Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract
Interlude: Wraith Manifestation
She didn't look hostile, but she also didn't look friendly. Cautious is the word the Eyelander would use.
She had a rather ordinary face, pretty even. Ruffled chestnut hair which reached her neck, freckles were scattered around her nose and cheek areas, and purple eyes gazed warily at Falcom, trying to determine if she's a friend or foe.
Falcom recognized the robes she's wearing, those are always given to novice magic-users. Hers were black with red lining and they were so long they reached her ankles. Her left hand was armed with a wooden staff, its end curved but lacked any kind of gems. She's probably an inexperienced magician - was Falcom's jugement.
"Pardon me. But why are you here?"
"Why should we tell you?"
The magician tried to ask politely, but the Eyelander sharply refused to answer. The ghost distrusted her but the woman herself was (expectedly) surprised by his presence. Her purple eyes widened and focused on the rusted sword hidden in Falcom's sheath.
The adventurer meanwhile, sweatdropped.
"Easy there, Duke Eyelander.-" "-Stop calling me that!" "-My name is Falcom, I'm an adventurer and my current partner, the sword Eyelander, was just interested in meeting someone hidden in this castle. So far our experiences here have been rather… weird."
Referencing the 'events' with a sheepish smile, Falcom reached out for a handshake. Not a shred of suspicion or ill will was inside her, she just tried to remove the other woman's doubt with kindness.
Snapping out from her shock, the magician shifted her gaze onto Falcom's hand, examining whether it was safe for her to reciprocate the gesture… but slowly she raised her hand and wrapped it around Falcom's own.
"...I'm Angela. I practice the dark arts."
In the depths of Falcom's mind, the words 'Called it' appeared. Angela's attire perfectly matches her profession, although Falcom won't voice such tactless thoughts. Instead, there was something else she wanted to ask. "So, tell me Angela. What are you doing here?" Now that they're acquaintanced, Falcom spoke to her like a friend. Which didn't really change her voice.
"Studying."
Angela hesitated a little, debating whenever or not to tell her this, but after a short moment she continued. "Before you and your ghostly partner arrived here, I was trying to create a few unique spells. The library here has plenty of books which can help me construct magic the likes of which have never been seen before."
She had a soft voice, but the way she used it betrayed no emotions. She stated facts, not opinions. But her words about the new kind of magic caught Falcom's attention. "Really!? Now you've got me interested! Can you show me some?" She knew a few simple spells she could use with her sword, but ever since she joined Nepgear and the others she stopped using them, because of that thing where no one can use magic near the CPU Candidate.
Angela however didn't answer her, instead she was turning around trying to find something.
"Then look over there, you can see them, right?"
Falcom turned her gaze to where Angela was pointing.
"Oh, Lady Histoire! Is Lady %&%#$ alright?"
What Angela was pointing at was another 'event'. This time it featured a generic guard wearing attire similar to a Basilicom worker, except more armored, and Histoire whose presence still confused the fuck out of Falcom.
Giving a salute to the fairy, the guard asked worriedly and seeing the Oracle's face didn't help it. But despite that Histoire still answered… her voice worried as well.
"She is fine, physically. But-" A moment of hesitation, something that the Eyelander didn't fail to notice. "-Just continue doing your work."
As the Eyelander briefly wondered why the fairy hesitated and eventually didn't answer, Falcom turned her gaze back to Angela. "So this is yours-?"
"Shh!"
Raising her hand the dark magician silenced the adventurer, her attention never leaving the event.
Faced with such a strange answer, especially coming from that person, the poor guard didn't know how to respond. "I-uh… I see." Scratching his temple with his gloved hands, the guard tried to think up some other, more comfortable topic, but before he could do such a thing Histoire beat him to it. "On another note, did you notice anything suspicious?"
The fairy asked that with her usual sense of calmness, but there was something which bothered the guard. He tried to think of anything suspicious he saw during his patrol, but nothing came up. Today was just another boring day to him. "Nothing actually, Lady Histoire."
Seeing him shake his head, the fairy acknowledged his words with a small nod. "I see, thank you. But please, I ask you to be more vigilant tonight. Especially tonight."
With the way she emphasized that, and the events which were happening over the past few days, the guard could take a wild guess. "More assassins?"
This time it was Histoire who shook her head. "It is even worse, the citizens revolted and they are preparing to lay siege on us."
They were in truly a grave situation and the guard realized that.
All Falcom could see was his palling face before the event disappeared.
