"So tell me again why you're here. You're actually the last person I want to see right now. Didn't we have an agreement not to interact with each other?"

"Of course, however said agreement is only in effect within the library's premises. You never actually specified if you wished us to not talk to each other at all, Goddess."

Blanc's peaceful alone time was abruptly disturbed by the arrival of the last person she wished to meet out in the sunny weather. It didn't help that this person seemed to have a few screws loose within her mind and that the demeanor in which said person showed was the one best suited to make her snap. She didn't understand why, yet just by observing the girl whom sat across, it felt like something was gnawing within her mind.

Lowee's Goddess was now in the presence of a young woman with long blue hair and calculating eyes, dressed in a white suit with a gear design and a red necktie. A large black witch hat and wooden staff was propped up just underneath the window while a number of shopping bags were placed beside the Witch herself. The contents of her purchases had a disturbing aura about it, Blanc could almost imagine a face forming in the dark green mist which rose up in the air. Mages merely ignored the CPU's wide eyes as she took a sip of her coffee.

Realizing that she was staring too hard at the shopping bag, Blanc turned her attention elsewhere to think about something else. All she had to do was ignore Mages until she went away. That was what the Goddess did whenever she was in the library, how could it be any different now?

"Goddess, I wish to discuss with you about a number of matters that has been brought to my attention."

Damn it all! cursed Blanc internally.

"From the looks of it, it seems like your end of the library has becoming more and more lively by each passing day. Apparently, the previous Final Boss is your acting editor, the air-headed CPU of a nearby nation has taken more interest in you than usual, and finally you have a busty CPU whom may or may not be attracted to you idling about around your workplace… Despite how noisy it would be, I must say, aren't you the popular one? I won't mind if you kept them as company, but I would like to request you and your friends to be much more considerate of the people around you. You're all pretty noisy."

I should be saying that to you, you four bug eyed hag! yelled the Goddess within her mind.

"As always, please make sure to clean up. It would be wise to relay this to your harem as well. It's disrespectful to the books if you would flirt with them so openly."

Harem?! What. The. Hell?! Squawked the CPU as she tried to process what was just said, This… This person… Where the hell is she getting these conclusions?!

"Ah, the sandwiches…" Mages blinked twice and stared at her portion given to her by a man wearing a pink iron suit.

In a cheerful and exaggeratedly feminine tone, Anonydeath, the former member of the Seven Sages, performed a ballet spin before placing the order of the two girls on the table, "Lunch for two~! Enjoy your meal, ladies! Annie, away!"

Just as he was about to merrily skip away, Blanc used the opportunity to vent out her irritation and used her foot to trip him. A loud crash was heard all over the café yet the two girls simply ignored this and continued with their meal. In the distance, they could faintly hear the former Sage lamenting on his bad luck and how he caught it from Rei.

"Anyhow, do you get what I am saying, Goddess? I do hope that with this, we would be able to coexist a little more smoothly," continued the Witch after munching on her toast. After a couple of bites, she raised an eyebrow before examining her it with her eyes, "Not enough butter."

Blanc slammed her fist on the table, catching the blue haired girl by surprise while the table was thankfully left unharmed by some miracle. Her fist shook as her fringe hid her eyes, making it hard to tell what expression she was making now. Underneath her bangs, the Goddess' eyes moved to her far right where most of the café's customers were visible. Gulping down the lump forming in her throat, she did the only thing she could do at the moment without resorting to explosions and brute force.

Smiling with brightly, she then replied, "I understand. I'll be sure to tell my friends your concerns. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."

All around the establishment there were all kinds of reaction, yet the most prominent of them was awe and reverence.

"Whoa, look at her smile! She's so cute!"

"It's like I'm seeing an angel! Am I in heaven?"

"D'aww, I wish my daughter looked just like her! That's Lady Blanc for you!"

"Waiter! How did the chef burn my water?! It tastes like crap!"

Hearing all of these things, Blanc couldn't help but let her eyebrow twitch while maintaining that angelic smile on her lips. She didn't exactly know how long she could keep this up, but she knew that a café wasn't a place to breakdown and rampage in unless she wanted a high decrease in her shares. She had to hide her true emotions until she could find the opportunity to release it on some poor monster. This Witch was pushing her luck a little bit too far.

