Another... two weeks, surprisingly. Have another chapter of Hyperdimension Neptunia is Real!.

Saturn56: How should I know? Oh wait, I'm the author. Well, like a magician, I never reveal my secrets so there.

SS7x3: I'd add more scenes but they'd contribute nothing to the overarching plot. The party can't do anything at this rate except for wait for windows of opportunity to show up. And the chapter may be missing about 1,500 words.

Eisenfaust: I'd say normal is harder but you must remember that Purple Heart has all of Neptune's air-headed nature and confidence but presented through a steel filter, alrighty, we'll find out about that, remember to stay pessimistic, neither can I but for completely different reasons than everyone else here. Those actions will probably never happen as Jacob is more sarcastic and reserved than Kamina but I guarantee that you will be surprised.

SVK9: Thanks! Eh... that doesn't seem too useful, actually; most of the enemies here use physical attacks. As for that last point, well, that's a first. I'd probably be killed if I tried that, though.

And let's get this show on the road-

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!

Get this: my fanfic actually has fanart now! No, I'm not kidding; if you go on deviantArt and look up Neptunia Jacob, you'll find a picture of my self-insert. I, of course, love it. If any of you are having trouble visualising everyone's favourite snarker, you know where to look. By the way, also look up HN scribblez.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah:

Chapter 26: Leaves

The next night, the party left for the Basilicom. They chatted amongst each other as they briskly walked down the lonely dirt path, surrounded on both sides by vast amounts of meadow that stretched out far towards the distant mountains.

"This is gonna be so awesome!" Neptune declared as she punched up into the air with both fists. "We're gonna eat, then we're gonna dance, then we're gonna eat again and Vert's gonna give us all handshakes and medals!"

"Are we really dressed appropriately, though?" Compa asked as she delicately tugged on her plaid skirt. "I think we should've worn something other than our normal clothes."

"Don't worry. Gust has been to parties before and dress code unimportant," Gust assured.

"Besides, we were invited by Lady Green Heart herself," added IF with a smile. "No one's going to give us grief."

"Someone's happy," Jacob noted with a grin.

"Look who's talking."

"We're all happy!" exclaimed Nisa. "Our plotless days will see their end tonight! Not only have we been invited to a party, it's being held by Lady Green Heart, who has not decided to meet us in a dungeon and kill us off, at least not yet!"

"Don't the CPUs typically meet us first before trying to kill us?" asked Jacob.

"Now don't you spoil the mood," countered Nisa with a dismissive wave of her hand.

The party came across the gondola and hopped in it one by one. It carried them over to the Basilicom's island slowly and calmly but, when it arrived at its destination, they couldn't exit the transport faster. After navigating the usual Basilicom-surrounding forest, the party ended up at the doors.

The guarding Sanctified, when he saw them, might have smiled wide. "Ah, hello! We've been expecting you!" he greeted. "Please, allow me to escort you to the Red Ring Table."

The silhouette opened the door to allow the party inside. He then lead the party through the Basilicom, down through a series of plainly decorated corridors until they came across a pair of finely crafted wooden doors with golden handles. When the doors were opened, he quickly moved to the side to allow the party to see the room and give them space to be surprised. The room they were invited was massive, if somewhat bare bones. The walls were white and had square golden floral patterns framing their large rectangular panels. At the middle of the furthest wall rested a set of ten red elevated steps that led to a red-cushioned golden throne, flanked on either side by a ribbed white column. Behind the throne was a giant blue wall panel framed in gold.

The real attraction for the party was the Red Ring Table. True to its name, it took the shape of a red ring where the red was a design on the top that was split into quarters, three of which were red and one of which was maroon. In the centre of the hollow space that the table surrounded was a green power symbol. The underneath of the table and its legs were black. The legs, with neon green lines on the side of them that ran up and along the table's underneath, were straight and ended in a circular foot. Even though the room was mostly devoid of ornaments and decorations, the table made up for it due to its size and the food resting on top of it.

Compa's hands cupped her nose and mouth as she looked around, her eyes wide so as to take in all the imagery. "I can hardly believe it! Basilicoms actually have rooms this big! It's amazing!"

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Hey, is it just me or is this Basilicom looking bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?"

IF nudged him with his elbow. "Don't spoil it."

"Sis..." Neptune droned through her drooling mouth, tugging on Nisa's sleeve as she looked at the massive quantities of the extensive varieties of foods presented. From reflective apples to ripe bananas, from crisp biscuits to bread sticks, from chicken drumsticks to garlic bread and even from ice creams to dark, milk and white chocolates, the Red Ring Table had it all. "I will eat all of that and there is no force in the world that is going to stop me."

