You know, these review responses take up so much unnecessary space. I think what I'm going to do now is personally respond to the reviews that I can via PM while using this space for the multitude of anonymous/guest reviewers that I have.
Saturn56: Alright then. How about we skip the girls altogether and go right to JacobXStairs?
Saturn56: I don't think that'd be particularly comfortable.
Crimsonheresy: Perhaps. Maybe. You'll have to find out. :] Also, I have no idea; I'm just winging it.
Eisenfaust: Yep, yep, maybe, you might find out, you already asked one, maybe, thank you. Here it is.
Guest: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... shucks. Thank you very much.
Saturn56: You know, I think it'd be best in future if you just kept your reviews in just one review per chapter. If I ever get 300 reviews, I'll have to count off all your duplicates because that's just cheating otherwise. :(
SS7x3: Indeed. And I will, thank you. I understand that but this fanfic is more about the adventure. In any event, I doubt anyone wants to see a self-insert dramatically fall from the sky Kingdom Hearts style to join Neptune's epic quest to retrieve the Eggs of Nepgear's Divine Pancakes during Gamindustri's equivalent of Black Friday (most likely Purple Friday).
Guest (the other one): It'll be posted when it's done. Like, right now. Sorry about the wait; I had a lot of problems with this chapter.
By the way, thank you for all your continued support. In return, allow me to say that this chapter will not be as boring or meaningless as the previous one.
Chapter 22: Circle in the Snow
Getting back to the main landmass from the tower dungeon proved to be quite uneventful for the party. They reluctantly exited the dungeon to meet the cold Lowee air, eagerly hopped in the warm gondola car once they got to it and then reluctantly got out of it once it reached its destination.
"Well, that didn't help much," said IF. "Now what do we do?"
"Maybe we should go back to Entremets to ask if there are any other dungeons with strong monsters in them?" Compa suggested.
"I don't think so. That was White Heart we fought back there. I doubt she'd be in such a good mood to let us in."
"Oh, okay..."
Then Jacob spoke. "Actually, Neptune, I've been meaning to ask you something in regards to that fight."
The rest of the party turned to him in intrigue. "Huh? What is it?" Neptune asked.
"When you fought White Heart, did you..." Jacob paused, trying to figure out the right words to use, "... feel anything?"
Neptune blinked once in confusion. "Feel what? Well, I didn't feel my blood pumping. I didn't even use Neptune Break to have a good fight and she still went down too easily."
"Not that, Neptune. The thing is, I think she was angry at you. Like, really angry. Hard to put into words."
"She did snap at us back at the Basilicom," IF reminded. "Also, Black Heart said she was violent and prone to lashing out. Maybe this is normal for her?"
"Maybe. It's just... I got the impression it was very personal."
"Do you want to go to Entremets and ask?" Nisa inquired.
"Yeah but not right now. As IF said, she's probably still a bit peeved from that last encounter."
"We should probably pay her a visit tomorrow," Compa suggested. "That way, we can talk to her again and get the dungeon info at the same time."
"Not to mention the story of her being so happy. I can't wait to hear that one!" said Neptune.
"That's if she actually wants to talk to us again," warned IF.
"Well, what choice do we have?" said Jacob. "There's nothing going on here so the only way we're going to get that Key Fragment is... well, honestly, I don't know. We're just winging it at this point. Still, it's most likely that Blanc is at the centre of it so we need to get to her to get to the Key Fragment."
"And that is going to have to wait until tomorrow," IF added.
The day passed by rather uneventfully. Nisa spent the rest of it saving any distressed individual she could find, Gust went to sell items and the rest of the party just went back to the motel to play video games. Gust returned to the motel with a not exactly modest number of credits to add to the party's funds, which earned her plenty of praise from the rest of the party. Nisa returned with a proud smile of her face, telling everyone about how she saved a father and his daughter from the harassment of two delinquents. To this story, the party went "Oh, that's good". Nisa's spirits were a bit deflated after that.
Now it was time for the party to go to bed.
"Um, Jake?" began Compa with hesitation.
"What is it, Compa?" responded the male.
"There are only three beds here."
"Yeah, so what?"
"There are six of us."
"I figured that out."
"Jacob, you're going to have to share with someone."
Jacob dejectedly hung his head. "I know... I just didn't want to face it yet."
Gust looked at him with curiosity. For sleeping, she wore a long orange dress with white frills on the collar and the ends of the sleeves that were long enough to obscure her hands. She took off her massive gloves but she still held onto her strange rabbit hat. "What is wrong?"
