Save 2: Duality of the Guild

"So, because of the horrible conditions that I told you about last time, the soon-to-be King decided to take down the tyrannical CPU." Once again, I was within the strange dream world. Yeah, this is the third time in a row. This is definitely going to be a thing now. The golden man began speaking as soon as I realized where I was, picking up where he left off. "However, no one man can topple a country alone. Not even if he was as powerful as the CPU. So, in his village he began a small resistance that would soon balloon to encompass the whole world."

"I doubt he was the first one. What was different about this rebellion?" I decided to interject and ask the question. If this is going to be my dream space for the foreseeable future, I may as well get the most out of it I can.

And that seemed to go over well with my mysterious host. "Hehehe! I'm glad you asked! Well, it's quite simple! Every other rebellion fell because of one key factor. Lack of trust. And can you blame them? They lived in a world where if you even implied that the CPU wasn't the cutest woman in the entire world, you could be executed. Imagine being in a group trying to take her down! The threat that someone, anyone would spill the beans... it's torture. The reason why our King's rebellion worked was because he seemed to have a knack for getting people to trust him, and he worked to keep that trust."

"Makes sense if he eventually became King and all. I'm sure he had quite a bit of natural charisma. Must have been a real ladies man." I say as condescending as I can.

"Ha... he wishes. In all his years both as King and as a revolutionary, he never seemed to be able to stay in a relationship for long." Sounds like he was a real loser.

"No bad mouthing the King in this chat!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Dude, I'm in your head! I know everything that you're thinking! Like how you still wet the bed till-"

"S-Shut it!" Thankfully, the world began to become dim once again.

"You got lucky this time!"

Heya, Nep!

Opening my eyes to the now familiar pink living room of Compa's I thought back to the dream that I just had. I want to see a doctor about this, but I feel like they'd just label me insane and call it a day. Either way, I sat up from the mouth that I was lying in and gave myself a nice stretch. Lady Compa was nice enough to allow me to stay here with her as I had no place to sleep in. And to me, that made her a goddess. If you don't count yesterday, I hadn't slept on a cushion in over six months. It was either the cold hard ground or a bed of leaves.

After washing my face, I walked into the kitchen where I heard some chatter. "Ah, good morning Arc! Sleep well?" Compa gave me a motherly smile as I walked in. Both her and Neptune were sitting at her small dining table, eating some cereal. "Are you hungry? We have plenty for you as well."

"I'll take that, thank you Compa." happily nodding, the nurse quickly stood up to retrieve the bowl and handed it to me. With it, I sat across from her and next to Neptune to begin my breakfast. "Morning Neptune."

"Porning Barcy!"

"Don't speak while eating, You could have just nodded at me." I just met this girl yesterday, but if there's one thing I already know, she lives life by her own set of rules. Things like social ques and manners meant nothing to this girl. It is admirable in its own strange way. "So, do you two have a plan for today?"

Compa spoke up first. "Well, my nursing school is currently on break so not really. If you mean with our mission for Histy... I don't really know the first place to look." I figured. Unlike me, Compa is a full fledged citizen of Planeptune and is practically a civilian.

"My head's only filled with pudding and ice cream so I have no idea what we should do!" Then there's Neptune. While I should chock up her inability to know our next move because of her amnesia, if her personality was the same when she had her memories, I don't think anything would have changed.

So, I let out a sigh and thought about our next move. Looks like I'll be the strategist for our group while they're the muscle. "Well, I think it's best if I check out the guild first. I originally went after the Key Fragment because it was a quest I got from there. If the same individual puts out another quest, then it's possible we can find a clue. Plus, it'd be useful for us to grab a couple non-important quests while I'm there. We're going to need some income as I'm sure a student like Compa can't exactly support Neptune and I."

"Hm. Hm. Arcy's right. We're just hobo for you Compy. Sorry bout that!" Don't lump me in with you just because you're right. "Alrighty then! Arcy, I'm coming with you!"

