this chapter might have been a bit more scatter-brained than i had initially thought
Way out of earshot of C-sha's finale, Blanc doesn't stop running, no matter how many times she trips. She isn't even heading back to the Basilicom; she picked any direction opposite to the Child Whale, which leaves her somewhere in the middle of a forest, where the dense leafless trees look identical and everything not on the ground is brown or black.
By the time she slowly realizes that her decision to flee so quickly might be a little bit irrational, she doesn't spot the steep cliff in front of her, not that anyone in the middle of the night can. When her foot doesn't touch solid ground, her stomach sinks to the lowest it can before the rest of her body follows and she tumbles down like a brittle log. She doesn't even have a chance to scream in surprise or pain; each bounce off the cliff is like a punch to her lungs. Surrounded in complete darkness, the amnesiac truly feels like she is stuck in an endless and senseless torment.
Of course, it does eventually end, sending Blanc rolling on the forest ground until finally coming to a stop after colliding with a thick tree.
"..." She wonders if she's still alive. Her head is spinning so fast from all of the rolling that she can't decipher which direction is up. Not only does she see nothing but black, but she hears nothing, not even the howling of the winter wind. The rest of her body doesn't want to move even an inch; all of the soreness, multiplied by the cold forest floor and air, binds her to stay in that prone state.
As she's stuck there, of course she starts to regret how cowardly she acted and how it's going to cost her her life. Is this really what it means to be a goddess? Abandoning her friend who's been trying her hardest to help her, even when she's putting herself in danger? Her friends and family have reminded her many times that protecting her people is a duty of a CPU, but how can she do that if she runs away the moment something touches her?
"He...help...anybody…" The only parts of her she can move are her eyes, useless right now other than to look at the ground and let tears fall on and dissipate in the snow, and her mouth, though she feels it's already becoming numb when she spent its one use to call out to no one in particular.
From her weak gaze, she sees a very faint purple light oscillating in front of her vision in what should be ground. Not left without a choice, Blanc can only watch it move. Not even closing her eyes makes it go away.
"Man, you're so damn needy. So hard to work with, too!"
Despite being the only sound she hears in this otherwise quiet forest, this surreal, incorporeal, and echoing voice accompanying the light can't elicit a strong reaction from Blanc. Are her memories coming back? How convenient of them to do so only now, right when she feels like she's not making it out of this alive. All she can do is acquiesce this criticism that's apparently from her past. After all, it's definitely not wrong when considering her current situation.
"It's gonna be a disaster when she becomes a CPU. Hopefully that doesn't happen any time soon, like maybe not within one or two Shift Periods, so that I at least have more time to fix her."
That feels right to Blanc. And now, her role as the leader of Lowee is going to be abruptly taken away from her. She hopes that whoever takes her role will be much more prepared than her…
(-)
As she quietly expects the light to chastise her more, a different sound much more grounded in reality breaks her stupor. Instead of a ghostly voice, Blanc hears a nearly undetectable crunching sound. With all of the strength she can muster, she turns her head, bracing the pain that comes from rubbing skin against the frigid snow, and finds that the delirious purple light has been replaced with a more palpable orange one. It's moving to the right, neither growing or dwindling in her vision.
Such a sight is enough to unlock a burst of energy within her; energy that felt like it was there the whole time, but only decided to come out now. She uses it to muster the loudest call she can make. "You...you there! I need help!"
It's a success! The light stops in its path and advances towards Blanc. "Hey, is anyone there?" Another voice!
Such an unfolding of events only brings more hope to the CPU, refueling the optimism C-sha brought at the beginning of this whole adventure. That hope begins to replace her encumbering pain as she sheds it off and manages to get a knee up before very slowly standing up, leaning against the tree she hit. "Yes! Over here!"