"Jacob doesn't want to catch any cooties so he barks at everyone to let him have his own bed," Neptune answered before making her way to her bed.
"I don't believe in cooties," Jacob snapped. "I'm just a firm believer that it'd be immoral for someone like me to share a bed with a girl who is at least three years younger than me."
"Oh for crying out loud Jacob, you're just sharing a bed with a fellow party member," responded IF, exasperated.
"No he isn't," replied Gust.
Jacob looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"Tada!" Once more from, through the eyes of anyone who didn't know any better, out of nowhere, Gust pulled out a sleeping bag. Given that it was cyan-blue with rabbit faces all over it, it was most likely custom-made especially for her. "Gust brings it everywhere! Travelling alchemists need places to sleep, after all!"
Nisa raised a hand. "I don't suppose you have any more of those, do you?"
"Actually, yes. Only one, though." Gust pulled out another sleeping bag. This one was brown and had no pictures on it but it looked just as inviting as Gust's sleeping bag.
"Superb!" Nisa punched up into the air with glee. "Jacob, you may use that sleeping bag."
"Wait, what? Why me?" Jacob asked, taken off-guard by the sudden order.
"As you know, Neptune has a habit of taking the covers off when she sleeps."
"Hey, I said I was sorry!" Neptune cut in. "Jeez!"
"In any case," Nisa continued, "this habit is unhealthy in Lowee's climate. Therefore, I will take your bed."
"Now wait just a moment," IF interrupted, walking up to Nisa. "Why do you get to take his bed? I have to sleep next to Compa and she snores."
"Y-You don't like sleeping next to me, IF...?" Compa asked with tearful eyes.
"Compa, you snore. Sleeping next to you is really hard," IF answered her without a single bit of remorse before getting back to Nisa. "You like Neptune anyway. Just be more assertive and keep the covers on and you've lost nothing."
"The covers stay off!" Neptune determinedly argued.
"You'll get sick again." IF countered.
"I don't need to worry about that. I have pyjamas now!" Neptune showcased with her arms the new pyjamas that the rest of the party sans Compa got for her. Even though she preferred to sleep in her underwear, she did sort of like her white shirt with green polka dots and her green short shorts with smaller white polka dots.
"Neptune, those are a stall at best."
"Do you understand what I have to go through?" Nisa asked IF.
"I don't care. I want Jacob's bed."
"Oi, hang on," Jacob interrupted, causing IF and Nisa to turn to him. "What makes you think I'm just giving up my bed?"
"Because I will make your next training session very painful if you don't," Nisa warned with a clenched fist and very determined eyes.
Jacob wasn't scared but he knew he wasn't winning this one. "... Damn it."
"But only if you don't give it up to me," Nisa added without hostility.
"Alrighty then, Nisa's having my bed and I'm taking the sleeping bag," Jacob determined instantly.
"... Damn it." Even though IF didn't argue, she still looked annoyed.
"I still can't believe they force people to go through that stupid dungeon every time they need to go to the Basilicom," Jacob complained as they exited Dis Snow Forest the next day to arrive at Entremets.
"Jacob, stop whining," said IF.
"And why are you complaining?" asked Neptune. "I did all the monster killing! All you did was complain about how cold it was."
"Everyone was complaining about how cold it was," Jacob countered.
"Except for IF and Gust," Gust answered.
"Hey, I saw you shivering!" Nisa accused the short alchemist.
Gust lightly blushed in embarrassment. "At least I wasn't complaining."
As the party approached the Central Basilicom, the Chamberlain who was at the door noticed them. "Oh, welcome to the Basilicom," she greeted normally.
"Good morning, Miss Chamberlain!" Compa returned cheerfully. "Is it okay if we see Lady White Heart?"
"Sadly, no," Financier responded. "She's refused to see any visitors today because she's in another one of her moods. Although, given how she was badly injured by enemies she wouldn't tell me about, I can't exactly blame her."
"Well, what if we said it was an urgent matter?" Nisa inquired.
Financier shook her head. "She said no exceptions. I'm truly sorry you came all this way out here for nothing but there's nothing I can do."
"Hey, no worries. No use cryin' over spilt hot chocolate, after all. Still, since we came all the way out here in this cold, can you tell us about the story of happy Blanc, please?" Neptune asked.
"You know her name?" the Chamberlain exclaimed in surprise. "How- oh right, you know her." She then let out a small chuckle. "So you've heard about that one, eh? Alright then, it all started one day when the weather was colder than normal. There was even a snowstorm!"
"Thank you but we're rather busy," Jacob interrupted.