"I... sure. Don't get too far out of my sight then. Don't want you getting in trouble."

"We just met and you already think I'd make trouble! You know me so well~" Neptune's sing-song voice only disappointed me more. "Hey, hey! Let's get a snack too!"

Maybe I shouldn't have readily agreed. "Call me if you need help, Compa."

"Okey dokey! Stay safe." With a sweet smile and wave, Compa saw us off.

"WOOOOOOW This city is huge! Where are we?!" Neptune immediately yelled when we got to the downtown district of Planeptune's capital. Hm, she really does seem surprised. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical of Neptune's amnesia. It's not everyday that someone loses their memories except for their name. Hypocritical of me, I know. But then again, it isn't every day that a girl falls from the sky and that same girl can transform somehow. That thing is also weird. I thought the only people who could do that were... "Arcy, Arcy! Look, they're selling crepes! Buy me one!"

"Neptune, I barely have any money and I already know what I want to do with it." I should have expected the pout the energetic girl gave me at my rejection. What I didn't expect was for it to be so cute and make me waver. "F-Fine. When we come back from doing a couple quests, I'll treat you to exactly one sweet."

"Yaay!" Sheesh, Didn't expect that kind of attack. Ugh, don't tell me that combined with my weakness to monsters I'm weak to cute girls too. The big dumb smile on her face got rid of any negative feelings I had however. With the new motivation to do at least a bit of work, Neptune and I finally made it to the Guild, which was using a large building near the shopping district as its Planeptune headquarters.

The Guild is a gigantic organization with hands in every country. While each country is currently at "war" so to say, the Guild acts as a neutral party. Basically, all it does is take in requests from citizens and anyone who can pay and hands off the requests to their members. The higher your rank, the better quests and pay you can get. Unfortunately for me, being a weak little shit, I've been stuck in Rank E, the second to worst rank. I can only ever do simple fetch quests for people, and not the ones that require me to defeat an enemy. I'll tell you, the amount of lost cats and dogs I've had to retrieve are in the hundreds.

"I'd like to relinquish this quest." I said to the Guild's receptionist. The young man sighed as he took my guild ID. Not that I was surprised by his reaction. I'm not the most popular member. "Thank you." I took back the ID that he simply threw back on the desk when he was done and walked away. "Okay, let's look for some clues."

"H-Huh? Yeah..." Neptune was surprisingly quiet since we walked in. I expected her to make a scene, but she was simply looking around with a worried look on her face. Deciding to ask her later, I walked to the quest kiosk to look for any new quests, but my hand suddenly stopped when I tried to activate the computer.

There was a tall woman, about a head or two taller than me, standing next to me. She was holding my arm back from the computer. "Yo, Shit-works. Surprised to see you back so soon. What happened to that big job you got?" Her smug smile felt like a stab in the heart.

"Hey! Name's Neptune, what's yours?" It seemed like now was when the purple haired alien decided to wake up. She teleported from behind me to right in front of me, forcing the woman to let go of my hand. "Are you friends with Arcy? Wow, I didn't know he was so popular!" Oh shut up!

Laughing, the tall woman shook her head. "Who the hell would even want to be associated with this useless bastard? But hey, maybe you can still be saved." The tall woman was wearing an elegant blue battle dress that contrasted with her bright red hair. "You're lucky enough to be in my presence of me. You may call me Lady SNK! I am one of the few rank A members of the guild! Please, keep your praise to a minimum."

"Uhhhhh. Okay." Neptune didn't seem to care at all, as she was simply picking her nose. Once she seemed to be done with that activity, she flicked her booker at the woman. The usually smug woman yelled out as she dodged the disgusting projectile. "Okay, so bye!"

"W-What?! Who you think you-"

"You're still here? I thought NPCs would leave when you stop talking to them." Uh oh. This is definitely weird for Neptune. I didn't think this girl could be meaningfully rude to someone, but her bored expression said otherwise. "Bye bye! Arcy, let's use another computer!"

