Planeptune/Eresthian City/Hotel Room/Morning
"I'm heading out!" Sean whom was in his same classy attire with his blue jacket and red plaids scarf ontop informed IF as Morgana was in his blue bag.
"Kay, see you later." IF mumbled as she was chewing on toast whilst Sean exited the Hotel Room.
As Sean was walking – hands in his pockets – he was thinking about today's plans.
"Hmm... What to do?" He mumbled as he had a variety of things to do 'What about you guys?'
'I suggest you fulfil yesterday's commission.' Messiah Picaro spoke up as he mentioned the abused child from yesterday.
'I agree, the dear must be in so much pain...' Lilith seemed on the verge of tears.
'Trickster, I suggest you assist the child too.' Arsène also supported the argument.
'He~ Pain is a no, no~ Ho~' Jack Frost commented.
'Ho~ Help must come~ He~' Jack O' Lantern also agreed.
'What about you Succubus?' Sean asked but then rethought his decision 'Oh wait, your opinion doesn't matter.'
'Oi! Just because your opinion used to not matter doesn't mean you have to subject me to your past experiences!' Succubus exclaimed 'And also, for the record, I also agree.'
"...Past experiences, huh..." Sean muttered as he reminisced something from long ago.
Long ago, when he was still trapped in that cage. Long ago when simply averting from the injustice was the only way to seek safety. Long ago when he was immersed in a fading perpetual happiness.
'Trickster?' Arsène snapped him out of his momentary daze.
'I'm okay.' He muttered.
'Oh, are you really?' Succubus pointed out in a irritating tone of voice.
'Yes. Really.' He replied to which she relented.
"I know just the person to help us..." Sean muttered as he went on his phone and sent a message to someone.
◇◇◇
The Fool: Hey, you mind I come in today? I got a request, and I'll also help out with the cleaning.
ProudNEETDetective: Hmm, the hour has finally arose, I suppose.
ProudNEETDetective: Very well, I shall grant you permission to inconvenice me with your presence.
The Fool: I'm cleaning your room though, so that's not really inconvenicing.
ProudNEETDetective: And after that, you have a job for me. It's still inconvenice.
The Fool: Oh right, you win.
ProudNEETDetective: I am pleased to see you concede.
The Fool: Anyway, I'm heading over.
ProudNEETDetective: I shall inform my subsidiaries.
◇◇◇
"That went well..." Sean muttered as he headed towards Alice's apartment in the western foodie district.
Planeptune/Eresthian City/Western-Foodie District/Morning
Sean approached the building from the front. However he paused momentarily on his way to the door, as two people exited from the doors. Sean didn't see them but their tone of voice was the same.
□□□
"Hehehe... About time someone did something about that bastard." A giggled.
"Yeah; now the rent's not due till the new landlord comes." B smiled along with him.
"That's what your concerned about?" A asked.
"Yeah, obviously. I mean I didn't know who got affected on a personal level, so it's not like it's my problem." B clarified.
"Eh, true." A agreed.
□□□
"They still don't cease to disgust me..." Sean muttered as he carried on walking and entered through the door. He looked around and spotted an elevator which led to the twelfth floor in which Alice's room was in.
He entered the elevator and pressed the button for the twelfth floor.
'Huh, there's 15 floors in total.' He noted as the elevator doors closed and began to lift itself upwards.
As he was waiting, Sean noticed that there was a camera in the elevator which was directly looking at him.
"Are you watching me?" Sean asked the camera.
BZZT BZZT
◇◇◇
ProudNEETDetective: Indeed.
◇◇◇
"Okay..." Sean muttered as he slid his phone back into his pocket; he didn't know what to do about that so he just decided to ignore it.
DING
The elevator arrived at the twelfth floor and outside a certain room there was two people waiting outside it; they seemed generic enough with their caps covering their faces with dark hoodies and jeans with white trainers.
'They kinda resemble roadmen.' He couldn't help but make the comparison as he approached them.
"Whaddya starin' for?" A generic guard asked.