"I will join you on that quest," Nisa replied, drooling only slightly less than Neptune.

IF, however, was not seduced by the decadent treats. Her focus was expanded to the entire room. "I can't see the CPU amongst all these commoners..." she complained in regards to the massive number of silhouettes also attending this party, chatting with friends or drinking fine wine or eating the food. "Can anyone else see her?"

"No, sorry," answered Jacob as he looked around the room, using his height to his advantage. "Thankfully, we don't have to worry about traps here. I doubt she'll try anything with all these civilians around."

IF sighed. "That's a relief. Not the part about not finding Vert, I mean. I'm going to look around for her."

"I'll go with you," Jacob offered.

"No, I'll be fine. Make sure Neptune and Compa don't get lost," IF instructed before moving through the masses.

Gust came up to Jacob's side. "Let's follow anyway. Good friends ignore each other."

Jacob smiled before he and Gust walked off in pursuit of IF.

Neptune watched them leave with a bundle of twenty bread sticks in her mouth. She was quick in biting through all of them and swallowing the combined mush. "Wow, even in fancy parties, all they do is work..." She then turned back to Nisa. "We should do that, too! This place is like a Tavern mkII; there's gotta be at least one person here who knows about the Key Fragment! Can you see anyone who might look important?"

"I 'il 'oo 'ae 'eh!" Nisa swallowed her bananas. "I apologise, I meant to say that I will do my best!" She then searched the crowd with a flat hand above her eyes. "Aha! That man looks rich and knowledgeable! Let us interrogate him!"

"And away we goooo!" Neptune took Nisa's sleeve in her hand and walked to the man in question.

At the same time, Compa feebly raised a hand in Neptune's direction but couldn't summon the strength to call out to her. "N-Nep-Nep..." she whimpered. "You left me alone..." Compa raised her hands to her eyes as tears began to form. However, she managed to summon the strength to stop herself. "N-No..." she sniffed. "I-I can do this too... I j-just need to find someone..."

Compa then looked around the room for someone to talk to, someone who might have knowledge of the Key Fragment. Her eyes widened when they landed on one figure; a teenage boy that stood out among the rest like a golden rocket launcher in a barn. She walked up to him slowly while he was currently stuffing his face full of food. "E-Excuse me, s-sir..."

The teen, around maybe seventeen years of age, suddenly stood up and quickly swallowed his food as he sharply turned to look at Compa. He wore a navy blue hoodie over a shirt with a chroma bars decal on the front and he wore two fingerless gloves, one of which bearing a symbol that Compa didn't recognise. His loose black pants were suspended by a chain acting as a belt and a padlock for a buckle and his red-and-black sneakers had yellow laces. "S-Sorry, you caught me by surprise," he answered. "Can I help you with anything?"

Compa cleared her throat. "Y-Yes... I was wondering if you've ever heard of an item called a Key Fragment."

The male looked away from the nurse and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, no I haven't. Sorry."

"Are you sure?" Compa insisted. "It's really important to us."

"I'm sorry but I've never heard of a Key Fragment. Do you need it for something?"

"Yes. I'm part of a party that's travelling around the landmasses to find the Key Fragments and save the world." Dwelling on the memories of her journey, excitement filled her body once more. It made Compa giggle slightly. "It's actually a lot of fun. We go on adventures, go to dungeons, beat up monsters and solve mysteries. It's just like a video game."

The boy's eyes widened. "Oh, really? You're an adventurer?" He then averted his gaze again, never making direct eye contact with the nurse. "I didn't really get that impression."

The nurse smiled. "I'm Compa."

"Oh, I'm, uh... Chris."

"So what about you, Chris? Do you travel?"

"Yeah I do, actually," he replied, making eye contact for once. "I'm... well, it's business."

"Oh? What kind of business? Are you a travelling salesman?" Compa asked while tilting her head.

That got a snigger out of Chris. "God no. I'm terrible with speaking to people. If I tried to sell anything to them, I'd probably be giving them money."

Both of them laughed lightly. With the ice broken between them, they relaxed their postures. "So what do you do?" Compa asked again.

"To be honest, I'd rather not say. I'm travelling with some friends around the landmasses and that's all I'll say. Apart from that it's not as fun as I imagine hunting monsters would be."

"It's not fun all the time."

"Of course. Getting hurt's never fun." Chris ate another bread stick. "Damn, these things are good."

