A/N: Welcome to my new story enjoy your stay.
Just to get this out of the way first, special thanks to YuriLover567 for letting me use his OC, Verna. If you're interested in seeing more of her character in a less serious story, then I suggest checking out Verdant Breeze. And once again, thank you for checking this story out. This is kind of a giant love letter and tribute to a certain series and a certain character, so I hope you enjoy.
The soft pitter-patter of feet running down the halls could be heard all throughout the basilicom that day. A young, pre-teen girl had just gotten out of bed and was giddily making her way to the kitchen at top speed, only one thing on her mind: breakfast. Even better, today just so happened to be the start of a lovely Saturday morning and that only meant one thing!
"Pancakes!" The excited little girl called out as she leaped into the kitchen, where the table had already been set and a plate of the delectable hotcakes she was so excited for awaited her next to a cup of orange juice.
"Is that you my dearest- Oh..." A certain green-haired woman quickly turned around ecstatically with a spatula in-hand. Her expression instantly fell as soon as her eyes met the little girl. "Oh, it's just you, kid," she greeted before going back to flipping pancakes.
"Morning, big sis Chika!" the little girl greeted with a smile, ignorant to the tall greenette's indifferent tone of voice. The little blonde quickly ran up to the table, took a seat and grabbed the nearby fork and was about to chow down.
"Wha- Hey!" At least that had been the plan until Chika decided to intervene. "There's this thing called table manners, you know."
"Oh… Sorry," the little blonde said as she set shrunk into her chair.
"Might I ask what is with all the ruckus so early in the morning?" Both girls present turned towards the newcomer; a familiar redhead they both knew very well. "Ah, good morning, little one."
"Morning, big sis Cave!" the little one replied in a peppy voice. The redheaded SMD warrior stepped forward and rustled the girl's hair, to which the little blonde smiled and giggled. "Big sis Chika was telling me I should use table manners."
"I suppose I can see where she is coming from," Cave coolly responded, retracting her hand. "For once." Chika snorted. "At any rate, it's rare to see you up this early. Where is your sister?"
"Big sis said I could go ahead since she was really tired," the girl answered. "I tried to wait for her, but told me it was okay. She said she wanted to go wash her face first, so she went to the bathroom." The young blonde quickly proceeded to grab the syrup jar on the table and practically drowned her treats in the gooey stuff before a question came to her mind. "Oh yeah! Big sis Cave, is big sis Nep gonna show up soon?"
"I believe she is off having breakfast with her own family in Planeptune," answered Cave.
Verna's expression quickly became much more bummed out at the mention of the news, coming to a halt. "She's not coming?"
"That'd be nice," Chika chimed in. "It gets so loud with her around. And don't even get me started on the property damage and- Holy… You think you poured enough syrup on there, kid?!"
"Huh… Maybe?"
"Urgh… I swear, it's like talking to a brick wall."
"You talk to walls, big sis Chika?"
Cave had to stifle a laugh upon seeing her long-time friend's annoyed reaction to Verna's innocent question. The most she let slip was a smirk before she returned her focus to the young blonde at the table, happily digging into her food and covering her cheeks in syrup. As such, Cave tapped into her older sister instincts and grabbed a napkin with which to clean the girl's face. It was around then that the final member to their group showed up to greet her friends.
"Speak of the Goddess. Good morning, Lady Vert."
"Good morning, my darling! I've made plenty of pancakes especially for you!"
"Good morning, Chika, Cave," the groggy blonde replied, trying to hold back a yawn. Upon noticing the younger blonde chowing down on the table and practically lathering her face in syrup, she offered a smile for the little tyke. "Good morning, Verna. Don't you think maybe you used a little too much syrup?"
"Morning, big sis," Verna replied. "Syrup tastes really yummy, especially on pancakes." The little blonde gave the dopiest little smile possible from the sheer joy she found in consuming her breakfast.