"No we're not!" argued Neptune. "I wanna hear the story!"
Jacob groaned. "Neptune, can I take you aside for a bit?"
"Hmph. Fine." Neptune moodily followed Jacob as they walked away from the somewhat confused group before stopping several metres away. "What is it? Tales don't tell themselves, you know," she said with crossed arms.
"Do you want me to sing to myself?" Compa called.
"No thank you! We're fine!" Jacob called back before facing Neptune again. "Now, Neptune, I have an idea on how to lure out Blanc. If we can't get inside the Basilicom, we'll just get Blanc to get out of it."
Neptune's surprise completely replaced her previous irritation. "Whoa, really? What is it?"
"How about we gather the others? We're going to head to the forest for this and I'd rather not explain this twice."
"Sure thing. I hate it when I tell Iffy to pick up chocolate pudding from the store and she never does it."
"Not the same thing, Neptune."
The two of them returned to the party shortly after. "Alright ladies, we're going back into the forest," Neptune ordered.
"And why would we do that?" IF responded, completely deadpan.
"Because there's something we just gotta do there! Jacob's got an idea, you know."
"Well, that explains it." IF turned to the other party members. "You heard her. We're leaving."
"Aw, I wanted to hear the story..." Compa complained.
"We'll have plenty of opportunities in the future to hear it," said Jacob. "We can just come around another day. This, on the other hand, can't wait. Now let's go."
Jacob led the party through the snow-covered forest that surrounded the Basilicom. It wasn't part of Dis Snow Forest so there were no monsters here. At least, that's what he guessed. He still had yet to figure out the fine details of the mechanics of this world.
"So what's this brilliant idea of yours?" asked IF as the party walked between the forest's trees.
"Elementary, my dear IF," responded Jacob.
"Lame."
"Shut up. Anyway, seeing as we can't get access to Blanc, we're going to lure her out to us."
"How- ah!" Compa tripped on a tree root but managed to not fall. "Sorry. How are you going to do that?"
"First, we need to find a clearing."
"You mean like this one?" said Nisa, causing the rest of the party to turn their attention to a snow-covered glade to their right. Being a mostly empty space a bit more than ten metres wide, it was exactly what Jacob was looking for.
"Yeah, that's right. Thanks." Jacob walked into the clearing. "Everyone, take cover behind the trees. What I want to do is draw out Blanc for a quick chat and I think it'll go better if I'm the only one here."
"So why bring us?" Gust inquired.
"She's a CPU with a temper. I want a contingency in place just in case she decides I'd make a good stress ball person." Jacob rotated his wrists before lifting himself into the air. "Now, stay low and make sure you're not seen. Here's where I lure her in..."
After the party left Entremets, the Chamberlain let out a disappointed sigh and went back inside. She was looking forward to sharing the story of her favourite day of work and then they had to say their farewells and leave. Still, there was work to be done, boring though it was, and it wasn't going to do itself. At least, not without the proper spell. She started by going to the library of monster and dungeon info to the left of the Basilicom's entrance. She didn't expect to find her CPU there, taking a book off the shelf.
"Lady White Heart, what are you doing here?" Financier asked in surprise.
"... Getting the book I asked you to get me," Blanc responded with her usual quiet voice. "What the hell kept you?"
The silhouette remembered how Blanc had less than favourable feelings for the party that was just at their door. "N-Nothing. It's entirely my fault, my lady," she lied. "So what do you intend on doing with that book?"
Blanc had already opened the book and was reading it while she walked towards her room with Financier following close behind her. "I need to do some research."
"May I ask on what?"
"No." Blanc opened the door to her room and went inside. "I want to be left alone."
"... Understood."
Blanc's Chamberlain shut the door, leaving her alone with her book. Blanc lied down on her crimson rug before flicking through her pages until she got to a section titled 'Dragons'. She went over the pages one by one, reading every description and analysing every picture as she came across them, but every turned page only made her irritated mood even worse. "... Why can't I find it?"
Then, completely from out of nowhere, a red glow from outside covered the room. Blanc instantly turned to look out the glass dome and saw a large red laser streaking through the sky for a few moments before fading away. Even though it was present for only a few seconds, Blanc recognised the attack immediately. Without wasting any time, Blanc headed out of the door in her chambers that lead to outside the Basilicom and transformed. With her flight, she rose into the air and surveyed her surroundings. She knew where the attack travelled from so she looked in that direction but she couldn't find anything out of place.
"I know you're here, asshole..." White Heart said, more to herself than anyone else. "Now where are you?"