Jacob and Gust followed IF through the crowd as she looked this way and that for Green Heart. They knew that she'd be annoyed if she found them tailing her so they made sure to keep their distance.

Both of them were surprised when Yvoire stepped up to IF once she became relatively isolated from everyone else. "Excuse me, young Miss IF. I'm Leanbox's Archbishop, Yvoire."

IF simply crossed her arms. "Oh, hi. Sorry, I almost thought you were the Sanctified for a moment. Hey, is Green Heart around?"

"I am afraid she may not be able to attend tonight's banquet," Yvoire answered. "Her duties in Celestia keep her most occupied."

"What?" Gust whispered loudly enough for Jacob to hear. "Come on, Green Heart is why we attended party."

"He's lying," Jacob answered, gazing at Yvoire with narrowed eyes.

"Huh?"

"The CPUs all descended to Gamindustri when Momus attacked Celestia. If Vert's anywhere, she's here. IF knows it, too."

Gust blinked twice before looking back at IF and Yvoire. "Then... why would he lie?"

"I haven't a clue. Maybe he'll spill something."

IF raised an eyebrow. If she knew that Yvoire's claim was rubbish, she didn't let it show. "Really? Well, that's too bad. I was really looking forward to meeting her."

Yvoire nodded. "As her right hand man, it pleases me to hear that she has more followers... even if they are Guild Moderatists."

IF's eyes suddenly widened.

"IF's a Guild Moderatist?" Gust repeated in a whisper. "That... That..."

"Was completely expected?" Jacob added.

"Exactly. Not surprising twist."

"... You ran a background check on me?" IF asked. "Th-That's an invasion of privacy."

"I apologise but it was necessary. We had suspicions about you and your companions and we couldn't let them go unchecked." The Archbishop then stroked his chin. "You seem nervous. Would you like to continue this discussion outside? Perhaps some fresh air will do your disposition some good."

After a moment of hesitation, IF walked with Yvoire to the front doors of the Basilicom. Gust and Jacob sneakily followed behind them.

IF and Yvoire exited the Basilicom and walked a short distance away. The Moderatist turned to face the Archbishop with crossed arms and a frown. Any other night, she would've taken in the lights shining through the stained glass windows of the Basilicom with mild traces of wonder and amusement. Tonight, however, she was focused on the man in front of her.

"Make this quick. I don't like to leave my party alone for too long," IF snapped.

Yvoire paced back and forth. "Ten years ago, heretics banded together and forsook their CPUs for Lady White Heart. Known as the Guild, they then fled to Lowee. This took place after our Basilicom's purge. News from Lowee informs me that the Extremists are really giving the Basilicoms a hard time. I wonder how White Heart is coping with it all?"

Jacob and Gust were listening to the whole discussion behind the Basilicom doors, both of them positioned on opposite sides. Thankfully, IF and Yvoire forgot to shut them, leaving a small gap through which the duo could hear their debate. "You know," Jacob began saying to the alchemist, "I still don't get why the Guild members would be roughing up Blanc. I mean, they worship her and they specifically fled to Lowee. Why would the Extremists be attacking them?"

"Hush," Gush answered, causing Jacob to pout.

IF narrowed her eyes at the Archbishop. "... You're every bit as bigoted as I've heard you were. People are allowed to believe in whoever they want to believe. No one, least of all you, has the right to tell anyone who they can worship, what they can do, what they want to do or anything else. Those are their choices to make. People are allowed to do whatever they want with their freedom."

"These heathens were born on Leanbox and they refuse to acknowledge Lady Green Heart! How does that make any kind of logical sense to you?!" Yvoire shouted. "Our Lady protects and blesses us! They should be thankful!"

"You're supposed to protect them, too! Instead, you tried to commit genocide and play it off as a righteous thing to do! And you know what the best part is? It didn't work! Now the Guild is in Lowee!"

"Where their true goddess lives," Jacob muttered.

"Their what?" Gust asked.

"I meant the goddess they worship."

"Ah."

Yvoire turned his head. Neither Jacob nor Gust could see if disgust was evident on his face. "... Enough about other lands. What matters is the here and now."

"Like the opportunity to kill me?" IF accused. "You call a Guild member out into the open like this far from everyone else. It's the logical thing to do."

Jacob and Gust prepared their weapons and tensed, ready to pounce at the slightest provocation.

Yvoire shook his head. "That would be the expectation but I have a better idea. Even though you're not from Leanbox, you worship Green Heart with great zeal. Therefore, I have a favour to ask of you. That friend of yours, the purple excitable one... Neptune, was it?"

