Okay, but why? Do you really think I'm good enough to justify inventing a new title? Just name me sword saint and let the other thing become word of mouth or whatever.
-Falcom
A loud roar thundered over the plains; the Ancient Dragon it originated from barely stood. Its head was half severed, it lost one arm and half of its tail entirely, and even its flaming breath had not managed to deter the enemy.
IF, meanwhile, pulled her katar out of the monster's head and feathered her fall with her Awakening; she flicked backward while her opponent collapsed into particles, coming to stand a moment later. She shook out her arms and legs while making sure there were no monsters left; it became quite clear that none of them could have hidden among the burned and molten area. Her own flames had destroyed any small enemies that were with the dragon and the creature itself had finished obliterating the nearby vegetation.
The young Maker herself was unscathed. She had found that fighting monsters was not as difficult once she learned their weakpoints, which included the neck in most cases. IF figured that with another year of practice, her control would finally advance to allow slicing through even an Ancient Dragon's thick neck with a single strike.
The fact that even a glancing blow from such an opponent would be devastating was merely an additional incentive to dodge quickly and finish the fight as fast as possible. No monster could keep going without its head, for whatever reason that was. Only some heads were more difficult to separate from their bodies, as not all monsters actually had a neck or similar weakpoint to cut through.
With no more enemies nearby, IF allowed herself a yawn. The rising sun finally gave her enough light to call off the drones that accompanied her, carrying floodlights; a clear blue sky already promised a pleasant day, cold as it would still be. She shivered when her shroud of warm air flickered due to her lack of focus. Sweaty from the fighting and walking, the winter air did not do her well in these moments; IF quickly recreated her protection. It became easier due to constant practice, at least.
They called her in at two in the morning due to unusual monster activity. IF had been out clearing the northern plains for six hours, not only of larger monsters but also small fry that got in the way.
With her course of action decided, the young woman turned toward where she thought the nearest train station was. As she made her way over, she drew her phone and speed-dialed RED before realising her mistake; now that she had done it however, she figured she might as well check on her red-haired friend.
Her call was answered within seconds, a familiar and cheerful voice greeting her. "If it's not Iffy, what's up?"
"Nothing much, just taking a walk before breakfast." Technically true. "How are you settling in?"
RED stayed quiet for a moment and IF watched a single hare flee her presence in the interim; it did surprise her that any animals were still in the area after she rampaged through it. Those must have slept through the mayhem, which made sense in winter.
"Pretty good, all in all," her fellow Maker finally told her after a few seconds. "Sorry, Chris needed me for something. Anyway, we get along splendidly. I'm missing the filled skyline, though." IF snorted at that and RED laughed as well. "It's a little difficult to get used to the differences over here, you know?"
The younger woman made an understanding noise as she hopped over a fallen tree. "No walkways, no shiny buildings, no synthesizers, no underground trains, and so on. I know, I was there before."
"Wait, really? But Lady Nep only sent you to Lowee so far." RED's curiousity was audible and IF did not mind indulging her.
"I was seventeen at the time and went to get some proper weapons made. I had Nepgear along and Uni insisted we stay at her place." Which was the gist of it, and ended in Uni's apotheosis; just the faint memory of light made her next step become wobbly, but IF caught herself and kept going. RED failed to notice anything, seeing that she was busy laughing.
"Oh, I can guess what you thought of that," she got out in-between bouts of mirth; IF huffed, but did not deny it. She had been alienated at the time. At this point however, she mostly missed Uni a little; with how little time the lastationite Candidate had, they had not actually seen each other in months. IF had talked to her on the phone once in a while, but that was not really comparable.
"Have you seen Uni yet, actually?"
"Nah, cooped up in her place practicing for something, they wouldn't tell me the details." RED did not seem to mind that at all. IF could guess, though.
A moment later however, the redhead spoke up: "Wait a second." IF stopped and waited for what was to follow. RED had paused to look at the clock and done the math. "It's eight in the morning. You don't eat breakfast before ten, and you don't call people during your morning workout. They called you for work in the middle of the night, didn't they?"
IF sighed, the sound as much of an admission as anything else. "Yeah, at two. Don't worry, I'm fine. Getting breakfast, pushing the rest of the day on Steamax, and doing whatever. I'm also almost at the train station, so I have to hang up soon."
The place had come in sight and was technically still a ways away, but IF felt they said everything they had to. RED apparently had nothing else, either: "Sure thing. Stay safe."
"You too. Tell Chris I said hi."
"Can do!"
