Legends of the Halcyon Era – The Red Phantom

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Legends of the Halcyon Era

The Red Phantom

by

David Oxford/LBD “Nytetrayn”

*****

Previously, in Legends of the Halcyon Era…

Janine and Celeste discovered that their landlord’s infatuation with the latter had reached new and disturbing depths, and set out with Nytetrayn, their neighbor Tom, and Radi to confront him. There, they found an unlikely ally in Sherman East, who was intrigued enough by the entire situation to offer his help in taking the landlord’s mind off of Celeste.

At the end of it all, Janine was still worried the landlord might try something, and convinced Nytetrayn and Celeste to have a sort of slumber party campout with her in the living room. As they snuggled in for a good night’s sleep, Nytetrayn found himself caught right between the two ladies…

The next morning, the sun came up over the horizon, and shined down on the town of Monroe. Eventually, enough light peered in through the front window that Janine blinked awake.

As she sat up, she looked over at her companions for the night. Celeste was still sleeping contentedly, though it seemed she’d moved up against Nyte at some point during the night. As for Nyte…

Nytetrayn laid there with his eyes wide-open and bloodshot, staring at the ceiling.

“Mmm, morning, sunshine,” she said, as she gave the Digger a smile and a quick peck on the cheek, before going to make the poor boy some coffee. One of Nyte’s eyes twitched, but he otherwise just sighed deeply in resignation.

From the kitchen, Janine asked, “Sleep well?” Nyte couldn’t respond to that. She came back in and leaned down to give him his mug, Kool-Aid pre-added. “Coffee…” he said as he took it, his eye ticking again. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Janine said cheerfully, before laying down next to the Celeste. As she stroked the sleeping girl’s hair a little, she said quietly, “She’s really pretty, isn’t she?”

Nyte paused, not sure how to answer that. But since the cat seemed to be out of the bag, and Celeste was asleep anyway, he allowed himself to at least say, “…yeah.” Janine smirked at this, while Nyte sat up and took a sip of his coffee.

The movement caused Celeste to stir around for a moment, before blinking awake and yawning. Then she saw Janine right next to her, and almost jumped back into Nyte.

“Good morning!” Janine chirped.

“…hi,” the startled girl replied.

Before they could say anything further, a knock came at the door. “I’ll get it,” Nyte said, as he went over to open it. He did so to find Tom waiting on the other side, who got a good look at the currently red-eyed Digger. “Whaa! Eek! I thought I killed all the roaches – oh… hi, Nyte.”

“Good morning…” Nyte said groggily. Meanwhile, Janine gave Cel a kiss good morning right on the lips, before heading to the kitchen to fetch more coffee. Celeste sat there, really unsure of how to react to Jan’s gesture.

“You look… well, aftershocked,” Tom told Nyte. “Thanks,” said the sleep-deprived Digger. “May I come in?” “…yeah, sure,” Nyte said, as he stood aside and gestured for Tom to enter.

Meanwhile, Janine had re-emerged and handed Celeste her coffee. Cel accepted, and took a sip, while Janine shouted to their guest, “Hey, Tom! Come in! Have coffee!” and handed him a mug.

Tom took a large swig, and said, “Thanks. I would’ve had some, but…ah…machine broke…”

“You’re welcome!” she happily replied.

Nyte went to sit on the sofa, but Celeste wasn’t sure if she was really properly dressed for company yet, so kept to her sleeping bag. Janine decided to perch herself on the arm of the sofa, and asked, “Cel? aren’t you gonna get up?” “Uh, yeah… in a bit…”

“So! What’ve you all got planned?” Tom asked the group.

Nyte blinked, slowly. “Planned…?”

“As in, to do t’day.”

Nyte looked at the others. “Were there any plans?”

Janine shrugged. “Sleep in? Have a three-way?”

Tom raised an eyebrow at this, while Nytetrayn and Celeste simultaneously replied, “…no.”

“Wait, skip that last one. That was just a dream I had last night,” Jan said with a happy look on her face.

The others looked at her, and she responded, “…what?”