Right the next moment Angela started explaining, her hand rubbing her chin. "This is one of my creations. This spell, dubbed 'Wraith Manifestation' replays memories made by people in the past. I didn't expect it to have an area of effect however… I thought I casted it only on myself, but apparently I casted it on the castle in general, so when you touched the gate, the spell took effect on you."
So it's thanks to her Falcom nearly had a heart attack and can see those events… Holy-!
"Wait, so those are actual events of the past? Even the battering ram and the statue outside!?"
"Yes, they are. It creates a ghost-like image which allows you to see something that already happened. Wraiths are ghost-like images of a person, and this spell manifests them, hence 'Wraith Manifestation.'"
Learning a reason for the name, Falcom gaped back at the doors.
So those scenes were really authentical. Until now, no one managed find anything concrete telling this place's story or purpose, and now Falcom can literally see it with her own eyes, all thanks to the novice standing next to her… This girl will go places, Falcom is sure of it.
This journey is getting exciting!
As Falcom had her little amazement problem going, Angela was staring at the floor with her eyes narrowed. "Although I'm not sure why the name of this 'leader' is censored. In fact, aside from those Wraith Manifestations there is no information regarding this woman…"
It was like everything regarding her was wiped away, or she never existed in the first place...
Soon after the introductions, the Eyelander grew impatient and reminded Falcom about their goal. Having totally forgotten about that one for a moment, Falcom asked Angela if they could explore the castle a bit, but curious about that 'goal' Angela volunteered to go with her.
"So what is this 'kindred spirit' you're searching for?" Asked Angela. She noted that the Eyelander was leading them into a very specific location, as he immediately ordered her to go upstairs. The scenery didn't change much, just different paintings hanged on the walls or flowers being put around the hallways. Somehow those were still alive and not fake at all.
"They're someone who is in the same predicament as me, another soul trapped within a sword… Do you know anything about this?"
Angela had been here for much longer than either of those two, and should know more than either of them, so when the Eyelander yearned for knowledge, she was the obvious candidate to ask.
Closing her eyes in thought Angela fell silent. The thinking process took only 2 seconds before she gave her answer. "I did hear a few rumors actually."
"Really? What did they say?" Asked Falcom. Just like the Eyelander, she also grew curious to hear about that kindred spirit. And the supposed fame as an adventurer she'll gain after finding it and uncovering LAN Castle's secrets… The adventurer can already feel it but she knows her luck will somehow screw her over. That's just life…
Harsh.
But Falcom put those depressing thoughts aside, and eagerly listened to Angela's lecture. "Apparently this sword was wielded by Hilda Gehaburn, and the blade took her family name. According to the Wraith Manifestations I have seen; Hilda was a former friend of the landlord, but for some reason she turned on her and tried to kill her. Why? I dunno. But that's what I learned with my powers. What the rumor did say, is that Gehaburn is a blade forged specifically to defeat the Deity of Sin. Nothing more."
"The Deity of Sin…" The Eyelander mused. "This is that apparent goddess the ASIC are trying to revive, correct?"
Arfoire, Histoire informed the mercenaries about her. Her revival is the ASIC's true and only goal, and someone the mercs and Nepgear will have to face if they do manage to resurrect her. If, that is.
The Eyelander thinks it's hilarious. Their determination to do everything so the Deity of Sin will come back is remarkable, despite the fact they will be destroyed regardless of their choice. Either from the mercs or by the Deity herself. They're like a suicidal cult.
Falcom however had her breath caught in her throat. A blade forged to defeat the Deity of Sin?! If that's true then she MUST inform Histoire about this. With a weapon like this they won't need to fear the ASIC even if Arfoire manages to get revived. They'll have a counter prepared for her!
Steeling her resolve, and silently thanking her partner for finding this, Falcom looked at Angela, her eyes serious. "Do you know more? Anything will help, please."
Her demands were met with Angela's questioning gaze. "Why are you getting so worked up about it? Do you want to fight the ASIC with it?"
"Yes, of course! Don't you?"
For Falcom, her mission and goal were clear as day, but Angela didn't seem to share in her convictions, as she questioned with her eyes narrowing. "Don't misunderstand me now, but why do you want to defeat the ASIC? I don't see any benefits in fighting them, especially with the CPUs gone-"
"No, that's wrong!"
Shouting… for perhaps the first time in her entire life, Falcom cuts the magician off, her orange eyes basically drilling deep holes into Angela's soul. Flames were dancing inside her eyes, flames of determination which could rival Soldier's. "The CPUs aren't defeated yet! Nepgear is still fighting and so are the other Candidates! The fight isn't over yet!"
