CHAPTER 2: WELCOME TO PLANEPTUNE
After what seems to last for two hours, Ayden finally finds his way into the bustling city of Planeptune, which was pretty purple to his understanding (literally, the city was pretty much purple). Ayden was already looking back to the dreaded two hours ago, and questioned, "How did I get out of there?"
Two hours ago: Nothing but constant screams of fear came from Ayden, as he practically ran back and forth, trying to find his way out of the large forest. His efforts seemed useless, until he tripped over an overgrown root, and tumbled down a large hill. Once he reached the bottom, he rubbed his head and saw that Planeptune was closer than he thought it was and went into a full-fledged sprint.
"Oh yeah, that's how," huffs Ayden as he continues his journey in Planeptune.
Since he is not familiar with how the city is, since the game never actually let the players explore the cities, Ayden just continues to walk around until he stumbles upon a very elegant building that has a very business-like feel to it. Ayden is not familiar with it but has a feeling that this building is Planeptune's basillicom.
Ayden knocks on the door, but he does not expect any response since he knows that the oracle is very busy since the disappearance of the CPU and the candidate (he knows what happens in the game since he plays it excessively). To his surprise, he hears a small voice coming from behind the large doors saying, "Come in."
Ayden pushes on the doors and sees that they were unlocked the entire time, and walks into the very large building. Ayden looks around the building in awe as he observes that the building is very beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. He takes a few steps forward and freaks out as he realizes he almost ran into a small fairy-like female, sitting on a book.
"How can I help you today?" asks the small female with a smile but just as Ayden is about to answer, she tells him, "Please wait a bit, I have to check something."
Ayden shakes his head yes, and proceeds to stand in the middle of the basillicom. Ayden thinks back to the many characters of the game, and realizes that he just met Histoire, Planeptune's oracle.
Histoire flies back to Ayden in a bit of a rush and asks his the same question as before, "How can I help you today?"
"Yes, I um…this is my first time here in Planeptune and I was wondering where I can get some information about the city," says Ayden in a nervous voice, since he knows that Histoire may not know what Earth is.
"Might I ask you name?" asks Histoire in a pleasant tone, but Ayden notices that Histoire is looking him up and down.
"My name is Ayden White and I am a…traveler," says Ayden again in a nervous/try not to be suspicious voice while he rubs the back of his head and chuckles a bit.
"You're a traveler and you have never visited Planeptune before, how surprising," laughs Histoire as she continues to look Ayden up and down. "Well welcome to Planeptune, my name is Histoire and I am Planeptune's oracle," says Histoire as she sticks her small hand out to shake Ayden's hand.
Ayden lightly grabs her hand so he does not crush it and shakes her hand. He then smiles and asks, "Are you very busy, because you do not have to stand here and talk to me."
Histoire shakes her head yes, "I am very busy since Planeptune's CPU has been missing for…well three years, but I need to greet you, the newcomer."
Ayden, again thinks back to his vast knowledge about this game, and remembers that the four CPUs were captured by CFW Magic of ASIC, and held hostage in Gameindustri's Graveyard. Ayden's skin went cold by the thought of him running into the Criminals of the Free World (CFWs).
"Well, thank you for the friendly welcome…" says Ayden with a friendly smile, "but you should get back to your work."
"Yes I should," agrees Histoire.
As Ayden turns around and heads for the door, Histoire stops him, "Wait, I have a favor to ask of you," she says.
"Hmm?" responds Ayden, as he turns back around to face Histoire, who has a distressful look on her face.
"I know we just met, and I don't want to put a responsibility this big on your shoulders," says Histoire as she closes her eyes, "But can you do me one favor?"
Ayden closes his eyes so he can think about it, and answers, "It's no problem at all, I would love to help you out."
Histoire laughs a bit and tells Ayden about her little quest, "You see, three of my friends went into Virtua Forest to help one of them regain the feel of battle, since she was just rescued from the Gameindustri Graveyard and has lost the majority of her power. They have not come back yet and I am a bit worried about them."
Ayden already knows where this is going and who Histoire is talking about, but he continues to listen to her.
"Could you go into Virtua Forest and see if you could find them? I mean they can handle themselves, but having someone check up on them will not hurt, right?" asks Histoire as she looks straight into Ayden's eyes.
"Yeah, sure…" answers Ayden in a not so confident tone but he hides this tone with his goofy smile, "I just came from Virtua Forest, so I know exactly where to go."
Histoire's face becomes relived by Ayden's answer and she thanks him politely. "I feel that you will deserve payment for doing such a task for me," she says smiling, "So I will submit this quest down to the guild as an official quest, where once you accept and return from the quest, I will pay you," she explains to Ayden.
Ayden shakes his head but gives a puzzled look.