"I have business with the person in the room." Sean replied.
"What's the password?" The other generic guard asked which prompted him to go on his phone.
◇◇◇
The Fool: You have a password?
ProudNEETDetective: What? No.
The Fool: They're asking for a password though.
ProudNEETDetective: They're just doing it to look mysterious and cool or something.
The Fool: ...There's something wrong with your guards.
ProudNEETDetective: ...
ProudNEETDetective: I know.
◇◇◇
"There is no password." Sean blatantly stated.
"Good, you got the password right; go in." The other generic guard nodded as they both proceeded to tilt their caps forward to cover their faces as they opened the door.
"What a freak show..." Morgana couldn't help but mutter from Sean's bag as she peaked out.
"Mona, learn some manners; it's called being unique." Sean whispered back as he entered the room.
The room looked darkened with the only light coming from the numerous computer screens at the very end of the bed – or rather mattress – with a certain violet-eyed Japanese girl sitting cross-legged near the beginning of the bed – or the part which was nearer to the door – and Sean could also see two refrigerators near the corner of the room which could've been mistaken for a small garbage facility.
"Morning." Sean nodded towards the NEET.
"Good morning~." She greeted back with a stifled yawn.
"I'm gonna clean first; that alright with you?" He asked the tired girl.
"I have no qualms in you doing so, so I suppose you may." She confirmed as Sean shrugged and got along with it.
A few minutes later he finished cleaning the entire room.
"I am pleasantly surprised at the pace in which you cleansed my room of it's filth; I commend you." She thanked or rather... congratulated?
"Eh, not a problem." Sean shrugged as he proceeded to ignore the fact that he managed to clean a room stuffed with thrown trash on every visible premise.
"Now then, state your business." The violet-eyed girl commanded to which Sean complied.
"I want you to investigate a possible victim of child abuse; her name is 'Aya' and appearance-wise she's thin, small, has black hair and maroon eyes and is unhealthily pale." He elaborated.
"Hmm... I see." Alice nodded for a moment but then turned around and started typing on her computers and lots of clicking noises were heard from her computer's mouse.
"I found it." She informed him "Aya Asagiri, age 14, adopted child which resides in the housing district, with her family having numerous cases of debt which were mostly used to supply Kaname Asagiri's – her step brother's – studies, her biological mother died at childbirth and she has another biological twin sister – although they aren't identical – whom was adopted by a family considered 'well off'. They are most probably unaware of the other's existence. Also, she doesn't attend any form of education whilst her biological twin does so I suppose it would be better if she was taken in along with her sister." She informed Sean as she pressed more buttons and then turned around "I sent the coordinates to your phone, do what you will."
Sean nodded.
"Thanks; I'll investigate." He thanked as he proceeded to exit her room.
"Wait!" She called out to him which made him pause.
"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I would like a Doc P from the refrigerator." She informed as Sean shrugged and took a cold Doc P and threw it towards her.
"Hmph. Brute." She mumbled as Sean waved goodbye.
'Oi, I gave it...' He then paused momentarily as he opened the door 'Why do I feel like a butler?'
Planeptune/Eresthian City/City Central/Morning
He was in the housing district as he slid his phone out.
"Now then... Where's her home?" He muttered.
"Oi, phrasing!" The cat in the bag exclaimed as she was proceeding to get ignored.
◇◇◇
ProudNEETDetective: The coordinates.
ProudNEETDetective: XXX-XXX-XXX
The Fool: Thanks.
ProudNEETDetective: Just doing my job.
The Fool: Even though, thanks. This'll give her a better life.
ProudNEETDetective: ...
ProudNEETDetective: Are you sure about that?
The Fool: Most definitely.
ProudNEETDetective: She'll be thrown into an entirely new environment. She will have to adapt if she does not she will break, being too unfamiliar with her surroundings. She may even be shunned by those around her for circumstances outside her control. Her lack of education also means she'll have trouble keeping up with people around her. She may even have an attachment to her supposed family for 'raising' her. There are also numerous other problems that I am most definitely not mentioning.