IF bristled. "... What about her?"

Yvoire took a breath. "I need you to kill her."

IF's eyes shot open.

Jacob and Gust froze. Their breaths caught in their throats and, for a moment, they felt like they'd choke on them. "... What?" they muttered.

"W-What?!" IF stammered. "W-Why would you want that to happen to Neptune? What has she ever done to you?!"

"Calm yourself," ordered Yvoire with a raised hand. "You are unaware of this but she is one of Green Heart's worst enemies."

"How? How can a dunce like Neptune possibly be a threat to a CPU like Green Heart? What's so special about her that you'd ask me to kill her?!"

Yvoire sighed. "Neptune is not who you think she is, IF. If you knew who she really was, I doubt you'd treat her so well. Not even the most morally loose of scoundrels would worship more than one goddess, after all."

IF regarded Yvoire with cautious eyes. She took a step back, failing to hide her nervousness as she did so. "You know..."

"Know?" Yvoire might have raised an eyebrow. "Know wh-" The Archbishop stopped himself as a light bulb flashed on in his head. "Ah... so I was incorrect. You do know that Neptune is actually Purple Heart, CPU of Planeptune."

Jacob and Gust exchanged glances.

"How do you know that? Who told you?" IF demanded, taking a step forward.

"I have my ways," replied Yvoire with ease. "Now, Green Heart would eventually carry out the deed herself. I, however, would much rather she avoid spilling blood herself. War is not a pleasant thing."

"And you expect me to do it? I may not like Neptune that much compared to Green Heart but I'm not willing to kill her over it. There's no point."

"Isn't there? Well, maybe what I have to say will change your mind." Yvoire, with his hands behind his back, walked towards the brunette. "I understand you will continue worshipping Lady Green Heart no matter what happens. However, being a member of the Guild comes with far too much unnecessary baggage and it's not worth becoming a social pariah over. However..." Yvoire leaned down towards IF, "... what if, should you carry out and succeed in this task, Green Heart could legally make you a citizen of Leanbox, the Land of Green Pastures? You would be free to worship Green Heart as much as you like and no one would persecute you for it."

"Say no," Jacob whispered as he watched IF through the gap in the door. "Say no and walk away."

IF gulped and stepped back. "Th-That doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that I can't worship her. That's not why I'm doing this."

"You don't need to lie to me, IF," said Yvoire. "I understand how you feel. You want to worship Green Heart but you cannot. I can feel it now, you know. I can feel the fear in the back of your mind as you hide your beliefs. I can feel your frustration as you deny your own existence. I can feel the tears that you force down as you ignore your own heart and lock it away. You carry this guilt all alone just so you won't undergo harm. I am here to tell you, IF, that you don't have to shoulder that burden any more. We can free you from your pain. If I may ask, how long have you been with your adventuring party? Not long, I imagine. Do you honestly believe you'll stay together when you finish your quest? I highly doubt it. On the other hand, your faith in Green Heart will remain forever, as will her faith in you. That is, if you accept this offer."

IF didn't respond, so the silhouette continued. "I know that this is a lot for you to take in. Please forgive me for being so forthcoming with this information. Nevertheless, I would like you to think it over." From behind him, Yvoire pulled out a small glass vial sealed by a cork. The vial contained a viscous purple liquid, bubbling with toxicity. "When you have decided on the correct path, slip this into one of Neptune's meals. A single drop can take out a giant enemy crab so use it with discretion."

"Don't take it," Jacob urged quietly. "Turn away and come back here."

IF could not hear Jacob's prayers. Yvoire held the vial out in front of him and IF gently took it from his grasp with her right hand. She inspected it closely but Jacob doubted she was looking at how large bubbles would quickly grow on the surface only to pop when they got too big. Her eyes looked much deeper, far beyond the surface. She looked at if as if it held a key to a prison door.

"Give it back. Drop it on the ground. Do not keep it," Jacob pleaded again.

"... I need proof," IF said suddenly. "If this is really Green Heart's desire, I need to know for sure."

Yvoire adjusted his hat. "Well, I suppose it cannot be helped. If it will help you overcome your resistance, I will organise for you and our Lady to meet in person at the Basilicom. Please keep an eye on your phone for you will get a message soon."

IF closed her eyes and her grip on the glass container tightened. Finally, she relaxed her grip and placed the vial in her jacket pocket.

Yvoire looked towards the doors. "Your party might be worried about you. Let's go back to the banquet."