.”Yeeeah,” said Tom.

“It’s perfectly normal! Dreams are irrational!”

“Actually – um… ah, nevermind, it’s too early for psychology,” Tom said, and Janine shrugged. “Okay, then. Nothing planned? I can deal with that.”

“…yeah,” Nyte said. “Though I do think sleep would be nice…”

“Sleep? You just had…” Janine said, before getting another look at Nyte and an expression of dawning comprehension suddenly spread across her face. “Ohhhhhh…”

Celeste looked at Nyte, a little worried. “You… didn’t sleep?”

Nyte shook his head.

“Cel, you bad girl!” Janine chastised. “How was Nyte supposed to sleep with you cuddling up to him all night long?”

“I… I didn’t… I mean, I don’t remember…” With a frown, Celeste said, “I’m… sorry, Nyte…”

“…’s okay,” Nyte said. “Not your fault… Just… crickets. Yeah, crickets. I don’t know how you two could sleep, with all that constant chirping…”

“Nyte?” said Tom.

“…yeah?”

“Stop fumbling. Just think crap up for these situations beforehand.”

“Tomorrow?” said Nyte.

“Yes?”

“Shaddup.”

“Okay. So. I’ll leave you thr – er, two alone.” Tom coughed and stood to leave, though he didn’t really move.

“Well, we should all go somewhere and let Nyte sleep, then,” Janine said, and went to get dressed. Celeste nodded in agreement, and once Tom stepped out of the room to wait politely outside, she did the same.

Soon, Janine stepped out of her room, wearing high heels, a miniskirt, and a sleeveless top. The entire ensemble appeared to be made from black leather. Celeste also stepped out of her room, though she was wearing her usual attire.

Nyte was passed out on the sofa, and Celeste decided to put one of the sleeping bags over him as a cover. Then she added a pillow behind his head. “That’s better,” she said, pleased with her work. Janine smirked.

“Let’s paint the town red!” Janine said as she headed out the door, tying her hair up. Tom coughed as he saw Janine’s outfit, and said, “Riiight,” while whispering to himself, “Selfcontrolselfcontrolselfcontrol…”

Tom asked, “So, where to? Bar?”

“Cel’s not old enough, and it’s 10am,” said Janine. “How about McLight’s?”

“Sure, sounds good,” said Celeste. Tom nodded.

Soon, at the fast food establishment, Tom opened the door for the girls. Celeste entered and thanked him, while Janine entered and pinched his butt. Eyes widened, Tom shuffled in after them, while Janine winked at Celeste.

Tom coughed. “So! Breakfast is on me. Go ahead.”

“Awww, you’re so sweet!” Janine told Tom happily. Celeste laughed a little at Jan’s flirting with him, and told him, “Thanks again,” with a smile of her own, albeit a less-flirtatious one. “Um, thanks,” Tom said sheepishly, as they looked over the menu.

Janine decided on some hot cakes and a Coke, and Celeste decided to keep it simple and have the same. Tom spiced things up by going for bacon, eggs, and a hash brown.

Once they had their food and were seated, Celeste asked, “So… what do we do after this?”

“Good question,” Tom said, as he sipped his milk through a bendy straw.

“Threewa — um, how about the beach?” Janine suggested.

“…the beach?” Celeste asked. Janine shrugged.

“Meh, I’m for anything you want,” Tom said as he grinned slightly.

“There’s also cruising, sex, shopping, digging, movies, sex…”

“You said ‘sex’ twice,” Tom pointed out.

“Cognitive bias. Look it up.”

“Cruising?” said Celeste.

“You know, in a car.”

“We don’t have anything to cruise in.”

“Oh… yeah. So, se – er, shopping?”

“Er, Jan, did you say ‘digging’?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, but that was just a – we don’t have to do that, sweetie.”

“Oh, okay. But…”

“…but?”

Celeste poked at her hot cakes nervously with her fork. “I was thinking… maybe… I should give it another try?”

Janine raised an eyebrow at this. “Are you sure about this? You and ruins haven’t exactly gotten along so far.”

