Chapter 32: Loyalty

Magic tapped her foot on the floor impatiently, her arms crossed over her chest. She was more than irritated, unlike her usual disposition. She was ready to whip out her scythe and cleave her own comrades in two. Impatience was her choice of mood and it was going to stay that way if she weren't satisfied, but it was clear that she wasn't going to get what she so desperately wanted right then and there. Knowing that frustrated her all the more, and the only thing that ticked her off even more was her inability to take any shortcuts or make the process any faster than it already was.

She stood in the middle of the ruins of the castle that once belonged to Linda and Pirachu, in the center of the throne room that had been built out of nothing but sheer indulgence and whims, the debris of which looked as regal as a Dogoo trying to squeeze through a sewage pipe. Her angry gaze was very clearly locked onto one of the other people within the immediate vicinity, which was CFW Trick. He was trying his best to ignore the death stare that his companion was firing in his direction, but it grew to no use after a few minutes in silence.

"Agh, just give me a break already!" He said, throwing his clawed, chubby arms up in frustration and turned to Magic with an irked expression of his own. "I know you're impatient, but do me a favor and deal with it!"

"Like I can just stand by idly!" Magic replied, stomping her heel into the ground with enough force to send spider web-like cracks across the floor. "We're so close to seeing our Lady herself return in all her glory and brilliance!" She leaned forward, her voice growing lower as she hissed, "Do you expect me to wait here like some fool for her return?!"

Trick sighed and turned away from her, continuing his work. He closed his eyes and sensed the Fear that was allocating at his bidding. It was a massive amount; all of the negative energies being emitted by those people who were still alive and cowering in the last remaining stronghold of the Insurgents was so massive that just trying to grasp the scope of how much energy that was there in total was a daunting task even to him. It was almost laughable how much there was, and he knew that it only took a portion of the entire thing to annihilate their persistent enemies.

But for the task in mind, it was not enough.

"You can make yourself more useful and get more Fear." Trick muttered, his eyes remaining closed while his hairless brows furrowed. "We still need more."

Magic made a noise with her tongue and spat, her saliva striking a stray rock nearby. It carved a clean, circular hole through the whole rock from one end to the other, landing on the floor and creating a small crater where it did. "I already told you all to stop using the Fear as an energy source for our battles in order to gather as much as we can. Do we still require more Fear?"

Trick opened his eyes again and turned to Magic. "Like it or not, Magic, we're going to have to. Bringing Arfoire back to this world will be no easy task, and I estimate we still need more."

"That's right. No slacking off, Magic." A playful voice emanated from somewhere that no one present could see but could all hear, and everyone looked around quickly in response to it.

Croire appeared in the middle of the scene like she'd always been there but invisible, and Magic just glanced at her once threateningly before letting out a huff and turning around and beginning to walk away. "If that is the case, I shall first find Judge. Leaving him alone for too long is dangerous, and I don't trust him with that piece of Sharicite I gave him one bit."

"Then what do I do?" Trick posed the question to her almost challengingly; the idea of waiting around and doing nothing was not appealing to him in the slightest, especially since all of their material belongings had been vaporized in the past few days. "I swear, I'm gonna end up going mad before Lady Arfoire even arrives if I do nothing else apart from sit here in the dirt."

"Prepare, then." Magic retorted as she slowly began to rise into the air in preparation to start flying at high speed. "Soon, we'll stage an attack on that accursed underground city of theirs and get the rest of the Fear that we so apparently need."

"An attack on the main shelter?!" Trick exclaimed in surprise and disbelief. "Isn't that the worst idea possible?! You yourself already said that we weren't gonna attack it!"

"I changed my mind after thinking it over." Magic said in reply, holding a hand out. Her scythe instantly appeared in the same hand that she held out, and she swiped it once through the air in a flourish. "Besides, I came up with a plan for that. It's absolutely perfect, and we need to give them some time, anyway."

"A plan?" Trick repeated,

Magic just sneered devilishly and flew out of sight, breaking the sound barrier as she flew. But as she flew across the ruined landscape, her smile broke and her face grew calm and still despite the wind that streaked past her face.

Judge…if you lose that Sharicite, I will kill you with my bare hands.

A loud knock on the door of her small, cramped office told Genesis she had a visitor. She turned around from her desk, which was filled with the usual load of prototype gadgets, weapons and blueprints sloppily left all over the table. She stood up from her chair and walked over to the door quietly, looking at the small monitor that was on the side of the doorframe that was connected to a camera that showed the outside.

Who could be coming here right now? Genesis wondered to herself as the monitor flickered to life near-instantly, though the very irritating yet almost unnoticeable lag of the screen caused the display to flicker half a second later than Genesis would have preferred. This got on her nerves a bit, but she put that aside when she saw who was at the door.

Her fellow Commanding Officer, Veeta, stood there at the door with her arms on her hips. Her feet tapped the floor as if she were anxiously, impatiently waiting for it to be opened.