Once the light seems to be about a few yards in front of her, it reveals a tall human figure. "Huh. didn't expect to see anyone out here at this time of day, let alone Lowee's CPU!" Cladded in a different attire than normal, with a thick blue coat with yellow snow pants, while still carrying a violin case on her back, the adventurer Falcom walks closer to get a clearer view of Blanc. She lets out a gasp when she sees the sorry state she's in. "Whoa, what happened?! Are you okay? I never saw anything dangerous on the way here..."
Her nonstop questions exhausts a large portion of Blanc's already small pool of mental energy. "Eh...Um…" She limps backwards to give her space from this stranger.
Such a reaction throws Falcom off, before she suddenly gasps again in realization, further startling Blanc. "Oh, my bad, I forgot!" From a distance, she holds her arm out towards her target to cast her healing spell, Tear.
From below her, the spell's summoning circle faintly illuminates her vision, and all of the pain evaporates in a second. Looking over where her wounds were, there's no trace of them, and her body moves exactly as she wants to the point of feeling a tad over-responsive! She feels just as fine as she did when she left the Basilicom, as if she was not attacked by a traumatizing dose of lightning. Well, except that she's tired from staying up all night until, uh… "Um...do you know what time it is?" A moment afterwards, she reddens and hastily adds, "Oh, I almost forgot, thank you so much for healing me!"
Has Lowee's CPU always been like this? It's been a while since they last met. "Of course, no worries. It'd be a crime to just neglect a hurting goddess! Err...is it a crime?"
"Um…" Should she just tell her that she lost her memories and doesn't remember or take a guess? I mean, she wouldn't think her past self would make such a rule, but what if she guesses wrong? In the middle of deciding, she just meekly lets out, "...No…"
Falcom furrows her brows. "You don't seem so sure of that."
Blanc looks away and unconfidently confirms, "You're...right." The adventurer's aloof stare bores deeper into her.
"...Did you get amnesia, Lady Blanc?"
"Wha- how did you know?!"
Despite having her suspicions confirmed, she only becomes more aloof. "It's a hunch. Damn, I didn't expect this unknown force around here to be able to erase people's memories...they probably made you forget how to transform and fly out of here so that you'd be stranded here all alone!"
"I can fly…?" She's going to need to ask Neptune and the others about that. But first… "Wait, you misunderstand! I don't think there's anything bad around here. I lost my memories earlier today, and I got hurt because...I, just…" The amnesiac is too embarrassed to admit that she almost died purely because of her own cowardice and clumsiness, but eventually she does, with each subsequent phrase being quieter than the last. "...sort of...you know...fell. Down this cliff."
This is enough to relieve Falcom's doubts. "Ahh, I see! Jeez, talk about jumping to conclusions; sorry about that." When Blanc doesn't seem any less embarrassed, she gives an assuring smile. "Hey, it's nothing to feel bad about! Though, I do have to ask again: what were you doing here in the first place?"
"What was I doing? Well, a friend wanted to teach me how to fight, and…" another fact she doesn't want to admit.
Falcom gives Blanc's shoulder a pat. "It's alright! I promise I won't judge, or laugh, or anything bad like that."
"...Okay, I trust you." She resumes with a much quieter tone. "I, um, got really scared during a battle, and I ran away and wasn't looking where I was going…" Her embarrassment starts to return to guilt and shame for what had happened as she hears more of her admission. She really did desert C-sha. For all she knows, she could be dead. She hides her face by looking down and silently tears up.
Even Nepgear wasn't this bad when Falcom first met her. Either way, she did make a promise, so she'll have to at least look like she's not judging. "Hm, that is...pretty unfortunate. But like I said, it's going to be okay."
"..." Blanc continues to sob at her confession, unaffected by Falcom's attempt at comforting her.
"Aw, come on. I can't stand to see a goddess cry like that. It's gonna make me feel bad, too!"
"...Can I even be called a goddess if I can't stop myself from running away from battles? How can I protect anyone like that?" She asks with a quivering voice.
"Ah, jeez…" The adventurer is stuck on how to cheer her up, especially when there's a more pressing concern right now.