As Yvoire and IF walked back, Jacob quickly stood and walked back down the corridors with Gust at his side. Gust felt a bit nervous to start speaking given Jacob's apparent anger but she pressed anyway. "So what now?"

"Logically, we need to tell Neptune and the others what happened," he responded.

"We really just tell them that IF wants to poison Neptune?"

"We don't know she wants to do that for sure," Jacob snapped. "We're going to tell Neptune and the others exactly what happened in that conversation and for them to be on their guard. We're not going to treat IF any differently until we've cleared everything up."

"What's there to clear up?"

"Her motives for actually taking the poison, for one. There's got to be a reason why she'd even pause and think about this. Also, I want to know who the hell told Yvoire that Neptune was Purple Heart."

Both of them thought in silence as they continued walking back to the party. All of a sudden, Jacob snapped his fingers. "The Evangelist."

"Who?"

"Oh right, you haven't met her. She's from Lowee and she told us about Overlord Momus. She also believes that nothing can stand up against him and she knows that Neptune's a CPU. She told Yvoire about us and that Neptune's Purple Heart. Why she'd do that, I have no idea."

Gust stroked her chin. "If she Lowee Evangelist, killing Neptune also help Lowee."

Jacob sighed. "That's true but... I can't help but feel like I'm missing something."

Back at the party, Compa was eating some chocolate-coated strawberries. "What about you? Do you fight monsters?" she asked Chris.

"Only when I have to," the male answered. "I know how to fight but it's just not my thing. I prefer a more peaceful approach."

Compa sighed. "That's the exact opposite of my team. Pretty much all of them just itch for the opportunity to kill something."

"Well, you've got to love your job, right? I mean, being an adventurer, all you ever do is go through one-level dungeons and slaughter everything that comes your way. From what I've read, it's not particularly varied."

"That's true but-"

"Compa, we need to talk," Jacob declared all of a sudden as he walked up to the surprised nurse with Gust next to him. "It's... who are you?" he asked Chris with eyes partly filled with curiosity.

"U-Um..." Chris' stammer returned to him as he leaned back slightly.

"This is Chris," Compa introduced. "He travels the landmasses like we do. Chris, this is Jacob. He's one of my party members."

"Pleasure to meet you." Jacob extended a hand to the other male. "I'm offering a handshake, by the way."

"I-I see..." With his shaking hand, Chris lightly grasped Jacob's and slowly shook it up and down.

Jacob released his grasp. "You're not a silhouette."

"No, I'm not," Chris responded.

"Can you fight?"

"A bit, yeah..."

"Wanna join our party?"

"W-What?!" Chris shouted, causing some of the other party-goers to look in their direction. Chris, Jacob and Compa all shrunk in embarrassment. "Sorry about that..."

"It's okay..." Jacob answered with a subdued voice.

"He's got a job, sorry," explained Compa.

"Y-Yeah, I'm just here having a break... Besides, monster hunting does sound fun and all but it's not my kind of thing, sorry."

"I completely understand." Jacob then turned to the nurse. "Compa, we need to talk as a party for a bit. Where are Neptune and Nisa?"

"Oh, I think they went over that way." Compa pointed off into the further part of the room, from where a disgruntled atmosphere could be sensed.

"Excellent." Jacob turned back to Chris. "Sorry about that. Have a good evening."

"See you later, Chris," farewelled Compa as she followed Jacob and Gust to where she pointed.

"For the last time, no I have not heard of a Key Fragment," a noble silhouette barked at Neptune and Nisa.

"Are you super duper with a cherry on-"

"Yes I am very sure! Now leave me alone!" The noble then stormed off, leaving the two blood sisters alone.

Neptune placed her hands on her hips. "That's the seventh one we've talked to. Stupid NPCs that never say any more than four lines of dialogue at best..."

To comfort the CPU, Nisa patted her shoulder. "Now now, sister. I'm sure that, if we persevere, a clue will pop up sooner or later."

"Or you could be funny background event while we progress plot," said Gust as she approached them with Jacob and Compa.

"Hey! I can't be part of a funny background event! I'm too important!" cried Neptune.

"Whatever," said Jacob. "We have something important to talk about."

"Ooh, do you know where the Key Fragment is?"

Jacob sighed. "I wish. Unfortunately, it's much worse than that. Neptune, IF may or may not be planning to kill you."

Compa and Nisa paled. Their eyes slightly quiver.

"... What?" Neptune was much less visual with her confusion but made up for it by being more vocal. "Why would Iffy wanna kill me?"