She ended the call with that and speed-dialed Steamax next. With RED no longer in the country and K-Sha still not around, he was the only one they had at the moment; aside from IF herself, that was. Lastation had more monsters prowling near the cities at the moment either way, which was why K-Sha had been delayed.
Her call was picked up immediately. "How can I help you, IF?" Steamax' voice did not hold any animosity about having been called this early, though that might be because she still suspected he did not even need to sleep at all.
"Just calling ahead that you're on your own today. I just got done with a six hours long hike through the plains." She blasted a lone Dogoo with a jet of flame, uncaring for the wasted power. "I'm calling it a little early, but I don't feel like doing anymore of this today."
"Certainly," her colleague replied without hesitation. "That is alright with me. I take it you want to rest up and take a bath?"
"That, and breakfast and maybe a nap." IF sighed. "Do you know when K-Sha will be here?" She did not mind the additional work, but Neptune only shrugged whenever she asked her.
Steamax apparently had no idea, either. "I am afraid not. She should make an appearance soon enough, though." He paused for a moment before excusing himself. "But I should get back to focussing on my maintenance now. Have a good day, friend."
"Yeah, you too."
And with that, she pocketed her phone; the train station was still a minute or two away, leaving her enough time to stew in her own thoughts about what to get for breakfast. And whether that nap was actually a good idea, as tempting as it was.
In the end, IF decided against actually sleeping during the day. She would slice off an hour from her usual workday training regimen and spend the time relaxing, though.
Maybe, she considered, she could also get started on actually planting the seeds she bought; all her other gardening supplies were in place, which meant she could give this a shot and see where it went.
It was while on the train back to Nicos that IF realised she should not get started on something like this while tired. It would have to wait until the next day, or the weekend when she had time.
On the other hand, this gave her an unspecified amount of time to do whatever. Though she knew she would get herself something to eat first.
. .
. .
A few hours later, after having eaten, exercised, and showered, IF felt fresh and ready to actually start the day.
It took her a while to realise she had unconciously walked to work, though. By the time she noticed where she was, she already stood in the elevator in Planeptower. The young woman blinked and eyed the ascending numbers for a moment, wondering how she could be that absent-minded.
But if she was already here, she decided, she could as well go and enjoy the view. A few buttons were pressed and she left the elevator on the same level as the main observation deck; it was free for public use, allowing everyone to take a look over Nicos and far beyond the city. They built it high enough that even the largest skyscrapers could not bar the view into the distance.
As she wandered down the corridors, she considered paying Nepgear a visit as well. It had been a few days since she saw her friend. As she dodged a trio of attendants in their usual purple robes, IF decided it would be a bad idea to interrupt her at the moment. CPUs were busy, that was a fact of life. She got used to it and did not mind waiting until Nepgear was free again.
Entering the observation deck a few minutes shy of noon, on a workday no less, meant that she was basically on her own. There were a handful of other people, half of which only threw her passing glances. The other half stared for a few moments, but she ignored them and went to the front.
There she saw the group that did not pay much attention to her; three brunettes, one of which was a teenager. The other two were adorable twin girls who could be no older than eight and had the older one in their middle.
The older girl gave IF a calm nod, which she returned. There was no real emotion on her expression aside from the fond smile that blossomed whenever she eyed her siblings. Something was off about her in a way the young woman could not yet quite put.
The twins were looking out onto the city curiously, identical in their soft features but oh so different in their dressware. The short-haired girl wore a short-sleeved shirt, white with blue stitchings that matched her light blue skirt; the long-haired girl was clad in a light pink hoodie and cream-coloured shorts.
Wearing that kind of clothes in winter, IF knew, meant they had to be Loweeans. No one aside from some mages would be willing to subject themselves to that.
And as the words Lowee and Twins met in her mind, IF understood what had bothered her. She sighed and plopped onto the bench next to the short-haired girl, who shied a little further toward her sister. "Well, so much for that. What brings you here?"
The Candidates eyed her with lost looks, which turned to their sister a moment later when she snorted. "You figured that out pretty quickly." IF could feel magic asserting itself around them, though. White Heart gave her a nod. "No need to hold back, nobody can overhear now."
She sighed at that and shook her head weakly. "Come on, I'm not that dense. The only people who dress like that in winter are Loweeans." She motioned for their clothes, prompting the twins to look themselves over. "And mages, but most don't have the juice to do that for long. Anyway, so you are from Lowee, with a pair of twins no less, and they are the most adorable kids I have ever seen in my life. Perfectly cute, with a sister that is inhumanly pretty to boot. So no, that wasn't difficult at all."
