Chapter 14 - Welcome to Lowee
Day 22
Lowee - Local Basilicom
"Ohhhh… That was so freezing! Our lives would have been in danger from a status ailment if we remained in the snow." Compa shivered as Soren closed the door behind them.
"I don't think Freeze is a viable status ailment in this fic, or the game for that matter…" Soren muttered, taking a look at his first time in a Basilicom.
After arriving at Lowee via Terraportation, the first thing that hit the party when they went outside was the cold, which hit Neptune and Compa pretty hard. Soren felt pretty chilly himself, but manned up while IF looked at them with a hint of amusement.
Now, the party was warming up inside the Basilicom, and Neptune was rubbing her arms to warm up as she said, "Yeah, some energy of some kind was totally getting drained whenever I was all talky. Like my soul was trying to jump ship."
IF looked at them with a raised eyebrow when one of the Sanctified showed up with concern. "Are you okay? You four hardly look layered enough to travel through the snow."
"They're just whining. It wasn't all that cold." IF replied while looking at one of her cellphones.
"Uh huh, right If." Soren said skeptically, "Though you're coat tells me one thing, but your bare legs tell me another."
"Shut it, you pervert. Anyway, does this have something to do with Lowee's goddess?"
Before the Sanctified could reply, Neptune moaned in relief, "Ooh, nice. It's so warm and cozy in here. I dunno how to explain the difference with words alone!"
"You're right Nep-Nep. Being warm feels really nice." Compa sighed with relief as stopped rubbing her arms.
"So yeah, to the point. Do you know where strong monsters are around here? We're travelling the world, finding Key and Jewel Core Fragments and fighting monsters!"
"Why not go to the Central Basilicom, Entremets, if you're curious about monster research?" The Sanctified replied, "This Basilicom is just a local branch."
"There are two Basilicoms in Lowee?" Compa gasped in shock. "Then there are two goddesses?-! They must be twins!"
Nice unintended Mk2 foreshadowing there Compa.
"No, no. Each city in Lowee has its own local Basilicom to govern the area. The Central Basilicom, also known as Entremets, is where all local Basilicoms are managed. Our CPU resides there."
"Wow, that's pretty efficient." Soren commented.
"Yes, it is. One of the reasons for it is due to the weather, as it would be hazardous to travel if there was just one Basilicom like the other landmasses. It was our CPU's idea."
"Okay. So if I go there, I can bug them about monsters and say hey to the goddess, right?"
"Yeah. I'll give you a map to find it. The roads can be a bit harsh, especially with the increase in monsters, so be careful."
The Sanctified gave Neptune a map he had on his person as she eyed the doors. "Ooh, I really don't wanna go back outside. It's nice and warm in here."
"…I think Neptune volunteered to go out first, don't you think If?" Soren asked with a hint of a smile on his face.
"I think she did. Out you go Nep!" IF grabbed Neptune by the shoulders and started moving her towards the doors, with the purple haired girl struggling the entire way.
"N-No, it's alright! Why don't you go first Iffy? You don't seem bothered by the cold!"
"Nah, this'll be a good time to build up your endurance." With that, IF opened the door and pushed Neptune through.
Soren and Compa looked at each other before the former said, "Well, might as well brace ourselves. C'mon Compa."
"Uuuh, I'm starting to have second thoughts about this…"
"Don't worry, you have a sweater on. You'll be fine, I think."
"Uwah, it's freezing!"
"Suck it up Nep! 'Cause we're going to be here for a while."
Lowee - forest
"…Brrrr. It's so cold, my butt's frozen, I think. I wanna curl up by a fire with some hot chocolate and a big blanket." Neptune shivered as the party walked.
"Says the girl who wears nothing but a long hoodie dress." Soren sighed with a slight shiver.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing…"
IF sighed as she face palmed then folded her arms. "It's really not that cold. For Lowee, this is mild weather. If you're that cold, do you want my hot pack?"
"…Is that why you're not complaining about the cold?" Soren asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I just keep it on me in case it gets really cold."
"Hot pants?-! What?" Neptune misheard again, as always. "What's that sort of thing doing in Lowee? This's supposed to be a magical fantasy world of fun!"
"Hot pack. Pack. I bought stuff from Planeptune just in case something happens. Trade it off every few minutes."
"Oh, yeah! Okay, I get it. You're after me Compa!"
