Well hot damn!
Croire, the chronicler of reality and all its various histories, finally felt like she'd come across something interesting - it was about damn time too! She'd been searching throughout both the Hyper dimension's as well as Zero dimension's histories - as was the plan - when she'd just at this very moment stumbled into what had to be the most ironic twist of fate she'd seen in a good minute... what? She was a keeper of history; she'd seen some shit.
"Hey!" She called out, knowing Histoire was in the same room, and most likely digging through her systems in search of her own slice of the puzzle. Hearing Croire's cry, the less troublesome fairy turned, and at the sight of the waving, made her way over.
"Yes?" Planeptune's oracle pulled up, sporting an inquiring expression. "Have you found something?"
"You bet I did, and damn if it isn't insane."
"Pardon?"
Croire's reaction to that was merely a smirk, both devious and cunning, solely because she knew it'd get the much more serious fairy's skivvies in a twist. With her guess being spot on, Croire was able to enjoy the mild look of disgruntled worry becoming of her twin.
"What? Why are you making that face?" Histoire wasn't completely defenseless to the mischief maker's games however, as she shot back with a glare, crossing her arms and shifting her tone downwards. "This better not be a prank; I get enough of those from Neptune already."
"Well, you're about to get twice as many soon."
"Excuse me?"
Oh, how Croire loved toying with the ignorant; especially those who constantly got in the way of her fun. All she wanted was some interesting history damnit! It wasn't her fault all the cool timelines resulted in destruction and doom; hell, if there was a world facing an infection of constipation she'd find that wild in its own right - even if it disgusted her to high heavens. Fortunately for all, no such world existed... nope, still doesn't exist, and it never will - you filthy heathens.
"Right here." Croire held before her, between both hands, a sort of glowing orb. Unlike Histoire, who chose to keep the information she dug up to herself and locked away in her mind, Croire preferred to have her's manifest out in the open and be visible for all to see. "Take a gander at this."
Following along with the order, Histy peered into the orb, watching curiously as it twisted and twirled the mists within. Many would think nothing of it, and yet Histoire herself was used to the lag these instances ripped from time often suffered from. The orb itself was an observable piece of time, copied from the past and able to project whatever moment it held into a viewable format; it was, in essence, a miniature video, but instead of stupid nonsense recorded by teens looking to make it big, it played cinematic pieces of history.
Within the orb, Histoire saw - with a healthy dose of confusion mind you - a small slice of one specific piece of time; one she'd sworn to never ever forget… or so she believed. From this angle though, and with the caveats presented, it was much less luxurious.
"Isn't this... no. No! This is-"
"Finally caught on huh-augh, hey!" Croire wasn't the type of girl who particularly enjoyed being shoved aside, and having the orb stolen from her didn't feel all that great either. But still, the look of shock and terror on Histy's face made it all worth it. She chuckled silently as the oracle of the nation sputtered.
"N-no! I... I refuse to believe it!"
"Now~" Croire rolled up, wrapping an arm around the shaken guardian's shoulders, drawing uncomfortably close to the clearly agitated one. "That's no way for an oracle to act, now is it?"
"You... you have to be wrong, you simply must be!"
"Watch it thought: all the way." Croire said no more, as for every second passed was a second where Histoire looked to sluggishly come to terms with everything. Her face went from shock, to dread, to regret, and finally acceptance.
"Is this... really what happened?" Histy rose her head; eyes desperately coming to meet with Croire's and bearing a vague sense of longing. Croire took enjoyment in tormenting idiots, but even for her, the absolute amount of loss presented in her parallel's face was just enough to draw upon what little pity the troublemaker was capable of. And for what was the first time in her life, Croire went easy on one of the idiots she despised so much.
"Yeah... sorry as it is; it's all true." She shrugged, slipping on what one would see as a more 'eh' sort of mask; she offered pity, but that didn't mean she'd show it so obviously. "I mean... it's not a concrete confirmation, but it all happens way too close together for it to just be a coincidence. If it was a few minutes apart, then yeah, you could argue correlation doesn't equal causation, but they led right into each other: down to the very second."
