IF stood outside the hospital room looking down at her cell phone. IF had been sending messages to Otome-chan about Arfoire, but so far Otome-chan hadn’t been able to find any information about the woman. “This is weird. Otome-chan can normally find anything for me. Maybe Arfoire is from another nation or something.” IF thought to herself.
Compa opened the door to Arfoire’s room and poked her head outside. Her eyes instantly fell on IF. “You can come inside now.” She said.
IF closed her phone and slid it back on her belt. After that she stepped into the room. Arfoire was resting in a bed. A white sheep had been pulled over her chest. An IV drip had been connected to Arfoire’s arm. “Is she okay?” IF asked.
“She’s alright. Miss Arfoire was just dehydrated. That’s all.” Compa explained.
“Is she awake?” IF asked, even though Arfoire’s eyes were closed.
Just as IF asked her question, Arfoire opened her eyes. “I’m awake.” She said, in a small voice.
“Sorry about that.” IF began, making her way over to Arfoire’s bed. “I know you’re probably tired, but I was hoping to ask you a few questions.”
“Sure, but I don’t remember anything other than my name.” Arfoire admitted.
“So you don’t remember where you came from? Or how you ended up in Planeptune?” Asked IF.
Arfoire closed her eyes and shook her head. “Sorry. My head feels so foggy right now. I’m dizzy too.”
“You really need to get some rest.” Compa said, patting Arfoire’s leg gently. “Iffy? Can we…” Compa began, gesturing towards the hospital door with her head.
“Yeah.” IF said.
“W-Wait!” Arfoire said, her eyes flashed open. Arfoire managed to catch IF’s hand before the girl could get too far away from her. “Please. I…” She began.
“It’s alright.” Compa said, smiling warmly at Arfoire. Compa’s smile caused both Arfoire and IF to feel a comforting warmth in their chests. “Iffy and I are just going to give you sometime to rest. Once you’re ready to be released the hospital will give us a call. Okay?”
“That’s right. Were not going to leave you alone.” IF said, reassuringly to Arfoire.
“Thank you.” Arfoire said, releasing IF’s hand. The moment Arfoire released IF, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
“She must have been scared.” Compa said.
“Can’t blame her.” IF said, turning to Compa. “Let’s let her rest.”
Compa and IF headed out of the hospital room and were soon outside. “Well this was an eventful day. First we had to say goodbye to Nep and Gear and now this.” IF said, sighing deeply. “What’s next?”
“Yeah.” Compa said, her voice was low. Suddenly tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. “Oh no Iffy!” Compa began.
“Wh-What’s wrong?” IF asked, worried.
“I almost forgot that Nep-Nep and Ge-Ge left today! I’m already forgetting our friends!” Compa began to sob.
“Oh man!” IF began, scratching her head furiously with both hands. “Enough tears Compa! Let’s just go home! Okay?” IF took Compa by the hand and started leading her through the streets of Planeptune. As they walked, Compa continued to sob, but soon enough she started to calm down.
“I’m okay.” Compa said.
“Yeah?” IF said, glancing at Compa out of the corners of her eyes. Instead of releasing Compa’s hand she gave it a gentle squeeze. “Do you still want to hold hands?” She asked.
Compa smiled and nodded. “Thanks Iffy.”
***
A few days later Compa and IF received a phone call from the hospital. Arfoire had regained her strength and was being released.
Arfoire stepped out of the hospital and glanced up at the sun. “I feel… Like I used to own a hat.” Arfoire thought, as she placed a hand on top of her head.
“Arfoire!” Came a voice.
Arfoire turned and spotted both Compa and IF jogging towards her. Compa wore a large smile on her face and was waving her right hand over her head. “Sorry were late.” IF said. “We were doing a quest.”
“That’s alright.” Arfoire said, turning to the two girls. “I apologize for all the trouble I caused you.”
“No trouble at all.” Compa said.