During all this, Soren couldn't help but look around. "You know, for a magical fantasy landmass, I haven't seen any hint of magic yet."
"…And you don't think the snow itself is magical?" IF asked, "I mean, it doesn't really melt despite the changes in temperature. Like four years ago, there was a case of the temperature being around fifteen degrees Celsius for a few days and the snow never melted. People theorised that it was the goddess' doing, or something equally odd."
"That sounds pretty weird, but that magic for you. Anyway, it looks like Entremets is located through the forest." Compa then frowned as she added, "But why would they build their main Basilicom there? It should be made more accessible for normal people."
"Maybe it's because the CPU is a quiet, anti-social goddess?" Soren asked jokingly.
At Entremets, Blanc, aka White Heart, sneezed into the book she was reading. "Ugh, damn it, I got drool on the book. Tch, somehow, this must be Neptune's damn fault."
Back with the party, IF shook her head. "It's a sacred place for the goddess. This way, idiots like Nep can't wander in, break stuff, and leave so easily."
"I see!" Then Neptune frowned and protested, "…Wait, you make it sound like I'm suspicious or something…"
That's when they heard a low growl and IF folded her arms, looking into the forest. "…It looks like this forest, meant to turn away travellers, has become a place monsters can call home."
"I take it, it wasn't the case before?" Soren inquired.
"There only was the occasional monster that was found in the forest, but now, this is due to the sudden increase. Thanks to that, Entremets is more isolated then ever."
There was a moment of silence before Neptune said, "Enough banter, let's go in, bash the monsters, and meet the goddess!"
Lowee - Entremets
"Waah, it's so nice to be in someplace warm again." Neptune cooed.
The party managed to reach Entremets with little problem, the monsters being rather weak, if not annoying. Right now, the party's appearance started those that were in the entrance hall, surprised to see them. One of the Sanctified went up to them and greeted, "Hello travellers, how may I help you?"
"Uh, we'd like to see the goddess. Is she in?" IF asked, as Neptune and Compa went over to a nearby heater and started sighing.
"Lady White Heart will be informed of your presence." The Sanctified turned to look at one of the those watching, Financier, and gave a nod, and the girl went off to the inner chambers. "I'm glad to see that you're all safe. We don't get many visitors these days due to the monsters infesting the forest."
"I've noticed." At that point, IF saw that the other people watching started to go back to what they were doing before.
"Huwah, I can feel the life flowing back into me~." Neptune cooed.
"I know I'm feeling warmer already." Compa agreed.
The Sanctified couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and commented, "Your companions are quite…unique, I must say. I take it they're new to Lowee?"
"Ren here too. We're all from Planeptune, though I tend to travel a lot." IF replied.
"Yeah, those two are just more sensitive to the cold." Soren added.
"I see… Newcomers to Lowee always first comment about the cold, but they eventually get used to it within a day or so." The Sanctified said, before looking over his shoulder. "Looks like Lady White Heart is being stubborn again…"
"Um, before we meet the goddess, can I ask you something?" Soren spoke up.
"Certainly, what is it that you want to know?"
"Have you, uh, seen or heard of Arf around Lowee lately? Like in the last week or so?"
"Hmm, no, I haven't heard anything…wait, you mean the famous monster hunter, Fiery Maiden Arf, right? What's your relation to her?"
"Uh, she's my sister."
At that point, Neptune and Compa rejoined the conversation after being sufficiently warmed up as the Sanctified looked surprised. "You're the boy the Maiden brought back from the surface. My, my, today's been full of surprises."
"You know, I've heard of this Arfy person a couple of times. Is she really all that famous?" Neptune asked.
"Quick note Neptune. Never call my sister that when you meet her, else she will hurt you in a way you won't imagine." Soren warned with a grim look.
"Eh, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Haaa, the last person who called her that, Arf brought him in for a 'talk', and he wasn't the same ever since." Soren then added when Neptune was about to protest. "He was a hardcore monster hunter. Could stare death in the face and all that. Retired after the talk…"
There was a moment of silence before Compa said, "Um, what was that about Miss Arf being famous. I mean, I've heard of her too, but I'm not too sure about the details."
"Ah yes, the Fiery Maiden's one of the more recent famous monster hunters. Even in Lowee some of her deeds are well known, like how she lead a band to take down the Blizzard Fiend that plunged half of Lowee into a freezing blizzard. If it went on any longer, we would've prayed for Lady White Heart to take care of it. She even came down from Celestia to congratulate her and the others for talking it down."
