So, here we are with a Neptunia story, one that I've honestly, been planning to try and post for awhile, but never really had the chance to do considering work and other things. Honestly, A part of me feels guilty considering the fact that my Fairy tail story is on hold due to this one taking over all of my Muse's time, but at the same time I'm just happy to finally get this out of my head and onto a format that people can let me know what they think about over. It's honestly getting me excited just typing this while listening to music, to hear what people think of this! Especially since there are so few good Neptunia stories that have OC's in them. Seriously, I can name, like, one off the top of my head, and the main reason I like it in the first place is only because of all the hilarity in it, though others don't seem to agree with that statement if the fact that it hasn't been updated in almost 3 years now is anything to go by T-T.
Anyway, enough of the pity part on my end, i'm just gonna let you get right into this without to much more exposition. Though I will say this at least, the first chapter is more to set things up then anything, so there won't be too much action at first. Sorry to all of you fans of that type of stuff!.
DISCLAIMER HERE: Hyperdimension Neptunia, Megadimension Neptunia, and all of their spinoff's belong to Idea Factory, and Compile Heart. Please support the official releases.
Lightning flashed across the sky, even as the sound of battle echoed through the landscape. Trees, uprooted and flung far from where they originally stood. Ground and rock, destroyed to changed the landscape, even as fires refused to be put out, whether by the force of the blows happening in the background, or from the wind that picked up during the fighting not so long ago. The area looking like it was took right out of an apocalypse that had just started.
The cause of the battle, however, was due to 5 figures fighting. The only thing that could be made out of the 5 were their silhouettes. Even from a distance, however, it could be seen quite easily that the fighting was 4 on 1, but even then the group was loosing. This was made even more evident as one of the fighters was sent flying backwards with a simple backhand of a spear from the one they had ganged up on. The force of the blow sending the figure crashing into the ground, creating a fairly large divot in the process, more dirt and gravel being kicked up in the process.
A flash of bright light quickly caused the figure that had been batted away to shrink, revealing a girl that couldn't have been older than 15 in her place. Shaggy red hair clung to her scalp, and skin due to the grime and sweat that covered her. Her clothes, a simple pair of shorts, a grey T-shirt, and pair of flip-flops, were covered in dirt as well, with bits and pieces of them missing due to the damage she just took. The pain from said attack was obvious as well if the fact that one of her eyes was closed, showing only one Orange orb staring at the fight.
"Noel!" One of the other woman spoke, the concern in their tone obvious, even as the figure, a tall woman clad in a dark blue, skin tight bodysuit, landed near her, the other two retreating as well "Damn it, she doesn't look like she's registering us at the moment."
Sure enough, when the blue clad woman touched Noel, the girl just continued to stare off in a certain direction, almost like she wasn't all there at the moment. It didn't take much longer, however, for her eyes to roll backwards into unconsciousness, getting an noise of panic from the woman in response. A hand grabbed the girls shoulder, shaking her back and forth, trying to wake her back up, but nothing she did seemed to work. The blue clad woman barely had enough time to look back towards the battle behind her, before a flash of metal went through the air.
"NO!" Noel's voice range through her room, her eyes wide with fear and shock, her breathing heavy as well. The shock lasted only another second, before she realized where she was, a heavy sigh leaving her, even as she sat up.
Looking around the room did little to help her mood considering the fact that the room was completely destroyed. One of the walls had so many cracks in it that she was surprised it was still standing upright even. Hell, the windows were in even worse shape if anyone bothered to look at them, considering they were just bits and pieces of glass at this point.
Letting out one more sigh, even as a tired expression went onto her face once more, the girl grabbed the grey newsboy cap that was next to her 'bed', getting ready for the day once more. The same thing every day was going to greet her, she just knew it.
Melody of a forgotten world.
Desperation. The drive to do whatever a person can to survive. A powerful force, one that has caused many people to do things they would otherwise not. It was something many would not understand, not unless they were put into a situation where it was life or desperation to save a life, or your own. Noel, being one of only two beings left as far as she could find, aside from monsters, didn't help. Every day caused her to lose more and more hope.
Despite this though, somehow Noel still had a sliver of hope that something would happen so that she wouldn't have to fight anymore. The lack of people was something that had worn her down long ago, but it wasn't just that either. The fact that she had failed so many people, her friends and those she had served, it hurt her more than words could ever describe. Despite this though, she still went forward, if only because of the Oracle that had survived with her, and kept her sane all these years.