Even the Eyelander was surprised by Falcom's fury, no one could predict that mentioning the end of CPUs was the button to set off the adventurer… Angela just stood there frozen in shock. She didn't mean to trigger Falcom…
"The ASIC needs to be brought down. Their piracy is ruining gaming, developers won't release more games because of the illegal downloads. They're losing money which could be put into good use-"
"Okay, okay, we get it. The ASIC is bad and they should feel bad. You can stop now."
Cutting Falcom's rant short, the Eyelander sighed tiredly… Why are those 'games' the only thing crossing those girl's minds? Even Histoire is like that.
But either way, Falcom ruffled the back of her head in embarrassment. "Sorry… got a little carried away. Ehehe." Angela who finally snapped out of shock could only shake her head at Falcom's antics. This was truly one silly girl she just met…
"So you want is to stop the ASIC's piracy, correct?" This is how Angela understood it at least. With the CPUs gone, the number of piracy and illegal downloads skyrocketed because there is no CPU to stop them. But once the goddesses return, the downloads should gradually decrease.
"That's right! I want to help my friend, Nepgear stop the ASIC! We even managed to rescue CPU White Heart just a few hours ago!"
Pumping her fist, Falcom confirms her words with enthusiasm. But something weird happened to Angela. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened, as if she has seen something impossible. "Y-You? A friend of the CPU Candidate?"
Something about the tone of her voice confused Falcom, she couldn't figure out what it was but even so she nodded, albeit slowly, as if this motion would trigger Angela to commit a killing spree.
"Yes, I am."
"I see. I was just surprised." And just like that, whatever it was in her voice disappeared completely.
But no matter how much she tried to hide it, it bothered Falcom. In fact the more she tried to hide whatever that was the more disturbed the adventurer would be…
They walked not in silence, but with never-stopping idle conversations. It was usually the more outgoing Falcom leading the conversation, but the dark magician patiently answered the adventurer's questions or threw her own bits here and there.
Of course they met with some Wraith Manifestations, and stopped a few times to watch and listen, but those were just some guards and maids gossiping. Besides a few occasional bits that were mildly interesting, there wasn't anything significant. She met a Child, Bunny Ears, Guard and Braid but Twintails or Histoire never appeared again.
"Stop. It's here."
All of a sudden, the Eyelander abruptly ordered. Falcom and Angela of course obeyed the command and looked at the doors in front of them. Angela read the tag next to them.
"The Landlord's office?"
The doors weren't anything noteworthy, just simple wooden doors like you can find in a furniture shop. Like with everything else in this castle, the landlord's name were just some random symbols instead of her real name. It stopped being mysterious after the 3rd time and was just weird now.
Without a word, Angela opened the doors and walked in with Falcom coming behind her.
For some reason this office wasn't like the rest of the castle. What Falcom expected was a clean and tidy room, but all she got was a dusty mess. It did look like a workplace of some high standing figure but it hasn't been used in a long while… This room was actually how Falcom imagined the rest of the castle should've looked like.
The redhead looked around the room, but wherever she looked there's a layer of dust building up. "Well, this certainly doesn't look like the rest of this castle. Everything else was clean but here's a mess."
As usual, Angela came to explain. "That's because I didn't bother to clean here, this isn't a room I was often using." This was their routine as they kept roaming around the castle; Falcom leads the conversation and Angela follows along. But this time Falcom additionally freaked out to her answer. "Wait. So you're living in this castle!?"
"Yes." Shamelessly confessed the dark magician, taking Falcom off guard.
It wasn't uncommon for people, especially adventurer and Guild members, to camp in the wilds away from civilisation, but to permanently live outside a city was very rare among people. Without the barrier set up around the major cities, the risk of getting attacked by monsters was just too large.
And yet, Angela confessed of doing just that. What a madwoman.
"This castle's library is a surplus of knowledge helpful for my studies. It was more convenient for me to just stock up supplies and get myself comfortable in here."
"Aha… So you live here all by yourself? Isn't that a bit lonely?"
"I'm fine with being all by myself, no one distracts me from my studies."
With the way Angela shrugged off Falcom's concern, it was like she indirectly told the adventurer that she's bothering her. Which she herself didn't notice, but the Eyelander did.
The end of that conversation marked another Wraith Manifestation, featuring Twintails sitting by the desk and Histoire and LH standing by the exit.
Falcom actually never saw LH again after their initial meeting, the adventurer wondered where she was…
And now she also noticed the weapon holstered on LH's back; it was something you could call a spear, but it was armed with not one, but four blades on the end.
"Are you feeling okay, %&%#$ ?"