Celeste looked up. “I know, but…” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “I… I want to do more, to do my part. Especially since Fenix isn’t around any more.” Janine looked at her plate forlornly at the mention of Fenix. “It doesn’t seem fair to you and Nyte. And after the ruin we were just in, I was thinking…”

“Cel, that place was like a Digger’s preschool,” said Tom. “Like the sort of place you’d take preschoolers on a field trip to show them what a dig is like without taking them on an actual dig. Are you sure you’re up for… well, not that?”

Celeste sat there for a moment, contemplating. With another deep breath and some measure of resolve, she said, “I… I want to try. But… would we be able to handle a dig ourselves?”

“Certainly,” Tom said. Janine smirked. “Well, you do have the ‘Reaverbot Queen’ along.”

“Yeah,” Celeste said, blushing with a bit of embarrassment at how naive her question sounded.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tom said, as he gave Celeste a quick pat on the shoulder. “Let’s armor up, and go.”

***

Back at the apartment, Celeste went and got suited up in the armor Nyte and Adam had made for her, and readied the pistol and saber Fenix had given her. Janine was going as she was.

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn was still sound asleep on the sofa.

“Don’t you want to get suited up, Jan?” Celeste asked.

“What for? I’m already a hardbody!” She punctuated the statement with a pantomimed rimshot.

They went to meet Tom out in front of the apartment, with Janine floating along and hugging on Celeste from behind. “Jan…” Celeste said. “What?”

“Let’s go!” said Tom, as he came out swinging his cloak around his shoulders.

“Uh, we aren’t going to any really… bad ruins, are we?” Celeste asked.

“Nah,” said Janine. “I know of one nearby that’s pretty tame, just a couple of barrels.”

“Works for me,” said Tom, and off they went.

***

Some time later, the trio arrived at the gate for the ruin Janine spoke of. Tom punched the button to enter, but Celeste was looking a bit nervous, as she hoped she was ready for this. Tom noted her apprehension as she took a deep breath, and stepped through the doorway. Before anything could be said, Janine grabbed both Tom and Cel’s behinds as she headed in.

“Relax, Cel,” said Tom. “You have our help.” She exhaled, and said, “Yeah. Thanks.”

Celeste readied her pistol, and Tom extended the blades on his forearm. “Let’s go keel some stuff.”

Inside, Janine wasted no time finding and patting a Horokko on its “head.” Celeste observed that it did indeed look sort of like a barrel. “Who’s a good Reaverbot? You’re a good Reaverbot! Yes, you are! Why, you’re just as cute as dickens aren’t you?” Celeste just stared at the goings-on, and wondered if maybe the terrifying sense of dread and fear she’d felt before wasn’t just an overreaction on her part.

Then the Reaverbot showed its true colors, as the Horokko tried to bomb Janine, who promptly screamed and ran. “Bad Reaverbot! Bad! No biscuit!”

Tom refrained from firing for a moment as Celeste held her pistol out with both hands, and one eye closed. She squeezed the trigger as she tried to shoot at the Reaverbot.

The shot landed, and it fell over and exploded. “Nice shot, Cel!” Janine said with a wink and a smile.

Celeste blinked for a moment as she stared at the fallen Reaverbot, and lowered her pistol. “Th-thanks,” she said, as she smiled back.

“Nice,” Tom said, as he handed her a large refractor that had skidded his way across the floor. “Thanks,” she said, as she accepted the bounty.

“All that time you spent getting whipped by Fenix seems to have paid off!” Janine said triumphantly.

“Uh, yeah…” Celeste said. While Janine giggled at her joke, she didn’t remember it being very funny at the time. “What ranking of ruin is this, anyway, Tom?”

“Ah, B, I think. I’m not sure. Why?”

“I think there’s something down here…”

Before Tom could respond, Janine was already headed further in. “Come on!” she said, as she rounded a corner. Only seconds later, she came running back in the other direction, as a Kuruguru followed right behind her, clamping its row of three jaws as it scurried along with its six tube-like legs.