"I understand that, but you could easily dirty your clothes," Vert said sternly. Cave offered the CPU a cup filled with warm coffee, which she gladly accepted and took a quick sip of. "You didn't even bother changing out of your green footie pajamas; it'd be a shame if you got them dirty so soon."
"It's okay. I'll be real careful, sis," said Verna before she proceeded to shove more food into her mouth. "Oh yeah! Sis, can big sis Nep come visit?"
"Neptune? Isn't she off in Planeptune?" the CPU asked, her gaze shifting to Cave. The redheaded SMD warrior offered a simple nod of confirmation as her answer. "I suppose we can call her over if she is not too busy. Although..." Images of kangaroos, wallabies and other nonsensical thoughts suddenly sprung to the Leanbox CPU's mind. "Knowing her, she's probably getting into her own misadventures with her self."
"But I want to see her," Verna whined. "Big sis Nep is fun!"
Vert sighed. "I suppose I can give her a call and see if she can stop by later."
"Yay!" cheered Verna, throwing her arms into the air. "Thanks, sis! You're the best!"
"B-But of course," Vert haughtily exclaimed, a proud smirk creeping its way onto her features. Chika could be seen holding up her spatula from the sidelines, but a quick glance from Cave stopped her in her tracks before she could act on… whatever was going on in her head. The greenette gave one last grumble before she resumed flipping her confections of delight. Soon enough everyone was sat around the table eating to their heart's content, enjoying each other's company. It was such a nice and peaceful exchange that they all wished it could last a little longer, but alas, all good things must come to an end.
Young Girl of Mystery
Off in some unknown corner of the world a young blonde-haired girl sat, staring forward at a simple little fountain. The water-filled structure showed signs of age, covered in rust and falling apart in places. There was a statue of a young girl standing on a small pedestal in the middle of it, broken and cracked in several places; a hole where it's heart once was.
The young blonde stepped forward, staring deeply into the water. She could see hundreds upon hundreds of coins beyond her own wavy reflection. Hundreds upon hundreds of wishes gently reflecting the light bleeding in from the broken roof staring back at her. As the girl brushed her hand against the water's surface she could almost feel the weight of all those coins as if she was holding them all in her hands. One coin alone would hardly even be noticeable, but put together they would crush the girl underneath the burden which they all bore.
The blonde let out a sigh, finally moving away from the decrepit fountain. She reached a hand a into her coat pocket and pulled out a green ribbon. She grabbed it with her lips before reaching around and grabbing her hair. Once she was satisfied with the way she'd adjusted it she took the ribbon and used it to settle her hair into a long ponytail that reached all the way to her hips.
The girl was silent for many a moment after that; her breaths the only sound that signified that she was still alive. There came a soft pitter-patter of feet somewhere behind her, garnering her full attention. She turned to see a brunette girl with a side ponytail and an oversized coat, not unlike her own.
She stood with a confident poise that was difficult to replicate, a single hand rested on her hip. "So this is where you were, huh?" the brunette began, "Should've figured as much. Well, that doesn't really matter right now, I just came to let you know… It's finally finished."
"..." The blonde's blue eyes widened in surprise. "Really? It… It's finally complete?" she asked in disbelief. "You mean we can finally-"
"Yup," the brunette interrupted. "We finally have a shot at changing things."
"Wow… It's almost hard to believe..." the blonde muttered to herself. "Our work's finally paid off, huh..."
"I can see you probably need a moment to yourself," the brunette said. "Well, just try not to take too long. And when you're done, you'd better go get whatever you think you'll need for the trip. I doubt we'll be found out anytime soon, but I'd rather you get going as soon as possible."
"Wait," the blonde intervened. "You're not coming with me?"
The brunette sighed, rubbing the back of her head tiredly. "Look, I'd love to come along and all, but… Well, if I do go with you, I might never want to come back." The brunette closed her eyes as a scowl found its way to her features. She tried to shake away whatever thoughts must have been going on through her head, but there was a moment where her facade faded, showing a more vulnerable side of herself. It was gone as soon as it had shown up as the brunette quickly recolltected herself. "At any rate, this was your idea, so you should be the one to go. We're all counting on you, so you better not let us down."