Veeta? Genesis tilted her head in slight confusion. What business could she have with me right now? Her train of thought slowly expanded to thoughts of concern as the endless possibilities began coming to mind.

When the possibility that the reason Veeta had come was related to Akai came to mind, accompanied by the thought that the chances were fairly high, Genesis grew irritated again. She reached for the button on the side of the door under the monitor and pressed it. The door parted into two and slid into the walls, making way for her guest to enter. At the same time as she pressed the buttons, Genesis immediately began walking back to her desk and sat down into her chair, swiveling on it the opposite way so that she would face Veeta when she came in.

"Hey, Genny." Veeta greeted with her usual smile, waving her hand as she walked into the office and stopped in front of her friend. The doors made a small noise as they shut behind the Commanding Officer. "You holding up okay?" Upon seeing her friend's face, though, Veeta made a face and took a step back. "Oh. Did you pass out again? Or are you on your period?"

"Please, Veeta." Genesis said in a pleading voice, pinching the bridge of her nose to temper the irritation that was slowly worsening like a sickness of sorts. "Tell me what you came for. I'm busy enough as it is, and I'm stressed enough without interruptions."

Veeta's goofy, friendly smile disappeared immediately, and she lowered her arms from her hips to dangle loosely around her waist. This brought Genesis' attention to Veeta completely, making her place focus on the girl alone and nothing else. Veeta stared Genesis straight in the eye and said very curtly, "…it's about Akai."

Suspicions confirmed, Genesis felt her irritation level rise until even she could sense that it was emanating from her skin. She folded her arms across her chest firmly, folding one leg over the other, and stared straight back into Veeta's eyes almost challengingly. "What about him?"

Veeta remained undeterred. "…I know what you're about to say…but I think that we might wanna reconsider hearing Akai out…."

Hearing those words made Genesis click her tongue in frustration, and she swore she could feel a vein burst in her forehead. Her eyebrows creased deep downwards, making her look absolutely furious even though she was less than halfway there. "And exactly what led you to that conclusion, Veeta?" She got to her feet, turned around and began walking back into her office. "It's a waste of time, just like what this conversation turned out to be."

Veeta's eyebrows bent downward. "…something's wrong with you, Genny. At the beginning of this war, you were no different from Akai, spouting what everyone thought but was kind enough not to say felt like utter nonsense about trying to revive the Goddesses and the power of Faith and whatnot. What's keeping you? You're nothing like how you used to be. I thought you'd be on board with this the minute he showed up."

Genesis stopped in her tracks. Her tongue was frozen in place, preventing her from offering a rebuttal.

She knew that. She was aware of it. But Genesis couldn't understand it herself. Something about Akai, something about his naïve-sounding plan to bring back the power of Faith, brought into her a strange feeling that she'd never felt before. Something she could never recall. It brought back memories that had once been pleasant, but now haunted her like a dream turned into a nightmare. Not only were the memories unpleasant to her, but there was something else plaguing her.

Something bordering on intuition. Like something she knew without knowing. Something like her conscience, or like her body knew even though her brain knew nothing. Like a memory that she used to own didn't belong to her anymore and was now taunting her from beyond a boundary that she couldn't cross no matter how hard she tried.

"Veeta…we Commanding Officers are required to serve the people and protect them. We uphold the law and the justice when others cannot, and we enforce it as much as we can." Genesis began, turning around to once again look Veeta in the eye. "…we cannot afford to slack off and take part of a plan we're not even sure can guarantee the safety, comfort and happiness of the citizens."

"…that's where you may just be wrong, Genny." Veeta rebutted with a smile, though her voice was far from cheerful. It was earnest and gentle, yet laced with sadness. "You know as well as I do, don't you? We're hanging by a thread as it is."

"Then why are you clinging to a strand of hope that can be so easily be cut?!" Genesis raised her voice unintentionally, though she did not care too much even when she realized that her tone of voice had even harshened without her realizing it. "We have to protect the people! It's what they would have wanted from us!"

Veeta clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, her gentle look immediately morphing into a face that looked like it was trying to fight despair. She smashed her fist into the wall, but she did not cause any harm to it. Only a loud thud resounded from the impact. "I'm clinging to that strand of hope because the one we're holding onto is already lowering us into hell!"

Seeing that, Genesis felt her voice stop in her throat. After a moment to try and recover, she opened her mouth again to rebuke her statement. Her words felt heavy and her heart felt like it was being constricted. She had tasted that very despair that Veeta spoke of, the despair that was so clearly painted on her face. "That doesn't mean we can just recklessly risk abandoning everything we've struggled to protect until now!"

"Then what do you want to do, Genny?!" Veeta's voice was already at a shout, and she stomped forward and into the office. She pointed a finger that stopped right in front of Genesis' eyes. "Do you just want to sit here and wait for them to annihilate us?! You already know that they could do it if they wanted to! And even if they can't kill us, they sure as hell can slaughter the citizens and destroy the city!"