"What's wrong?" Histoire asks Ayden as she notices his puzzled facial expression
"Where is the guild building?" returns Ayden with a smile of stupidity, as he rubs the back of his head.
A few minutes later, Ayden finds himself in front of the guild building; thanks to Histoire's direction, he is able to find it very easily. Ayden walks into the building and straight up to the counter, and just as he is about to ask about the quest, another man walks right next to him and tries to ask his question.
"I want to know…"
"Yes I would like to…"
Both Ayden and the stranger look at each other, and the stranger laughs and says, "You go first, I'm sorry I interrupted you."
Ayden shakes his head in agreement, and proceeds to ask about and accept his quest. Ayden waits for a minute and sees the stranger start heading out.
"Hey, thanks for letting me go first," says Ayden to the stranger as he walks for the door.
The stranger stops for a moment and turns towards Ayden, "It's only fair, I mean you had the first words out," he said with a smirk.
Ayden takes a good look at the stranger who stopped right in front of him. The stranger appears to be maybe three or four years older than Ayden (who was fifteen by the way). He had a short haircut, some scars on his face which was could be described as having handsome features. He is tall and skinny, but has quite a bit of muscle build on him. He wears a black tank-top, a pair of grey cargo pants that look to have some armor pieces on them, a black wristband on his right hand, and black steel-toed military styled boots.
Ayden starts to think and feels that this man's style was not from around Planeptune, but maybe from some other city, maybe like Lastation or Leanbox.
The man himself, observes Ayden and spoke, "I realize that you don't have sort of weapon on you kid. Why accept a quest that could possibly involve some combat, if you don't have a weapon?"
Ayden is angered by the man calling him a kid, since he was no younger than three to four years than the man. "But now that he mentions it, I am possibly walking into a slaughter. Shit. Oh why did I accept this quest so hastily?" thought Ayden as he closes his eyes.
"Follow me," says the man and heads towards the doors.
Ayden opens his eyes and sees that the man was walking out of the building. So he quickly runs after him and catches up to him in no less than a minute.
The two were walking down the main street of Planeptune in silence, and Ayden wonders who is this guy and why does the man want him to follow? A few minutes pass, and both Ayden and the man stop in front of an armory.
Ayden was just about to say something, when he notices the man walk into the store.
"H-Hey, wait for me," yells Ayden as he scurries behind the man.
As Ayden walks in after the man, he already hears the man and the female shopkeeper start talking, as if they are old friends. Ayden decides to wait by the door, since he feels that the conversation that the two were having didn't involve him.
"Hey kid, come here," says the man as he gestures Ayden to stand right next to him, and Ayden heads towards the counter.
As Ayden stands right next to the man, he hears him talking to the shopkeeper about weapons that were suitable for beginners. A few minutes past, though it felt like an eternity Ayden, and just as he was about to head back to his spot by the door, the man turns around to face Ayden with something in his hand.
"Here kid, see how this feels in your hands," says the man as he hands Ayden a rapier in a bronze-colored sheath. Ayden accepts the rapier but looks at the man in a very strange way, since he practically just met the man minutes ago, and he is already buying him a weapon.
Ayden pulls the rapier out of its sheath and holds it in his left hand (since that is his dominant hand). The rapier was very light-weight in his hands, as if it was forged just for him. He passes it between his left and right hands, feeling the cool metal as it touches each hand. Ayden is just about to swing the rapier, when the man stops him before he has the chance to break anything.
"Whoa kid, don't swing until we reach our destination. That's where the practice begins," says the man with a smile on his face.
Ayden nods, re-sheaths the rapier and attaches the sheath to one of his belt loops on his pants, making sure it is completely secured. The man hands over 1,000 credits to the shopkeeper, and both him and Ayden depart from the store and head down the main street.
As they are walking, Ayden decides that it is time to get some answers from the man.
"Hey, is it alright to ask you a few questions?" asks Ayden in a small voice as he stands on the sidewalk of the main street.
The man turns around, looks right at Ayden and shrugs his shoulders.
"I don't know is it?" responds the man in a joking tone, and then he proceeds to nod his head.
"Well first of all, what is your name?" asks Ayden as he stares right at the man with a look of curiosity in his eyes.
The man turns his back on Ayden and scratches the back of his head as if he is trying to think of a way to answer the kid or if he is trying to remember his name. He then turns back around to face Ayden and responds, "People call me…Zero."
Ayden looks right at Zero in disbelief, and laughs to himself. "Zero? What is that, your birth name or a pet name?" says Ayden as he now is laughing out loud.
Zero looks away from Ayden in since he is not amused with Ayden's response, and looks back at Ayden to see him practically rolling on the floor laughing. The citizens of Planeptune start to stop and stare at such the awkward sight, that Zero grabs Ayden by the shirt and drags him down the sidewalk (not literally), away from the crowd.