Both twins blushed and averted their eyes, though IF did not. White Heart eyed her with a faint grin now. "Fair enough. I like your attitude, by the way."
The human woman waved that off with a sigh. "Look, I got called out of bed at two in the morning and went around killing monsters until eight. I'm not in the mood to be respectful when, by all accounts, Nep might have done that on purpose to get me to be right here right now for this meeting." She leaned back and took a deep breath, hoping that nobody would comment on her rambling. "It's starting to weird me out that I keep meeting CPUs. That's not normal."
Much to her and the twins' surprise, White Heart actually snorted and began to chuckle, holding a hand in front of her mouth to stifle the expression of mirth.
A few seconds passed before she managed to get a hold of herself; once she did, she offered IF an actual smile. "You should consider that you are not normal, either. Anyway," and with that her expression returned to its blank state and the amused tone vanished almost entirely from her voice. "As you guessed, I am Blanc, Lowee's White Heart. With me are Rom," where she motioned for the twin between her and IF, who nodded shily, "and Ram."
The other one grinned at IF cheerfully from behind her sister, leaning forward to see her. "Nice to meet you! Who are you?"
She snorted at that and reached over. "Maker IF, just passing by. Nice to meet you, too." Ram eagerly took her hand and shook it, the force of her grip making the human wince. "You, uh, should tone it down a little more on the force."
"Oops, sorry." The pressure lessened and IF smiled at the Candidate, who grinned back once it was clear she was not angry. Blanc eyed them with interest while Rom kept her eyes averted. Though she did sneak glances that IF saw. There was a scent of cinnamon in the air, one that all three CPUs appeared to share.
Once she was back to sitting normally, she offered the more subdued Candidate her hand as well; Rom blushed slightly, her demeanor making it difficult for IF not to actually squeal at her sight. She did, however, slowly grab for her hand. It took her several seconds, but IF waited patiently and offered her a gentle smile when her fingers closed around Rom's. "Nice to meet you as well, Rom." She mumbled something incoherent and IF snickered at her, gaining her attention. "I'll tell you a secret: your better at moderating yourself than Ram."
"Hey!" The other twin pouted at her, though Blanc snorted quietly. Rom blinked and looked at their hands curiously.
Then she offered her a shy smile. "Um, thank you. It is nice to meet you too, IF." Her words came slow in comparison to her siblings, though IF could not tell whether it was hesitation or just normal for Rom. So she ignored the matter and squeezed her hand gently before letting go.
That done, she left the girl her personal space and turned her attention back to Blanc, who extended her hand before IF could say anything. The human woman sighed and rolled her eyes, but accepted the gesture. "But really, what are you doing here? I had no idea the Candidates would travel that early."
"They don't, at least not by themselves," Blanc told her earnestly and turned her gaze back to the outside. "Nepgear and Uni had to stay at home until they were about a year old, and I am going to do the same for these two; you will need the time to learn," she added when Ram opened her mouth to protest.
With her sister reprimanded, Blanc continued explaining: "This trip is an exception and also a bit of a tradition. Instead of having everyone come over to meet the twins, we travel through each nation to introduce them to the other CPUs."
"M-Miss Noire is a little scary..." Rom spoke quietly and quickly ducked her shoulders when she realised IF had heard her. Her fear turned into confusion when the human snorted; the fact IF petted her head a moment later did not yield any of either, though.
"Yeah, she can be pretty intimidating. So you were in Lastation first?" A nod; IF noted that Blanc held Ram back and focussed on Rom for now. "How do you like Uni, then?"
"We, uh, we have not seen much of her." The timid twin pondered the question a moment longer, giving IF the time to force herself into releasing her head. "Miss Noire said she was really busy, and she looked tired. But she still played with us, so I think she is nice."
Blanc smiled over the conclusion; Ram nodded along with Rom, much more enthusiastic than her sister sounded. Though both of them became curious what IF was grinning about a moment later; the older brunette lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Then you will love Nepgear. She is the sweetest thing in this nation."
"Oh, do you have a crush on her?" Ram's eyes gleamed as she asked, though IF's "No" was so quick that it wiped the expression off her face. It was not even a lie; she may have wondered about the matter before, but the answer she could give now was solid.
"I'm not a girl for romance," was all she told them on the matter; Ram deflated.
On the other hand, Rom tilted her head slightly and turned to her big sister. "You said all humans want romance. Is that one of those generalisations you said to be careful about?"