"I... I see." Histy drew the orb close, her face jittering rapidly as her mind attempted not only to make sense of what it meant, but also to answer one simple question.
Was it her fault? Had locking away Uzume really resulted in the current play of events?
"So..." Croire tried, in a more... shall we say 'careful' sort of voice. "Are we going to tell the others, or?"
"Yes." There wasn't even a second of doubt. Despite whether the foe they faced was a direct result of Neptune's birth, and by extension Histoire's decision to seal Uzume away, the others needed to know. After all, they couldn't stand against an enemy they didn't know existed, and even if it wasn't Neptune's fault for all of it, their foe was still a part of the Planeptune Goddess.
Neptune wasn't the first goddess born after Uzume was locked away, but she was the one their enemy was born from.
.
.
"Hmm..." Watching the little boss wander around, Kurome wondered what to make of the expression he wore. It was judgemental, yes, but it didn't show any direct signs of insult. Soon though, he nodded, and even smirked a bit. "Excellent quality." He turned to Lonk, who was sipping at a drink in the kitchen. "I'd expected nothing less."
The more lax of the gang leaders just smiled, flinging his arms - and by extension his liquor - up in the air.
"Heck yeah! Trust me dude: I never skimp on my buddies."
Kurome watched as small splotches and spills of the alcoholic beverage stained the carpet, and she could see Sonya over at the table barely restraining himself from lashing out. Linda's arm patting his, though, seemed to quell the butler's rage, and he simply returned to setting the table for lunch along with Linda, who'd been surprisingly quiet since returning to the apartment.
"Yes, I suppose that is true." As expected, the boss retained his professional tone, even if he was eyeing the spill which just hit the carpet. Apparently, it wasn't enough to bother him, as he just turned towards Kurome instead, and the girl could physically feel Uzi clam up at her side.
The girl finally realized just who her brother was in league with, and it had her spooked. - plus, her nails were digging through the fabric of Kurome's sleeve, and it was starting to get annoying, leading to the woman once again lamenting over her choice of company.
Why can't I ever get normal friends?
"Now then." The boss began, stealing away the spotlight onto himself. "As we know, the horrid creatures, these... 'nightmare monsters' have seemingly popped up all over the nation, causing a general ruckus and more." He then eyed Kurome, addressing her directly. "Now, Lonk has mentioned you had an idea as to collect information on them, yes."
Kurome nodded.
One of the first things they did upon getting back to the crib was call up Lonk, not only because he was close with Kurome herself, which was one-sided, but also because none of them wanted to deal with Zaeda. All it took was mentioning they had an idea, which had the guy offering to draw their first boss in on the fray. Seeing more body bags as only a good thing, Kurome agreed, which was what had them all here in their apartment right now.
"During the search for your runaway daughter." Kurome raised her hand, cutting off Lonk who looked about ready to speak. "I don't want to hear anything more about her, please." He lowered his hand and playfully nodded while seemingly waving the topic away. "Warechu and Linda ended up coming across a hacker apparently working for her: his name is Anonydeath."
"Him?" Lonk smirked immensely, which was something Kurome wasn't exactly sure she was happy about. "Dude~ I know him: he's like, my man and stuff!"
"Good, you're close." Kurome crossed her arms. "From what I know, he's working with Black Heart herself... at the moment anyway."
"Figures." Lonk visibly deflated at that. "But I suppose it's fine: he's always been crushing on her anyway... although: he likes when she isn't exactly his, if you feel me~"
"We're well aware." Kurome kept from shivering, knowing that the only reason she could keep from doing so was her astute knowledge that the creep wasn't aiming for her. "Anyways. Seeing as he's such a big fan of hers, we have a strong suspicion he knows exactly what she's up to. And, as the two have told me earlier once we got home; he's forced to work for her in exchange for being let off the hook of a police scuffle."
"Woah, hold up!" Lonk held up his hands, shooting a disbelieving look. "You saying he got himself tangled up with the cops? You're pulling my leg, yeah?" Kurome shook her head, and the guy appeared to have his mind blown. "Damn... guy's practically invisible: how the heck did that even happen?"