Blanc continues to express her harsh dissatisfaction for herself. "...And, and I just left her there, alone with that monster...I don't even know what should I do if I do get home…"
"Lady Blanc."
"Y-yes?" She tries looking up, only to jump a bit when Falcom firmly grasps both of her shoulders.
She speaks in a slow and stern tone. "You should know that you were a CPU before you lost your memories. And I don't know if people told you yet, but I'll tell you now: you were a pretty great one, too. Losing your memories and your battle skills means that you had them at one point, and I can assure you, as someone who's also been an amnesiac, that you can get them back. You got that?"
Blanc is more convinced to follow her own feelings than what everyone tells her. "How...how can that be true? There's no way I was that good at beating up monsters! No way!"
Falcom sharply sighs. "Then how about this? No fighting."
"What...what do you mean?"
"Don't go out there and do something that you're going to hate and is only going to turn out bad."
"But, what about-"
"They don't seem like it, but your younger sisters are fully capable of defending Lowee by themselves, so don't worry about that. They did that for at least three years when you were captured!"
"Rom and Ram…" Falcom's attempt at being straight-forward makes Blanc feel both dumb and like dead weight, yet she can't find an alternative to her suggestion. "...O...okay."
After that short speech, she takes another deep breath and relaxes herself and her grip on Blanc. "Look, I know that being a CPU sounds like a big deal, but it's alright to rely on others. Absolutely nothing wrong with it. They don't like to tell you, but Nepgear, Noire, and all of the other CPUs do all the time! Keep that in mind, okay?"
She tries to clear the tears in her eyes again. "Real...really? But, they always look so...confident. I can't imagine them being anything like I am…"
"I'm sure of it, trust me. My friend told me how Nepgear used to be such a nervous wreck, yet she literally destroyed a Deity of Sin and saved Gamindustri!"
"Deity of Sin…" she repeats with a tone of doubt, thinking that Falcom just made that up.
"If you don't believe me, how about you ask her the next time we see her?"
"I suppose so…" She'll just have to keep that assertion in mind until then.
"And speaking of the next time we see her…" They're finally getting around to that more pressing matter. Falcom stretches her arms before offering her hand. "...we gotta make sure that happens. It was pretty lucky that I found you on the way back home on an expedition."
Blanc is starting to feel a bit better. "You're...taking me home?"
"Of course, duh! For one thing, your friend is probably worried sick about you, so the sooner, the better, yeah?"
"C-sha…" She really needs to apologize to her. "...Alright. Thank you very much for helping me!"
Falcom returns a graceful smile. "Hey, it's just standard adventurer stuff. C'mon, let's go!" She finally resumes her trek through her forest, this time beckoning Blanc to follow her. "And don't worry about any monsters; just leave them to me!"
"Um...okay." Having no desire to be left behind, she clumsily jogs to catch up with Falcom.
(-)
After a minute, Blanc asks, "So, um, what is your name?"
Falcom's eyes widen. "Oh! Never actually told you, my bad! My name is Falcom, just your average everyday adventurer! Always looking for something new to discover, nothing special. And, of course, proficient in swordplay." Just like Vert, she can't resist making an effort to give a good first impression.
She's much more successful in aweing Blanc than Leanbox's CPU, though. "Wow…that's pretty cool."
"Aw, thanks! I think you're pretty cool too."
Huh? "...Do you mean my past self?"
"Nah, I mean you right now!" She realizes how much of a stretch she made. "Err, well , you're definitely like your younger sister, Rom, and I think she's cool, so…"
"Ohh, I see!" Though, after bringing up the idea of her past, she has to ask, "But...what did you think about me before I lost my memories?"
Has no one told her yet? "Um, it's been a while since we last met, but let's see…" She looks up in thought. "You were a pretty quiet and reserved one, like you are now…" What's a non-offensive way to put this next important aspect of Blanc? "...but you were also fierce, determined, and no-nonsense when it came to protecting her nation!"