"Uhhhhhhh." Looking between the rapidly angered SNK and Neptune, I decided to follow my alien friend. "Okay..." Surprisingly, the Rank A adventurer didn't follow us and left us alone. In fact, most of the other guild members in the building were keeping a fair distance from us. Weird. Deciding to ignore it, I logged into the kiosk and began to scroll through the available quests for me, with Neptune poking her head up from under my arms. "Hm, weird. There's a lot of quests for Monster Cave. Usually the Planeptune's own monster hunters take care of that area." Weird, oh well doesn't matter to us.

"Hmmmmmmm." Looking down at my companion, I was surprised by her behavior for the thousandth time today. Is Neptune... thinking?! "Hmmmmmmmmmmm."

"What is it Neptune?"

"Well... I was just thinking, weird right?" Ah, she's aware of her intelligence. Not that I think Neptune is super stupid. It's just she seems more like the hit things till it works kind of person than the kind to plan things out. "But, remember the spider guy that I blew up."

"Yeah, how did you do that exactly?"

She just shrugged with a sheepish grin. Dumbass. "Well, was he there when you first found the key thingy?" Shaking my head, a literal light bulb appeared above her head and turned on. "Then monsters are attracted to them!"

That... actually made some sense. It explained why the Dogoo's were guarding it yesterday and why the spider seemed to have swallowed it. "So that would explain the abundance of monsters at Monster Cave. Ha, good catch Neptune."

"Yes, yes! Praise me more!"

"Okay, calm down." With our next destination in mind, I grab as many quests for Monster Cave as possible. Knowing we'll need the money to fund our journey. Sure it hurts my pride to rely so much on Neptune and Compa, but I should just get rid of that stupid sin while I can. I'm weak, but maybe I can still be of use to them. For that, I'll have to change up my tactics. "Alright, next stop, the weapons shop."

"Ohhhhh~ I wonder what they have!" Running faster than light, Neptune disappeared out of the Guild's front doors. I made sure not to look at anyone as I followed her, afraid of their judging gazes. Turns out, Neptune beat me to the punch. She was already pressing her face up against the glass of the store. "Oh~ Arcy, look at that sword! Its blade is made from diamonds!" What's even the point of that? And why is it so blocky? Pulling the mysterious girl from the glass, I pushed her into the store. "Oh~ There's even more inside!" Like a kid in the candy store, she ran around, poking and prodigy everything she saw.

"Hey, you break it, you buy it!" An old man said from behind the register. "Oh, System! Been a while since I saw ya. Finally deciding to buy something from me? Think yer can afford it?" The old man sneered at me, having already declined my thousands of attempts at bartering in the past.

"For once, I am. And I won't annoy you about the price too hard. Sir, can I get your cheapest but most reliable sword?"

"A sword this time? I thought you preferred..." He turned his gaze from me to the girl currently attempting to try on a golden gauntlet. "I see. Sure. One sec." Walking into the back of his store, I had enough time to give Neptune a chop on the head for her silly attitude. "Okay. Here. It's not the best, but it'll get the job done. Decent attack power and it's so durable you could let a giant dogoo chew on it for months and it won't chip."

The old man placed down a simple Katana with a purple accented handle and it was being held in a black scabbard. Neptune, having fallen in love with the sword, immediately picked it up and pulled the sword out. "So pretty..."

"How much?" Judging by the way Neptune was acting, there was no way I couldn't buy this. I don't want to disappoint her.

"15 hundred." Crap I only have 12... "But, for you and the little missy, I'll make it 10."

"Re-"

"Thanks mister!" Giving the old man a shining smile, Neptune put the sword back into it's scabbard and gave it a hug, "You're the best."

"..." Oh my god is he blushing! "N-No problem." I paid for the weapon and thanked the man before we left.

"Alright, use it wisely Neptune."

"Eh? It's for me?!"