Her question was answered by another wide laser shooting directly upwards from a point in the forest she could see clearly. White Heart narrowed her eyes and flew in that direction.
"Jacob, what was that?" asked IF with disapproval. "I think the entire world knows we're here now!"
"Doesn't matter," Jacob responded as he stood in the middle of the clearing. "I think she's coming. Hide."
Right after the girls made sure they were concealed by the trees, Lowee's CPU herself floated down directly in front of him. "Hi Blanc," Jacob greeted casually. "Good to see you got the message."
"You have some nerve to call me out like that," White Heart returned.
"It was the only way I could think of to get you out here."
"What do you want?" White Heart snapped, even more agitated.
Jacob wasn't fazed at all. "I want to know the history behind you and Neptune."
"What do you want to know that you don't already? We're fighting so that one of us will become the True Goddess."
"Yeah, that's the thing, see. From that last fight we had, I got the impression there's something more, something bubbling under the surface. If you ask me, it seems like you have more personal reasons for wanting to get at Neptune. Want to talk about it?"
The CPU narrowed her red eyes at him. "... How about I ask you a question? Why, exactly, are you travelling with her?"
"I told you. We're going around the landmasses and getting Key Fragments to save the world."
"You're a human. You don't need to get involved in our affairs."
"I've got nothing better to do."
White Heart exhaled slightly in an attempt to calm herself. "... Fine. Assuming this quest of yours isn't a massive goose chase, why are you travelling with Neptune?"
"Firstly, she's the one who got me involved in all this to begin with. Secondly, she's the only one that Histoire can talk to telepathically so, if she wants to send an urgent message, we need Neptune otherwise we're screwed."
"But you know about the Key Fragments now. Why don't you get another goddess to help you find them?"
"We've already tried that. Twice. Both times, we got rejected and nearly killed."
"You really think we'd trust Neptune of all people? The only reason the people on her landmass haven't jumped ship is because they haven't seen how unreliable she is."
Jacob's eyes narrowed. "At the very least, she's going landmass hopping to find the MacGuffins. What are you doing to stop Momus?"
IF and Gust glanced nervously at each other.
A spark of rage flashed in the eyes of White Heart. "You're seriously calling Neptune a worker? She's a joke! All she ever does sit on her ass all day and play video games, waiting for her problems to unscrew themselves!"
"Funny you mention that," started Jacob with his arms crossed and a very neutral expression on his face, "since she's the one who's going outdoors to solve problems while you're the one sitting in your Basilicom doing whatever you do, hoping your scowl scares the problem away."
"Oh, screw you!" With a mighty pull, White Heart yanked her massive axe out of its pocket dimension and held it by its two separate handles. "You really think she's the best goddess? Even Vert actually gets more crap done than she does!"
Jacob rotated his wrists and then clenched his fists. With an intrepid face, he then put his hands up in a fighting stance. "I don't know about you but I don't think a good goddess completely flies off the handle at the slightest bit of criticism."
Absolutely livid, White Heart's grip tightened on her weapon. "Do you have a death wish, you asshole?!"
Jacob sighed. "Look, I don't want to fight. all I want to know is why you hate Neptune so much."
"Because she's a useless fat-ass! When she isn't playing video games, she's always going on about how she's the best. She's full of crap and she never ever does a thing for her landmass! To her, it's all fun and games so that she can be adored! She doesn't give a shit about Planeptune!"
"You know, at the very least, she helps. Yeah, it's not always for the right reasons but she's a kind person who helps out those in need. Same goes for Noire, somewhat. You, on the other hand, refuse to help others due to petty grudges and you get angry when someone calls you out on your bulldust."
"You bastard..." White Heart snarled as the two of them began strafing slowly around each other in the clearing. "You have no right to say that. What do you know? You're just a human. You have no idea what being a goddess is like. You couldn't even imagine it."
"But I'm right, aren't I?"
White Heart stopped. So did Jacob. Jacob braced himself, ready to take whatever fury-fuelled force White Heart would unleash on him.
Surprisingly, White Heart exhaled and closed her eyes. "I've always said that we should never involve humans in CPU matters..." But then her eyes opened, resolution burning inside them as she readied her axe, "... but you brought this on yourself."
Jacob, with his narrowed eyes, merely gestured with his left index and middle fingers for her to bring it on, which she did with abandon. Noire was not exaggerating when she said that, while slow by a CPU's standards, White Heart was nothing if not a mobile threat, as shown by how she dashed forward and swung her axe horizontally. However, Jacob saw this coming. With perfect timing, he ducked under the axe and jabbed White Heart's exposed torso, bending White Heart over so that he could unleash an uppercut on White Heart's head, sending her stumbling backwards. Jacob then followed up the assault with five force balls for good measure, all but one hitting her torso.