"Exactly." Blanc gave her sister a pat on the head. "There are exceptions to almost every rule. You always have to expect things to happen differently than you think they will."
"Oh, oh!" Ram tapped Blanc's shoulder rapidly to get her attention. "What's a rule without exceptions?"
Her question prompted the older CPU to ponder for a moment. IF was waiting for the answer as well, seeing that she could not immediately think of anything without exceptions. However, she also took note of the fact Rom and Ram both had all of their attention on their sister now. No thought was spent on the human right next to them.
When Blanc responded, it was thoughtful. "You can not divide by zero. No exceptions, unless you accept errors as results. Math is like that." She looked between her sisters, then sighed; IF could hear the concern in her next words: "Be careful, though. People can not be quantified by math. You can get statistics and psychology, but there will always be outliers and special cases."
Then Blanc grinned. "Think of a person who was born with high SP and no talent with the sword. What would you say they do?"
IF's expression fell and she threw the goddess a look, but it was ignored. Rom and Ram exchanged glances as well, thus missing the adults' exchange. "I think," Ram started, only for Rom to take over, "that they would become a mage. However," "with how you phrased it, they might become a swordsman instead." This time, Ram finished Rom's statement and continued thoughtfully, ignoring the alienated IF. "But would anyone actually do that?"
Blanc smiled at them and crossed her arms. "Yes, and quite recently as well."
This time, Ram caught IF's grimace and turned to her. The subtle shift made Rom turn as well and the Maker found two curious looks directed at herself. She sighed and pointed at herself. "Here she is, and why do people keep bringing it up?"
"Because it is unusual," Rom told her earnestly; then she ducked her head and Ram took over without the slightest pause: "if you are good at magic, you become a mage. If you are good with weapons, you train with those instead."
"Don't care." She simply brushed the logic off like that, giving the twins pause. IF folded her hands as she elaborated, not willing to risk clenching them because of Rom. "That's what your big sister was trying to teach you: sure, the path you laid out makes the most sense, but humans don't care about that often. I never cared that none of my skill comes intuitively, I just work harder until it doesn't matter anymore."
"Oh." Rom pondered her words while Ram crossed her arms and kicked her legs out. "But it doesn't make any sense. Why did you make things harder for yourself?"
IF raised an eyebrow at the Candidate, grinning as she answered: "Let me ask you a question in return. Would you let Lady Green Heart adopt you?"
It had its intended effect, making the child's mouth fall open in shock; IF continued without paying any mind to it. "I don't know if the fact you have to share your Share-intake does anything. That aside, I was told that Candidates develop more if they have a peer to test themselves against. Now, the other two are too old to be suitable opponents for you, and you are less willing to compete earnestly with a sibling in the same nation. But if you or Rom were of Leanbox instead?"
She let that sink in and, upon realising Blanc was still there, carefully decided to stop. The older CPU's eyes held a tinge of red and she was grinding her teeth, obviously fighting for control over herself.
"You're right," Ram admitted with a sigh while Rom finally shook off the startled expression IF's proposal brought onto her face; the timid twin nodded as well. "Yes. Even if it were better for us, we would stay with Blanc no matter what."
IF offered them both encouraging smiles. "Exactly. Everyone does suboptimal things because they want to do them. CPUs may do that less often than humans, but it still happens. I wanted to be strong, so I went for it."
"And that," Blanc chimed in after taking a deep breath, "is the Purple Creed. None will ever work harder for what they want than those of Planeptune." She motioned for IF as she spoke, the human woman nodding in agreement. That was what Neptune's creed was about after all.
"Anyway," IF took over again. "Why do your eyes change colour?" She had not observed any comparable effect with any of the other CPUs; Blanc's display, while intimidating, also drew her curiousity.
The other brunette raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly, then followed the gesture with a shrug. "Histoire says it is a personal quirk, I do not know much more than that. I had it since my apotheosis; whenever I get sufficiently angry, they turn red." She did not appear to mind it particularly much, so IF let it be.
"I've never seen them go red before." Ram curiously leaned over her older sister and looked into her eyes, balancing on Blanc's leg as she did. "Now I wanna see!"
The older CPU softly shook her head and lifted her sibling back into her seat. "No." Her response was flat as most of what she said, leaving Ram pouting; curiously, neither twin argued the command.
"That aside, I think we have seen enough of the city now. Do you want to come along, IF?" Blanc's question confused her for a moment until she remembered that the group from Lowee was here for Neptune and Nepgear. She nodded and got up at the time the twins hopped out of their seats.