"...IF… I understand," the blonde stated, a fierce resolve shining in her eyes. "I'll be back before you know it."
With that the blonde girl sprung back to life, making her way past her brunette friend and making her way out of the room. IF could only stand there, watching the girl's retreating back as she left. "You'd better. I don't know if we can hold out much longer."
Young Girl of Mystery
"Do we have everything for our picnic?" Vert asked, looking over the contents of her simple straw pic-a-nic basket. After the group's little family breakfast they had begun preparing to go on a picnic, thus Vert found herself inspecting everything with Cave at the entrance halls of the Leanbox basilicom. "Sandwiches are accounted for. What about the blanket? Should we bring an umbrella? I wouldn't want Verna to get a sunburn while we're out."
"I'm sure it will be fine, Lady Vert," Cave coolly responded, placing a hand on the CPU's shoulder. "More over I have already packed some sunblock into my inventory for just such an occasion."
"I knew I could count on you, Cave," Vert praised, "Now, where did I leave my sunglasses? Should we bring bug spray just in case?"
"I'm sure it will be fine," replied Cave. "You worry too much."
"I can't help it! I just feel so paranoid that anything could go wrong," Vert avowed. "You remember what happened the last time I tried taking Verna outside. Thank goodness Neptune was the one to find her; who knows what might have happened if she hadn't been there."
"I suppose you have a point there," agreed Cave. "Even still, you could stand to relax a bit more. We will be keeping a much closer eye on her this time."
"I know, but still..."
Vert's train of thought was then promptly interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. She eyed the door for a second before sighing and moving to see who was there. Come to find out, the person on the other side of the door turned out to be none other than the purplette known as Neptune (the bigger one).
"Heya, Verty!" the eccentric purplette greeted. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"You were here literally only a few days ago," Vert deadpanned. "At any rate, it is good to see you are doing well. I wasn't sure if you would actually make it though."
"Sorry, did I keep you guys waiting?" she asked.
"We were expecting you here half an hour ago," Cave interjected. "If I may ask, what kept you so long?"
"Oh hey, Cavey!" Neptune waved at the redheaded SMD agent. "You see, I was trying to see if Mini Me wanted to tag along, but apparently Uzume really needed her help with something, so she decided to give her a hand. I offered to help out, too, but they said they'd be fine without me. But first they were nice enough to drop me off here; they already left though."
"I see. But what about Lady Nepgear? Couldn't she have offered her assistance?" Cave inquired.
"Well, about that. Nep Jr. caught a pretty bad case of the sniffles a while ago, so they're having her stay in bed until she gets better."
"My word!" Vert exclaimed. "This is news to me. I hope she gets better soon."
"I suppose she won't be going anywhere anytime soon," Cave added.
"Don't worry about it," Neptune chimed in, waving a hand nonchalantly. "Nepgear couldn't be happier having her two big sisters doting on her and keeping her company. Honestly, I think she's a little too happy for a girl who's been stuck in bed for two days."
"That's Lady Nepgear all right," Cave mused aloud.
"But that's enough about Little Nep. Where's little Verny?" Inviting herself into the room, the purplette began looking around every which way like a curious pup, until the conveniently time appearance of the little blonde caught her attention.
"Big sis Nep!" Verna called out from atop the stairway leading to the higher levels of the basilicom. The little blonde was now garbed in a quaint white and green sun dress. Chika soon showed up right behind the girl, looking as though she'd just escaped from hell itself.
"I swear, I am not helping you get dressed next time around, kid. Seriously, it's not that hard to- What the hell are you doing?!"