The Fool: lol.
ProudNEETDetective: ...You have the gall to laugh?
The Fool: Yep.
The Fool: Afterall, your forgetting one thing.
ProudNEETDetective: And that is?
The Fool: Life Will Change if you choose to also change.
ProudNEETDetective: ...And you think she has the capacity to choose?
The Fool: You don't need a 'capacity' to choose, you only need the desire for it. And the fact that she asks questions is a clear fact that she wants something to change, or in other words, she has the desire.
The Fool: I'm simply granting that desire, where it leads her depends solely on her.
ProudNEETDetective: Do you think your a guardian angel or something?
The Fool: No thanks, having my rights stripped away doesn't sound appealing; I like my freedom and would like to help more than one person rather than following a bunch of convoluted rules and being bound to one person. Though, I do like the sound of being a Fallen Angel.
ProudNEETDetective: Fallen Angel?
The Fool: A selfish angel. Afterall, it's my selfish wish to help her.
ProudNEETDetective: ...How ridiculous.
The Fool: Haha, it may be but the ridiculous often turn out to be the most effective.
ProudNEETDetective: ...
ProudNEETDetective: I suppose so.
ProudNEETDetective: I bid you farewell.
The Fool: See ya.
◇◇◇
"Hmm... I guess she's regretting something or has a problem of her own which requires her to change to effectively handle the problem." Sean guessed as he saw how she was mildly more passionate than her usual disinterested behaviour.
"Focus on the current goal, Sean!" The talking cat berated him.
"Got it." He nodded as he began to follow the coordinates.
He followed the coordinates and found a middle-upper class house. Sean looked at the nameplate and saw "Asagiri" so he assumed it was the right place.
"So, how are we going about this?" Morgana asked our protagonist who was atop of their roof whilst hiding in the chimney space; turns out he can't come in like Santa Claus.
"We'll gather evidence of her being abused. Also we could investigate if her step brother is involved in the abuse." Sean planned, not the best plan he knew.
"Why not just bring her to the Guild?" Morgana asked.
"They could blame it on passing-by monsters; it's not uncommon for monsters to appear on the streets and they could say that she got the scars from a long time ago – if she has any – also I would like to see if her brother is involved as well." Sean explained.
"I see." Morgana nodded "What's next?"
"Next we see if her twin sister's family is willing to take her in." Sean explained "Then we could... coerce them or guilt-trip them to take Aya in with the evidence."
"I see..." Morgana nodded "I'll go along with it."
"Now we wait..." Sean muttered as played the waiting game.
As he was in the chimney waiting, Sean used his Third Eye to grasp the presence of anyone nearby. Currently, there was only one woman inside the house – probably the mother who was cleaning – but soon someone came in. It was the father, and given by his wobbling – unsteady – gait, he's drunk.
"Oi, bitch, give me food!" Sean could hear his shout from a mile away if he wanted to. Well, not really; he's observing the sound waves.
"Y-yes!" The mother immediately dropped the mop and went to the kitchen.
"Oi, dumbass you forgot this!" He exclaimed at her who was shivering as she immediately went back to grab the mop and bucket and went to the kitchen.
"Hehe..." A drunken giggle arose from his mouth.
"Found the problem already." Sean muttered as Morgana looked trigger-happy.
The drunken man dropped onto the couch, as he continued to consume more of a drink – probably alcohol – as he turned on the television.
"The Goddess Black Heart has arrived! And she announced--" The television played as it was then turned off.
"Heh, goddesses. What a load of bullshit. If they came back maybe our goddess of luck could bless me! Though, she's probably dead in a ditch; she's the weakest afterall." The drunk man garbled out.
'Weakest? How? We don't even know who won their 'Console War'? Two goddeses returned from Celestia, so why is she being called the weakest whilst Green Heart still hasn't returned yet.' Sean filed this to his "investigate later" column.
"I'm home." An unenthusiastic masculine voice resonated in the corridor as he hesitatingly approached the living room.
"Now there's the man! You came first place in your entrance exams right?" The man seemed 'happy' but his intentions seemed more... sinful than that.
