like a start and was decidedly easier than what followed.
IF wrote and deleted parts of the message, slowly making her way through it and managing to convey the many feelings the concert had given her; it had been a thing of beauty, the likes of which only two of her experiences in life surpassed. The thought of it had memories of silver light return; nothing she would ever see would manage to surpass the sight of a CPU's apotheosis.
She put this feeling into words as well, somehow, and ended with an apology about bothering her so late at night.
Then she pressed send and leaned back against the couch.
IF was happy with herself and downed the remainder of her lukewarm tea, then considered sleep. She had more free time these days, which meant that she could afford staying up a little later; with all the excitement, she did not feel particularly tired, either.
Once her decision was made and she rearranged her blanket however, the young woman's thoughts went to the night; she could afford to stay up another hour or two.
With that decided, she turned on the TV and watched the news for a while; they had a somewhat extended report about old Tari, the predecessor of Gamindustri's current nations. From what she gathered, new ruins had been found in the mountain range and the first teams set out to look into them already.
Going by the footage, it was only a small part of a destroyed city; enough to be covered on a casual sweep within a few days, though apparently protected from the snowfalls. Yet people appeared in high spirits about the find, as it had been decades since the last piece of tarian remains had been found.
She was wholly unprepared for her phone to chime right into the report, alerting her to a new message. IF flinched and quickly made for the device she had put on her table; the ID read 5pb., much to her surprise.
Attention fading from the TV, the young Maker's eyes took in her colleague's response quickly; about being happy to have made her night, apologeptic for being unable to talk to her properly both in person and on the phone, though the latter was because she had to rest her voice after a concert. Apparently, 5pb. had a much easier time talking to people when they were not looking at her.
It was the last part that stumped IF a little; the Leanboxian asked whether she would like to meet up the next day and go out into town.
As she still pondered the request, another message came in; also from 5pb., and apologising for being so sudden. It also offered the explanation that she heard from Tekken how IF was easy to be around, and that the idol did want to broaden her circle of friends.
It made IF smile and quickly compose a message of her own, agreeing to have an outing and for whether 5pb. had any preferences on where to go. Also a warning that she was not a person for outings because she was boring.
Elsewhere in the city, an exhausted idol could not help but smile over reading her text.
They kept up their conversation for a while, and both went to bed decidedly more happy for the time they spent on their phones.