"I don't mind. Nepgear probably needs someone to drag her out of her room again, anyway." Blanc snorted, though Rom and Ram only threw them curious looks.
A short walk later, the four of them stood in the elevator that went all the way up to the CPUs home; IF left the little button-trick to Blanc and leaned against the back wall. At this point, the absurdity that was her life had left her only able to roll with it. Three more CPUs, two of them less than two months old. Neptune had to be involved in this somehow.
Yet, this once, it had not been Neptune's plan. IF could not know, but this one instance had been mere chance.
As the elevator began moving, Rom took a hold of Blanc's hand and looked up at her. Ram quickly followed her sister's example and the sight had IF suppress a sigh. Seeing these two almost made her consider having a child of her own, ten years or so down the line.
When their ascension ended, Blanc stepped forward without hesitation; Rom held back for a single moment but deemed staying by her sister's side more important than being out of another CPU's sight; Ram cheerfully strode forward, let go, and darted into the room ahead of the other two. She was immediately caught by a purple blur that dashed out from next to the doorframe, squeaking in surprised as she was carried into the room.
Neptune giggled, twirling around a few times and holding her up with a bright smile. "Now look what I found! One of the four cutest girls I've ever seen!" Ram blinked at her, a faint blush creeping onto her cheek; the purplette ignored it while IF and Blanc sighed. "Now, which one are you? Rom or Ram?"
"I'm Ram." And as she spoke, the Candidate's cheer returned; she quickly threw her arms around Neptune, who hugged her back and stroked her hair. "And you're Neptune."
"Yep, I'm Nep alright!" She cuddled Ram for another moment, though her eyes already wandered over the remaining visitors; IF and Blanc both rolled their eyes, though Rom hid behind her sister. Seeing this, Neptune's smile became a bit more tender. The purplette quickly twirled Ram in her hands and stalked forward; the Candidate squealed in surprised joy, but became curious once she realised what was happening.
While hiding herself behind Ram, Neptune slowly approached Blanc and Rom; the older Loweean obviously suppressed another sigh, though IF could see no hostility in her posture at all. Then again, she reasoned, this woman had to live with Neptune for more than five centuries. She ought to be used to her antics.
Rom, while initially trying to stay behind Blanc, soon adopted an expression similar to her twin; Ram was still held up in the air and carried toward her. Naturally, Rom was not fooled by the maneuver, though she could not think of any reason for it and slowly inched out of her hiding place to watch what was going to happen.
Once Neptune stood right next to Blanc, holding Ram almost to Rom's face, she poked out her head from behind the Candidate in her arms. "Hi!" Rom blinked at her dumbfoundedly, but then began to giggle. Ram was released and Neptune offered Rom a cheerful smile, which was returned this time. "See, much better. Don't frown like Blanc all the time, you're much cuter like this."
Without even looking, the planeptunian CPU ducked her head away to avoid the hand aiming to slap her; then she stuck her tongue out at Blanc and darted through the room at speed IF could not follow. One moment she stood next to them, the next she was behind the table; Rom and Ram both giggled, Blanc grumbled.
"Anyway, I baked a cake for everyone!" From her position behind the table, looking at Neptune made it impossible not to also see the cake; IF saw a lot of cream and strawberries, and the smell made her mouth water a little. Then Neptune pulled her out of her appreciation: "Isa, be a dear and fetch Nepgear."
The human woman nodded slowly and eyed her ruler. "Sure. Is she in her workshop?" Neptune shook her head and pointed toward the sisters' shared room. The door of which was five metres from where either of them stood. "Really?"
"Yep. Delegating is the fun part of being in charge." Neptune grinned and raised a knife. "I'll cut the cake in the meantime."
IF was not sure what to think of the fact that her sigh prompted another bout of giggles from Ram. She strolled over to the door and entered with a single knock, snapping on the light as she went.
Nepgear was not at her desk, though; a moment of looking around revealed her to be napping, blanket drawn over her head and perfectly still. IF rolled her eyes and stepped to her bedside, then poked the Candidate's side. A faint giggle made it clear her friend was awake.
"Come on, get up. Blanc and the twins are here." She pulled the blanket away as she spoke, though Nepgear shot up fast enough that it did not matter in the first place.
"They are? Is it that late already?!" The purplette frantically hopped out of bed, tearing her blanket in the process without noticing; IF eyed the slightly torn cloth and just dropped it on the lower bunk with a sigh.