Before Chika could ask any further, little Verna just up and leaped down the stairs as everyone watched on with wide eyes. The trio of Neptune, Cave and Vert all rushed forward to catch the girl while Verna merely smiled and giggled all the while. Luckily, Neptune caught the young blonde before she could fall and hurt herself, though she was knocked on her rear in the process.
"You came! I missed you, big sis Nep!"
"Ow!" Neptune winced for a brief second before looking at the blonde in her arms with a very stern expression. "Don't do that, Verny! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Verna!" Vert called out, sliding next to Neptune and immediately looking over her little sister. "Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you? Is your dress okay?"
"Sorry, sis," Verna mumbled. "I was really excited to see big sis Nep."
"I understand that, but you mustn't do something so reckless," Vert chided. "What would have happened if you'd gotten hurt? I don't think my heart could take it."
"I'm sorry," Verna whimpered, her expression flipping upside-down into a frown. "Are you all mad at me?"
"Now, now, you are not in any trouble, nor are any of us mad at you," Cave cut in, "She looks to be fine, so I suppose we can take it easy on her for now." By this point Chika had also joined the group at the bottom of the stairs. "Just as long as you promise you won't do such a thing again. Am I understood?"
"Yeah! I promise!" Verna replied gleefully and without hesitation, smiling brightly at the redhead. Neptune and Vert could only let out a sigh as they silently went along with Cave. "Thanks, big sis Cave. You're the best!"
"Wha… I thought I was the best…?" Vert muttered to herself, going unheard by the little Verna. Both Cave and Neptune tried to place a hand on her shoulders, but it was all in vain as the little girl was already up and about ignoring her sister. Chika was just about to jump in, as if she was a predator that had found the perfect opportunity to swoop in and comfort her beloved, but her chances were foiled as Verna turned to the group and spoke once more.
"Hey sis! We can go now that big sis Nep is here, right?" The little blonde asked eccentrically. "I want to play~"
Vert finally stood up, dusting herself off and unwittingly dashing Chika's hopes as Cave stifled a chuckle. "I s-suppose we should get going... It's a lovely day out, after all..."
"Ooh, are you guys heading out for a picnic?" Neptune inquired. "Because I want in!"
"Yay! Big sis Nep is coming, too!"
"Then, let us not waste any more time and get moving," suggested Cave as she went to grab the picnic basket. "Are you sure you don't want to bring a hat, though, little one?"
"It's okay! Big sis Chika already packed one for me."
"Is that so?"
"S-Stop looking at me like that, Cave!"
"My, I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Don't act all innocent with me, I- Hey! Get back here! I'm not done yet!"
"Of course Cave is the best… She is much more reliable..."
"You feeling all right there, Verty?"
"Please don't talk to me right now."
"O...kay… Really wishing Mini Me was here right about now."
…
Urgh! Feeling… woozy…
I know they said this would be… rough, but this is way worse than what I was expecting… Darn… My eyesight is starting to go blurry… and my hands are so numb… I feel like I'm going to throw up… Please let this be over soon!
"So, this is the spot, huh?" Neptune said aloud. It had only taken a few minutes for the group to reach a good location for their little excursion. The group had chosen a spot not too far from the basilicom just in case anything happened to Verna. "Not too shabby, if I may say so myself."
Cave had begun taking out blanket and setting it down on the ground for the group to sit on. All the while, Verna was quite literally running in circles in the grass with great energy and fervor. "Yay! Picnic! Picnic! Picnic!"
"Why do kids have so much energy?" Chika wondered to herself.
"It's best to just let them have their fun," Cave chimed in.
Wait… I think I can see… a light? Oh, please tell me I'm finally there!
With a sigh, Vert took her seat on the blanket. "Something tells me today is going to be a very hectic and chaotic day," the CPU mumbled aloud.
"It feels like every day has been quite lively ever since Verna was born," Cave mused, taking a seat right across from the CPU. "She certainly does have a lot of "big sisters" at this point, doesn't she?"