"I don't know!" Genesis replied, but now she was a wreck. She hadn't expected her conversation with Veeta to go like this, but now she was breathing hard and her emotional state was so volatile that she was ready to shoot the wall out of pure, unfiltered concentration. "Veeta, I don't have all the answers! This is all I can do! This is all that we can do! Do you expect me to know all of the answers?!"

"No, I don't." Veeta said, her voice suddenly quiet once again. She turned around and walked out of the doorway. A pause ensued before she spoke again. "But he might know them…well, it's not like I'm totally sold on his plan. But this isn't like you." Veeta just smiled again, although this time it was bittersweet. "…maybe you could just try? Like you used to?"

Those her parting words, the doors closed and left Genesis alone. The purple haired girl let out a violent sigh and trudged unwillingly back to her chair. She sat back down in it heavily, the creak of the chair sounding like it would have given out from the force of her throwing her rear onto the cushion.

A microsecond after she did so, a loud noise caught her attention, and Genesis looked down at her wrist mounted communications device to see who was contacting her.

It was from a communication line she was not familiar with.

Suspicious but not quite alarmed, Genesis decided to press the touchscreen and see who was calling her. When she pressed the screen, several holographic displays jumped into the air and began to hover in front of her. Various meticulous details such as the wavelength detector of the voice of the person about to speak floated in a way that Tony Stark would have approved of.

"Yes?" Genesis said out loud, deciding to take the risk and speak first.

"I-it's me."

Aoi's voice. She recognized it after a measly few days.

The Commanding Officer fought back the extremely powerful urge to groan, repressing it so strongly that it felt superhuman to do so. She maintained her usual demeanor as best she could: that of a calm, cool and collected woman. "Did you have business with me?"

"I came firstly to report that progress with the reinforcements of the exterior of the entrance have been completed without any issue." Aoi said in a quick, tense and almost nervous voice. "Also, Akai's recovery has been facilitated by the medical staff and they have reported that he should be ready for combat in the next few hours."

And we're back to him. Genesis thought, fighting down the urge to reply coldly. She did not hate him at all, not on a personal level. She did not dislike his character, though he did irritate her due to his constant mention in plans that seemed ludicrous to even think of. "I see. That's good to hear." She said, easily forcing her expression of relief and joy. Underneath the mask, she cared less for the plan that Akai wished to carry out. However, that plan required resources that were needed for protecting Gekko, so Genesis did not spare a single thought about the idea of relinquishing them.

There was no way she would bet it all on a foolish plan.

If things were to go wrong, everyone would die.

With odds like that, Genesis couldn't risk it. She wouldn't. It was not her place to. It was her job to keep the remaining citizens of Gamindustri alive and well, and to see that they make it out of this despairingly hopeless situation. After seeing what Akai was capable of, Genesis had been hoping he would help turn the tide of the battle. He would have proven a valuable asset if he were to assist them in their endeavors to fight back.

"…I'm glad to hear he's well." Genesis replied, nodding once; she was hoping to end the call there and get back to her work. But as she began to move her lips to say something, a thought came to mind that stopped her immediately. If this were to persist any longer, Akai would consume valuable resources meant for them instead of him. Resources that they had hardly any leeway to make more of. The realization alarmed her greatly. "Is he still in the medical ward? I would like to speak to him."

"He should still be there. He's just getting the final checkups done." Aoi said, her eyebrow scrunching together in worry. "I'm more worried about the soldiers out there and the defenses. I don't think they'll hold for very long if someone attacks."

"…you're handling this situation well even though you have no prior experience." Genesis complimented as she reclined in her chair. "This is a strenuous job, you know. I was very unsure about allowing you to be appointed as Commanding Officer, but you seem to be taking it in stride." Genesis then smiled in sarcastic humor. "Although I wouldn't imagine that the men have shown you the appropriate respect that comes with the position just yet."

"You flatter me." Aoi replied flatly, though she smiled out of courtesy as she bowed slightly to accept her compliment. "Is there anything else I should be doing? I don't really know how it works if I'm working without any tutorials."

"Jeanne should be in the city. Find her and help her." Genesis said as she returned her attention to the work before her. She picked up a pencil and brought one of the incomplete blueprints in front of her closer, her eyebrows meeting one another in an expression of concentration. "She has a habit of going there and attending to business that none of us can help her with."

An expression of confusion flickered across Aoi's face for an instant when she heard that, and she opened her mouth to ask. However, Aoi's face immediately flickered back to an obedient expression after mulling things over in her mind for a moment and deciding that asking would probably waste time. That belief was confirmed when she saw Genesis' expression of neutrality. "G-got it." Aoi affirmed the command with a grunt of acknowledgment, and the call ended abruptly. Genesis let out a sigh of relief and leaned forward, trying to focus in the task she had set for herself. The sound of her pencil scraping across paper was the only one she allowed to fill the office.

"…Genesis."

She immediately let out a grunt of frustration and threw her head and gaze to the ceiling in an overdramatic display of her irritation. The tip of her pencil broke when the pressure on it multiplied near tenfold, which was followed by the breaking of the pencil itself. She let the wooden remains of the writing instrument clatter out of her hand messily before turning to see who had dared to intrude in on her work.