"Goodness, that means today is the ninth already. Uni's coming today, too! I have to-" Her pacing was interrupted when IF punched her in the face. The brunette had to shield her hand with a quick burst of Awakening lest the impact break it, but Nepgear was merely pushed back two steps. She had braced herself even against the surprise attack.
"Calm down," IF advised her friend while shaking out the hand; Nepgear took a deep breath and felt her nose, then pushed it the slightest bit to the right and back in place. She would not even bruise from such a weak impact, IF knew. "Calm down, get out of here and enjoy the cake Nep made. You can worry about beating Uni into the ground later."
Sometimes, she wondered at what point she transitioned into not being phased by this; she just punched someone in the face to get the equivalent of a gentle bop on the head in terms of impact. At least it worked, seeing that Nepgear's usual smile returned; the purplette nodded and strolled out of the room.
IF followed her, but stopped right out of the door; she cast a glance aside to find the twins right there, in the prime position of children who were just eavesdropping. Nepgear stood a few steps ahead and looked around for where the other Candidates may be.
Meanwhile, Neptune and Blanc were seated with a cup of tea and a piece of cake in front of each; their attention obviously lay on them, though.
Nepgear finally turned and found the twins where IF already saw them; by the time she did, Ram already stood in front of her curiously. Rom carefully inched forward while her younger sister examined their fellow Candidate and was examined in turn.
"Hm. You're bigger than miss Neptune." Ram tilted her head after making that statement; Blanc snorted in the background, but neither of them paid her any mind.
Nepgear merely smiled, though. "So I am. I am Nepgear, Planeptune's Purple Sister. And I am so happy to meet you both." She almost whispered the last part, voice laden with both happiness and adoration. Ram grinned and Rom blushed, but both squeaked when she swept them into a hug. "It's such a wonderful thing you were born!"
All the other adults smiled at the sight; IF leaned against the wall and waited until her friend let the twins down. Neptune grinned at Blanc, who rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
"Hm." Once the blushing girls were back on the ground, Nepgear looked between them with a finger on her lip. Her gaze went back and forth a few times, then she pointed at Ram. "Are you Ram then?" A nod, and she pointed to Rom. "So you are Rom?" Another nod, which prompted the purplette to beam. "I hope we can get along. Now there are four of us Candidates, too."
Slowly, Rom also began to smile and took Nepgear's hand; Ram tilted her head thoughtfully, though. Then she beamed back. "I like Uni better, but you're great too!"
IF coughed, having attempted to stop herself from snorting. Nepgear blinked and began to giggle before petting the younger girl's head. "It's fine, I like Rom more than you, too." She had a playful note to it, though Ram pouted, which only made her giggle again. "Hehehe, but Uni is pretty great."
"You're biased, though," IF quipped from the side; her comment drew the attention from all three Candidates. Nepgear just shrugged, not seeing any reason to deny what they both knew was true. Upon being reminded of her presence however, Ram ducked below the purplette's arm and darted over.
When she came to stand in front of IF, the human got a bad feeling. "You just hit Nepgear really hard, and you're really strong, right?" The bad feeling intensified, and not because Neptune threw her a curious glance.
"Yes? I kind of have to be as a Maker?"
"Show me! Hit me!"
Now she knew where the bad feeling had come from. IF took a deep breath and cast a glance to Blanc; Rom had blanched and Nepgear's brow was creased, but the loweean ruler sat without motion.
When she saw the reaction to her demand, Ram puffed up her cheeks and pushed her fists into her hips. "Don't treat me like a kid! I'm tough like Blanc!" She may even have a point, being the heir of Lowee; White Heart was famous for her sturdy nature.
IF still held her gaze doubtfully; the older brunette sighed. "You are barely a month old, Ram. You're a child, and I won't ever be willing to hurt a child, no matter what you say." The Candidate's mouth closed, her retort unsaid. IF continued with audible resignation. "But I really don't need you to pester me about it, and I know you will. Still, you better think about this a little longer: I can hit adult CPUs so they at least feel it, and I just got a lesson about not holding back against any of you. Are you sure?"
Ram's expression was now interlaced with insecurity for a few moments. Her arms lowered back down and she actually mulled it over. Rom fearfully squeezed Nepgear's hand, both Candidates staying back; Blanc and Neptune watched the whole thing without any visible signs of their thoughts.
Then Ram looked up at her with determination; in this moment, IF learned once more what divine pride meant. "Don't worry, I'll be fine! Go on, one punch won't hurt me!" Ram even bounced up and down a little.