"It seems that way, yes," Vert replied, a little bit more melancholic than she'd intended. However, a quick glance at Verna made it very hard for the CPU to retain her somber mood. For as much as she would have liked to be a good older sister to Verna, she supposed she would still need to work on that. "I do hope she doesn't tire herself out too much while-"
Wait! I'm… I'm losing control! Oh, no! I'm going to crash at this rate!
"...Lady Vert? Is something the… matter…?"
Without warning the wind began to pick up. It went from a light breeze to a more violent gust of wind, nearly knocking little Verna off her feet out of surprise. The group were all forced to brace themselves from it all, when suddenly the winds began to stir and gather around a specific area in the sky. Sparks of electricity could be seen as some sort of portal began to form above the group, and from it an aircraft of some kind spiraled out from it and plummeted towards the ground, crashing not too far from the group with a loud boom that spooked Verna into hiding behind Vert for protection.
"What the heck just happened?!" Neptune exclaimed from the sudden surprise.
"What in the world is that?!" Vert mused aloud.
"The weather forecast didn't say anything about this!" Chika shrieked.
"Sis, I'm scared!" Verna whimpered.
"It's all right, Verna. We won't let anything happen to you," Vert reassured.
"I shall investigate," Cave stated. "Be prepared for anything. We don't know who or what could be in that thing."
The SMD warrior withdrew her scissor blades from her inventory and approached the aircraft with caution, inspecting the thing very closely. It had charred the earth around it and formed a miniature crater upon impact, but surprisingly, it was still very in good condition despite the impact. It had kicked up a great deal of dust as well, making it difficult to fully make out all of its details.
The rest of the group soon approached the strange aircraft, when all of a sudden, some sort of window popped open. Everyone stood on guard as the form of a young girl shakily stood up, hidden by the dust cloud. The tension was unbearable as all eyes watched for any signs of movement, when...
The figure leaned forward and fell towards the ground unceremoniously as the group stared with wide eyes. Little Verna slowly peeked her head from behind Vert's leg, just as curious as everyone else at the moment. Seconds passed and the dust soon began to settle, revealing the mysterious being from within the aircraft as a teenage girl with a long blonde ponytail. She had fallen unconscious as soon as she made contact with the ground.
"Whoa! Is that a girl?!" Neptune marveled at the sight. She quickly shook off her surprise and withdrew a purple notebook from out of her oddly-shaped pockets. "Crostie! Crostie, wake up!"
"I am up!" the book angrily replied. "As if I could stay asleep after something like that! What the hell's going on out there anyway?! Did you blow something up again!"
"How rude! I did no such thing… This time," the purplette replied. "Look, that's not important right now! A hole just opened up in the sky and this weird ship thing just crashed and then a girl came out of it! Do you know anything about this?!"
"How the hell would I know anything about this?!" Croire countered. "I dunno what's going on, but it sounds like someone's been messing around with dimension again. Not sure why, but who knows? Maybe now I'll finally get to record something interesting."
"Neptune, could you please put a lid on Croire?" Vert asked, having moved to the mysterious girl's side. "We have more important matters on our hands right now. Can someone please come and help me pick this girl up?"
"Allow me, my darling!" Chika offered, jumping at the chance to help her beloved. Although she did cast an annoyed, almost jealous glance at the unconscious girl for taking up her "sister's" attention.
"I'm sorry Verna, but it looks we'll have to cancel our picnic," the green CPU sadly informed the younger blonde.
Thankfully, Verna didn't seem to mind it all that much, even if she was still shaking a little. "It… It's okay… Is… Is the lady okay?" she inquired, pointing at the mysterious newcomer.
"You don't need to worry. We'll have her taken care of in no time at all," Vert reassured. She refocused her attention to the unconscious young teen, carrying her in her arms bridal style with some (begrudging) help from Chika. It gave the CPU a good chance to really look at the girl in full. In fact, Vert was having a hard time taking her eyes off of her. Something about her just seemed so… familiar…