"..." The masculine voice didn't respond.
"Son?" The drunk called out "You didn't fail did you?"
"..." Only silence greeted him until the son – most likely Kaname Asagiri – chose to speak "I... I..."
"Speak up, you ungrateful brat." The drunk seemed to be losing his patience.
"I came second place..." The shivering on the boy seemed unreal, fear was truly ingrained into his body.
"Second place, huh..." The drunk seemed calm for a moment but judging from how he trailed off Sean knew something else was going to happen.
Sean took out his Great Thief Stick and created a small hole – using his golden bladed-cane – in which his phone could record from.
FLAP
A large sound resonated in the room as Sean saw on his phone's camera of a disgruntled man slapping a Japanese teenager who wore glasses.
"You absolute failure." Another slap went down.
FLAP
"I-I didn't fail! I was second place!" Kaname retorted back to his father, Jirou Asagiri.
Jirou didn't relent though as the abuse came even faster.
"Kaname, my son, you have to be THE BEST! Only the top can truly enjoy life, so you had to enter the best university! But you came second place? Don't fuck with me you failure! You were supposed to be the best in every test! You were destined to be the absolute best! But you failed! You threw it all away! You utter failure!" His abuse didn't relent even for a moment as blood started staining his hands whilst the woman was shivering and muttering some sort of prayer "Otherwise, otherwise, otherwise, you wouldn't become useless but you became useless! You had to be the best no matter what, but you failed! Do you hear me, you failure?! You failed! You had no other choice but to be--" He paused as Kaname exclaimed.
"It was only 98/100! More than what you could've ever done!" Kaname retorted as his father grabbed his hair and smashed his face on the wooden floor and broke the floor along with his glasses.
"He's going to die, Sean do something!" Morgana seemed to be wanting to act hastily and truth be told Sean was no better.
Sean's eyes glowed with a malevolent red omen. It reminded him of his former best friend, back in his home world who died from child abuse, which was one of the catalysts to his retaliation against the world.
But it couldn't get worse could it? Wrong. It could.
A small girl entered the house and...
CREEEAAK
Floorboards croaked. All eyes went to her.
"Hiik~" She shrieked as she was grabbed and thrown in the living room. She was beaten for a few – long – moments and was lifted by the hair.
"THIS KANAME!" He huffed as he calmed himself down "Is what someone useless looks like." He roughly threw her on the ground as he looked at Kaname "Kaname, take some potions or pills to heal yourself up; we should have at least that much money."
He then turned to his 'wife'.
"Oi, whore, where's the money from your recent piggy." He asked as she pointed to a nearby table which he promptly grabbed and walked out the door and out the house.
There was only silence as all the residents began to cry. They all huddled together.
"I see." Sean muttered as he stopped the recording, Morgana hiding in his bag for some reason. He was calm. Very calm. Calmer than he could have ever been.
'I see.' Arsène muttered at the same time as Sean whilst all the other personas even Messiah Picaro remained silent.
"I fucking see." Both Sean and Arsène spoke at the same time as they frightened their surroundings with a malevolent aura. The family had long since noticed the oddity in their chimney.
BANG
Sean kicked open the closed chimney walls and walked towards the trio – calmly – as they were quivering and shivering in fear. They all looked at him, as he gave a faint smile – eyes ominously glowing red – to calm them.
"Would you like to escape your despair?" He asked.
Honestly it sounded as if he was the devil offering a contract. But he couldn't care less.
Afterall, they nodded.
Planeptune/Eresthian City/City Central/Morning
After telling them to pack their things, Sean calmed himself down so his eyes reverted back to their original colour.
After they packed their things and left the house, he promptly threw multiple incendiary grenades at the house and burnt it down. He revelled at the sight, and unsurprisingly everyone else but the mother did too. She seems to still have some attachment to her husband, and Sean could respect that. Though, the teenage boy was laughing like a psychopath.
"Where are you taking us?" Their mother Momoko Asagiri asked.