"Uuuh, that sounds so amazing! You think we'd be that famous someday?" Neptune asked.
"Uh, we'll see what happens in the future." IF shrugged. That's when Financier reappeared in front of them and addressed the party.
"Um, Lady White Heart will see you now. Please follow me. Also, may I ask what your names are, so I can introduce you four to the goddess?"
"Sure. I'm IF, the pink hair is Compa, the purple hair is Neptune, and the guy is Soren."
"Uh huh, quick question. Do you know anything about powerful monsters around Lowee?" Neptune interjected.
"Um…actually, I will mention that to Lady White Heart when I introduce you. Please, this way."
The party followed Financer to the inner sanctum, where Blanc was waiting for them behind a veil. When everyone was inside, Financier spoke up. "…Excuse us. These four are the ladies and gentleman wishing to meet with you, Lady White Heart. IF, Compa, Neptune, and Soren. They are traveling the world in search of powerful monsters."
That's when Financier looked at the four and pleaded, "You four are here to ask questions, correct? Please, please, please…be polite. Excuse me."
When Financier left, Neptune took a step forward and greeted, "Hiya, goddess! It's our first time meeting you, for sure."
Soren couldn't help but face palm and IF sighed when Blanc said, "…Neptune. The hell d'you think you're doing here with that fat, cheeky, stupid face?"
That caught everyone's attention as Neptune didn't seem all that bothered by the sudden rudeness. "St-Stupid face…? I guess I'm all flush and cheeky from the cold, a-and my face changes when I transform, but…blah!"
"What is Neptune doing?" Soren whispered in horror. Despite the whole never met a goddess in his life until now, Arf did drill into his head that one should always be polite in front of a CPU.
"Anyway, we're looking for items called Key Fragments and Jewel Core Fragments. We wanna know if you got any idea where-."
"…Item questing? What're you plotting?"
"This is starting to get a bit weird…" IF couldn't help but whisper.
"Well, we gotta get them to save Histy. At least, that's what the Key Fragments are for. Not sure what the Jewel Core Fragments are for. I thought you might wanna help us." Neptune finished.
"Both Key Fragments and Jewel Core Fragments are guarded and held by strong monsters. If you know of any dungeons where we can find one…" Compa added, trailing off.
"…Save someone? That's good for you. You seem like you don't give a shit about anything else. I haven't heard of an item like that. Too bad." Blanc abruptly told them.
"I don't like where this is going." Soren whispered to IF.
"What I don't get is why Lady White Heart seems to hate Neptune for some reason. Sure she's annoying, but this is the first time we've met her." IF whispered back.
"What about monsters? Any ideas where we can go? Or is that totally not goddess knowledge?" Neptune asked.
"Aren't I goddess-like enough for you? Oh, so sorry." Blanc was slipping into sarcasm mode. "How about you ask the Basilicom those questions instead?"
"But, but, but this is your land! You gotta know it like the back of your head, right?" Despite the odd atmosphere, Soren couldn't help but snerk at that as Neptune went on. "If you're busy, we can come back later. When're you free? Tomorrow? The day after? The day after that? After that? That?"
"…Never. I told you I don't know. I don't think such items exists on Lowee. And it's the back of your hand, idiot."
"What? No way! Histy said that there's one on each landmass. In fact, we found both a Key Fragment and Jewel Core on Planeptune!"
"…This isn't Planeptune." It was subtle, but everyone but Neptune noticed that Blanc was starting to get a bit angry.
"Then…monsters? Anywhere strong monsters gather?"
"Neptune, you already-."
"…You're really pissin' me off. I said to ask the Basilicom. I don't care anymore." Blanc interrupted Soren, getting angrier by the second.
"Would that other chick know? What's her name? …Wait, one more! Have you heard of anyone named Histy? Her full name is-."
At that point, Blanc had enough of Neptune and exploded shouting, "Holy crap, shut up! I said I don't know! Such nerve, showing yourself in front of me like this. Enough! Don't ever return!"
That shocked everyone into silence when Soren said, "Okay… I think we should leave now."
"Yes, you should listen to your tagalong Neptune. He seems to have more brains than you do."
At that point, Soren just sighed as IF and Compa grabbed Neptune and started leading her out. "I was going to ask you something myself, Lady White Heart, but I can see you're not in the mood anymore."
"Oh, and what would that be?"