When she finally recovered from the unexpected assault, she looked at Jacob, dumbfounded by how he managed to get a solid hit in. Jacob's response was a cocky smirk and the punching of his right fist into his left palm three times before he got back into his stance.
Snarling, White Heart slammed her axe into the ground, piercing it and making it hold her weapon for her, and charged at him before he could stop being confused about why she disarmed herself. Regardless, he still had enough of his wits about him to jump backwards to dodge her left jab and distance himself from her even further by flying back and up into the air. He wasted no time in shooting three energy balls at her, which she dodged by flying to the right. She retaliated by pulling out her handgun and shooting three bullets at him, which he blocked with his energy shield. Quickly, he descended to the ground and fired a Wide Roar at White Heart as soon as his feet touched the snow. The CPU didn't expect this and she defensively crossed her arms in front of her out of reflex even though it didn't protect her as the massive laser engulfed her. White Heart floated out of the attack coincidentally just as Jacob cancelled it, giving him enough time to notice her and put up another large shield as White Heart zoomed towards him and double-kicked his shield hard. While the kick never hit him directly, the impact still sent him flying off the ground nonetheless and into a nearby tree.
Jacob grunted in pain on impact. Once he fell to the ground face first, White Heart flew over his body, grabbed the back of his head and his jetpack and quickly drove him through the snow. After about ten seconds of this, she lifted him out of the snow and quickly flew up into the air with him. At a certain point, she stopped going upwards and grabbed him by the chin before flipping around. Once she was holding him in a fireman's carry with his back over her shoulders, she rapidly dropped feet-first towards the ground. Realising the danger, Jacob desperately activated his jetpack, causing the two of then to spin out of control mid-fall. Unfortunately, this only resulted in Jacob's back hitting the snow-covered ground while White Heart was completely unharmed.
White Heart stood up while Jacob just lied on his back. Looking around, she found her axe still embedded into the ground a short distance away. It took her about five seconds to fly over to it, take it out of the ground and fly back to her opponent. He had rolled himself over and was about to try and push himself off the ground when White Heart kicked him onto his back. As he looked at her, half angry and half frightened, she lowered the blade of her axe over him.
"... Who are you?" she asked, plain and simple.
"Huh...?" Jacob just had the wind knocked out of him so he couldn't say much.
"You're... different from us. The way you look, the way you talk... Are you even human?"
"I'm... as human as they come..." Jacob groaned.
White Heart was only annoyed even further. However, before she could press him for more information, a large magic circle appeared at the side of her. It didn't escape her or Jacob's notice.
"Not aga-"
"Musical Words!"
Once again, a magic beam shot through White Heart before explosive sound waves rocked White Heart's body and sent her flying back. Once again, a weird green-and-blue-ish dust substance was kicked up by the attack but it only disappeared. With White Heart having left Jacob's side, the spell-casting alchemist ran up to take her place.
"Jacob, are you okay?" Gust asked with concern.
"Just catching my breath..." Jacob pulled out a bottle of reflex and ingested its contents.
She looked at him sternly. "Why aren't you winning? You should be higher level than her."
Jacob grunted as he pushed himself up and off the ground. "Gust... there's something about me you don't know..."
Gust looked up at him with narrow, suspicious eyes. "What?"
"I really don't think this is the time, sorry..."
Jacob saw White Heart float into view with her axe at her side. She saw them as well and gripped her axe again with one hand on each grip. "... You again," she said with her gaze locked onto Gust.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Jacob began. "What exactly happened between you two? Something about anti-depressants?"
"None of your business!" White Heart roared. "Just roll over and die already!" She rushed towards the two of them and brought her axe straight down on them. The two of them dodged to the side and separated from each other, putting themselves on either side of the CPU. She lifted her axe and moved her body towards Jacob but, before she could close the distance between them, Nisa sprung out from the bushes without warning and delivered a flying kick right to White Heart's face. White Heart was knocked to the ground while Nisa fell with her. As White Heart collided with the snow in great pain, Nisa rolled when she landed and got back up again in no time.
"The hell...?" White Heart grunted as she held the back of her neck with her left hand while standing up to look at the heroine.
White Heart then found herself being pointed at by an overly-dramatic Nisa. "Did you honestly believe you would be fighting my student and our alchemist alone? Ha!" The heroine then pulled out her penguin-shaped gun and extended its energy blade. "I won't let you harm my comrades!"