"The Guild." Sean responded.
"But they'll--!" She spoke up as Sean interrupted.
"--They'll arrest him and sentence him to at least 20 years with fines, considering that Planeptune has a Goddess renown for her joy in children. If it was Lastation it would be 10 years with fines, Lowee would be 5 years with fines and Leanbox would only have 1 year with fines with the highest nobility and 35 years with the lowest nobility." Sean informed as he continued walking towards the Eresthian City Guild which was formerly closed.
"But he's actually a--" Momko spoke up again but she wasn't interrupted by Sean. She was interrupted by Kaname.
"—A good person? Cut the shit, Mom, stop being an idiot. All these years he's been treating us like crap, and worse he's been treating ME as if I was his next self. I'm done with this shit." He complained "Hell, I want to kill that disgusting thing. Actually no, me personally killing him would only disgrace me I should slowly destroy his life..." Kaname began to plot ways in which to make him suffer whilst Aya seemed to be shuffling in discomfort and Momoko seemed like she swallowed a bug.
"He's your--" She was interrupted again.
"—My father? Tell me a funnier joke stupid bitch." He responded with clear venom to the point that his mother stayed quiet.
There was a moment of silence as they all were walking.
"Kaname, was it?" Sean inquired.
"What is it?" Kaname seemed unfriendly even though Sean was offering a way out.
"You hate your father, right?" Sean asked for confirmation.
"Obviously." He replied with no hesitation – which did make his mother uncomfortable – as he then spoke up "What's your point?"
"Why do you hate your father?" Sean asked as he knew he was almost near the Guild.
"He's treated us like trash from the moment I can remember, Mom had to whore herself for money just to pay for his gambling addiction after he lost his job, Aya – while useless – had to starve on numerous occasions whilst being a punching bag for that fucker." He then proceeded to vent for minutes on end until he was out of breath.
"Now, what's the difference between you two?" Sean asked as he sensed a fist coming near him which he promptly grabbed "Afterall, from my perspective it seems like your repeating his behaviour."
"How can I possibly be compared to that creature?!" Kaname asked frustratingly whilst the surroundings began to mutter.
"There's quite the resemblance." Sean spoke as he channelled some of Arsène's charisma "Your both short-tempered, you both want to be better than the 'common riff-raff', your abusive to your family." He pointed out "Tell me, what's the difference."
There was a moment of silence.
"I—" Before Kaname could say anything Sean interrupted.
"Yes, your smarter. But you gained your intelligence after studying because he forced you to, in other words he gave it or rather pushed you on for it. You didn't choose it, it was forced on you. So that doesn't count." Sean informed.
There was another bout of silence.
"Yes, currently there is no difference." Sean stated as Kaname mildly lowered his head "Other than one."
"Oh yeah, what is it, Mr I-am-so-fucking-perfect?" Kaname snarked.
"Your desire to change. You followed your father's expectations so you could change your life, your only chance at change." Sean stated as Momoko lowered her head a little "You had to do something since your mother never did do something other than doing what was necessary to provide for you – inadvertently spurring him on – but yours was the only chance at happiness."
Another silence arose as they neared the Guild.
"Why are you even helping us?" Kaname asked in distrust, which was lighter than his normal tone of voice.
Sean chuckled at this, Arsène's charisma seems to be opening him up.
"Because I'm selfish. I helped you because I wanted to help you." He informed as Kaname found a hole in his story.
"How did you even find out?" He asked as they paused on the doorstep of the Guild.
"Thanks to your so-called 'useless' sister." He pointed at Aya who hid behind her mother "She was listening to a friend's story at the park." Sean then smirked "And how could an angel who fell because he wanted to have freedom allow another's freedom to be subjugated?"
A gasp came out of Aya.
"That was you, Mister Fallen Angel?" She asked.
"The very same." Sean replied.
"But you're supposed to be dead!" She spoke aloud.
"Even death cannot separate me from my goals." Sean dramatically posed as he responded. In public. Momoko slightly giggled at seeing her daughter happy for the first time in years whilst Kaname face palmed.