Beginning the event with this question, LH crossed her arms. She and Histoire still looks worriedly at Twintails, but the landlord looked much better than when Falcom saw her for the first time. She kept her eyes closed and her head supported with both of her arms. She was considering something. "Yeah, I've calm. Sorry for worrying you." She apologized with a sigh.
Faced with her apology, Histoire took a step forward- err rather she hovered a bit forward. "You do not need to apologize. Anyone would react-"
"Yeah I get it, but I'm the CPU of this nation! I am supposed to protect and lead those people!"
Slamming her fist onto the desk the landlord glared daggers at Histoire, who dared to try to comfort her. But the landlord's anger passed just as quickly as it began. "Sorry about this." She apologized again.
"You do not need to apologize." Reassured Histoire for the second time. Twintails looked at her funnily, maybe she repeated herself for some sort of weird comedy value, or maybe not, but Twintails found something in it to laugh about.
"Yeah, alright Histoire."
"It doesn't seem like the people will stop, right?" This time Twintails faced LH for an answer and was met with a grave shake of her head.
"They're all determined to bring you down, we tried diplomacy but they turned it down... You're not going to use your pow-"
"Nope, not happening." Upon hearing the suggestion, Twintails immediately shot it down. "It's because of my power they're doing this, they're just afraid, Arfoire, they're scared… I have a better plan." For some reason a part of the wall emitted a green sheen, but Falcom ignored it for the sake of a much more important detail.
Like the fact that the woman with Long Hair is actually Arfoire! This freaked out Falcom more than anything, this person named Arfoire. Is she a different person or are they in the same room with the Deity of Sin, the goddess worshipped by the ASIC? Wait! She's actually an acquaintance of the landlord and Histoire!? The same freaking Histoire in Planeptune?!?
What!?
Stammering like a broken record, Falcom asked for confirmation. "I-I-I heard her correctly, right? This woman is actually Arfoire!?" She points her finger at LH while her sword utters "I'm speechless."
Angela, who is actually the most calm out of the trio, smirks at their reaction and following the usual pattern she calmly confirms what Falcom has said. "You're correct. This woman's name is Arfoire, although I'm not entirely sure if she's actually the Deity of Sin or just another woman named Arfoire."
There was a hint of smugness to her usual calm posture, as if she enjoyed watching the confusion on Falcom's face. Well, Falcom did make a funny face when she was freaking out though, so that was understandable.
"Oh, so she's a different person then?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
Shrugging at Falcom's hopeful question, Angela quite unexpectedly teased her with an even more smug smirk on her face.
On another note, the Eyelander grew dubious towards what he saw. "I'm starting to doubt the credibility of this. You're probably messing with us right now." Ever since the beginning, those Wraith Manifestation were very strange, suspicious even. They were interesting at first but now they showed events which can't be even logically explained.
No historian or archaeologist has discovered this information before, so is this the actual truth or just some BS coming from a prankster?
Although the sheer dedication put into this makes him think this isn't some sort of prank the lazy youth likes to do. It wouldn't be worth going that far just for some kick and giggles, especially when not many people came here.
Maybe the dark magician is just delusional? That could work.
"My Wraith Manifestation replays memories that people have created. Everything you have seen here is true but believe what you want, I don't care. The Manifestation has ended by the way."
She wasn't bothered by his accusation at all, she just pointed out that the event has ended and they were left alone in the office. No Wraiths, no green lights, nothing. Falcom didn't actually notice the end because she was too busy freaking out over the shocking reveal, but now that it's over, she noticed that there is nowhere else to go.
"Oh. So where next, Duke Eyelander?"
Reflexively telling Falcom to stop calling him that, the Eyelander focused on his senses. He easily picked the shortest path leading to his kindred spirit. "I sense that we need to pass through the wall, although interestingly enough the entrance seems to be behind where the wall shone during the Manifestation."
"It's funny how you distrust my Manifestation, and yet you still follow them." Remarked Angela, amused by the Eyelander's words, although her face doesn't show anything like that. On the other hand, the Eyelander felt distraught that this delusional woman dared to suggest such a thing.
"I'm just following the wavelengths the Gehaburn is emitting. It's a coincidence."
"Okay."
The Eyelander perceived that as the ever annoying 'Oh really~?' which pissed him off, but before sparks appeared Falcom stepped in and stopped the argument from escalating. "Okay stop. We need to break through this wall, right? So how can we even achieve that?"
Falcom didn't bring anything to demolish a building, nor will she use the Eyelander. It would anger both him and Demoman. Angela could probably blow it up with her magic, but the dark magician already had a different solution. "There's no need to destroy anything, there's actually a hidden entrance behind this wall. And from what I gathered during this Manifestation, the switch seems to be somewhere on the desk."