Celeste tried to shoot it again, but the shots pinged off the disc-shaped Reaverbot’s hard shell, and it decided to go after her instead. As she backed away, Tom leaped on top of it, and shouted “OY!” to get its attention. Janine took the opportunity to blast it, flipping it over onto Tom in the process. Another shot to its weaker underside finished it off.

“Ow,” said Tom. “Just ‘ow’.”

Celeste checked on the Digger. “Are you okay, Tom?” “I was fine, ‘til it exploded on me,” he replied, a dazed look in his eyes. “Oopsie,” she said. “Sorry, Tom.”

“Aww, poor baby,” Janine added teasingly, as she patted Tom on his head. He smiled, and got to his feet. “I’m good. ‘Sides, if it didn’t blow up, it probably would’ve squished me.”

Celeste peeked around the corner Jan had fled from. “We have two paths,” she said.

“Hm, take one at a time?” Tom suggested.

“Pinch your nipples, and whichever side hurts more is the one we avoid,” Jan said. The other two stared at her, until Tom said, “Please don’t. Nyte would kill us.” “I joke!” Janine said, until she processed the rest of what Tom had said. “He would?”

Eager to steer the conversation anywhere else, Celeste said, “Um, I think there’s something down the right pathway…” “Cool,” Janine said, as she led the way down that path.

As they went, Celeste occasionally paused to get some refractors from holes in the wall. “Whoa,” Tom said. “Can she, like, sense refractors? Like, feel them? And, like, the ‘something down the hall’ is a refractor she felt? And we’re going to, like, follow her senses to a huge score?”

The two ladies stared at Tom for a moment, before Celeste said, “Yep.” She was tempted to add a “like” to it, but resisted.

“Cool. Let’s go, then,” Tom said, as he started off again. Celeste just nodded and followed.

Eventually, down the hallway and past a few more Reaverbots, they reached a doorway. “Ooh, door,” Janine said.

“Who goes first?” Celeste asked.

“I will,” Tom said, as he stepped forward with his blade ready and cannon charging.

“Ooh, human shield,” Janine said.

“…yeah,” Tom replied, as he opened the door and charged in. Celeste followed, with Janine close behind.

Tom dashed in to see a room with a number of Reaverbots. Arukoitan wandered around aimlessly, while their immobile Orudakoitan partners were stationed around the room to help guide them.

Tom opened fire, fragging multiple targets with his double-barreled Buster, and Janine floated upward to snipe at the others from above. Celeste tried to shoot the Orudakoitans, and while she landed a few shots, most of her attempts went wide. It wasn’t long before the room was cleared out.

“Strange…” Celeste said. “I know there’s something else here…” Celeste walked around a little bit, before stopping at one section of wall. “Can someone blast this?”

“Jan, your specialty,” said Tom. “Stay back,” Janine said, as she pulled her arms back and formed a ball of energy between the palms of her hands. Celeste’s eyes widened, and she made sure to get out of the way quickly before Janine cut loose. The wall was summarily blown to bits, revealing behind it another closed door.

“Ha! I knew it!” Celeste said, feeling a little proud of herself.

“Wow,” said Janine.

“Hm,” Tom said. “Let’s go.”

“Yes, let us.”

The three advanced through the doorway, and found themselves in a room that was rather dark. Pitch black, in fact. Janine held up a hand and generated an orb of energy to shed some light, which didn’t penetrate the darkness very far. Suddenly, the door slammed shut.

“Oh no,” said Janine.

“Here we go, kids,” said Tom. “LET’S ROCK!”

After another moment of silence, some red lights appeared in the darkness with “duh-dut” sounds. After another moment, more red lights appeared, echoing the same sound, and they could be heard going off all throughout the darkness. Tom took hold of one of the large guns in his leg armor. “Any memories pertaining to this?” he asked Janine..

“Nope,” Janine said.

Suddenly, the room was lit up by a decently-sized refractor, far from the Diggers in the back of the room. Reaverbots of many various types and sizes were everywhere, filling the room. “Marvelous,” said Tom. “Here we go.”