"That… smile…" began Mages as she stared at the CPU, "I fail to recognize it as one due to the fact that you're merely holding your facial muscles in place while glaring at me as if I were a bug that came out of a trash bin. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Ah, I'm fine, don't worry," assured Blanc before gracefully taking a sip of her coffee and biting a piece of her toast. In her mind though, the following thoughts went by, YOU BITCH! I'm going to hack your shitty NepBook page and post embarrassing pictures of your on the Internep!

"Lovely weather we're having," commented the Witch as she glanced out of the window beside her, "It's been peaceful for a long time now, hasn't it?"

I'm going to get that oversized turtle and—huh? The Goddess gave her a confused look at the sudden change of topic. It seemed like that the girl opposite of her had grown tired of the teasing. Thinking up a proper reply, Blanc then said, "Would you rather have it be chaotic? I sure don't."

A bitter smile appearing on her lips, the Witch replied, "My life has always been chaotic, it's just… a strange change of pace living a peaceful one now."

"Is that the reason why you go out of your way to make things around you loud and noisy?" said the CPU as she brought up her past observation about the blue haired girl these few weeks.

"I also like it when it's quiet. I don't mind the noise, it helps me think and relax sometimes. It's as long as no one bothers me in my work that I won't get annoyed," lifting her teacup to her lips, she took a quick sip before continuing, "I'm surprised that you've managed to let your friends stay with your level of patience. Ah, scratch that, I'm surprised that you're friends with them at all."

Blanc averted her eyes as she said, "I'm a Goddess, it won't hurt making a miracle or two. Besides, are you trying to piss me off?"

"What's there to be pissed off about?" shot back Mages in her calm manner. She stared at the girl before right in the eye as she asked, "So tell me, Goddess, you left the library a little earlier than usual. Is there any reason for that?"

"Don't you know that it's rude to pry into somebody else's business?" retaliated the CPU.

"Plutia expy," countered the Witch.

A cold wind blew in from the open entrance. Blanc quietly sat down and hit her forehead on the table. One could imagine her soul floating out of her mouth as her mind overloaded from controlling her anger. She could feel something cracking within her. If this went on as it is then the chances of snapping under the pressure was undoubtedly high.

I have to get out of here… thought Blanc in her desperate mind.

Standing up from her desk, the Goddess kicked off the ground to dash out of the front door… Only to collide with an unfortunate person.

"I'm flying awayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" screamed the unfortunate person as she became a star in the sky.

A great cloud of dust obscured much of the CPU's vision yet she used this as a chance to make her getaway, leaving behind two confused customers at the entrance. Mages walked between the two people at the entrance and stared at the direction in which the Goddess ran off to. Crossing her arms with a sigh, she then shook her head in disappointment.

"Um… Was that your friend, Mages?" asked a busty orange haired beauty with a confused expression.

"Damn, what a way to eat and run," whistled a girl with light green hair and had a black dog tail swaying at her back. She seemed to be acquainted well with the Witch for the way she spoke to her was unusually casual fro strangers, "You think Falcom will be okay? Knowing her luck, she'll wind up somewhere with water so…"

"She can take care of herself," replied Mages as she walked on ahead, "Sorry if I wouldn't be able to stay but a few things came up. Please enjoy your meal."

"O-Oi! Hold on a second!" called the dog tailed girl before slumping her shoulders, "Wow… She really does whatever she likes…"

"That's Mages for you, so what do you say we grab some grub? I'm starving!" cheered the orange haired girl just as she opened the door.

Standing before them was a man clad in a pink mechanical armor, the usually green circuit lines on his person were now bright red as a menacing aura radiated around him. Stooping low as to not hit his head on the entrance, Anonydeath stepped out of the café and stared at the direction the previous girls disappeared to. Turning around, her placed his attention at the two newcomers and grabbed their trembling shoulders.

In a sweet yet poisonous tone he said, "Ahh~ Just what I needed. You see, those two just ate our prized toast-of-the-gods made especially by yours truly. However it seems like they forgot to pay the twenty five thousand credit bill for the meal and the forty thousand credit repair cost for the wall they broke. Seeing as both of you are acquainted with them, I'm sure your undying friendship will be enough to work for what they broke, yes~?"