"So there's three of you now..." White Heart muttered.
"Not quite." White Heart quickly turned towards the source of the voice and saw Purple Heart. From the bushes, IF and Compa also stepped out. Planeptune's transformed CPU did not look very happy at all and she held her purple katana like she was barely holding back from using it. "I'm here as well."
"... What do you want? Why can't you all just piss off?!" White Heart shouted.
"Because we need something," Purple Heart answered. "I want to know what your problem with me is, too. I didn't believe at first that you were hostile at me for reasons beyond wishing to obtain the title of True Goddess for yourself but, after listening to your exchange with Jacob, I find myself curious."
"And why should I tell you?"
"Because I want to know."
"Well, I'm not telling you!" White Heart readied her axe. "Shut up and fight me already!"
"... Fight you?" As Purple Heart's posture relaxed, a purple fire covered her blade. "I don't think so." Her other hand gripped her sword's handle and the other party members stepped back.
"I'm going to destroy you."
And then Purple Heart zoomed right through her opponent.
"AARGH!" screamed White Heart in pain as she was cut through.
Purple Heart zoomed again to another side of White Heart.
"ARGH!"
And again.
"ARGH!"
For every attack Purple Heart landed, a pained cry could be heard from White Heart. After nine more slashes, Purple Heart then executed her finisher: a downwards slash that ended with an explosion."
"AAAARGH!"
Neptune Break had concluded. White Heart was now against the ground, barely able to muster the strength to move. Purple Heart stood a short distance away from her, facing away with her sword at her side.
"Blanc, you cannot hope to win," said Purple Heart. "Even if it were just between me and you, I am of a higher level than you. If you still think you can defeat me, you are sorely mistaken."
White Heart coughed as she forced herself away from the ground. "You arrogant bitch... I swear... I will kill you... and become the True Goddess."
IF sighed. "Let's go. We're wasting our time here."
"But what about the dungeons?" Compa asked.
IF stopped in her tracks. "... Crap. I completely forgot about that."
"Can't we just use DungleMaps?" asked Jacob.
"Gust was just about to say that," said the alchemist.
"..." After a moment of silence, IF slapped her forehead and dragged her hand down her face. "I can't believe I forgot about that, too... Alright, let's just go."
"Don't... you... leave..." mumbled Lowee's CPU, too softly to be heard by the party. This didn't matter so much to her as she was exerting herself trying to stand up.
After strenuously trying to push herself off from the ground, she managed to get into a position where she could pierce the ground with her axe and use it as a pole of support. Holding on to it, she managed to lift up her left leg and plant her foot on the ground so that she was now in a kneeling position. Finally, pushing up from the axe, she now stood upright. Still supporting herself with her axe's shaft, she looked over at her adversaries.
They were no longer there.
"..." The HDD deactivated, thanks to the many injuries that the form had suffered. Blanc sank to her knees, tired from the battle and the knowledge that it ended in her defeat. "Damn... it..."
Financier was a little bit worried. After she saw a red glow in the sky, her first thought after a moment or two was to go and find Lady White Heart and inform her of the abnormality. She only got worried once she reached her goddess' room and found that her goddess wasn't inside it. However, she managed to calm herself down, if only slightly. After all, this wasn't the first time her lady had disappeared for no apparent reason. She returned every time, too, and no worse for wear. Well, apart from yesterday but that was the only scenario of its kind.
To prepare for her lady's inevitable return, The Chamberlain decided to clean up the Basilicom a bit. She was cleaning the main foyer when Blanc opened the doors. Financier looked at her and dropped her broom in shock.
"Lady White Heart!" she shouted in concern as she rushed to Blanc. "What happened to you?"
Blanc was bracing herself against the door. She had no visible injuries in this form but she was still in great pain, much like yesterday. "Reflex... now..."
"Of course, my lady." Financier wrapped an arm behind Blanc and underneath her arm to hold her up. "Steady yourself, now. Don't overexert yourself."
When the two of them finally reached Entremet's first aid room – a small white room with a medical couch, a sink mounted on top of a cabinet, a long, twisted seashell with a small white pearl on the end and a red cushion underneath it, a thick, leather book with a jar next to it containing a long, thin feather, and a row of cabinets with clear windowed doors containing a variety of bottles and containers – Blanc was laid down on the medical couch by her Chamberlain who then made haste over to the upper cabinets. She pulled out a green bottle of Reflex and took it back to her lady. "Can you drink this?"