"Who else? I can't have you using a stick to fight forever. Just don't break it."

"Hehehe! I can't wait to cut a ham with this!" Ugh.

Ne~pu~

"Oh~ That 's so pretty Nep! Where'd you get it?" Compa asked as she finally met us at the entrance of Monster Cave. Neptune, being the smug little shit that she is, smiled at Compa and said-

"Arcy bought it for me because I'm sooooo cute!"

"No. And you're only marginally cute."

"Cute is cute!" Pointing her sword at me, the strange girl was weirdly angry at me. "You should thank me arcy-poo! If I wasn't so pretty, you'd be broke!"

"Shut it." Shaking my head at both her antics and Compa's giggle I turned to the entrance of the cave. "Alright. Let's get started. First off, let's discuss my plan. Because of Neptune's surprisingly smart observation, we'll try to get to the deepest part of the cave and see if the Fragment is there. Along the way, we'll try and complete as many of my quests as we can. Neptune, you'll take the lead, Compa will stick behind her and support as much as you can. I'll stick to the rear and snipe as many enemies from my spot as I can."

"Snipe? But how..." Answering Compa's question, I used Printing :Head Hunter and showed off the knife I created. "Oh~ You can use projection!"

"Yup. But my mana pool isn't very large. So I usually stick to small weapons. And even then, I still run out quickly. So." Opening my hoodie, I showed the girls the insane amount of energy bars lining the inside of my jacket. "I keep these incase I need more mana. I'm willing to share, of course. Keep in mind, they kinda taste like shit."

"Why eat something that tastes like poop?"

"Not literally Neptune."

"Oh, so you've tasted poop?" I hate this girl. Yes, I use energy drinks and bars, specifically the Nep-Bull products, to energize my mana pool. Honestly, it's where most of my money goes. While Projecting small weapons usually doesn't take much mana, there are a few times when knives don't do the job and I have to make larger weapons. A cool thing about projection is that the weight of the weapon is always perfect for the user, the power of the weapon and usage of mana is too skewed in my opinion. "Oh~ Wait, if you can make weapons, can you make pudding?!"

"Neptune, if I could do that, I wouldn't eat grass now would I?"

"You eat grass?! Ewwwwww!" This brat! I forced myself to take a deep breath before I blew a gasket on this idiot. Her strange smile makes it only harder not to get angry at her. "Okay, okay. Let's go! I wanna be home by dinner!" With that, the shitty purple haired dumbass walked ahead of me, getting into the position I outlined before.

The three of us made our way through the Monster Cave , slowly but surely. Honestly, I didn't expect my bare bones plan to work out so well. Anytime a monster even got close to Neptune, she sliced it either in half or into a million pieces. Any that got through her absolute defense, Compa took easy care of. None of the strange pixel or cat monsters stood a chance. As for what I did to help, I would snipe monsters that tried to attack Neptune from longer range. I missed a few shots, however thanks to my mostly endless amount of weapons, I was able to keep our vanguard safe.

But, life is never so simple, now is it. By the time we got to the midway point of the dungeon, signaled by a small bridge, I was all but tuckered out. "C-C-C-Can we take a break? I-I think I'm gonna pass out!" Leaning against one of the bridge's railings, I felt like my legs were slowly becoming jelly. I barely even had the energy to pull out a Nep-Bar to eat.

"Jeez, Ararararararcy. I know you're just a mostly normal NPC, but I expected more!" That's WAY too many Ar-s! Who the hell do you think you are?! Some loli ghost? Well, you've got the loli part down. With a childish smirk, Neptune pointed to the other side of the bridge. "Go check the other side out! I'll owe you one!" You owe me already! Both for the sword and for, I don't know, CRASHING INTO ME!?

But, I'm way too tired to get verbally angry at her. So I just sighed and stood back up. "Fine." I slowly made my way to the other side of the bridge. The bridge slowly went down a hill, making it a bit hard to see if there was anyone or any treasure from each entrance. So, I don't think anyone could get angry at me for burping into someone as soon as I reached the mid section of the bridge.