“So Arfoire. I don’t mean to keep hounding you, but do you remember anything?” IF asked.
Arfoire didn’t answer right away. Instead she raked her fingers through her hair. “I remember that I used to wear a hat.” She answered. “I also remember I used to have a… pet rat?”
“Pet rat?” IF said, trying hard to hide the disgust on her face. “I didn’t see any rats when we found you.”
“I could be wrong.” Arfoire added.
“Anyways, what are you going to do now?” Compa asked.
Arfoire shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s weird. I barely remember meeting you two a few days ago. After that everything is just blank. I don’t know where I should go or what I should be doing.”
“That’s not good.” IF said, before she suddenly thought about something. “Have you checked your pockets for any papers or anything?”
“I have and I didn’t find anything.” Said Arfoire. “I’m actually surprised that I remembered my name.”
“Not good.” IF said, sighing deeply.
Compa clapped her hands together. “I know what we can do! Why don’t we go to the guild and do a few quests?”
“How will that help?” Asked IF.
“Well either way miss Arfoire is going to need credits and a place to stay, right? Well we can help her. Also maybe a little work might help her remember something.” Compa said.
“Well… It couldn’t hurt to try.” IF said, though she was doubtful work could help Arfoire remember anything.
With those words the trio made their way to the guild. Even though Arfoire didn’t have any identification, she was able to sign up to become a member of the guild. After that she took on a few jobs.
“What quests did you take?” IF asked.
“One is to gather herbs and one is to defeat dogoo.” Arfoire said.
“Huh. Do you have a weapon?” Compa asked.
“I think so.” Arfoire said, as she raised her hands.
“Wait! Don’t do that here.” IF said. “Let’s wait until were out of Planeptune.”
“Right.” Arfoire said, nodding.
After that the three girls headed towards Planeptune’s gate. “So you remember how to summon your weapon, right?” IF said. “That’s something.”
“Actually no.” Arfoire said, shaking her head. “I saw someone from my hospital window summon a weapon. I just assumed that’s how everyone does it.”
“Well you’re half right.” IF said. “Not everyone does that. Some people carry their weapons with them at all times.”
“I see.” Arfoire said, worriedly.
“Don’t worry! You’ll get used to it.” IF said,.
The three girls reached Planeptune’s gate. Located just beyond was a large field filled with hopping dogoo. “Here we are.” IF said. “Go ahead and try to summon a weapon.”
“Okay.” Arfoire said, as she raised her hands. In an instant a large sword appeared and Arfoire took the weapon by the hilt. “I did it!” She exclaimed.
“That sword is huge.” IF said, looking the blade over.
“Maybe you were a monster hunter or something.” Compa said, looking the blade over as well. The blade looked incredibly sharp and it had some strange symbols etched into the blade.
“Maybe.” Arfoire said, as she swung her sword using only one hand. “This sword does feel comfortable to use.”
“That’s good. Maybe we won’t have to back you up when you hunt dogoo. How many do you need to kill anyways?” IF asked.
“Just five.” Said Arfoire.
“Alright! Let’s do it!” IF said.
Arfoire hesitated for a moment, but soon she was charging through the gate. Several dogoo turned their gelatinous bodies towards the charging woman. Once she was close enough to them, they all pounced at once.
“Careful!” Compa cried.
Arfoire swung her sword and managed to cut through four of the dogoo at the same time. The creatures instantly vanished. Without missing a beat, Arfoire launched herself at the fifth dogoo and struck it dead as well.
“Impressive!” IF said, smiling proudly. “I guess we don’t have to…” IF began, but she stopped speaking when she noticed Arfoire was still killing monsters. She killed several dogoo in mere seconds, but now she was going after tulip, dogoo-man and even a boxer-x.
“Whoa! Arfoire!” IF said, rushing forwards.