Kei II stood there with her arms crossed, one foot propping the door open. "I know it's a bad time." Despite the apologetic statement, her expression displayed no trace of such apology, instead made lively with an expression of both amusement and seriousness that somehow blended well on her face. It was an expression that Genesis knew only Kei would and could make. "We need to talk."

IF swallowed her saliva nervously as she took in the entirety of what she was staring at.

The wind howled and whistled almost violently but not quite, gales and bursts of wind streaking past the brunette's face and striking her cheeks like invisible bullets that barely missed her head and hit her with tassels attached to the rear of their lead bodies instead. There was a hum in the air like an extremely large air conditioner had been turned on right next to IF's ears, and the ground even rumbled like a miniature earthquake was taking place.

In front of her shone a column of light so bright and vivid that looking away was both necessary and impossible; rays of multicolored light shot outwards in random directions like a porcupine's spines as it quivered and grumbled with invisible energy. IF sucked in a breath, held back a sigh of awe and glanced around her through the squinting of her eyes.

Next to her stood Iris Heart in all of her usual glory, a very rare serious expression on her face as she gazed blankly at the column of light and energy with her arms crossed under her noticeably large breasts and her skimpy CPU armor and plugsuit. In one hand, she held her bladed whip that was coiled up like a defensive millipede.

And in front of the two of them was Mini-Histoire, who was yelling from the effort as she kept her two arms extended outward towards the column of light. Bolts of pink energy coursed around her arms and fingers and flew into the column, marking her as the source of the phenomenon. She took a deep breath, grit her teeth and then re-extended her arms outward like she had been re-energized.

"I can't do this for very long, IF! Please, if you're going to through with this, then do it quickly!" Mini Histy said, making an effort just to speak while her intense focus and the demand for her energy was taking a toll on her mind.

IF glanced over at Iris Heart, who noticed her gaze and returned it. "Plutia…thank you." IF said gratefully.

The CPU just shrugged. "Just don't get yourself killed, Iffy. Find your man quick and get back out there before the whole dimension goes down." She said with a very neutral, calm and almost uncaring expression on her face.

IF just nodded once and turned to the column of light. All of sorts of thoughts swept through her mind as she took step after step towards the portal. Thoughts of fear and hesitation. After all, she did not want to die. She did not want to leave her best friends here behind, and she didn't want to think about how much of a freakout they'd have once they discovered she was doing this. If the trip to Gigadimension and back didn't get IF killed, then she knew that confronting Compa was going to do the job.

Thoughts of mild excitement. IF was an adventurer at heart. The Guild did not offer her the thrill that this did. There was so much she could do in this new world: save the innocent, fight evil and all of the things that she once did alongside Neptune and the others when the world used to be in peril. Even if lives were at stake and the fate of an entire dimension was supposedly the balance, IF couldn't suppress her excitement. It made her feel a bit guilty, but she said nothing more.

…Akai, I hope you're okay. IF thought to herself, those thoughts of worry mixed in with love prevalent amongst the rest of her thoughts. He was her reason for going there, really, and remembering that only embarrassed her yet steeled her resolve. Pressing her teeth together in a fierce scowl like the column was her opponent, she suddenly crouched and propelled herself into the air in a reckless head-first jump into the column of light.

And with that, the beam disappeared into thin air along with her.

"Thanks for granting her request." Iris Heart said with a grateful smile to Mini Histoire, patting her on the head as if she were congratulating a child. "I appreciate it."

Mini Histoire escaped the hand, but she didn't look upset like how most would imagine her to be after having a hand placed on her head in a seemingly pretentious manner. Her face was only painted with worry. "…are you sure it was okay to send her there?"

Iris Heart said nothing as she transformed back into Plutia. But even her human form's facial expression was as neutral as she was in her CPU form. She spoke not a single word and turned around, exiting the balcony and leaving Mini Histoire alone. The Oracle cast a worried glance in the direction of her CPU and then looked at the spot where the portal once was, her gaze lingering on the floor.

Please be safe, IF.

Aoi shot a wayward glance in the direction of the clinic where she knew Akai was resting. She longed to check on him a second time to see if he was well, but Aoi knew it was best for her to go immediately. As the current state of affairs stood, spending time on something that could be saved for later was wisest.

Without another word, Aoi finally tore her gaze from the clinic and began running, her feet making loud noises as they struck the steel catwalks repetitively. In the large, exposed expanse that was the entrance and exit to the outside where the CFWs had left their mark, the metallic clangs echoed until they could no longer be heard, the echoes only to be chased by more sounds as Aoi ran through catwalk after catwalk and descended from staircase to staircase, her hand running across the handrail that came with the staircase for safety and convenience. After a moment of hesitation, Aoi decided it would be faster to just slide down the rest of the stairs and did exactly that, reaching the ground in a way that Sonic the Hedgehog would have been proud of.