She'd freely admit as well that, as smart as she could be, she still didn't understand half of the stuff that Rosa actually did. She wasn't sure how it was that she was still 'Awake' but Rosa, the Oracle in question, managed it somehow. How they were going to survive from here, however, was something that they both were still trying to figure out. The monsters kept coming no matter what she did, and any time she tried going into an area where she was certain that the monsters were spawning from, she ended up facing down three or four ancient dragons, causing her to retreat.
It was disheartening, devastating even, that her efforts didn't bear any fruit, and it made her depression flare up at times. That was also completely ignoring everything that had happened for the world had ended up like this. Her people, the ones who she had done everything she could for in the first place were gone, no one left but the faint remnants of their faith that refused to disappear no matter what the monsters did. She wasn't sure how to feel about that either, considering the fact that her people, even beyond the grave, believed in her enough that she could still feel it, even years after the downfall of humanity.
Still that didn't change the fact that she was in the middle of a fight once again, her perpetually tired expression not changing in the least even as she dodged a swipe from a Fenrir.
The beast had tried to ambush her when she was searching through the ruins of the town she was in, most likely thinking her easy prey. The girl looked like someone on the cusp of puberty, so that was probably part of it. The other part was just something about monsters going after girls more often than they ever did any other gender. It confused her more then she'd admit to anyone but Rosa, especially since monsters never took anyone alive.
Running a hand through her shaggy maroon hair, Noel quickly shoved the Newsboy cap that she had back onto her head, even as she jumped back to avoid yet another swipe. Shifting to the side once more, the girl quickly punched upwards, getting the beast in the chin. The force of the hit sent it flying backwards a bit, a yelp leaving it. Despite this though, the beast had little to show that it had taken much damage. The fact that it got up a second later only proving this fact to the redhead.
"Alright you bastard, come on!" Noel's perpetually tired look shifted to anger for a second, even as her tone showed that she'd rather take a nap then deal with this. She wasn't about to give up on her supply run though.
Getting into a boxing stance, she managed to shift to the side just right to dodge yet another attack from the beast. Reacting fast enough, a foot collided with its stomach, sending it into the ground not to far from her. It quickly got back up, a roar just barely leaving its maw, before a foot collided with its face, sending it flying backwards into a partially broken wall. The force of the kick, surprisingly enough, was enough to send the beast through it. Shelving the surprise for the time being, the CPU raised her fists again as she heard the sound of rubble moving.
The fenrir, with a pained growl, stared straight at the girl, her Orange eyes narrowing in warriness in return. The two stared at each other for a few more moments, before the Fenrir let out a loud howl, towards the sky, and slowly started to walk away. Confusion radiated from the redhead, her eyes boring into the creature as it left. She had fought Fenrir's before, but this was the first time one had willingly walked away from a fight like that.
Keeping an eye out in case it was a trap of some sort, the girl was both relieved, and disappointed at the fact that it was as it seemed. Despite this she continued on her way, quickly snatching up a bag from the ground in the process, and opening it with a sigh of relief. The bag contained cans of food, a good amount of them as well, and Noel was just glad that the bag hadn't been touched. A slight grimace made its way onto her face when she saw that a few of the bags were of Canned Eggplant, but it was a relief that there were other things.
Swinging the bag onto her back quickly, the redhead started the trek back home, half convinced that she was being watched as she left. This was shown with her looking around suddenly as she made her way back, orange eyes narrowed at the rubble that surrounded her. Scanning the area once again, while also spotting another store's ruins, Noel made a mental note to try and come back this way to search the store for supplies. Turning to continue on her way, Noel didn't notice the cloaked figure that moved out into the open a second later.
"Oh ho~! I didn't expect to find someone in this world, let alone someone so interesting~!" The cloaked figure spoke, his voice carrying a twinge of masculinity to it, but one would be unsure without proof. A humming noise seemed to come from the figure as they thought, before the form seemed to perk up "Oh ho ho~! There's an idea! Perhaps I will get more entertainment out of this one then I thought."
Slinking away from the scene, the cloaked figure headed in a direction opposite of which Noel had went, but if one were to look closer for them, they would find that the figure disappeared the second they walked behind a section of wall. Not a trace of the person was left behind, leaving only the sounds of Nature, and monsters in the area.