"I don't know..." Jacob rubbed his forehead with his right hand. "Gust and I overheard her talking with Yvoire. Yvoire knows she's a Guild Moderatist and that you're a CPU."

"WHA-"

"Keep it down!" Jacob whispered harshly as he covered Neptune's mouth with his hand. He took it away when he was certain Neptune wouldn't try that again. "Now, I know it's a shock."

"You're telling me. Iffy's a Guild Moderatist? I would never have guessed that."

"... What? You're actually surprised by that?"

"As am I!" Nisa exclaimed defensively. "I honestly believed IF was just another girl that didn't have any plot-moving dark secrets. Now I feel bad for expressing my dislike of heretics back in Lastation." The heroine then turned to back the nurse. "What about you? Do you have any dark secrets?"

"Oh n-n-no!" Compa stammered. "I'm a nurse in training from Planeptune and I came on this adventure because people need help. I don't even know what's happening half the time."

"How are you not surprised?" Neptune inquired of Jacob.

"Well, I can't say I saw it coming but it's not particularly shocking," responded the male.

"Moving on," said Gust sternly, "Yvoire possibly informed by Evangelist for motives unknown. Furthermore, Yvoire has given IF poison to deal with Neptune."

"Also," Jacob picked up, "IF's a bit shaken about the whole thing so I dunno if she's actually going to go through with it. Better yet, Yvoire's going to organise a time for IF to meet Vert because she wants to know for sure if Vert really wants her to poison you."

Neptune puffed out her cheeks as she thought. "So I just don't eat what Iffy gives to me? Sounds easy."

"Also very thick poison," Gust added. "Hard to hide."

Compa let out a breath as she placed a hand over her heart.

Nisa rubbed her left arm, which hung by her side. "So... what do we do now?"

"First of all," Jacob raised his index finger, "we don't tell IF. I have no idea why she's doing this or if she'd even do it. She's thinking about it, sure, but we should leave her alone until she does something direct. She should never know that we know. All we have to worry about is never letting her shop for food or go out alone."

"Also stay alert for alternative methods of assassination," added Gust. "She will catch on that poisoning too hard and try some other way to kill Neptune."

"If she's going to kill Neptune in the first place," Nisa argued, fist clenched.

Jacob raised a flat hand. "Sensei, don't worry about it. Gust has got a point but so do you."

"Um, what do we do about IF meeting Vert?" Compa inquired.

Gust turned around and quickly tugged on Jacob's jacket. "Oh, hi IF!"

The rest of the party turned to face the Guild Moderatist. She was never the most cheerful girl but now she just looked crushed. Her shoulders were slightly slumped and her eyes were unfocused. That is, they were before Gust greeted her, making her jump slightly. "Oh, h-hi. I was wondering where you all were. I had to ask some guy with a stammer where you were."

"Oh, that must have been Chris," said Compa. "He's here on business but he travels the landmasses like we do."

"Oh, okay." IF then thought about Compa's statement a bit more and sighed. "Jacob, did you ask him if he wanted to join the party?"

"Hey, he said he could fight and he wasn't a silhouette," defended Jacob. "There aren't a lot of non-silhouettes that aren't joining us."

IF didn't argue back, most likely because she was just as tired as she looked and didn't have the energy. "Hey, uh, can we leave? I was just talking with the Archbishop and he said Vert's not here."

"Bulldust."

"Yeah, I know. However, we're not going to see her if he has his way. There's really no more point for us being here."

Compa laced her fingers together. "IF, are you okay? You look really depressed."

IF blinked and flinched a bit from Compa's concern. "Y-Yeah, I'm just fine. I'm just a bit tired, that's all. Can we go, please?"

The rest of the party glanced at Neptune, waiting for her decision.

Neptune shrugged. "Eh, it feels like a waste of good food but, when the going gets long, the tough better get going. Let's go."

"It's 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going'," reminded IF as she took the lead when the party left the room.

From behind her, Compa and Neptune looked at each other with worry.

Nisa looked up at Jacob. "My student, if you have any brilliant plans on how to handle this situation, now would be a good time to execute them," she whispered.

"No," Jacob whispered back. "I know a better time."

Weren't expecting Glitch from Of Hearts And Souls to show up, were you? Heh heh heh.

Wait, hold on, what? ... Oh, it was the rest the chapter you weren't expecting... Okay then.

Well, then you'll hardly expect the next chapter! And don't worry; I think I've run out of tree things to use. By the way, did anyone actually get the joke in the title of Chapter 24? Or was it just not funny? Most likely just not funny.