"H-H-Hold on! Why us?! We know nothing here! Lemme go! I'm not working!" cried C.C. as she struggled under the former Sage's grip.

"This is just a coincidence! Spare us, please!" yelled Marvelous as she used all of her strength to get away, "Why are we the punch line!? Hey! Somebody help us!"

At the distance, a mother and child were walking by. The kid pointed his finger at the two girls and said, "Mommy, the big pink man is pulling them inside!"

"Don't look, dear. They're a bunch of weirdoes," warned the mother while obscuring her child's eyes and walking away.

"We're not weirdoes!" yelled C.C. before her shouts grew fainter and fainter after she entered the café.

Just another day in Lowee.

"That's all for today, you can leave now."

Blanc had just returned to the library right after here little slump had subsided. She felt grateful to know that Rei was the only one present; she didn't have the time or patience to deal with Vert at the moment. Sitting down on her chair before collapsing on her table, she raised a tired hand as her acting editor said goodbye. It's been a long day and all she wanted to do was look over Rei's finished work and going to sleep. With her head lying sideways on the table, she could see the numerous shelves of the library stand in silence before her.

She had only spent half of her vacation days and she had already finished her novel. The thoughts of what she would be doing for the rest of her vacation were slowly popping up within her mind. She considered asking her alternate self on something to keep her mind busy. But then again, knowing her personality was close to her other self's, she could imagine herself telling her off and making her write another book. Then again, who said she couldn't write another book when her first one has finished?

"That's…. right…" mumbled Blanc as she slowly pushed herself up from the table. Rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes, she looked around her for a few moments. From the looks of it, it seemed like she fell asleep for a good while. She had the entire library all to herself since she didn't even catch a sound from the far end of the east wing. Mages wasn't probably back yet so she had a short time of peace before the explosions start anew. Looking at the nearby clock, time flew by without her noticing it. Standing up from her table, she headed towards Rei's workplace to gather the edited manuscript and inspect it.

Only to open an empty drawer filled with nothing but air.

"What… The…. Hell…?"

Suffice to say that an unfortunate chair had a chance meeting with a wall as the Goddess stomped her way out of her area. Books and shelves alike shook with each step she took, it didn't help when she broke into a run. She recalled the time on the wall clock just before she left. She fell asleep for a good thirty minutes after Rei had gone home so it was possible had entered the library to steal it. It was impossible for it to disappear at any time other than that since Rei was working on it the whole day, it couldn't have left her sight.

Her chances her small, but she had to check if the manuscripts had found their way to that place. Walking across the main hall and public area, the Goddess made her between a set of shelves while the smell of gunpowder and chemicals became stronger and stronger with each step. She then came face to face with a steel door in what should have been a dead end according to the library's blueprints. Blanc merely placed the thought of yelling at the Witch for creating an extension of her public building without her consent later after she finished beating the girl senseless for taking things that weren't hers.

Blanc kicked down the metal door and yelled, "Kiss the ground or else I'll thrash this place kingdom come!"

Mages froze in place the moment the Goddess came in, her surprise causing her mind to whiteout and forget to turn off the television which continued to play a cooking show.

Now the best way to cook a live dogoo is by grabbing it by its nose like so~…

*CENSORED SOUND EFFECTS*

And make sure to add a dash of Nep Salt for that tasty southern Leanbox style~. Though make sure to have your ear plugs on for dogoos are sensitive to sodium chloride and may cause them to howl like—

WRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~~~!

Oh noes~! Histy, don't move the camera so much, it's annoying the audiences~!

Sorry! But please, silence the ingredient! The earplugs you gave me are simply too big!

Heh, that's what she said…

Silence, IF! Plutia, the dogoo!

WROOOOOOOOOOOO~~~~~!

*TRANSFORMATION SOUNDS*

You noisy dog, I'll teach you to ruin somebody else's cooking show! Come here *censored due to graphic amounts of gore and dogoo abuse*

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!