Waking dreams
Getting back to the building that they were staying in wasn't that big of a problem. Considering the fact that it was the Basilicom before this whole thing had started, it wasn't a surprise that it wasn't hard to find. The large tower was easily spotted from anywhere in the city, even with a large portion of it collapsed. It was still the biggest building in the city, and that was only part of the reason that Noel and Rosa had chosen to stay in it regardless of the mess that it had become.
Noel's reason was due to the fact that it was such a large building and they would be able to use the maze like structure it had become against the monsters and escape if they were attacked. Rosa's reason was due to the fact that some of the defensive systems that had been installed inside the Basilicom incase of a monster outbreak, were still active. The basilicom had always been large enough to fit the whole city's population and then some, so it had been chosen as the fall back point in the case of a monster attack. Of course that had did little considering how sudden and quickly, the monsters had attacked the city.
Forcing her eyes shut, the girl quickly got those memories out of her head, and trudged onward still, her need to get the food to the Oracle more pressing than getting lost in her memories. Shifting the bag a bit more on her back, Noel's eyes gazed over towards the sunset, the trees covering it just enough to leave a part of the sun covered. The sight was one that still surprised her considering the fact that nature as a whole had largely been untouched when it came to the destruction of the world and its people.
Letting out a slight smile at the fact that something so beautiful was still possible in this world. She was certain that Rosa would try and get her to keep her priorities straight considering she had food on her, but it was just something she couldn't help. Art in any from was something that she had a passion for, and it was something she would never take for granted. A sight like this was part of the reason she was so interested in art in the first place. That, and for finding nice places to sleep.
Taking her mind off of the sight in front of her for the time being, Noel continued forward with the intent of bringing the cans of food home. She hoped that Rosa had managed to actually cook something without a problem this time, but considering everything, that might have been to much to hope for. Honestly, she was smarter than someone had any right to be, but she couldn't cook to save her life. Seriously, how does someone burn water?
Ignoring that thought for the time being, Noel continued forward with her mind focused. Actually focusing on her task at hand caused the girl to arrive at her destination faster than she would have normally thought, though a part of her did sigh when she took a sniff at the air. Right away she smelt the burning food, which meant they were going to be eating ration bars tonight. It was more of a common occurrence then the redhead would willingly admit, but it was something she understood as well.
She just hoped that Rosa would be fine when she declined the food.
Quickening her pace as to try and make sure that the Oracle didn't burn down the building they were using at the moment. Eventually finding her way to the door, she opened it fairly quickly, running across the entryway and into the kitchen, to shut the stove off before it could cause any more damage. All at once, she let out a sigh of relief at the fact that nothing was going to burn down, but cringed a bit at the hunk of black that was sitting in a cooking pot, the the metal itself being burnt as well, even twisted in a few places.
"Noel! Thank goodness you're back, but did you really have to shut my cooking down so quickly?" A mature, if soft, voice spoke with an almost disappointed tone, causing the girl to look towards the owner.
Rosa, the owner of the voice, was pouting at the moment, really only causing herself to look even more cute considering the fact that she was barely 2 feet tall, and floating on a book for that matter. She had dark blue hair as well, the same color her eyes were for that matter, with slightly pale skin. She would have looked adorable all around, if not for the fact that she, not only didn't have anything but a brown robe of a sort on, as well as a bunch of dirt on her.
A stray thought left Noel at the fact that neither of them had any way of hygiene for years, before snapping back into place, her voice taking an tired drone to it "I'd rather we didn't have out place to sleep go down in fireball Rosa. I know i've asked you to leave cooking to me before..."
The Oracle, instead of flinching back, or getting angry, instead only puffed up her cheeks even more towards the ruff spoken girl "Well I still have a right to learn how to cook!"
"I've offered to teach you how to cook a bunch of times before you know." Was the tired response that Neol gave, her eyes seeming to close slightly in tiredness "Not like i'll laugh at you not knowing how..."
Rosa expression took an exasperated edge, her voice being a bit dry as she spoke "You only offered so you wouldn't have to do as much. Still, I wish that I could do more to help, with you scavenging every day for food."
"Hey, who's the one whos been keeping me awake in the good sense?" Noel spoke her voice having an edge to it that sounded exasperated now "Its thanks to you that I even have the energy to fight in the first place you know..."