"Poor driving, chu." Warechu's comment had those out of the loop sporting confused side-eyes, with Kurome herself choosing to snap her fingers."
"Let's get back on topic." Laying that very same hand on her hip, she continued. "Thing is, we want to call him up, but we're not sure we can do so without tripping Noire's security. If he's working for her, then she probably has him being observed twenty-four seven. We need a way to get in touch without stirring up trouble."
"Really, that's it?" Lonk rolled a single shoulder, swiping out his phone. "Hold up, homies: I got this."
He clicked a single button on the device, and after a tense several seconds of rings - Kurome was not prepared for such an instantaneous decision - a voice came through.
"Hello~"
Yep, that was Anony; Warechu - as seemed to be the usual - recognised it perfectly.
"Yo, my player!" Lonk spoke with far too much sass for anyone to really doubt the pair weren't friends. "You got a second to spare? My buddies got a few questions they wanna ask, and you're the only one around who probably has the answers."
"Hmm... give me just a second - there!" There was a slight beep. "Alright. Sorry about that darling. My lovely Noire has me searching for ruins and shrines that may, or may not exist. Don't worry though, I've got it running on auto, so we can chill for a few minutes."
"Great!" Lonk fist-pumped the air, clicking another button and holding the device out horizontally. "Alright, we're on speaker now."
"Perfect~ Ask away."
"Hello?" Kurome chose to be the one to speak; seeing as her friends were lost and the bosses were awaiting the plan to be set into motion, the girl figured she might as well be the one to do it.
"Yes?"
"I'll keep it brief: we need answers on the sudden burst of undead activity within Planeptune. Do you have anything on that?"
"Undead huh?" There was a slight pause. "You wouldn't happen to be talking specifically about skeletons, would you?"
"That's exactly what we're facing."
"Phooey. Well, as loathe as I am to admit it, I don't have much on those fleshless fiends. All we know for sure is they've sprouted up all over Gamindustri: not just Planeptune."
"I see..." Kurome grit her teeth, not really finding that very helpful. Sure, it meant the apparent attacks were more of an outbreak, but that didn't offer much. "Is there anything else you know about them? Anything at all?"
"Well... It's nothing official, or even really all that confirmed right yet, but I've begun to pick up on a pattern, or more specifically: an observation."
We can use that. Kurome was impressed, it actually sounded like this was something that wasn't a complete waste of time - score one for them.
"The skeletons themselves seem to be made up of share energy, or rather, a power similar to it."
And just like that, Kurome's good mood dropped.
"Say what?" Linda could say that again, although she wasn't given the chance, because Anonydeath carried on.
"I know right? It's a little odd, but after a thorough analysis of one of the shrines was taken, Noire's team managed to catalog a report of the power radiating from the undead themselves. It's faint according to them, but they've dubbed it 'delusional energy'. From what my lovely darling's records say, it's the opposite of share energy. As of yet, I haven't come across anything more, not even in Noire's personal logs. Although, I will say, they do mention it in passing from time to time… and yet they keep no written records of the stuff. Whatever this power is, it seems that even the goddesses themselves don't want anything to do with it."
And nor should they.
Delusional energy: fear and despair given form. Whereas share energy was made from hopes and prayers, delusional energy was born from hopelessness and curses. Even now, Kurome could feel it inching its way throughout her form, hoping she'll take it back in full. So long as she still drew breath, and so long as she recalled her other half's mercy...
She'd never accept it. She would use it, but only as long as it was useful for her; it would never take hold of her again.
"Right, good to know." Kurome steeled her nerves, forcing the subject along. "Look, we're calling you specifically because the skeletons were stealing shaving products. Got anything on that?"
"Pardon... did you just say shaving products?"
"Yes…"
"I see..." There was a fairly long pause this time, and then he opened up once more. "This is going to sound weird, but it's the only link I can fathom: the products being stolen... they wouldn't happen to be a particular line of shaving butters, no? Those of the Fluid Snake brand?"