"Oof! Hey, watch where you're going!" Both the person and I ended up falling onto our asses upon the collison. Ah, my head's spinning! Shaking my head to get rid of the dizziness, I opened my eyes and looked at the person I bumped into. The young woman in front of me looked to be a bit shorter than me. She had long brown hair with a small portion tied in a green leaf bow and was wearing a large, oversized blue coat with black combat shirt and short pants underneath. Just as I stood up, I noticed that she had a belt of cellphones around her coat. Huh? She looks familiar... and jeez. That must be a shit ton of monthly fees.

"Ah, s-sorry about that." Deciding to deal with that later, I ran up to her and offered my hand. "I didn't see you there." With a snarl, the stranger took my hand and used it to stand up. Upon standing and looking at me, I couldn't help but stare at her large green eyes. Pretty... "What are you doing in a dungeon alone anyway?"

"Well excuse me but-" Before the girl could answer, the sounds of footsteps stopped her. "Oh, so you do have a party."

"Arcy! What- Ohhhhhhh~ Arcy, don't you know it's wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon? You little perv~" Neptune's expression turned into a strange face. Her smile turned all smug and her eyes went thin. It honestly creeped me out.

"T-That's not- A-Anyway, I'm not smooth enough to pick up any girl! So stop!"

"Yup, you definitely have zero drip."

"Oh shut up, Neptune!" Before I could blow up anymore at the manifestation of annoyance, the mysterious girl coughed into her hand.

"So, this is your partner, stranger? Hm, maybe the purple one has a point. It's not everyday you see a guy with two cute girls in a dungeon."

"Hehehehe, she called me cute!" While Compa was enjoying the complement, I could feel my face get hotter and hotter. "But sorry. I'm way out of Arcy's league."

"PFFFFFTHAHAHAHA!" At that point, Neptune fell to her knees and started punching the ground in delight. Oh Goddesses of Gamindustri, what have I done to deserve this punishment?

Even the mystery girl was smirking at that comment, but just chuckled to get herself back on track. "Sorry about that. But, anyway. My name is IF, I'm a member of the Guild and got a quest from the Planeptune Mayor to investigate the strange increase in monster activity here."

"IF?" It was that name that brought the memory back from the back of my head. "Oh! You're IF! The S-Rank Guild member! I knew you looked familiar!" She was famous within the guild for multiple reasons. First off, she's one of only five S-Rank guild members. And not just that, she's unbound by the country's borders. Unlike the other four, she doesn't stay in a single nation. Instead moving about the four, taking jobs as she sees fit. Sorta like me, but WAY cooler. "Woah, to get a job from the mayor herself. So cool!"

"I-It's not that cool." It seemed she was weak to praise, because her cheeks immediately turned red when I said that. "Well, from the way you say that, I'm guessing you're also a guild member."

Before I could answer however, Neptune bolted upright and got between myself and IF. "So?" Huh? That's way more aggressive than I thought she'd be. Neptune had her hands spread open and was glaring at IF. Well... the best kind of glare a girl like her can give. "Don't be rude to my Arcy."

"Huh?" IF looked between myself and Neptune before sighing to herself. "Look, I know there's some assholes in the guild about their rank, but I couldn't care less. You could be ranked E for all I care."

"..."

"..."

"...you're kidding." Chucking to herself, she actually seemed to not take my rank too seriously. "Well, not that I care. Nice to meet you." Putting her hand out, Neptune stared at both her and the hand before putting on a stupid smile.

"Hehe! Same here, Iffy! I'm Neptune!" Well she changed her mind fast. Taking her hand, Neptune dramatically waved it up and down. "Welcome to the party!"

"Party? You know what, fine." IF glanced at each of us before smirking. "I needed help anyway. Let's join forces for now." At her declaration, Compa walked up to her and grabbed her other hand.