It took her only moments later to find the express route to the main city of Gekko, confronted with yet another fortified entrance that looked like nothing but a miniature version of the facility she'd been running around in earlier. It was almost comedic, and brought an ever-so-slight amused smile to her lips. But it was momentary and slight, later replaced with an expression of urgency.

What on earth can I help Jeanne with? Aoi wondered as she walked past the guards just as they gave her the signal to pass through. As she passed by the two guards and stopped in front of the enormous steel door that, despite being a smaller scaled model of the massive base's entrance, still stood tall above her own head.

Just like on the way here, Aoi found not a long tunnel but a large steel arch not unlike a gigantic Omega symbol. She heard a low, grumbling sound as something was switched on. The ground shook faintly and the air hummed as small specks of light began to appear in the center of the hollow arch. As the volume of the humming increased, light shone from the archway like a portal to Limbo or infinity had been opened in the fabric of space-time.

Without asking any questions, though she shot a questioning glance at the guards nearby who did not say anything. It wasn't indicated whether or not they wanted to say something or not, if they cared at all or not or if they were allowed to. Any of these went unsaid as her eyes met with the guards' eyes: the look in them was neutral. It was not a look of contempt, a look of neutrality or even one of hospitality. It was just a look that slid over as if they were both bored and attentive.

Aoi turned her eyes away to the front, and it only took a moment to walk through the gateway of light. Blinking once, Aoi found herself standing somewhere else that looked similar but was clearly not the same place.

Guards stood in front of her as well, though they looked visibly laxer but still on guard. The two noticeably stood more at attention at the sight of the girl appearing through the gateway but they did not say or do anything otherwise. Aoi just gave the guards a nod before walking past them a bit hurriedly. They nodded back, though that fact did not register much with Aoi. She just ran past them and into the beginnings of a short hallway made entirely of steel that led into the beginnings of the city.

Reaching the ending of the long hall greeted Aoi with a view of the city itself, although she didn't feel like she had the time to admire it in its strange, post-apocalyptic kind of beauty. However, she realized as she stood there basking in the view of soldiers patrolling about that she had no idea where to begin looking for Jeanne, and she was beginning to regret not asking.

…maybe I'll find her if I look around enough. Aoi thought to herself and took off into a sort-of run, and she began to soak in the city as she ran.

It was a strange looking city that baffled her to no end. It looked incredibly clean and managed despite the fact that it was an emergency bunker of a city. It looked quite a bit like Planeptune with its architectural style and use of white for every single building. They all had an angular look and appeared to be made of metal, and it all looked like it could withstand a nuclear blast from point-blank range.

It looked more like the futuristic city of Planeptune than a city designed as an emergency bunker and shelter for the citizens of Gamindustri. Aoi ran down a bare street and turned the corner to see some citizens sitting at one of the mess halls and eating while relaxing as if the apocalypse was not incoming. She continued to run down the street, passing by civilians that were walking around casually and unalarmed. Turning another corner granted Aoi a sight of an intersection to her left that had an arcade on the corner, and she could even hear the sound of action music that would play in the background of some games.

A very quick glance at the arcade allowed to see past the entrance and at a few kids that were laughing and playing on the Dance Dance Revolution machine.

…it's not like how I imagined it. Aoi thought to herself as she turned her head away continued to run.

She'd thought it be more like some post-apocalyptic world with the people in emotional, spiritual ruins; she'd been expecting people huddled up in shelters and protective facilities dressed in ragged clothes with gloomy expressions. Aoi turned a corner to find a couple holding hands and walking down the street dressed in fashionable clothes, and she found it amazing that they were not hiding away in some other corner and counting their seconds together.

It all looked…so normal. Like the world was really going to get better somehow.

Like hope was not lost.

Aoi turned the fifth corner in a minute and promptly ran out breath, placing her hands onto her knees and bending over to rest. As she took in breaths and released them, she couldn't help but think about how the atmosphere and the air was clean and filled with what was not blood, despair and sadness but instead calm. Raising her head, Aoi saw that the road that she was standing on stretched out into a large plaza of sorts.

The plaza was beautiful despite everything, with green grass that was the stark contrast of the surface that had absolutely no grass to speak of. There was a wind that brushed by her cheek as she stared out into the plaza, and Aoi found the sheer difference from what she'd been seeing and hearing mere minutes ago amongst soldiers in the tense air that reeked of fear and stress almost comedic. Aoi found herself drawn to the plaza, and she decided to allow herself to walk forward and towards it.

There were a number of solid rectangular benches that were positioned in a circular position around the plaza, and they circled around a large monument made entirely of white metal that Aoi couldn't quite see from her angle. She could tell that there were four of these statues, each one a different height but very close to one another, and they each held a weapon that was raised upward and into the sky.

As Aoi drew closer and closer to the statues, she began to make out details of them that told her who they were. Aoi could tell that there was a katana amongst the four weapons, and the others were a rapier, a spear and a hammer. Long flowing hair that was way too white to portray its true beauty, a small hat perched on the top of one of their heads, and two all-too familiar ponytails.