"Yeah..." Blanc took the bottle offered to her and drank its contents. She sighed in relief as she felt the extraordinary liquid ease her pain, slowly but surely healing the injuries she had suffered while transformed. Her arms hung over the sides of the couch, her right still holding onto the bottle.
Financier hesitated before she spoke. "Um... my lady, what happened?"
"None of your business," Blanc replied, not even looking at her assistant.
Financier sighed, steeling herself to ask another question. "... Did it involve that Overlord?"
Blanc's eyes narrowed and her grip on the bottle tightened. "No. The Overlord isn't here."
"Then why are you so injured? What attacked you?" Financier asked, losing her hesitation in her concern.
"Financier, drop it," Blanc warned with bubbling anger. "It doesn't concern you."
The Chamberlain retrieved the bottle from Blanc's hand. "... It's my job to worry about your health, my lady."
"Then you're on break because I'm fine." Blanc tried to push herself up from her seat but her pain prevented her from doing so.
"Lady White Heart, please stay down!" Financier urged as she held onto Blanc's shoulder to calmly lie her down again. "You have to take it easy. You can't defend the landmass in this state."
"I am Lowee's CPU!" Blanc snapped, scaring Financier into taking a couple of steps back. "I can defend my landmass whenever I damn well want! Hell, I can defend the entire world!"
"I-I know that, my lady..." the Chamberlain stuttered. "B-But can you at l-least take a rest? I'll even prepare some tangerines for you to help you recover."
Blanc let out a large breath and calmed herself down. "... Fine. At least take me back to my room, though, and make sure no one disturbs me unless I call for them."
Financier approached her lady and sighed. "Understood." She helped Blanc to her feet and, together, the two of them exited the first aid room.
Getting back to the main landmass from the Entremets island proved to be quite uneventful for the party. It was slightly less eventful than leaving the tower dungeon as, while they did eagerly hop in the warm gondola car once they got to it and then reluctantly get out of it once it reached its destination, they never repeated the first step of reluctantly exiting a dungeon to meet the cold Lowee air.
"Well, that didn't help much," said IF. "It helped even less than last time."
"I'm sorry about that," Jacob apologised. "I honestly thought I could do it."
"You know, I'd normally say for you not to beat yourself up over it and that these things happen..." IF took a breath, "... but, this time, it's your fault. You blew it."
"IF! That is a needlessly cruel thing to say!" Nisa chastised.
"Well, he did." IF turned back to Jacob. "You had an opportunity to learn more about her but you were too confrontational. Instead of trying to calm her down or be reasonable, you egged her on."
Jacob didn't look at IF. He looked to the side, clearly disappointed in himself.
IF felt a bit of pity and her gaze softened. "Look, she makes me mad as well. I understand she's tough to talk to but you've got to stay calm. You're not going to win her over by calling her lazy and worse than Neptune."
Jacob sighed. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Gust would do it but White Heart not happy. Bad idea," said Gust.
"Wasn't even going to think about it," responded IF.
Nisa looked at Jacob. "Jacob, how are you feeling? Are you still injured?"
"I'm fine. A little bit sore and I feel a bit weird from being dragged in the snow but I'm okay. Why?" responded her student.
"Then I believe we should train a bit more. Nothing major, given your last battle, but something basic to keep your strength up. Are you okay with that?"
Jacob shrugged. "Yeah, why not? Let's go."
"I'll go with you," Compa offered. "If you hurt yourself, I'll treat your injuries."
"Thank you, Compa," said Nisa. "We very much appreciate your assistance."
Before Nisa, Compa and Jacob could turn and walk away, however, Gust spoke up. "Wait."
The trio turned back to the alchemist, as did IF and Neptune. "What's wrong?" Nisa asked.
Gust looked at Jacob. "You never answered before. Why did you lose?"
Once more, a tense atmosphere surrounded the party. "Gust..." Jacob started hesitantly, "there's something we haven't told you. The reason for that is... this is big stuff. I keep it on a need-to-know basis and, well, no one really needs to know. In the whole scheme of things, it doesn't matter."
"Gust wants to know anyway."
Jacob let out a reluctant sigh. "Alright, fine..."
"You know, we need a voice recorder," said IF from completely out of nowhere. "We've already explained this about three times by my count and who knows how many other party members are going to hear this once Jacob asks them to join us five seconds after meeting them?"
In Gust's eyes, a familiar twinkle of confidence shone. "Funny you say that..." Then, from seemingly nowhere once more, Gust pulled out a small white rabbit-shaped remote device and held it in her massive glove, "... for Gust has one right here!"