"Great! I'm Compa! Nice to meet you Iffy!"

"Wait, Iffy?" I could have sworn a large sweat drop appeared behind her head, but she shook it off. She turned to me and gave me an apologetic grin. "Sorry for teasing you earlier. Um, can I get your name?"

"It's fine. I should just get used to it running with Neptune and all. But anyway, my name is Arc S.W, but just call me Arc. Not Arcy."

"Arcy, gotcha."

"Oi!"

Neptune, you dolt!

I have to say, IF sure is a powerhouse! No wonder she's an S-Rank. She used weapons I've never seen before called Qatars. If I had to describe them basically, they're like boxing gloves but with a knife attached to the front. So, she was amazing at close combat fighting, making her a great partner with Neptune at the front of the group. Not just that, she also had an amazing talent with magic, allowing her to set any monster out of all of our range on fire. "Phew." After cutting down what felt like the thousandth monster since we've left the bridge, she let out a breath and wiped her brow. "We should be close now."

She was leading the group with Neptune and Compa close behind. She really is amazing. This is what a real Guild Member looks like. Not... Shaking my head to get rid of the thought, I walked to follow the girls until *Crack!* "Huh?" Looking down at my feet, I saw that I had stepped onto something. A CD? Did someone drop it? Wait, who listens to CDs these days?

"Hm, wait, thats-" Running up to me, IF grabbed my arm. "A Monster Spawner!"

"Wow, that name is a little on the nose, isn't it?"

Not even cracking a smile at my joke, IF took the item from my hand and cracked it in two. "Yeah. I've run into a bunch of them. I just didn't expect one of them to be so close to Planeptune's capital."

"Huh? I guess that's why I've never run into one of them then." Seemingly confused by what I mean, IF tilted her head. "Oh, uh I move around the world a lot. But, since I'm so weak, I usually just end up taking low rank jobs so I never go to more dangerous dungeons. Furthest I've ever gone was one of the mid-rank ones in Lowee."

"Wait, you're not from Planeptune?"

"Nah. I'm what you'd call a free spirit. But that's just a nice way to say I'm a bit of a bum. Don't really have a place to call home nor am I a citizen of any nation."

Taking a step back, the S-Ranker seemed surprised at that. "You're kind of like me..." nah, I'm way too weak. "A-Anyway, we can talk about this later. We should investigate a bit more before we leave." Turning away from me, IF jogged back to where Compa and Neptune were standing. Hm, are they talking to someone? "Hmm? Another Guild Member?"

"The hell'd you call me?!" A tall, purple skinned woman was standing in front of Neptune and Compa. She wore what I'd describe as a generic witch's outfit. With the big dumb hat and everything. "I would never be so stupid as to join an idiotic organization like that!" Can't say she's wrong with how many meanies are in there.

"Woah there! You can insult Arcy all you want, but not Iffy!" I've known you longer, Neptune! What the hell?! "Look, Arfart. I've never seen you in my life! Unless you're gonna give me a snack, I'm not interested." Arfart?!

"W-Why you-! It's Arfoire! I...I'll kill you!" The witch raised her hand and a strange purple light began to glow. Neptune! My body moved faster than my mind did, running towards the runt and pushing her out of the way. Causing the beam of light to collide with me and-

"U-GRAGH!" M-My brain! My soul! What the hell?! When the light hit me, it felt as if my very being tried to escape my body, making me want to throw up, cry and curl up into a ball, all at the same time.

"What the hell?" Arfoire explained as she went on the back foot. "My strength... just how weak are you?!"

"You copied the wrong person, dummy! Arcy's the weakest of us here!" Neptune, do you have to insult me when I just saved you?! Pulling out her katana, Neptune launched herself at the witch, swinging her sword at her. Only missing by an inch. "Hey, it's not fair if you don't stand still! This is an RPG franchise after all!"