IF sighed again, offered every other person in the room a pained look, and pulled up her Awakening; feeling the force of her presence, Ram became a little concerned once again. Her heart beat heavily, and IF actually needed two seconds to shed any notion of hesitation; one hand balled into a fist and she took a step aside.
Then she lashed out and hammered her fist into Ram's face; some force made it even through the defensive properties of her aura, sending a weak spike of pain through IF's fist, and the Candidate went flying.
Due to IF's adjusted position, Ram was propelled right into Nepgear's arms; her impact still threw the purplette onto her back while IF's Awakening receded. The human woman sighed and did her best to ignore Ram's pained whimper.
The young CPU's head lolled back and forth, her nose obviously broken. She had her eyes closed and tried to hold back tears; a small trickle of blood rolled down to her mouth, hissing and smoking the moment it came in contact with the surrounding air. IF averted her gaze from the sight.
Rom leaned over her sister in concern, hands feeling her nose. "Do not worry, Ram. You are just bleeding a little, and I need to..." A crunch. "...reset your nose." And IF had thought she could not feel worse about what she just did. Blanc did not seem ready to murder her, though; if anything, the Loweean appeared sympathetic and a little bit impressed. Then again, her eyes were almost gleaming crimson at the moment. Neptune had a hand on her shoulder just in case, making IF consider to bolt.
Nepgear slowly propped herself up, making sure to jolt Ram as little as possible while Rom fussed over her; the older Candidate produced a handkerchief to lend her new friend, who accepted it with a smile and began to clean off the corrosive blood. Seeing that the cloth was made of Share Energy, it could safely carry the bloodstains and dissolve with them once its task was done.
Once she was clean, Ram sighed and quickly gleamed green for a few moments; Nepgear's outstretched hand fell away and she quickly let go when the younger girl hopped out of her lap.
The moment she was on her feet however, Ram darted back to IF with a wide grin. "That was awesome! I didn't know humans can get that strong! How did you do it? Tell me, tell me!" IF herself stood there and let her hop up and down in front of her, still busy trying to comprehend what just happened.
She had hit a child, hard enough to injure her. And instead of being mad or scared or whatever else, she came running back and apparently liked her more for it. Seeing that Rom followed her with a curious look, that apparently went for the other twin as well.
IF slowly reached out and put a hand on Ram's head, gently pushing the girl back to the ground. "Some other time, okay? I'm still... dealing with the whiplash."
"Huh?" The excitable girl tilted her head, unsure what IF was talking about. "What whiplash?" IF just sighed and ruffled her hair, then strolled over to the table and confiscated Neptune's second slice of cake before the purplette could dig in. Her protesting whine went ignored, though Blanc smirked at the sight, her eyes slowly adopting a normal colour again.
Nepgear quickly took the twins by their hands and led them over as well. "I can explain that to you in a little bit, if you want. Let's have that cake first, though."
The "'Kay!" was perfectly in synch and soon everyone was gathered around the table. Rom and Ram obviously enjoyed the treat, and IF had to admit that she rarely had a better cake.
"Anyway," Neptune piped up after half a minute of playful pouting. She turned to Blanc, who did not bother meeting her gaze. "How is that novel of yours coming along?"
"So so," the more petite CPU told her with a little shrug. "I am still busy building the world."
Now Neptune tilted her head and poked Blanc's side. "But you said that last year already. And the year before that, and, uh, has it been ten years already?" She scratched the back of her head while IF and the Candidates listened curiously.
Blanc did not react aside from a roll of her eyes. "It has been eight years, and I should be almost done. Once I actually thought about it, there was a lot more to be worked out than I initially thought. Just try to imagine how the world would look like without monsters or the Deity of Sin." Neptune nodded in understanding, though the concept intrigued IF.
In the end, she asked: "What are you writing?"
Blanc glanced her way and sipped from a cup of tea before answering. She motioned for the outside world with one hand. "I figured I would do something else for once, so I went into darker territories of Alternate Fantasy novels; imagine a world without monsters, without Her, without us CPUs. Humans rule humans, their nature kept in check by no one but themselves. No large nations, everything is fractured into small lands and settled, but people are not happy because those in power are as greedy and corrupt as anyone else. Large enterprises hold sway on the government due to their financial power."
IF shivered at the mere idea of it all. That sounded like a horror vision right there, and she could not even imagine living in such a world. "You're right, that's pretty dark."