IF, come back here, I require your assistance! Plutia! The Horsebird is still alive! You cannot just—

The Goddess turned her attention at the Witch whom currently had the plug of the television in her hand. The two stared deep into each other's eyes as the atmosphere grew heavier and heavier. One could imagine electric sparks colliding before the two of them as the silence reached its peak.

Finally, it was the blue haired girl whom broke the ice between them, "You did not see anything."

Blanc shut the door once and waited for a few seconds. Her mind was still blank with shock, not minding the noises and crashes that went on the other side of the door.

That was horror movie, right? Yes, it was horror movie… It's gotta be… she thought as she composed her breathing. Placing her hand at the door, she opened it once more to find the inside a bit more tolerable to her eyes. Books were stacked neatly on a blue table while a pewter gray cauldron bubbled with a strange green liquid inside it. The walls were completely filled with bookshelves leaving no space uncovered save the cauldron's area. Reagents and artifacts lay scattered all around a lone work desk cluttered with research papers.

There was no sign of the television set anywhere.

Sitting just behind the work desk with a bored look on her face, Mages turned her attention at the Goddess and said, "Oh… It's only you—Kya!"

"What the hell do you mean it's only me?!" roared Blanc as she grabbed a chunk of the wall and tossed it, "What is it with you that you can act as if nothing happened?! Dogoo abuse is illegal you know! Didn't you catch the shitty announcement those Pro Monster Groups made us go hell through?! And give me back my manuscript you thieving skank! I'll fucking kill you and leave your shitty carcass hanging for the Guard Dragons to eat and choke on! Give it back, damn it! Give it back or I'll blow this place up!"

"You have a surprisingly immature side like a toddler. Are you sure you're not jumping into conclusions?!" protested the Witch as she summoned a barrier to ward off the incoming wall chunks. Blinking twice, she turned to the landline on her table and took it, "Yes, this is Magus. I have the shipment right here, I just have to rid of myself of a troublesome being. Make sure those people don't get their hands on these assassination lists."

"Oi! Who the hell are you talking to?! The fucking telephone line's not plugged in, you dolt! And why the hell are you changing your name?!" yelled the Goddess as she continued her assault, resorting to launching books at high velocity.

Mages clicked her tongue in disappointment, "Tch, she caught on… Guess I'll have to go out with a bang…"

"Stop acting like a damn chuunibyou! You're not making any sense!" snapped Blanc.

"Then I'd like you to stop throwing baseless accusations—"

"LOOK AT YOUR DAMNED HAND!"

Actually flinching at the animosity in the CPU's tone, the blue haired girl turned her attention at her hand which was maintaining her barrier. Within her grasp was a stack of paper, disheveled from poor handling. Staring back and forth from the papers in her hand to Blanc, her mouth then formed a comical 'O'.

"So… These aren't assassination lists from the Organization?"

"LIKE HELL THEY ARE!"

Blanc stomped the ground so hard in her rage that the entire room shook. This caused Mages to lose her balance and step back, only to slip and fall, forcing her to let go of the papers. It was like everything went into slow motion as the wad of papers flew across the air. The two girls could only stare as the manuscript made a suicidal dive towards the boiling cauldron. Kicking off the ground, the Goddess transformed into her HDD to increase her speed, hoping that she'll make it in time.

Her heartbeat was pounding against her ears, thoughts of her work which she gave blood, sweat and tears to complete be destroyed so easily invaded her mind. She couldn't afford losing it, she wouldn't know what she would do then. She just needed to clear… the last… five inches and…

PLOP

"Oops…" Mages peered into her bubbling cauldron to see if the manuscript was still salvageable. Glancing at her side, she awkwardly scratched her head before giving the trembling Goddess beside her a brief pat on the shoulder, "Would you like to send a Nep-mail to the past to prevent this from happening?"

"Damn you…" growled Blanc, she was a split second away from choking the Witch to death when she felt something sticky on her shoe. Bearing disgusted look, the CPU lifted her foot to move away yet was overwhelmed by shock once she realized what she was stepping on, "What… The… Hell?"