Wow. Aoi thought to herself as she walked even closer to the statues and stopped in front of them, as the statues themselves were protected with a form of barrier that looked much like a force field. There was no mistaking the four people that were there.

"Neptune, Noire, Blanc, and Vert." Aoi muttered under her breath as she gazed upwards at the figures of steel that looked so majestic that they could have memorials. Aoi slowly floated into the air and rose, looking at every single detail that had been placed into the statues, amazed at the level of attention that had been paid to their recreation.

Neptune's D-Pad hair clips were present, along with the small threads that extended from her jersey dress. Her skirt stopped at the right height and her hair looked like it had been painstakingly recreated from shard after shard of metal. Noire's twin ponytails seemed to reflect the light that came from above as magnificently as the real deal's, and they shimmered and shone like the light was refracting off of water. Her rapier held a single red gem placed into the handguard, and the very outlines of the accents of her dress were spot-on. Blanc's somewhat sullen and almost dull looking expression had been perfectly recreated as if the statues themselves had facial muscles. Her eyes looked like they were bored and even looked like the statue had pulled an all-nighter the previous evening on a new light novel. Vert's dress collar had green gemstones studded across it, and the statue even had what looked like gloves on her forearms.

As Aoi admired them from her one-of-a-kind perch, she slowly turned around and looked out at the city that she could see from where she was. The tall white buildings that looked like they belonged in a futuristic city, the small amount of people walking around or running around relatively peacefully, the soldiers that were running back and forth on patrol or training and the beautiful scenery that seemed so at peace that Aoi couldn't believe that the inhabitants of Gekko were at any risk of getting murdered.

…it's so strange. Aoi thought to herself, almost too confused for her own sake. …it's like there's no war happening, like no one died.

"Hey, look!" Aoi was startled to hear the sound of a young child yelling suddenly emanate from below, and she looked down to see a small little boy pointing at her in amazement. "She's flying!"

When he said that, and as Aoi had begun to descend from her position, the air slowly began to get filled with noise as a bunch of kids that had heard the boy came filing in from seemingly out of nowhere and began to swarm around her like moths to a flame. Aoi couldn't help but smile as the kids began to crowd her from every side with adorable faces full of amazement and curiosity.

She reached out with her hand and patted one of the kids on their heads, relishing in the feeling of rubbing their hair. Her smile widened and she crouched to meet their eye level, and the kids began to barrage them with a series of questions such as "Who are you?" and "How are you flying?" Aoi simply answered those questions to humor them, all the while enjoying herself. Before long, the kids had already learned her name and were asking for things like high-fives.

"Hey, Aoi!" One of the kids, an energetic little girl, suddenly came up to her and pulled onto her arm. The pull was unexpected, making Aoi teeter a bit backwards before she regained her balance. She turned to the kid and smiled gently, asking "What is it?"

"Wanna meet the lady that always visits us?" The girl asked, smiling so brilliantly that Aoi tried not to hug her on the spot. The little girl just pointed her finger in the direction of the plaza where Aoi had seen the benches. "She promised to take us here today!"

"Sure." Aoi replied with a smile. The little girl took Aoi by the hand and began leading her, and the entire group of children suddenly formed an organized line with their hands all joined. Without warning, the kid at the front suddenly let out a vocal signal and the line began to move forward. Aoi was surprised to find out that, as she was in the middle of the line and she could see it clearly enough, the kids were marching not unlike the way that the soldiers were marching when they had been patrolling the city moments earlier.

They moved forward in this fashion into the section of the plaza with benches and some people that were also there, and Aoi couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. She continued to walk forward with the kids holding her hands, a bit thankful that there weren't so many people that were around to stare at her.

"Hey, that's where you guys are! Seriously, don't leave without me, or you'll worry me to death!"

That voice… Aoi recognized it as Jeanne's voice and turned in the direction of the voice. Surely enough, the blonde-haired girl was running towards their group with a worried look on her face. Jeanne's eyes met with Aoi suddenly, and she immediately braked to a stop in front of the marching line that had been formed. "…Aoi?" Jeanne asked curiously, somewhat confused and also amused at the same time. "…what are you doing?"

Aoi looked down at her hands and the kids around her, and then looked back up at Jeanne. "…as you can see, I'm hanging out with these kids."

"I-I see." Jeanne replied unsurely, and she walked forward to the kids and crouched to reach their eye level, smiling when they came up to her and hugged her full-force. She let out a grunt when a large number of them began to slowly press themselves into her body for a big group hug, but she nonetheless took it all and embraced them. "Seriously, you guys, don't worry me so much!"

So this is where she was… Aoi thought to herself. "…wait, what are you doing with a bunch of kids?"

Jeanne looked up at Aoi, smiling. "I'm helping them, of course. It's something only I can do." Aoi only tilted her head in confusion to the vague, dramatically worded statement, so Jeanne got to her feet and patted the kids on their heads. "I'm gonna chat with this lady here for a while, so play in the plaza for a bit, okay?"