"Right on the money." Kurome was becoming annoyed with how much he seemed to know about something he had no real info on; cheeky prick. "What gave it away?"
"Well... Noire herself both sponsored and contributed to the butter's creation."
"Woah woah woah, hold on, chu!" Warechu stuttered out, his face having shifted into a ghastly swirl of disbelief. "The goddess made that stuff?!"
"Oh yes." Once again - in Kurome's opinion - Anonydeath showed way too much happiness as he answered. "Believe it or not, my darling Noire has some sensitive skin downstairs, and she wanted a product specifically designed for use by CPU's. That particular line of butter was made for herself, and the Fluid Snake brand went along whole-heartedly with the idea: after all, who would pass up a chance to have your goods personally approved by a goddess."
"Uh..." Linda had a slightly pale look across her face. "How do you know she's sensitive down there?"
"She adorably whines about it every time she picks up her razor on her way to the shower. It's so cute~"
That explanation did nothing to make Linda feel better, and yet again Kurome had to steer them back on track.
"Whatever. Listen: do you know why these things are after her butter, or not?"
"To make the butter more applicable to her own divine skin, Noire had each batch injected with 0.1% of her current share energy. When applied in a physical form, share energy can be wielded like general magic. However, without a specified spell or intent, all it does is soothe wounds... and, well, pretty much any part of the body it's applied to."
"So, and let me get this straight." Kurome had to suck in a large breath for this one; everything was getting downright stupid now. "Black Heart herself added share energy to a line of shaving butters because it made it easier to shave her junk?"
"He-he, yep! Pretty clever, right?"
Is it too late to destroy Gamindustri? Ridiculous was more like it. Knowing the goddesses - especially the most serious of the bunch - were wasting power on such frivolous endeavors had Kurome questioning if letting the world continue to live was such a good idea after all. In the end she accepted that, if they were wasting power on idiocy like this, then the world was already doomed: she just needed to wait it out, and Gamindustri would collapse in on itself anyway - no need to waste her energy overthrowing it.
"I see..." Apparently, Warechu was more tolerant than herself, as he showed no signs of wavering faith in the system. "So they're attracted to the share energy within?"
"That's my best guess right now." Anonydeath replied, with an air of relaxation. "Although, I'll need to keep an eye on things to be sure. Let me guess though: you're going to want a source, or a location to check, right?"
"That obvious, huh?" Kurome was running on fumes here - her poor brain cells were dropping like flies.
"You wouldn't have called me otherwise. Now then, as I said, they seem to be coming from the shrines themselves. Noire has me looking for others in Planeptune, but so far I only have the one initial location she already knew about. Will that do?"
"It will." Kurome was losing the battle at keeping her voice plain, and it was beginning to show its fatigue.
"Right. I'll send that over. Oh, and before I forget, I have a small tidbit of extra info to give: watch your backs. Noire was called to Planeptower, along with the other goddesses."
"What?" For just a moment, Kurome forgot her dwindling sanity, zeroing instead into the final piece offered by the hacker.
"They've been looking into the shrines themselves, and apparently, they've stumbled into something big. I don't know anything specific, other than the fact it involves Neptune, so watch yourselves around the shrine: our nation's leaders might just pay you a visit if you aren't careful."
"Right... thank you." Kurome meant it: this was big.
"You're very welcome. Now then, dearies, I must be off again. Toodles~"
The call cut out, and with it, Kurome's sanity was locked in the lowest position it had ever been. They had a location though, so at the very least the call hadn't been a waste of time.
"That good enough for you?" Lonk tossed out, with just as much excitement and toying as always. Kurome though, she just groaned, and replied with a tired air.
"Let's just go already."
Author's note
...
Okay, so I know it's mean to cut it here, but I want the next chapter to play out a certain way, and to do that I need to keep what Croire and Histy found a secret until then.
Before you ask, yes, it is massive news for the crew when they arrive to hear it, and it seems Kurome and crew have got a goal in mind… or at least a location to check.
Things are heating up, and you better be ready, because we're about to go zooming!
Until next time.