“Oh, god…” Celeste said, the color drained from her face.

Tom told the others, “Scatter shots, no aiming. Y’dig?” Janine nodded, and launched the ball of energy she’d formed before, which blew up a good number of the Reaverbots. Tom fired off shots from his Buster and large gun, then said, “I’ll go melee!” before charging in with his blades and hacking and slashing away at the Reaverbots. Janine joined in, charging into the fray and spinning in place with a beam blade generated from each hand.

Many Reaverbots were destroyed, but more seemed quite ready to take their place. Meanwhile, Celeste tried to get control of herself and stop shaking, and started firing into the mass. The horde was thick enough that even when she missed, she would still hit something. Some close calls quickly rattled her, however, and she was soon sweating, panicked, and tearful – not just because of the Reaverbots, but because she was the one who’d led the others into this situation.

Reaverbot parts were strewn everywhere, but more were poised to attack. Janine and Tom had been forced back towards the door, where they kept between the Reaverbots and Celeste, who was still trying to help where she could. Bit by bit, the Diggers were being worn down as the intensity of the Reaverbots seemed to only increase.

“I think we’re toast,” Celeste said, as the Reaverbots closed in.

“Not yet,” Tom said, as he dashed forward, swinging his blades upward. To everyone’s surprise, the blades snapped, and Tom let out a pained scream as he clutched his hand and gritted his teeth.

“Tom!” Celeste shouted. “Are you okay?!”

“D-damnit… now we’re toast…” he said, as he staggered back, holding his arm.

The charges in Celeste’s gun were starting to wear out, and Janine fired a few more blasts, but her energy bolts seemed to grow dimmer with each passing moment.

“Any ideas?” Tom asked, as he shot another Reaverbot. Celeste shook her head, and gulped as they closed in.

“I’m sorry, guys…” Celeste said.

“S’okay, it’s not your fault,” said Janine. “I’m the one who led us here…”

Janine slammed her hand into the ground to unleash another wave of destruction, but really only ended up hurting her hand.

Tom burned out his gun, and hurled it at one of the Reaverbots, who shot it out of the air. “I’ve only got the Buster left… wait! Hang on! Jan, cover me. I’m gonna try to jimmy the door!”

Jan nodded, and tried to put up a weak barrier to hold the Reaverbots back for a moment. Tom hit a button on his arm plate and touched some wiring, but the door didn’t respond.

“…okay, then,” he said. “Any other ideas?”

“Pray they’re not looking for a good time!” Jan said, as her barrier broke down. “It’s been nice knowing you guys…”

Suddenly, a sound like the whistling of the wind cut through the air. A flash of red and black – or was it blue? – appeared between the Diggers and the Reaverbots. He pulled out something the Diggers couldn’t quite make out, and a long, green beam of energy extended from it. Quick as lightning, they sliced through the approaching Reaverbots almost effortlessly, taking several out at a time. Within a matter of moments, the room had been cleared, with no more Reaverbots left standing.

“Dude…” said Tom. Janine looked on, eyes like dinner plates in pure shock. Celeste was speechless. “Who…?” Tom uttered.

The figure stood before the Diggers, their back turned to them so that all they could see was a long, blonde ponytail against their red outfit. The emerald beam of energy disappeared from the object in their hand, and they put it away.

“Are you okay?” they asked the three.

“Y-yeah,” said Celeste. “Thanks…”

Janine echoed her gratitude, and Tom said, “Yeah… who are you?”

The stranger didn’t answer, but simply nodded, their back still turned to the group. Then, the figure just faded into nothingness, as if they had never been there. Moments later, the door to the room opened.

“Holy crap,” said Tom. “Jan, I’m scared. Hold me.”

“I think I just wet myself,” Janine said, eyes still wide at what she’d seen.

“Wait, you just wha–” Tom said, before Janine pulled him in and smothered him against her chest.

“I… I’m scared, too,” said Celeste. Then she saw Tom struggling against Janine’s iron embrace. “…but not that scared.”