They approached the Guild, however before they entered Sean spoke.
"Oh yeah, word of advice for all of you." He then zeroed down on Kaname "If you want revenge, then do so. But don't stray away from your path. Achieve happiness not only for yourself but for the people you care about as well."
"Tch. Cliché prick." Kaname muttered.
'Hippocrite.' Succubus spoke aloud as Messiah Picaro shut her mouth up.
'Let the Trickster change, albeit slowly.' Messiah Picaro pleaded.
He then turned towards Momoko.
"Remember, you have the responsibility of not only yourself but your children on your hands. It's time you choose. Your husband or your children. Will your nurture the next generation properly so they achieve happiness or will you once again plunge them into despair for your selfishness and for the love of a man who will no longer return it." He asked as she was in internal struggle for a moment but eventually relented.
He then gently smiled towards Aya.
"Now kiddo, things may be hard in the future, things may be hard now and things definitely were hard in the past. But remember, Life Will Change if you choose to do so." He then promptly turned around – ignoring the red-faced girl and annoyed brother – and proceeded to enter the Guild.
Time to follow through with his promises. And with evidence, that'll make it easier.
Planeptune/Eresthian City/Hotel Room/Evening
"That took longer than expected." He muttered as he flopped onto the bed in mental exhaustion. They needed to arrest Jirou, they needed to sign papers and since court was free since no crimes were currently happening, he had to testify with his evidence – which made Jirou's lawyer quit – and as a witness and not only that he also helped them with a few quests in the Guild to let them be able to buy a train-ticket to Lastation. Seems like they wanted a new start. All in one day.
"I'm knackered." Sean muttered as he rolled on his bed and hugged Morgana.
"Gah! Get off me!" The cat whined.
"Shut up, Mona, I need to relax." He responded to its pleads for help.
'What should I do?' Sean wondered. He felt exhausted both mentally and physically, so what could he choose now to progress himself further?
'What about you guys?' Sean asked his personas.
'Sleep.' The Jacks yawned.
'A good way to stress relief is--' Succubus spoke up but was shut up by Messiah Picaro.
'Sleep is important, dear.' Lilith wanted him to sleep.
'I suggest you read a book.' Messiah Picaro suggested but Sean was too exhausted for that shit.
'...' Arsène was silent for a moment 'You should gather information, like a new persona or about the goddesses latest activities.'
'Guess I'll do that.' Sean decided as he went on his phone.
Sean set his status as "offline" to stop any messages from contacting him and proceeded to surf the internet.
From what he found was that Black Heart announced her arrival festival with an image different from the one Chian sent as it depicted a silver-haired woman with diamond-turquoise eyes, although her eyes were a bit funny since she has a 'U' with a line running down the middle – oddly similar to a power symbol – in her eyes.
"Hmm... So it's happening in a month in 34 days, August the fourth." Sean noted as he set that in the calendar.
Next he searched up the goddess of Lowee who's apparently behaving strange as she's more... calm than before the console war rather than the explosive person she used to be. Though, people are just noting that off her being tired of war and violence or something so they can boost her popularity. Hell, she's even noted to not use her foul language anymore.
'There is something with that.' Sean immediately knew as in Megadimension Neptunia she didn't quit her foul language. 'Definitely a fake.'
The next he searched up was about Green Heart whom apparently did descend but hasn't made any form of appearance at the moment.
"Hmm... Maybe she wants to recover?" He muttered.
Next he searched up Purple Heart and he found numerous people trying to defame her for not arriving yet.
"I see... So that's why." He understood.
As he laid on his bed thinking about what to do next.
"Lets try Leanbox next." Sean muttered as he went back on his phone to search up any gems in Leanbox. Soon, he found an interesting article.
The article depicted a gem known as the Chimera Gem. It's a gem known for its black and yellow pattern and image of a multitude of random colours mixed in which don't fit in at all and supposedly the gem is locked in some ancient dungeon. Sean used his Third Eye and spotted something. Inside was Nue.
He finally had a new gem to take.