"Really?!" The kids cheered when they were told that, and they immediately took off in a cluster of energy towards the most open spot in the plaza before Jeanne turned back to face Aoi. "I don't think you're here by coincidence. Normally, Dihez or Veeta helps me out with this if they feel like it, but I guess they sent you instead."

"So this is a thing that normally happens?" Aoi asked, crossing her arms. "I figured Commanding Officers don't exactly have a lot of time for the people, much less some kids. I thought you guys had your hands full trying to fight off the CFWs."

Jeanne let out what sounded a lot like a desponded sigh and glanced in the direction of a nearby bench. "…it's better if we sit down for this. It's a bit of a discussion." The two of them walked towards this bench together and sat down one after the other, Aoi being the later of the two. The brunette then faced Jeanne and leaned onto the armrest to her left.

"…Aoi, do you know what the word faith means?" Jeanne began with a question, however she was not facing Aoi as she spoke; instead, her gaze rested on the group of kids that were playing with each other and laughing. "You know, outside of the context of Shares?"

At this question, Aoi shrugged as she replied. "Yeah, I guess. Faith refers to believing in something, right?"

But to that answer, Jeanne simply shook her head and smiled. "That is the answer of someone who doesn't know what real faith is, Aoi; the answer of someone who's read about it and studied it, but has never found anything worth believing in." Jeanne's smile receded slightly, becoming what appeared to Aoi as a little bittersweet. "It's more than just believing in something."

Aoi was attentive to Jeanne's answer, looking very carefully at her face and her eyes. "…then what do you think it is, Jeanne?"

"…faith isn't about believing in something." Jeanne said, her eyes beginning to change. They looked like they were slowly beginning to look into a lens that was directed somewhere distant that no one else but Jeanne could see. "Faith is about putting a part of you into something, trusting in that something and loving that something for everything you think it's worth." Her tone began to shift into one more hopeful, and she turned to face Aoi. "That's what I think faith is. It's about trusting something precious with a part of you and believing that it will protect and nurture that part of you."

"…why are you telling me this?"

Jeanne looked back at the kids and leaned backwards. "…you see those kids there, right?" Aoi nodded in reply, glancing at the group of children and smiling when she saw them fooling around. "They look adorable, don't they? And they're all so happy and shining with youth and energy."

Aoi nodded in agreement.

"Their parents died years ago at the hands of the CFWs."

The brunette, feeling dismayed, turned her head back to face the Commanding Officer seated next to her whose eyes had become dyed with a small touch of sadness. Jeanne's fists slowly closed until they were balled into fists. "They've been living in the shelter for orphans and other people whose family members had all been killed." Jeanne's lips tightened and she was clearly upset at the words that were leaving her mouth. "They've been living for the past few years in that bare shelter without their parents and their family. Isn't that terrible? No child should have to go through that."

Aoi was bereft of words to reply with. Jeanne had said that with weight and meaning far beyond simple faith. She had said it painfully and knowingly, and it was inlaid with pure emotion. Jeanne looked at Aoi and said, "I've taken it upon myself to provide those children as well as everyone who has lost their beloved in this battle with the very thing they've lost. That is why I am here with them today."

"…you're incredible." Aoi couldn't help but say, her tone carrying with it admiration. "You sympathize with them like they really are your family. Like…" Aoi gazed hard into Jeanne, her curiosity beginning to eat at her as it grew. "…like you really know what it means to lose family."

"…it's because I really do, Aoi." The words that left Jeanne's lips sounded longing and lonely as she looked to the statues that were a distance away from them, and Aoi felt her mouth being nailed shut and her heart being pierced heard those words that sounded so despondent. "…I've lost someone important to me."

Aoi did not say anything, instead just moving closer to Jeanne as she began to speak.

"…come to think about it, I don't think anyone told you about the beginning of how all this started." Jeanne said thoughtfully, coming to that realization as she spoke. "I guess…I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you how it all started." Jeanne closed her eyes very, very slowly and opened them again, her gaze looking like it was completely removed from reality and staring into another world entirely. "…it began five years ago, Aoi."

For a while, neither of them said anything and the only sound audible to Aoi was the sound of the kids playing with each other nearby and laughing. It was an incredibly offsetting, distracting noise that threatened to shatter the mood that had built up until now. When it seemed like Jeanne, who was just staring off into space, was not going into say anything further, Aoi decided to open her mouth instead. "…what did?"

"…the Console Patron Unit Catharsis."

IF found herself dizzy and confused when she opened her eyes, forcing her to take a step back while she attempted to regain awareness of her surroundings. This did not go very well, as there was also an immense assault on her ears that startled her in its suddenness. IF lost her balance, disoriented as she was, and fell onto her rear.

Wh-what the fuck is happening?! IF thought to herself hazily as her vision and hearing ever so slowly began to return to her and she was beginning to make some sense of what she was seeing. Seeing didn't help her understand anything, though, as the very first thing she was seeing was an empty, desolated road. In front of her stood a tall building that looked very much like it was in the industrial style of Lastation with its drab colors and large pipes at the rooftop, but every single window was either missing or shattered and the door had been blown off of its hinges.

