Chapter 17:

3:59 pm.

"What the hell is going on Commander!?"

"Those things are here" IF answered calmly.

"Those!? How can that be happening when we're kilometers away from Planeptune!?"

"Hey man, calm down–!"

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that!?"

"Okay, okay. c'mon. We to need to calm down. Getting angry won't do us any more favors than what happened last time, alright?"

"Shit man…"

"Is he going to be, okay? I know about his brother and all…" IF asked.

"Yeah, he'll calm down. But still, what's going on, Commander? How can those things be here?"

"I don't know either, but they're here. And if it'll make you feel any better, it's best to assume we're going to see lots of them once we're in Lowee" IF gravely said.

"Then, the plan?"

"We're starting the plan now"

"What about back up?"

"No use betting on them. We're on our own on this one"

"Shit…"

4:00 pm.

"General! We have a situation!" an officer loudly exclaimed in a panic as he barged into his superior's room who's been taking a nap on his chair from all the events that happened today.

"What is it now!?" the General asked angrily, groaning in disdain as he sat on his chair.

"The village that's in the outskirts of Lowee, they're being run over!"

"Run over? By what!?"

"By them!"

4:02 pm.

"This is bad Commander. They're starting to retreat" one of IF's soldiers radioed.

"Yeah, I can tell. So that means they're taking all their vehicles? What about birds?"

"I don't think there's going to be any air extraction. The main force in Lowee has their hands full" the operator said.

"Tch! So there really was something behind putting guards in this village…" IF clicked her tongue.

"Commander, the only way for us to get out of here is through the forest. If we leave now and head for the forest, we can get to Lowee in a couple of hours more max" another soldier suggested.

"That's not going to be possible…" the operator said, his voice a bit shaken.

"What now? Even more bad news?"

"Operator is right. Those hundreds of bodies in the main road, some, if not, all of them are going to turn to those things"

"Bodies? Oh shit…!"

"Leaving through the forest gives them an advantage, more so when we're running on foot. Operator how many can you see now?"

"I just got it up 4 minutes ago, no clear picture, but from what I see there's now more than 6 of them"

"Shit… it's like Planeptune all over again…" a soldier said.

"And it's only going to get worse from here. Operator, keep your eyes on them. The rest secure a truck. Once you do, pick us up, got that?"

"Pick you up? Are you telling me—!?"

"Yes, it's what it sounds like. We'll try to avoid them as much as possible but it's not off the table that we'll get distracted. So you better hurry"

"Ma'am!"

IF stands as soon as her conversation ended. She stretches her arms and legs, waking them from their slumber, and readying them for the events that's about to unfold. She tightens her belt, checks her shoelaces, and lastly her green leafy bow that form her signature look. She nods to herself, everything's in order.

They've been hiding inside a house to rest for a moment. Needless to say, the inside of the house smells thick of iron that's produced naturally from any mammal. The walls, colored in light, leafy, green is stained by a strong red color. The white bathroom reflects the color of crimson, and the sofa is tarnished by a ruby colored liquid.

The house is situated a block away from the cliff of the hospital's hill. But still ways away from the main road exiting the village. And with all the commotion going on its not going to be a cake walk either.

"Compa, you ready? We're gonna be doing lots of running. Think you can keep up?" IF asks her friend as she pulls her up.

"I can't really run as fast as you" Compa answers honestly, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Gotcha, hop onto my back then"

IF crouches down with her back turned to her. Compa leans forward, wrapping her arms around her friend and letting her weight fall onto hers. IF puts power in her and stands up, while Compa wraps her legs around her waist.

"You're not that heavy anymore…"

"Geez, Iffy I told you not to talk about that"

But it's true though, maybe because she's gotten stronger. Or maybe she really did lose weight. Right now, Compa feels very light to the point that it's almost like IF is just carrying an oversized giant bag with stuffing in it. Her movements aren't constrained, she still feels light as a feather.

"You good?"

"Mhm"

The brunette steels her heart, steadies her breathing in a rhythm, and concentrates heating up her legs and knees. She walks up to the door and swings it wide o–!

*GUHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI!*

"SHIT!"

*GUHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!*

IF dodges the moment that thing jumps towards them. Its head smashes against the concrete wall, fracturing the otherwise smooth exterior of the house. IF takes out 2 knives from her person as the thing drops onto the ground.

Its skin that constantly shifts between black and red, its pure white eyes without any pupils, its fingers, toes, stretched to the point. Its grin from ear to ear like it was just playing a game. Its grin that makes the whole world turn red, its grin that took away the only treasure they had left, its grin that perverted that very treasure, its grin that makes her blood boil.

Compa hugs IF as tight as she could, her heart drumming like it's on a concert.

It raises its head looks around for a bit like a confused bird. It sees the 2 standing in the middle of the road. 1 of them being carried by the other, while that same other ha both weapons out. Her green eyes tantalizingly tasty.

It smiles at the thought.

4:12 pm.

"*Bluueeegh-!* *bluuuuuurrgh!*"

Mina vomits out her lunch on the toilet bowl.

The yellow-orange liquid coupled chunks of rice, quickly colors the clears liquid of the toilet bowl. The smell of saliva along with a mix of miso soup, tea, and something acidic quickly fills her nostrils as well as the bathroom provided to her. Her stomach quickly contracts, pushing up whatever undigested food left up her esophagus, to her throat, and eventually out of her mouth.

"*Blueeeeeeegh-!* *Bluuuuurrrgh!*"

It was a sight to behold. The result of her wish. Her pot at the end of the rainbow slowly coming into shape. A step closer to what her heart truly wants. A step closer to the 3 sisters that have given her nothing but headaches. A step closer to the twins that she had reprimanded over and over since the minute she started taking care of them.

A small step gone too far.

"Oh my, just from looking at the video on Lowee got you like this?"

"…?" Mina weakly turns her head towards the source of the voice. A voice she's all too familiar to hear, like some princess high on her horse. She leans by the doorway with arms crossed as if watching the misery of a woman in a soap opera.

"…What do you want? *Bluuuuuugh!*"

"Just seeing how my client is doing" she non-chalantly answered.

"…Smug bi– *bluueeeeeegh!*"

"But I'm appalled, you didn't like my work? Such a shame. And I was so happy that you've finally looked at it too"

"Who… would be happy, about that?" she raises head while asking.

"Why you, of course. You're the one that asked me that favor" she sticks out her finger towards Mina.

"I told you…! It wasn't me! Stop saying I asked you! It wasn't me! IT WASN'T M–! *beeeeeeeeaeeeeeeegh!*"

"Oh, come on now. I wasn't talking about you…"

"Then who are you talki—!"

Mina's breath suddenly stops in her throat as her eyes now stares directly into hers. And in a moment, a moment within a moment, a moment within a fraction of a moment, her skin feels like it's being peeled off. As if a butcher is cutting out all the fat, trimming down the meat until it becomes a pink marble piece.

"...So how was my work?" she asked.

"Was Lowee enough or do you need more?" Mina asked calmly.

"Apart from my need of the book, yes, Lowee was enough"

"...Then we have nothing to talk about, right? You've already sent Chika to retrieve the book"

"But I do have a favor to ask of you, Mina"

"...Why don't you ask Chika? She's been your lap dog for 5 years now"

"Well, obviously it'd be out of way. And besides, I take care of my clients"

"..." where has Mina heard that line before?

"I want you to accompany me to double check something in Planeptune"

"…"

"You see, those things, when they appeared in Planeptune, I just found it quite strange how many there were"

"Why does it matter to you?"

"Just plain old curiosity. Or maybe a favor for a favor…? Yes, that's the best way to categorize this" she nods to herself.

"…Fine" Mina stands up and fixes her red graduate dress. She reaches for the toilet handle, pushes it, letting toilet flush down her vomit.

"But it will upset Kei if you leave, I'll do it on my own"

"Oh, don't worry about that, Mina. I just need a disguise" she pulls out a pair of glasses from her pocket as a small grin on appears on her face as if it were the most ingenious thing in the world.

"…"

"Now, then…" she wears the pair of glasses.

"Shall we get going?"

Beta'd by : TMCraze

A/N: I'd like to remind everybody to please remain safe.
If it's any motivation, you won't be able to know the end this long saga.