"Fierce and no-nonsense…I wanna get back to being like that," she remarks, smiling at the thought.
Falcom is quick to readjust her description, remembering what Ram and Rom has often retold of their older sister. "Uh, sure, but do make sure that you never get too 'fierce' that you lash out on anyone."
That sounds so foreign to the amnesiac. "I'd never do anything like that…"
"Just always keep it in mind, trust me." Falcom then shortly gasps. "Oh! I almost forgot! You always loved reading books!"
"Huh...that explains all the books lying around." She doesn't sound too interested about learning that, surprising the other girl.
"Mhm. In fact, you were a big fan of my books!"
"You write books, too?" Clearly an admirable figure to look up to. "What are they about?" What kind of things did her old stuff like?
"It's mostly stories based on my own adventures! I've been through a lot, and I thought it'd be a waste not to write them down somewhere. Speaking of which, have you tried reading stuff about yourself? You know, to jog your memories? That always helped me a lot."
"Yeah, but it hasn't helped…Ram was really sad when it didn't work…" Looking back at her day so far in more detail, with Rom and Ram shoving her own writings in her face and Vert's presentation, however… "Actually...no, I don't think I have; nothing about my past."
"Yeah, definitely try that. You'd be surprised how effective that is!"
"Oh...okay." Thinking about it now, she definitely feels dumb for not considering that.
As Falcom uses her map to expertly maneuver through more of the forest, the two slowly become more re-acquainted with each other, perhaps more than what the two knew of each other before this incident.
"Though, it really was lucky that you were here to save me...what kind of expedition were you on?" Blanc asks.
Falcom seems eager to share her most recent experience. "Oh, nothin' special. I got this map to an abandoned Basilicom."
"Abandoned Basilicom?"
"Yeah, belonged to the CPU before you, or your older sister, if I have it right."
"My older sister…" There were previous CPUs? Blanc guesses that makes sense, when she considers Rom and Ram's role...but that really piques her interest. What were they like, particularly her older sister? "I wanna go there and check it out…"
"Heh heh, definitely after you get that flight thing checked out. I can tell you right now, though, that it's one heck of a labyrinth. Your older sister is really crazy with space-defying architecture tricks!"
What could that mean? Is she a creative type? "Do you know if she was a good CPU?"
Falcom can see what Blanc is trying to fish out. "Eh, I had never seen her in-person or even visited Lowee when she was in charge, sorry. And I really couldn't find any clues on her in the Basilicom, either. Not because I didn't want to, though, 'cause like I said, it's a freakin' maze!"
"Ah…" If Falcom couldn't find it, what chance does Blanc have?
(-)
Walking all the way back up the cliffside has proven to be a major challenge to Blanc. Even Falcom, who had planned this, is breaking a sweat.
"Phew, I should use this!" Slowing down, the adventurer takes out a bright purple and silver aluminum can. It's a bit hard to open it with cold hands, but she eventually does and takes a sip, shuddering a bit at the taste. "Oof, good thing I'm planning to sleep in during the day."
The colorful can attracts Blanc's drowsy attention. "What...is that?" She asks with a sleepy voice.
"This? It's called Nep Bull. You drink it when you need some energy!"
"Ooh...I need some energy…may I have a sip?" She slowly reaches for the thin cylinder.
Falcom brings it out of Blanc's reach. "Eh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. You plan on going to sleep in the next, uh, four hours?"
Of course she does! She needs to get some sleep for tomorrow's activities! "Ehm, never mind. But I'm still...so tired; how much more do we have to walk…?" She asks before yawning
"Well…" Pulling up her map again, the guide hesitantly responds, "...maybe another hour?"
"Aww…!" She moans loudly, almost falling down in despair. "I can't walk that long uphill!" She then feels herself being lifted up. "Wha-?!"
"Don't worry, I got ya." Falcom slowly lifts Blanc on her back, giving her a piggyback ride. "Whoa, you're pretty light. Good thing I have the rest of this can of Nep Bull to finish!"