A giggle left the oracle at the girl's response, the fairy seeming to be ready to say something, only to cut herself off as both she, and Noel, tensed up. Rosa quickly flew behind Noel due to the fact that she couldn't protect herself, while Noel, in turn, quickly got into a boxing stance. The two stayed as they were, but only tensed more when a laugh echoed through the area, causing the two to try and figure out where it was coming from.
"Oh! So you two sensed me did you? That just makes this more interesting!" The voice, carrying a tone that was neither male nor female said with jubilation "Yes, oh yes! This will be far more interesting then I had ever given credit!"
A growl left Noel at the tone the being gave, her normally tired look replaced in an instance due to the threat "Why don't you come out here and face me, if you find us so interesting as you put it."
"Tsk tsk, that's not how the game works." The voice spoke, actually saying 'Tsk' instead of making the noise as well "You see, i'm going to give the both of you a chance to make something of your life instead of just leaving you to rot in a dead world! Oh, but you Goddess need put do one thing! Entertain me."
A shiver went down Noel's spine at the fact the being knew that she was a goddess, as well as the tone. Before she could react or say anything, however, the being disappeared. The second it did, the sound of glass breaking reached both her ears, causing her to turn towards the windows, seeing the shattered pieces flying outside of the window, straight towards what looked like a tornado coming straight towards them. Letting out a quick "I'm sorry" To Rosa, before, she shut the Oracle inside of her book, ignoring the indignant sound.
Noel had just enough time to look out the windows of the 'kitchen' to see the Tornado had gotten much closer. She let out a resigned sigh, even as she hoped that, at the very least, Rosa would survive.
Waking Dreams.
Deserts were always considered to be things that, under most circumstances even, the most brave, and prepared, would never venture into. It was for this reason that most people would have been extremely surprised when a head of red hair popped out of the sand with a loud gasp, quickly followed by loud coughing, the girl that popped out of the sand clutching at a book like her life depended on it. Eventually the girl shook the sand off of her, pulling a newsboy cap out of the sand, and shaking any off of it as well, quickly putting it on her head.
Taking a look around, Noel could tell right away that wherever she was, there wasn't any civilization, ruin or otherwise, anywhere nearby. It was also at this point that the goddess was glad that she hadn't taken her backpack off, so there was at least some provisions. A second later, however, and she quickly searched through the backpack to grab Rosa's tome, opening it, already mid wince at the expected yelling. What she got instead was a hug. Her shoulder starting to be a bit wet due to the fact the fairy started to cry.
The shock from the hug was enough to leave the girl frozen for a second, before she hugged the fairy back with tears in her eyes as well. The silent tears ran down both of their faces despite not knowing where exactly they were, the emotions of actually surviving was enough to make the two cry as a result. Noel wasn't sure how long the two ended up staying there just holding each other as reassurance that they were still there, but when they seperated Noel's eyes immediately scanned the area around them.
As was obvious from all of the sand, the two were in a desert, but the fact was they had no idea exactly where they were aside from that. She continued to search for something, anything that she could see around them, with nothing to show for it, she sighed and turned to the Oracle, who was looking around as well. The goddess knew that Rosa had better eyes, and that was part of the reason that she wasn't worried when the fairy looked like she spotted something in the distance.
"See anything...?" Noel asked after a second of the fairy just staring off into space, getting her to jump slightly in the process.
Rosa looked like she wanted to yell something at the girl in response to the slight scare, but instead she just nodded "It looks like a bunch of buildings made out of sand. I do not know what else that could mean, but at the very least it is shelter from the elements."
Getting a nod in response, the redhead made her way to her feet, the sand causing her to stumble slightly, but otherwise nothing to worry about. With a destination in sight, however, the two started to make their way towards the buildings that Rosa saw. Noel did see them after a good hundred feet, so they knew it wasn't a marriage, but that still didn't mean that she wasn't going to worry. The words of the man that had sent them here in the first place still rang in her ears.
She wasn't completely sure what the man meant by a new life, but the 'Entertain me' part was obvious enough. A part of Noel wanted to find the asshole and beat the shit out of him, but now wasn't the time to be entertaining such thoughts. Finding a place to survive was more important for the time being. She would find the eventually, that was for certain, but when was going to be the hard part. Surviving another day was probably the priority at the moment.