Arfoire halted and turned to IF. For some reason the way Arfoire turned made IF feel as though the woman would attack her next. “Oh! IF.” Arfoire said, lowering her sword. “Sorry about that. I got carried away.”
“Tell me about it.” IF said, shrugging her shoulders. “Were trying to kill a few monsters, not wipe them all out!”
Arfoire giggled. “You’re right. Sorry about that.”
“You were amazing!” Compa said. “I’m certain that you were a monster hunter before you lost your memory.” Compa said.
“Yeah. You took down those monsters really efficiently. You targeted all their weak points without hesitation. You really impressed me.” IF said, placing one of her hands on her hips.
“I did?” Arfoire said, looking down at her sword. “Maybe I was a monster hunter.”
“Anyways, you already killed five dogoo. Let’s go ahead and gather those herbs next.” IF said.
“I… I don’t know anything about herbs.” Arfoire said, turning to the two girls.
“That’s alright! I’m an herb master!” Compa said, smiling proudly.
“It’s true. Compa’s an expert.” Said IF.
“I look forward to working with you Compa.” Arfoire said, bowing a little.
Compa blushed. “Me too miss Arfoire.”
Arfoire sent her weapon away before she said, “please just call me Arfoire. No miss.”
“Alright.” Compa said, nodding. “Anyways, follow me!”
Arfoire and IF followed after Compa who led them to a small group of trees. After that both girls went to their knees. “This is the herb were looking for.” Compa began, before she explained what the herb was used for.
“Making medicine, huh? This is important.” Arfoire said.
“VERY important.” Compa said, putting emphasis on the word ‘very‘.
IF watched as the girls worked side-by-side. As they worked, she felt her phone vibrate. Pulling it out she noticed Otome-chan had sent her a text. “IF. I’m sorry, but I can’t find any information about Arfoire. It’s almost like she didn’t exist until just a few days ago. I did learn that she recently applied for a guild license.”
IF took a deep breath. “Thanks Otome-chan. If you find anything else, let me know.” She texted back. After that, IF slid her phone back into its spot on her belt.
“And that’s it!” Compa said, getting to her feet and helping Arfoire up.
Arfoire’s hands were filled with herbs. “Thanks Compa!” Arfoire said, happily.
“You’re welcome!” Said Compa.
“Well then. Why don’t we go ahead and report back to the guild. After that we’ll find you a place to stay.” IF said.
“Thanks.” Arfoire said.
***
Arfoire felt a sense of accomplishment when she reported back to the guild. Thanks to her hard work, she was able to collect about seven hundred credits. “Is this really enough for a room?” She asked. “I could probably do a few more quests.”
“It’s okay. No need to overwork yourself.” IF said. “Not only do you have enough for a room, but you can buy yourself groceries too. Just make sure to keep an eye on your credits. That’s the most important thing.”
“Right.” Arfoire said, nodding.
IF and Compa walked side-by-side talking among themselves. Arfoire however walked a few feet behind them. As they walked through Planeptune, Arfoire continued to look around. She gave each building they passed a hard look. She peered through the windows, she looked down every alleyway and read every sign they passed.
However, no matter where she looked or what she read, Arfoire just couldn’t remember anything. “Why can’t I remember anything? Who am I? Where did I come from?” Arfoire wondered to herself.
“Look!” Compa said, suddenly halting in her tracks.
Arfoire looked forwards and saw Compa and IF were now standing in the middle of the street looking upwards. Arfoire looked up as well and spotted a girl in purple fly overhead.
“It’s lady Purple Heart.” Compa said.
“Lady Purple Heart?” Asked Arfoire.
“Yeah.” IF said, turning to Arfoire. “She’s the goddess of Planeptune.”
“The goddess?” Arfoire said, in a low voice. Arfoire watched lady Purple Heart until she vanished over the horizon. After that she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I might not be able to remember who I am, or where I came from, but I do remember one thing.” Arfoire opened her eyes. “I hate the goddesses more than anything in this world."