"...Thank you." Another kind act by this stranger. If everyone is like Falcom, then she can see what she meant by how the other CPUs relied on others; it's because they want to help their CPUs.
(-)
As Falcom walks, the bouncing of her shoulders is, in a way, soothing to her passenger. So soothing that, despite not much else to think about, Blanc's mind manages to avoid thinking about her normally intrusive doubts. They're still there, but just being near Falcom is enough to reassure her.
Instead, her mind wanders around to other topics. Topics that are just as important, such as, "...Why do they call it Nep Bull?"
Falcom furrows her brow at that uncharacteristically random question. "...'Cause the people who made it really like Neptune or Nepgear, I guess? Or maybe those two were the ones who created Nep Bull, I dunno. I just know it's super useful," Falcom answers while finishing said drink.
After a few minutes, Blanc asks with heavy eyelids before yawning, "Um...do you know...what time it is?"
Finally, a normal question. "Sure, let me check." Falcom digs through her jacket and pulls out a pocket watch. "It's 4:21 right now. We should be almost there, though, so try not to-" She is cut off when Blanc's body weight starts shifting around. The CPU almost falls backwards, but Falcom's quick enough to adjust her weight to stop her. "...fall asleep yet…eh, I'll manage." Carrying dead weight for the short remainder of the distance should be fine.
Blanc half-lucidly responds, "Thank you for...everything, Falcom...You're the best…"
It seems that Blanc has finally fallen asleep. "Ah jeez, how am I supposed to explain this to her friend? Actually, she never told me who her friend is!" She'll just have to deal with it when she gets to the Basilicom. That's probably where she'll be, right?
While she's at it, she should make sure to keep an eye out on this new Blanc. Not that she doesn't trust the CPU's friends and younger sisters to make sure she turns out right, but she definitely wants to help out. She considers how she can do that before starting the final stretch of their trek together. "Sleep tight, Lady Blanc."
did u know that falcom got 4th in the first popularity poll, only behind nepgear, nep, and noire? thats p crazy
i also ended up writing another chapter before writing this one just like last tiem lmao
The sun shines brightly on a pure blue sky. The ocean blows a cool breeze that overrides the otherwise simmering heat. The sand below is unaffected, though, so it provides a nice warm floor below one's feet.
There are a couple of questions that bother Blanc, though: where is she? And who are all of these people in swimsuits standing and sitting around? Well, she has a swimsuit on, too…
"Ah, there you are, Master Blanc!" She flicks her head behind her, finding a girl with light blue hair and red-framed glasses in a white summer dress running towards her. Once she's next to her, it's immediately apparent how she towers over Blanc. "How irresponsible of her to leave you unattended…"
Who's this person? Also, "Um…where are we?"
She bends down to Blanc's eye level. "Your older sister said she wanted to make acquaintances with the new goddess, Green Heart, and her country." Under her breath, inaudible to Blanc, she adds "But I'm fairly certain she just wants to slack off in her favorite vacationing spot…"
Blanc silently absorbs this information and continues to stare at her.
"Anyways, why don't you go on and play? I will keep watch of you."
She turns around to look at the crowded beach, seeming terrified to get within six feet of anyone else, before turning back to this apparent maternal figure.
"It's okay if you don't want to; you can stay here and read with me!" She takes out a large beach towel from a bag, lays it down, then takes a red book with gold details on it. "Here, this book is about a group of four friends who find a stairway in a cave that leads to a mysterious new world. Doesn't that sound exciting, Master Blanc?"
She slowly smiles and sits down next to the girl. "Um...sure!"
The blue-haired girl suddenly puts on a concerned look. "Um...Master Blanc?"
"...Yes?" Blanc did say she wanted to read with her, right?
She continues to call out her name as if she didn't respond. "Blanc?"
Her voice starts to echo out, as if more people other than her are calling her out.
"Master Blanc?"
"Blanc?"
"Blanc?"
"Blanc?!"
"Blanny?!"