The party looked at the alchemist with surprise. "What were you carrying that around for?" Compa inquired.
"Personal reasons," responded Gust with a sly smile and a dishonest look. "Now, since voice recorder is present..." Gust pressed a button, "... and recording, speak to heart's content."
"Alright, gotcha." Jacob took the recorder out of Gust's outstretched hand. "Alright, this is Jacob speaking. As you've probably noticed, I am... different from other people. This-"
Click! Beeep. Beeep. Beeep.
A look of immense confusion crossed Jacob's face as the recorder was held in front of his mouth. He looked at it directly but, no matter how hard he analysed the white device or the red light blinking in time with that annoying beep or how much he rotated it in his hand, one question stayed in his mind. "... What happened?"
"Oh, sorry," Gust apologised as she held out her hand. "Message longer than expected. Recorder cannot hold."
"It cannot hold- that wasn't even ten seconds of speech!" Jacob shouted.
"Gust sorry for wasting some. Military grade audio log. Gust managed to acquire device one time in Lastation and improved it. Now it can record up to eleven seconds of speech." Gust held out her hand to get her device back.
"That's... not..." Jacob facepalmed again before returning the recorder to her. "Something like that should be able to record at least half an hour."
"Says who?"
"Says... Never mind. I'm just going to have to say this every time someone asks, then." Jacob straightened his posture. "Gust... I'm from another world."
Gust's eyes opened wide. "Really?"
"Yes, really. Neptune ended up in my world for some reason and we managed to find a way to Gamindustri. I'm mainly travelling with Neptune so that she can help me find a way back home."
"Hm..." Gust scratched her chin as she studied the male of the group. "That may explain it..."
"Explain what?" Compa inquired.
"Jacob's weakness," Gust answered the nurse. "In Gamindustri, fight to get EXP and level up. However, Jacob is from other world. Jacob, do you level up in other world?"
"No," the male answered. "We get stronger through exercise, practice and health eating."
"There you go," Gust addressed the rest of the party, clasping her hands together and smiling. "Jacob's world not have EXP system. If Jacob not level up there, he not level up here."
"Wait, hold on," IF spoke up. "Are you saying that Jacob is essentially stuck at level one forever?"
"More like level zero."
"Oh, Jake..." Compa said to him with a great deal of concern and pity.
Neptune, however, didn't have the same feelings of sympathy that Compa regarded Jacob with. "... So what?"
"What do you mean 'so what'?" IF asked, getting a bit angry. "Jacob can't level up. He's never going to get stronger!"
"What are you talking about? He's getting stronger all the time!" Neptune countered. "Sure, he doesn't level up but he managed to back Blanc into a corner."
"Until she beat the stuffing out of him."
"Well, she did but at least he hit her."
"And he barely inflicted enough damage to take out a Pixelvader."
"So?" Neptune placed her hands on her hips and found herself face to face with the taller brunette. "That's still better than how he started out. He's levelling up in his own special way. Sure, his EXP Next To is always up in the wazoo but he's climbing that candy mountain one gummy bear at a time and that's good enough for me as long as he throws lollipops down every now and again."
"And that's what my training is helping him do, is it not?" said Nisa as she enthusiastically gestured at herself with her thumb. "EXP or no, Jacob is steadily improving and I intend to improve him even further still!"
IF turned to the heroine, ready to unleash an irritated argument. However, she found her irritation draining anyway. "... You know what? I don't care. Have fun. I'm going to restock on supplies." Tired, she turned to the alchemist. "Gust, want to come with me?"
"Sure," Gust responded.
Neptune had an idea and, with a sly smile, ran up to IF and Gust as they walked away. "Oh Gusty, my bestest friend in the whole wide world, let's go cake shopping afterwards. Sparky and Nisa-"
"Please, for the love of all things holy, stop calling me that."
"- are gonna work themselves up an appetite. It's only fair that they fill their tummies when they get back, doncha think?"
"That is a fantastic idea, Neptune," responded IF, completely deadpan. "By all means, we should get them a cake that you will not touch ever."
"I know, right?" The sarcastic accusation flew right over the CPU's head. "Also, while we're there, can we get a cake for me?"
"... Oh, you were actually being honest." IF was genuinely surprised. "Well, um... sure, I guess?"
Gust sighed, although she seemed rather happy. "Gust chose good party."
Sorry about the short fight but it's the best I could do under the circumstances of having five other people in backup against White Heart.
See you all next time in Chapter 23: Name Pending my Approval.