"Don't worry," Neptune chirped immediately, "you're never getting to read it anyway 'cause Blanc never publishes her stuff." She leaned away from the swipe for her head and grinned at her fellow CPU. "Come now, don't be shy and admit you're too much of a perfectionist to let anyone see your stuff."
As much as Blanc frowned, she ultimately lowered her head in agreement. "I hate that I can not deny it," she muttered under her breath; IF felt with her on that end, though she did not know this was an actual problem for writers.
"I wanna read it anyway!" Ram cheered before giving her older sister puppy dog eyes. "Please?" IF melted even without those being directed at her, doubly so when Rom joined her twin. She only barely managed not to squeal and going from how Nepgear just bit off half of her fork, her friend appeared to feel similarly on that matter.
Blanc eyed her sisters with a calm expression, though everyone could see her weakly shaking shoulders. "We will see," she allowed in the end; then she took a deep breath and followed it up with another sip from her tea. "If you promise not to tell anyone."
""'Kay!""
IF's chuckle at the eager response was interrupted by a door slamming open. The only door in this place she had never used, as it led to the roof. Neptune had been quite strict on that matter, and IF never tried to risk standing a kilometre above ground with no railings.
Now it slammed open and a black-haired woman in her mid-twenties stumbled inside, falling to the ground a moment later; she laughed happily and spread all her limbs as she rolled around on the floor. "Ground, safe ground, finally," the new arrival muttered while everyone else eyed her with lost expressions. She wore a crimson sweater with little black cogwheels stitched on it, as well as a pair of dark jeans.
Moments later, two other people arrived through the same door; these two, everyone in attendance knew perfectly well.
"Come now, stop being such a whimp." Uni cheerfully crouched next to the downed woman and poked her head a few times. "We even went slow for you." Meanwhile, Noire offered those already present a nod in greeting; Blanc nodded back, Neptune darted over the table to hug her, and everyone else paid more attention to whatever was going on near floor-level.
"Mach two is not slow you bitch!" the downed human gurgled before rolling around and trying to shake off the insistent poking. Uni just giggled, which prompted her victim to wave a hand in her face. "I'll emigrate for real, you know!"
IF's gaze went from the spectacle to Noire. "You brought us K-Sha, I guess?" She could not be sure because the woman's face was still obscured, but that made the most sense to her.
Noire's lips curled into a smile and she nodded, thoughtlessly pushing back one of her twintails as she motioned for her sister and Maker. "Quite. Uni insisted on delivering her today, and it might cost me one of my champions."
"Good thing we have half a year to get RED to stay," her Candidate added cheerfully while K-Sha groaned.
"S-Someone," the downed Maker brought out as she rolled on her back. "A little help? Please?"
Uni already moved to leave her alone, but IF decided that if everyone else had gone mad, she might as well play along. So she pushed back her chair with a dramatic sigh. "Sure, give me a moment, future colleague." Eyes went to her, including K-Sha's, while she looked between Ram and Nepgear. Then she picked up the loweean CPU and stepped around the table. "Now, Ram? Be a dear and say hello to Uni."
A surge of her Awakening and then she threw the Candidate, who whooped gleefully before impacting Uni's chest face first. The ballistic girl did not manage to bowl the Lastationite over though, seeing that she was caught in mid-air. Ram grinned at her. "Hey, Uni!"
"Hello to you too, Ram." Uni had one eye on IF, who had quickly moved to help K-Sha up and was currently leading her over to the couch; she did not stop them, though. "I see you met IF."
"Yup." The Candidates stared at each other from up close for a second, then Uni dropped Ram; the younger girl righted herself before her feet touched the ground.
"Thanks," K-Sha told her fellow Maker once she was lowered onto a soft spot to rest. "You're a lifesaver. Those women are crazy." IF squeezed her shoulder in sympathy and pushed the older woman to lie down.
"That they are, the whole lot of them." Not a single CPU even appeared to be surprised by her agreement; most perked up when IF continued with a grin: "Not Rom, though. Maybe there is still hope for the next generation to have someone reasonable."
"I'll drink to that." K-Sha chuckled, though the sound quickly transitioned into a groan. "Urgh, but later." IF patted her back again and got up to leave her be.
Of the seven CPUs present, only Uni was grinning; Neptune and Ram were pouting at IF for the last comment, Nepgear appeared busy with not-obviously marveling at the sight of a happy Uni, Blanc and Rom eyed each other, and Noire did not seem to pay attention as she tasted the cake.
At least now she knew there would be no idle time for the day.