"Ah, it fell into the Mobile Cauldron and turned to jelly… No wonder it disappeared," commented the Witch as she poked the jellified manuscript. Standing up without warning and posing with gusto, she declared, "The experiment was a succe—KYA!"

"Like hell it was!" spat the CPU, using the flat part of her axe to hit the blue haired girl.

"I see… So it wasn't an assassination list with my head in it."

"How many times will I tell you it's not like that!"

After Blanc's spectacular break down had subsided, the two girls were now having a quiet discussion in the middle of the main hall. It turned out that Mages had performed a strange spell which connected the library to her original house via the steel door which the Goddess had previously destroyed. Not only was the Witch in trouble for taking the CPU's manuscript without permission, but she was left without any means of going home to continue her research due to a large amount of books waiting to be transported through the door. She would have to stay the night in the library until she could repair the damages on her door.

Collapsing on a table with her arms stretched out, Mages uttered a heavy sigh as she lamented, "I want to go home…"

"You dug yourself into that hole, get yourself out," snapped Blanc as she typed on her computer as fast as she could. She had to make up for the story she lost and it was all this girl's fault, "You could always go home, you know? WALK ALL THE WAY TO PLANEPTUNE 'CAUSE I AIN'T GONNA LET YOU USE MY DAMNED COUNTRY'S SERVICES!"

"Can't… I need those books with me so I can freely conduct my experiment…" moaned the Witch.

Damn, can't you just do something about it? You're a Witch! You're supposed to solve your problems with magic!

"As much as I'd like to do that, I can't. Warding the attacks of debris imbued with the power of a Goddess could be really tiring."

Blanc froze at the Witch's candid reply. Within her shocked mind, the following thoughts went by, Did she just read my mind?

"Of course I did, it's not really that hard, you know? You are like an open book, so easy to read."

"Stop reading my mind, dammit!" the Goddess formed a fragment of ice within he palm and threw it at the girl behind her.

Judging from the clanging noise behind her, the ice she tossed was easily blocked by Mages. She didn't have time to deal with the nuisance so she put all of her attention her story. Blanc glanced at the clock in her machine every now and then and saw how the minutes flew by as if they were seconds. She flipped through her notes and references so she knew if she was still going in the right track. She barely cleared the first eight chapters of her novel and she still had fifty two more to go.

Dragging Rei into this again would be too much since the girl just finished today. There's too much work to finish in just a short time, it was impossible to wrap everything up by the end of the week.

"Ah, so you're making another assassination's list?"

"Won't you shut up for a fucking seco— How'd you sneak up behind me?!"

The Goddess almost fell out of her chair at Mages' appearance if not for the blue haired girl's quick reaction. The world came to a halt as Lowee's CPU stared deep into the Witch's bright blue eyes, for some reason she found them alluring as they stared back at her. Her face felt like melting as the warmth of Mages' hand transferred into her own as it held her tightly. Just what the hell was with this kind of situation?

"Let go—"

THUD

"—OW! Why'd you do that, you dolt?!"

Keeping her eyes on the computer with an indifferent expression, Mages calmly replied, "You said to let go, didn't you? Congrue…"

"I never meant that way! Shit… At least be more delicate," huffed Blanc as she stood up from the ground. She tensed once she realized that the Witch was peering into her unfinished work, causing her to panic in fear of the previous accident to occur again, "What do you think you're doing?! Get the hell away from there or else I'll—"

"Trash…" whispered the blue haired girl. The Goddess went white with her jaw hanging. It didn't help that the Witch looked straight into her eyes and said, "This is utter garbage if you looked at it as a story. Are you seriously not considering this as a plan to kill a person?"

Mages was caught by surprise as the CPU just grabbed her by her collar, pulling her down to the other girl's height. However in her eyes she didn't see a Goddess of absolute power, before her was a trembling girl with a look that could only be described as fragile.

Parting her lips, Blanc let out a shaky growl, "How… D-Dare you… I told you it's not like that! Can't you listen to me just for once?! You're fucking annoying me!"

"Then why don't I help you instead?" asked the Witch, cutting through the girl's verbal assault.

"Say what?" squawked the Goddess as her grip loosened on the blue haired girl's collar.