“LET’S GET OUTTA HERE!” came the muffled scream from Janine’s chest.

“What about the refractor?” Celeste said.

Janine tossed Tom aside with a yelp. “Yes, let’s get that.”

“Okay,” Tom said with a groan, as he held his head.

Celeste followed Janine to the pedestal, as did Tom, once he picked himself up off the ground. Janine removed the refractor, and tried to settle it into her cleavage, but with little success. “Ouch… dammit, this usually works!” she said, before removing it.

Tom hefted it up, and said, “I’ll carry it. I’ll take the most out for medical bills.”

“Thanks!” Janine said cheerfully.

Celeste nodded. “Yeah, let’s get out of here. I think we should leave the other passage for now…”

The others agreed, and they all made haste in exiting the ruin.

***

Before long, the three arrived back at the apartments, and Nyte was just waking up as they came in. “Hey, there you guys are. Where’d you go?”

“Hey, kiddo!” said Janine. “Have a nice nap?”

“Yeah, thanks…”

Tom set the refractor down, then tapped Janine lightly on the shoulder.

“Ja?” she said.

“Can you cash that, mutual-like?” he asked. “So I can get medical assistance and weapon repair?”

“Uh, sure…”

“Right, then. Bye!” Tom said, as he shuffled back to his apartment.

“Bye, Tom!” Celeste waved.

“Seeya, Tomorrow,” said Nyte, as she plopped down on the sofa next to him. “So, where did you three go? You look rather… worn out.”

“We had a wild three-way!” Janine said. “Now, excuse me while I shower,” she said, flouncing off into the washroom.

“We went digging,” Celeste said. “Without me?” Nyte said, sounding almost like he was a little hurt by that. “Looks like you all did pretty good… anything interesting?”

“We saw a ghost… I think,” Celeste said. “Jan?” she called out. “Do you know what that was in there?” Janine opened the door and poked her head out. “A blonde guy with a sword?”

Nyte looked on with curiosity. “Say again?”

“That’s what it looked like.”

“It was just… weird,” said Celeste. “Like a ghost, or something… guy in red, with a sword. Sliced up a bunch of Reaverbots like they were nothing…”

“Hm, red, you say?” Nyte said, as he put his hand to his chin. “I wonder…” The girls looked on, now the curious ones. “Hm?” Janine asked. Nyte continued, “I wonder if you guys saw ‘The Red Phantom’…”

“The what did who and impregnated with which now?”

Nyte looked at Janine, confused. “Er… huh?”

“What the hoo-hah are you talking about?”

“I’ve only read a little about it, but some Diggers claim they’ve seen a ghost or something in the ruins. Appearances have been reported from all over, but no one has ever gotten a picture or anything. Some doubt they even really saw anything, attributing it to too much drinking or something. They say it hunts Reaverbots, but it’s probably just superstition, though.”

Celeste looked at Janine, who after a moment of quiet, said, “Bizarre.”

“I dunno,” said Nyte. “You two sure it couldn’t have been something else?”

“I dunno,” Celeste replied. “Maybe all those red Reaverbot eyes played tricks on us…?”

“Yes,” Janine said, “and we hallucinated them all being cut up.”

“…good point.”

“Maybe a friendly Digger,” Janine suggested.

“Maybe,” Celeste agreed. “Some can disappear like that, right?”

“I would imagine.”

“That’s probably what it was. I think I should lie down for a bit. This is too much.”

“Yes, let’s lie down,” Janine said, as she took Celeste’s hand and started leading her to her room. Celeste and Nytetrayn both looked at Jan. “…oh, fine. Be that way,” she said, as she opted to skip the shower and go nap alone.

Celeste went to Nyte’s bedroom for a nap of her own, and Nyte decided to just turn on the TV and see what was on.

***

A few days later, Celeste sat with Nyte at the kitchen table, each of them drinking their own preferred coffee. “So, how’d you sleep last night?” she asked.

“Nnnnn…” Nyte said, before his head fell face-flat onto the table.