"It's about my sister, Arf. Nevertheless, good day to you Lady White Heart." With that, Soren followed Neptune out, passing by an Evangelist, Conversation, who overheard everything.
"Oh dear, it looks like it's time for another conversation with Lady White Heart. Fufufu…"
Lowee - inn
"Hello, we would like a room for four please." IF said to the innkeeper.
"…Are you sure that's okay If?" Soren asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We need to save money, so we don't have much of a choice. Also, we can trust you to be proper, yes?"
"Of course, what do you take me for?"
The four were at the inn after the so-called disastrous meeting with Blanc, and left Entremets after Financier showed up and told them that they'll have the monster data for them ready tomorrow. Neptune and Compa were quick to turn in, wanting to get under the covers in an instant, something that irked IF.
"Heh heh, looks like Torres and Terence were right. You four are interesting."
Everyone looked at the innkeeper as Soren snapped his fingers. "That's right. There was a reason Torres suggested this in to stay at."
"That's right, and from the fact you're the sole guy, you must be Arf's little bro. The name's Touma, and I must say, you're pretty daring for rooming with three pretty girls." The innkeeper, Touma smirked.
"Right… By the way, have you heard any word of her? I wanted to ask Lady White Heart, but things went sour due to Neptune for some reason…"
"Hey, it's not my fault the goddess was all hissy and stuff!" Neptune protested.
"Oh really? She sure seemed pissed at you specifically for some reason. Maybe you did something to offend her from before you lost your memory." IF suggested.
"Very interesting, very interesting. Sorry, I haven't heard a thing. Anyway, here's the key to your room. It's on the second floor, end of the hall to your left. Enjoy your stay in Lowee. Oh, and please keep under the covers at night. Even with heaters, it gets kinda chilly at times, no matter how many times we renovate to keep the heat in. I swear, it's like magic or something…"
As Touma grumbled about curses and whatever, the party went in the room they were assigned to, and found the interior to be interesting. Soren couldn't help but raise an eyebrow though.
"Wow, looks like a mix of something an elf did and Compa's fashion sense."
"Wh-What do you mean by that?" Compa asked.
All Soren did was point at the floor, where there were tiles with hearts on them. Neptune looked at it too and commented, "Yeah, it really does look like something Compa would think up of."
Checking the nearby computer, IF came across Blanc's blog, and noticed the newest entry labeled, 'Planet PR [Brief]'. "Huh, looks like Lady White Heart put up something earlier."
"I betcha it has something to do with me. What with what happened earlier and all that stuff."
IF just shook her head and started playing the audio clip that was attached.
"Sorry to be random, but I wanna talk about my land today. I hope it helps people on the fence about moving here."
"…Wow, she sure sound different from last time." Neptune said in awe.
"Maybe it's because she wasn't annoyed by your antics?" Soren asked.
"Lowee is protected by me, White Heart. This place is also called the 'Land of White Serenity.'"
"Now that's quite the title. And literal too, with all the snow." Compa commented, looking out the window.
"I guess 'fantasy' or 'magical kingdom' are good descriptions, too.
"What's different here compared to the other lands is that magic is widely used to make life more convenient. Though, this doesn't mean you'll be able to use magic just by moving to Lowee."
"Aw, and here I thought I could use magic here when we fight monsters." Neptune looked put out about it.
"Uh, hate to break it to you Neptune, but magic can be used on any of the landmasses. It's only on Lowee where it's most prominent, followed by Leanbox, sort of. Planeptune and Lastation focus more on the sciences." Soren told her.
"So, does that mean I can use magic?"
"Depends if you have the aptitude for it. I know I don't."
"Oh, and there's a lot of snow. It's cold."
"No kidding. It's a downer." Neptune sighed.
"I don't like the cold very much." Compa agreed.
IF and Soren looked at each other and sighed, the former shaking her head.
"Those are Lowee's main selling points. I'm tired. Bye."
"Wow, that was abrupt." Neptune said as IF changed the website.
"Whatever. So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Soren spoke up.
"Well, we'll head back to Entremets for the monster info. Then we'll head for the first dungeon we can find and see if we can find anything relating to the Key or Jewel Core Fragments." IF informed the party.
"Okay, but for now, cover time!" Neptune dove into her bed, getting under the covers. "Ahh, I can feel the warmth already!"
The others could help but sigh, though Compa followed suit. Just another day of antics for our main characters, huh?