What felt like an hour had passed for the two as they continued to trudge onwards towards the buildings, the objects getting bigger the closer they got, reassuring them that it wasn't a mirage. The only other problem though was the fact that they were certain they felt someone watching them. That shouldn't be possible since Noel had searched for a long long time to try and find someone still alive, but each search ended in failure. The girl really just hoped that it wasn't a monster that she had seen.
Snapping her gaze up in a split second Noel grabbed Rosa, who squealed in surprise, and dived to the side just as a loud crack went off, and the sand where they were standing a second before exploded, showing them in grains of sand. Narrowing her orange eyes up towards the building she saw the glint of light reflecting off of something, before a voice spoke up "Hold strangers!"
Noel tensed up quickly as the sound around them shifted revealing several people surrounding the two, guns pointed at them. Even as this happened another person, this one a woman wearing sand colored Camouflage clothing, started to walk towards them. The only thing on her person was a pistol that was attached to her hip, barely visible under the sand colored cloak she wore, but Noel knew right away that she was probably the most dangerous person here at the moment. Everything about the woman was hidden, except for her eyes, though she couldn't see them at the moment.
The woman looked towards the two, red eyes blazing with something that Noel wasn't sure off, before her eyes landed on Rosa and they widened slightly that most wouldn't notice. Taking her eyes off the Oracle, the woman spoke "Now, what could a little girl like you be doing with a Tome? Especially since Planeptune was the only one to have ever been known to have a Tome?"
Noel tensed up even more at being called a little girl, but Rosa sent her a significant look, before turning towards the woman "You have us at gunpoint with a sniper pointed at us as of this moment. I would assume that first shot was a warning as the bullets would have hit the sand below us and not us directly. It would seem that we would have no choice but to answer anyway correct?"
"I'm not surprised that a Tome figured out all the details so quickly." The woman spoke with an even tone, before speaking once again "But that still does not answer the question that I had just given. Why do you approach the place the Banished call home?"
Rosa's brow furrowed at the word, but for the time being she decided to ignore it, instead saying "We had little choice in the matter I assure you. Even we do not know exactly all that lead to us being here. The reason we came here however is due to the fact that it seems to be the only shelter within hundreds of miles. To put it simply, we are lost, and we have no idea where to go."
"I've never known anyone that would willing go into the Forgotten lands, so you may be telling the truth Tome, but that does not explain the girl with you." The woman spoke with a hard tone, red eyes looking towards Noel with suspicion "How does she fit into this picture."
Looking towards the the small goddess, Rosa silently asked her what to do. Scanning the area around them one more time, seeing all of the people pointing guns at them, a sigh left the redhead. It wasn't what she wanted, but she knew that she was going to have to. A nod left her after a second, and the Tome turned back once again to the woman who seemed to be in charge.
"The 'girl' with me, as you put it, is not simply a little girl." Rosa spoke with a soft tone that carried weight "Whether you believe me or not right away, the facts remain. Noel, the girl as you call her, is a goddess, one without a nation to defend, or people to protect."
A pressure seemed to fall upon the people around them for a second as the words reached their brains. Seconds passed before what sounded like hundreds of clicking noises sounded out, every single gun being pointed straight towards Noel, who's eyes widened in shock, surprise, and fear. The red eyed woman who was the leader had a look of both shock and rage on her face as she pointed her gun, the pistol that was a lot bigger out of the holster then it looked, as she yelled "You stay right where you are you CPU. How the hell did you find us here?!"
Oh man, I see soo many people getting angry at me already T-T I can see the comments now, all of them saying something along the lines of "A CLIFFHANGER ON THE FIRST CHAPTER!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" or things like that! Oh man, I hope I didn't make people to mad, or confused with things, and and-
?:Hey! Cut it out Chio! Jeez, and I thought Nep Jr. was a worrywart...
Neptune?! What the- Your not scheduled to appear for chapters still! Heck, i'm still not sure when and how i'm going to introduce Noel to the four of you...
Neptune: Speaking of that, what the Nep man? Your just gonna leave the main protag in the dust like that?!
You get plenty of spotlight with your games already Neptune, let me have my fun with what I right alright?! Besides this Authors note has gone on long enough as is! Just... Do the end thing since your already here... (Why did I think i'd be a good idea to do this series?)
Neptune: Fine you big baby. Chio here would love it if you'd leave a review to their story, and let them know what you think ok? Hey, Chio, you got any pudding in here!?
I knew I made a mistake...