Celeste decided to go sit on the living room sofa as she drank her coffee and watched the television. Meanwhile, Janine was stalking her prey from the shadows, silently watching and waiting for the prime opportunity to strike. As Celeste clicked on the remote, she felt a puff of warm breath press gently against the back of her neck. She turned slowly towards the breathing, and when she came face-to-face with Janine, she screamed in surprise and fell right off the sofa.

With a raised eyebrow, Janine asked, “Are you okay, hon?”

Nyte came in to check on Celeste after hearing the commotion, and after seeing the dazed girl on the floor, asked, “Jeez, Jan, what’d you do this time?”

“I just stood behind her!” Jan said, with puppy-dog eyes. Nyte crossed his arms and gave her a look that said, “Really…”

“Jan,” Celeste said from the floor. “Please don’t sneak up on me like that…”

“I can’t help it if I move silently! Really, I can’t. I swear!”

Nyte helped Celeste up, and when he went to grab his coffee, Janine silently sidled over to her and glomped her leg. “Sorry.” Celeste tried to shake her off. “Jan… please…”

Janine let go and sat back. “What’s the matter? You’re jumpy.”

Celeste returned to the sofa, as Nyte came back in, coffee in hand, and sat down next to her. Jan sighed, and sat down on the other side of Celeste. “So, what are we watching?” she asked.

“Just whatever’s on,” Celeste said. “Looks like a carnival is coming to the island…” “That might be fun,” Nyte said. “What’s a carnival?” Janine asked.

Nyte thought on how to answer this. “It’s basically… a traveling amusement show that usually includes rides, games, and sideshows.” A thought occurred to him, and he turned to Celeste. “Er, were you wanting to go…?”

“I dunno… I think it might be good for some fun, after the way everything has been lately…”

“So then, I guess you and I… could go to the carnival, then… when it comes to the island…” Nyte said, before his face turned red as he realized just what he was doing.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Celeste said, as her face turned a few shades as well.

Janine raised an eyebrow, as amusement danced clearly in her eyes. Nytetrayn and Celeste’s eyes each widened a little, and they turned to the smiling woman. “What?” she asked.

“Um… and you too, of course, Jan…” Nyte said. “Yeah,” Celeste added. “We weren’t thinking of… you know… leaving you behind, right Nyte?” “‘Course not.”

Janine chuckled as the two sweated it out nervously. “Oh, you sure about that? If you two want some time alone…”

“Um…” Celeste started. “Well…” Nyte began. “That wouldn’t be fair to you…” “Yeah, since there’s no one else here… now,” Nyte finished, looking down at the floor.

Janine sighed. “True enough,” she said, as she let her head droop onto Cel’s shoulder.

“…then I guess the three of us are off to the carnival,” said Nyte.

“…yeah, no,” Janine said, standing up. “You two go have fun. I’m going to go see what other activities I can rustle up around here. And maybe buy some more batteries,” she said, before floating out the window. “Don’t wait up!”

“Er, ‘kay… seeya later, Jan!” said Celeste. “Later!” Nyte said, as Jan waved back.

To be continued…

—–

Legends of the Halcyon Era is a work of fan fiction set in the world of Mega Man Legends. It is largely adapted from a series of freeform RPG sessions, combining ideas from several contributors, and further fleshed out here in a prose format.

David Oxford, also known as LBD “Nytetrayn,” is a lifelong Mega Man fan who, along with his wife Nadia, has co-written the Mega Man Robot Master Field Guide and Mega Man X Maverick Hunter’s Field Guide from UDON Entertainment, and runs The Mega Man Network (themmnetwork dot com). You can also find him on Twitter @LBD_Nytetrayn and @themmnetwork, and on Twitch and YouTube under the name “Nyteworks.”

You can also find Legends of the Halcyon Era as it updates at Archive of Our Own.

Character designs by LBD “Nytetrayn” and Victor Campan. Character art by Victor Campan. Logos by Tabby Ramsey. Arrangement by LBD “Nytetrayn”. Sound effect via https://www.sounds-resource.com/snes/megamanx/sound/8913/

Thanks for reading!