"Hey what did you do that for?" asks Ayden in annoyance as he final stops laughing at Zero's name.
Zero glares right at Ayden, turns around and starts for the entrance that leads to the Virtua Forest. Ayden shrugs his shoulders and continues behind Zero, who is far ahead of him.
They finally reach the Virtua Forest, and both of them decide to take a break for a minute to rest their legs from the long walk. Zero is sitting on a tree stump, when Ayden walks up to him and starts apologizing.
"I'm sorry for overreacting to your name Zero, I feel very stupid," explains Ayden as he puts his head down.
Zero laughs and looks right at Ayden who looks like a puppy that committed some sort of crime while their owner was away. "It's alright kid, besides that's only the nickname I was given by people I worked with before. No one knows my first name but me," chuckles Zero as he stands up and pats Ayden on the shoulder. "Come on, we should continue on before we become lazy," says Zero as he starts walking forward.
"Why are you helping me?" Ayden asks suddenly, and Zero stops in his tracks, rubbing his head again.
"Well, I know that you won't be able to complete a quest by yourself since you are just a kid. Besides if I help you out, you get fighting experience, and I get credits, everyone wins," answers Zero in a calm voice as he starts looking around.
"So you want some of the pay?" asks Ayden, "I guess we can split it 50/50."
Ayden and Zero continue to get deeper into Virtua Forest, when Ayden notices something about Zero that he did not before.
"Where's your weapon at Zero?" asks Ayden as the two walk side by side, down the path that Ayden recognizes as the area he woke up in.
"It's right here," says Zero as he points to his own back.
Just as Ayden was about to call Zero crazy, Zero presses a button on his black wristband, and to Ayden's surprise, a sword and a sheath that looks as if it is a machine appear on Zero's back. Ayden stares at Zero, too shocked to even say one word, and seeing this, Zero starts to laugh at Ayden's priceless facial expression.
"Relax, it is just a cloaking device I had installed into my sheath's processor. It allows me to cloak my weapon when I please. The best piece of technology that money can buy from Lastation," explains Zero.
Ayden finally snaps out of his trance, and starts admiring Zero's weapon and sheath. It is a sword that did not look like any other sword. The sword looks as if it was made from the finest pieces of metal, and has what looks like a laser along the sword's edge that glowed red. While Ayden was admiring this fine piece of weaponry, Zero suddenly looks around as if he heard something moving.
"Get your weapon ready kid, I think this is the real deal," says Zero as he unsheathes his sword and gets into a battle stance.
Ayden, who looks calm and collective on the outside, is actually freaking out on the inside. "This is my first real battle, oh shit, I am freaking out," thought Ayden as he pulls his rapier out of its sheath, and tries to find a battle stance that would fit his style.
After about a minute, Ayden finds a battle stance that suits him, and as the two get ready to battle whatever was coming their way, but as they see what is coming, they completely drop their guards.
A dogoo was bouncing its way towards the two, and the two sent out a sigh of relief seeing that it was a weak creature making the noise, not some strong creature like a dragon or a dolphin. The dogoo looks straight at Ayden and it seems to start mocking him in some strange way. Ayden observes the dogoo closes and realizes that it is the same dogoo that saw him crying like a little girl.
Ayden, in a fit of rage, runs up to the dogoo and punts the creature as it were a football and sends it flying over the shrub. Zero stands back behind Ayden, observing what was happening, which he had no idea what was happening. Ayden jumps up and down in a victorious style, as if he won the lottery or did not get rejected by a girl that he asked out.
"That ought to show that stupid dogoo whose boss," says Ayden to himself in sheer happiness.
Just as Ayden is about to finish his happy type victory jumping style dance of awesomeness, Zero points to the shrub and sees it moving more violently than it did before.
Ayden turns to face the shrub and to his horror, 10 more dogoos bounce out with enraged faces, and 5 radishers come in to join the battle as well. Ayden's dogoo places itself at the head of this small army and it looks as it was directing which was the army should attack.
Ayden and Zero get back into battle stance with their weapons drawn, ready to fight this small army head on. Just as the two ran towards the enemies, Ayden suddenly stops in his tracks and starts looking around.
"What are you looking for?" asks Zero as he stops as well.
"Can you hear music? It's like it just started as we were about to go into battle," says Ayden as he continues to look around.
Zero shakes his head no, but as he turned to face the small army he thought, "Really kid? Did you have to end the chapter with a 'breaking the four wall' reference?
Will the two survive the battle against the dogoos and radishers? Will they make it to the three girls in time? Well, you must continue to read the story to find out this and more.
CHAPTER 2 END