"Fuck that!" Swinging her hand, a lance materialized in it and she was able to smack Neptune away with it. "Damn brat!

"Nep!" Compa ran towards the downed girl as IF ran towards me and stood me up.

"Can you fight?"

"Heh, I barely could before." Liking my answer, IF equipped her weapons and gave me a nod. "I'll back you up."

Taking that as a signal, she sprinted towards the enemy, swiping at her at much greater speeds than Neptune did. However, even then she couldn't get a hit in. She either missed by a hair or was blocked by her lance. All the while, I tried to think of something. Even after "Copying" me, she's fast. If even Neptune and IF can't do anything, no shot Compa and I could land a hit. Wait... that's it! Spreading my feet out, I focused my breathing and whispered. "Printing: Enhancement Hunter." Five identical gray knives appeared in my hands and- A-Agh. Too much magic... no. I need to hold out. Focusing my mind again, I studied the way Arfoire and IF were fighting. Alright then... there , there and there!

"Hup!" Throwing the first knife, instead of hitting Arfoire anywhere, it landed upright in the ground right behind her.

"HA! Can't aim for shit!"

"Arc, I need you to-"

"I got a plan, just give me a moment." Nodding her head, IF continued to pursue Arfoire, but was clearly slowing down quite a bit. Have to make this quick! Now moving around the fight, I continued to throw my knives. None of them hitting Arfoire, but all of them hitting their marks. "IF!"

When my last knife stuck to the ground, the S-Ranked adventurer smirked. "Heh, you're pretty sly, Arc. Neptune! Cover me!" Just as IF jumped into the air, Neptune flew towards Arfoire.

"It's one after anot-"

"Burn in hell: Demon Flames!" with that chant, Neptune jumped away and stuck her tongue out at the witch.

"Wha-AGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!" My plan worked like a cinch. The five knives surrounded Arfoire on all sides, enhancing any magic done within them. So, when IF's normally pretty strong pillar of fire was used in the circle of knives?

"Now that's what I call a barbeque!" With a smirk and a snap of her fingers, Neptune quipped as an EX level magic attack was unleashed in front of her. After a second, the magic attack dissipated and all that was left in the circle was a heavily charred Arfoire.

"This... isn't... Tactical retreat!" Who immediately burst into the roof of the cave and flew off.

"...is anyone going to tell me what that was about?!" All my question got was a shrug from Neptune. Ugh, at least we're out in one piece, right?

Nepgya!

We didn't get to Compa's apartment until well after midnight. All of us were exhausted, hell even Neptune was only making a quip every ten minutes instead of two. We'd split up with IF as soon as we got to Planeptune but she promised to meet with me at the guild tomorrow. Strange, considering we were only working together temporarily. Though, I wouldn't mind working with her again.

As soon as I got to the living room, I fell onto the couch and sighed. "Arcy, you need to take a bath first!" Compa yelled out from her room, not even intending on taking her own advice. Not that I blame her. Today was absolutely exhausting. But all the same, it was also strange. That Arfoire woman. She seemed to know Neptune, but definitely wasn't on good terms with her. Not to mention she's outright evil. Just what kind of trouble did that girl get into before we met? Closing my eyes, I tried my best not to dwell on it at the moment. Oh well. I guess that just leaves me to make sure she doesn't get into more trouble. Ugh, what have I gotten myself into? Doesn't help that she makes fun of me every ten seconds.

But, that didn't really bother me for some reason. I guess it's because this is the most fun I've ever had. She's annoying as hell but she's Neptune.


AN: Hello once again. How were your weeks? Well, here is this weeks chapter. As I explained last update, the next update will be in two weeks, as next week I'll be updating my other story. I know it's a little long wait, but it's the best solution for having multiple stories I've come up with. This way I don't end up giving one story to much attention and keep a decent schedule going.

Either way, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed! If you have anything to say, please don't hesitate to leave a review! It helps more than you'd think! Thank you very much and I'll see you all in a few weeks.