Brushing her clothes, Mages let out a sigh while folding her arms, "You're hopeless, beyond hopeless, so hopeless that your so called editor doesn't even see it. If you were to publish this to the masses now then you'll only embarrass yourself. Just take a look at the plot. It's only focus is on one character as if the entire universe is revolving around him. I've only read as far as the tenth paragraph but I could already feel my brain shutting down. Your paragraphs are barely readable with all the big words that you write up. Hey, are you listening?"

"H-huh? What? You're… Everything you just said right now…. Are they all true?" asked Blanc, she felt as if her knees would give away any moment now. Yet something was stopping her from breaking down completely, she kept her eyes fixed on the Witch before her as she waited for an answer.

"And you call yourself an author. Tell me, have you read any novel that looks remotely like yours?" Mages simply tossed back a question to her.

Turning her attention at the open laptop, the Goddess stared at her unfinished work. The gears within her mind began to turn as thoughts sprung to life, Were the paragraphs supposed to be that long? Will the reader understand all of these big words? Does the sentence structure make any sense? Hold on, why aren't any of my words consistent? The emotions are stiff and the flow is all jumbled…. Did I…. really write all of this?

"No… way…." Lowee's CPU slowly shook her head in disbelief, "It's not supposed to be like this."

Placing a hand on the Goddess' shoulder, Mages denied her feeble words, "I've read the finished manuscript after I took it from your drawer. I was just curious as to what you were working on despite our initial agreement." Walking a few steps away from the brown haired girl, she turned around and said, "If that was meant to be a novel, then I can't find anything different on it from the one you made now. They're the same. This is the result of your extensive research and self-taught training. You've only been writing for a few weeks, did you really expect to become a professional in such a little time without any experience?"

Blanc didn't answer and remained silent, averting her eyes with a defeated sigh.

"However there is a chance…" continued the Witch, "You can still improve, you know? I'll be able to give you the required assista—"

"Don't need it…" deadpanned the Goddess as she went back to work.

…

"You really didn't think it through, huh?" muttered Mages with a look of disappointment.

"That's where you're wrong though," Blanc highlighted her unfinished work and pressed the right click button, "I gave it some thought, but then I realized that I don't need anyone's help. As always, I'm fine with doing everything by myself."

"Then why did you hire Rei to oversee your petty mistakes?" asked the Witch.

"That doesn't count!" yelled the Goddess before sinking back into her chair, "I just want people to recognize that I've done all myself. Those times when Neptune needed to bail me out of my own nation's problems, those times when I would need their help whenever I was too weak to fight, I never did anything on my own. I'm… glad that they're there but sometimes, I just want to do thing my way…"

"That's… a very selfish wish…"

"I am a very selfish person after all."

"You know, if you're like that, you will never get anything done. You will be stuck in a never ending limbo of self torture. Is that what you want?"

"I can try and try and try. This isn't something I should be taking serious anyway. If I embarrass myself then so be it. It might actually be a good experience. That's how it's always been, I learn from my mistakes."

Blanc erased her unfinished work and let out a sigh. She turned to look at the girl beside her and gave her a smile, "I doubt that I'll change just because you told me to."

Sighing in defeat, Mages rubbed her forehead as she asked, "No matter how much time I spend with you CPUs, I could never get used to your unpredictable behaviors."

"Hn, maybe that's what sets us apart from you humans," replied the Goddess as she created a brand new document.

The Witch blinked at the CPU's back before shrugging her shoulders. She then turned to walk away from the girl, the sounds of the keyboard typing echoing behind her back.

Takatakatakatakatakatakatak.

Coming to a halt, she glanced behind her to look at Blanc's sitting figure. She tilted her head in confusion as she asked, "Something wrong?"

…

"The agreement, I'm lifting it. So tomorrow, you better help me out. Goddess orders."

Mages' indifferent face formed a smile as she walked away. Blanc never saw this as she kept her focus on her brand new story. Her fingers hovered above her keyboard as she thought back unto what she had just said. Now that she put more thought in it, why did she say that all of a sudden? Was it a spur of the moment?

One thing's for sure, even in the future she never knew why she had said that.

Nicolas Notes:

Steins;Gate references, Steins;Gate references everywhere.