Immediately, she heard a series of menacing roars followed by the agonizing scream of a grown man. Right after that sound, a series of explosions boomed into IF's ears and forced her to grimace in pain as the waves of vibrations assaulted her already unstable senses and inflicted pain.

Am I in the middle of a battlefield? Now completely alarmed, IF drew out the Katars hidden in her sleeves and turned around on her heel to see exactly what was going on. In front of her now was a scene she wasn't expecting to be greeted with.

An entire platoon of what appeared to be soldiers all equipped in futuristic armor were firing away with lasers, bullets and rockets into an innumerable amount of gigantic yellow monsters that were also tearing at each other in addition to the soldiers. They roared in pain and anger as they regarded the soldiers in pure bloodlust, and a portion of them charged the group of soldiers head-on.

"Quickly, use the grenades!" One of the soldiers cried out, and a flurry of thrown projectiles suddenly hailed down from the sky and into the faces of the oncoming assault of monstrosities. Without so much as a warning, the projectiles immediately exploded on contact with their targets, and the force of the explosion was so great that IF was blown back and into the building behind her. She let out a cry of pain as her head struck the floor, and IF struggled to recover as she tried to get back to her feet.

What the fuck is going on?! To say she was confused was an understatement, and IF's confusion was only growing with each passing second as she hid next to the window and looked out at the chaos. Where's Akai? Is he in the middle of this mess?

"Quick, into this building!" A masculine voice suddenly erupted from behind IF, and she turned around to see a group of soldiers entering through some of the broken windows to her right. The man at the front locked eyes with IF and immediately raised his gun at her. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"

Startled, IF retracted her Katars and held up her hands in a display of friendliness. "Wait, I don't want to fight you! Don't shoot!" But when she saw that the man was not going to even wait for her to start another sentence before pulling the trigger, IF clicked her tongue and turned around. Vaulting over the window, she barely managed to escape as bullets flew past the window and destroying what little glass remained. Without any time to breathe, IF realized that the sound of gunfire had attracted some of the monsters' attention and was making them come closer.

"Why the hell do they all look like CopyPastes?! Shit!" IF cursed out loud as she redrew her weapons and dodged to the side as the monsters mindlessly rammed into the wall she was just leaning on and broke it down. It only took a moment for the creatures to be met with a storm of bullets and lasers and killed them all.

I need to get out of here! IF thought to herself, looking around desperately for any open paths she could use to quickly escape. No one's listening to me and the only other thing here are monsters! Scrambling to her feet, IF looked back at the brigade of soldiers who were only beginning to notice her standing there and then looked in the opposite direction where the monsters were still trying to kill each other.

"…at least they can't shoot." IF muttered under her breath before she started dashing in the direction of the CopyPaste lookalikes. Running towards one, IF leaped high and planted her foot into its shoulder. Driving her sole into the creature's body, IF jumped off of it and over another group of creatures before landing in the middle of a large number of monsters that were still clawing and growling at one another.

She dashed forward and quickly slashed one of the creatures in the back of their neck whilst it was facing another monster, and then jumped off of the dead body of the creature she had just slain and attempted to do the same to another one. The monster received the slash and roared in pain, and it turned around with surprising speed and managed to smash its forearm into IF and send her flying. IF let out a grunt as she soared through the air and landed onto her back, sliding through the dirt before skidding to a stop. As she got up, IF realized to her dismay that she was right in front of the soldiers that she had been trying to avoid.

"What's a civilian doing here?!" One of the soldiers yelled out to the rest of their group, and then he pointed to IF. "We need to get her out of the battlefield, stat!"

"She may be a decoy!" Another soldier yelled out, pointing his firearm at IF. "We were instructed to eliminate everything here, sir! With all due respect, we should not bring a potential threat back to base!" To this statement, the man that appeared to be the leader stared at IF for a crucial moment with wavering, uncertain eyes.

Please realize that I am not a threat! IF thought hopefully, staring back at the leader and hoping her thoughts would get through.

"…capture her!"

IF barely had time to respond as a small object suddenly flew into her field of vision and she could do nothing but try to take a step back before her vision suddenly went white and her ears suddenly started ringing like someone had blasted soundwaves straight into her ear canals. As she stumbled backwards, she felt a humanoid figure suddenly grab her from behind, wrench her arms into submission behind her back and lock handcuffs onto her wrists before pushing her forward and onto the floor. Pain raced up her cheek as she hit the ground hard, but she was otherwise unharmed.

"H-hey! Let go of me!" IF quickly cried out as she tried to resist. Despite the main that was pinning her down with spectacular strength, IF began trying to raise her upper body and pout strength into her bonds.

A small jolt of pain stabbed into her side, and then she felt her entire body suddenly tense as a painful, powerful bolt of electricity raced throughout her system. Her senses already rocked and her body sensitive, IF felt another shock hit her body hard and make her see nothing but black.