As she talked, Angela neared the desk and crouched underneath it. The chestnut-haired girl let her bare hands run through the layer of dust glued to the surface, searching for any suspicious bulge or indents. Falcom gave her a few seconds of silence before she decided to speak up.
"Did you find anything?"
Her answer was an unbearable sound of rocks scraping against each other, it sent chills down her spine as the wall shifted and slowly showed what it hid. To Angela's credit it was that same spot the Wraith Manifestation highlighted a mere minute ago.
The cause of this phenomenon popped her head from under the desk, and seeing the newly opened path she stood up and dusted her robe. "See? My Wraith Manifestation was right." She said triumphantly, getting a tired sigh from the Eyelander.
"It's a coincidence."
"No it isn't!"
Falcom could only sigh when yet another argument started. A few hundred year old ghost and a practitioner of dark arts… bickering like little children.
But what she has in front of her is pretty cool.
"So this is what a secret passage looks like… This castle is probably full of them." She mused to herself. In every book she read featuring some sort of castle, there was always some event where someone needs to utilize one. And today she found her own one…
It was a spiral staircase which led downwards, this passage showing how old this place truly was. It was unmaintained, with bits of walls missing here and there. It lacked any decorations, as both walls and steps themselves were just white rock. The air also felt cool and damp, as if it was a cave or basement at the very least. And most importantly it was dark, nothing illuminated the passage and Falcom can't be sure about the state of the steps, they looked like they could crumble under her weight.
"Hey, Angela. Do you have a light?"
During her travels, Falcom met many magicians who knew spells to light up a path. Apparently it is a pretty basic one and easy to learn, provided you got enough SP and talent to learn it. So even though she's still a novice, Angela may have some spell like that.
The dark magician paused in mid-argument and looked at Falcom, then at the entrance behind the adventurer.
She's asking for some light, eh? This is her cue.
"Move aside, let me handle it."
At her command, the adventure sidestepped and gave Angela some breathing space. The dark magician stared at the staircase before her; she doesn't know how far it goes, but probably the whole passage won't have any light.
Perfect.
Raising her staff, Angela began the spell.
"Assemble shadows, gather in one place and let light uncover what you shrouded in darkness. Black Hole!"
With this chunni one liner, Angela tapped the floor with her staff. Falcom immediately saw the results; A black spherical… globe(?) appeared by the curved end of the staff. It wasn't emitting any light which wasn't what Falcom wanted, but she couldn't voice her thoughts. Just staring at that thing made her feel weird, she couldn't place what it was but it felt… wrong. For some reason.
"If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you. Don't stare, just follow me."
Angela's words snapped her back to reality, but before the adventurer could fully register what she just said, the dark magician was already descending the stairs, the path now visible enough to traverse even without a new light source.
As Falcom hurried to follow her, the Eyelander mused to himself, his voice grave, afraid even. "Doing something like this is just wrong, even by my standards."
Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract
Interlude: Wraith Manifestation
And that's a hell of a reveal right there. Who would have thought that the LH, who is apparently known by Histoire and the CPU of the past is actually Arfoire? And there are few more secrets left to unreveal, just wait.
Responses:
Piggyslayer1235
I'll reassure you that no one from Nepgear's group will die (pernamently), at least not in this arc. As for Gray Mann, they're actually scheduled to meet him in the next arc. For now all you'll be seeing is him doing whatever he is doing in the Gamindustri.
Bropower125
Well the LH is already uncovered, let's wait and see if you're right on Twintails though.
BreadNotDead (Wow, 4 reviews in a row)
Nepgear's weird behavior during the fight with CFW Judge is completely armor's fault. Yes, she was interested in taking him apart but her unstable mind was Judge's new armor fault. Like Sniper said it's something that have similar properties to Australium, which have similar properties to gold. The answer is already there in earlier chapters.
Now that the story has reached a new arc, time for some changes. And one of them will be more casual scenes where characters are just enjoying their lives.
If Nepgear's shares actually reached this threshold where she would be constantly dying and Re:Spawning, I think Histoire would just pull to cut her suffering short. Then the Oracle would weep all the way until after the funeral or whatever people are doing when the CPU dies.
Either that, or she would work twice as hard to regain lost shares and keep Nepgear alive.
Falcom doesn't have enough love, so I'm giving her an entire mini-arc dedicated to her and the Eyelander.
It's still technically a crossover, so why not?
- Harmless Orange
