Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and my stories. The others belong to their respective producers.
Chapter 2 is out! A lot sooner than I expected. However, it'll be a little bit shorter since the events are kind of short.
I think I will answer reviews from here now, since some of my answers might related to the chapter.
To balot55: Thanks for the review. I do aware about grammar errors, since English is not my native language, and I'm still trying to improve myself. However, punctuation errors? I didn't stop or pause in the sentences wrong that much, right? About colons, I will try to use less, but asterisks are a must if I want to speak about sounds, not words. And about notes: one, it's my style, but I will reduce the number of notes if it's too annoy for you to read; two, the Creator's words are not simply author's notes, you will see why in this chapter.
To New Universe Returns: Thanks for your kind words.
So without anything else to say, enjoy reading this chapter!
Dream field, Tabitha's POV
"Mama! Mama! Can you tell me a bedtime story?"
"Of course, sweetheart. Which story do you want to hear?"
"I have read a lot of stories in father's library already! Can you tell me something new?"
"Hmm, let me see. Oh! How about the story of the four Goddesses and the white knight?"
"OH! I have never heard about it before!"
"But, this is between me and you, okay? This story has never been told before."
"Of course, Mama!"
"Well, let's see. Once upon a time, in another world, there are four nations, each ruled by a Goddess. They're rivals to each other, and always compete to see who's the best one."
"Why are they fighting each other, Mama?"
"It's just a friendly fight, my dear Charlotte. They can compete in any ways, like who can eat the most, or can best the others in some kid games."
"Wow, the Goddesses sound so childish!"
"*Giggles* Yes, they are. But when the world's in trouble, they're always in their best to protect their citizens from any harm. They have been protecting the world for hundreds of years without trouble. But then, one day, the Goddesses were pushed back by a force of darkness they have never met before. This one was filled with sorrow, despair, and destruction."
"Oh no! And the Goddesses?"
"Nearly defeated. Even when they're trying their best, they could not beat it. But then, the knight in his white armor suddenly appeared, and helped the Goddesses fighting the darkness. With his sword and his bravery, he was able to seal the darkness into the sword, as he buried it in a place no one could find it and release the darkness."
"The knight is that good, Mama?"
"He is. However, when he's arrived, the Goddesses were already in the verge of disappearing…"
"Oh no!"
"When they're nearly gone, they asked the knight to be the new ruler to protect their citizens, only when he agreed that they only closed their eyes in peace. After that, the knight announced to everyone the Goddesses' last wishes. But, he didn't become the new ruler."
"Why did he betray the Goddesses' trust like that? I thought he's good."
"He would be the new ruler, however, he found out that the Goddesses had Sisters, that's why he trained them until the point they could become the rulers everybody wanted. Then, one day, he vanished, just like when he appeared."
"Aww! Is it the end?"
"Not quite, sweetheart. After that, people still sometimes saw the figure of said knight wandering around, probably making sure no threat could come near the citizens again."
"So the knight still held his promise to protect people? So he's a good guy after all?"
"He was, and would always be the good guy, Charlotte. And, you should remember this: This white knight can be at our side in the most darkness hour."
"So, I can meet him in the future?"
"It's only a chance, but a chance you want it to happen right? Always wish for it, my dear Charlotte."
"Of course, Mama!"
Sorry for the weird 'bed-time story'. I didn't read enough to write this one.
Reality, dawn, three days later after the first chapter, Tabitha's POV
The memory… why did it appear now? My mother seems to believe the knight is real, but, other than her story that day, I couldn't find the story anywhere else. And since I have promised her, I never told this to anyone. Is it a sign of something will happen? But, I have hoped that, the white knight can appear and save my mother from the poison she's taken in my place. Everyday, I wish, even yesterday…
"Wake up, little princess. It's dawn."
That voice…it belongs to the person I summoned yesterday. Kuro, isn't it? He keeps calling me princess for some reasons. Do I really look like one now? Or did he know? Anyway, I slowly open my eyes to see my room ceiling, and a few rays of light coming from the window. I sit up and look around, however I don't see Kuro anywhere.
"By the time you listen to this, I'm not in the room now."
I look at my table, and see something rectangle is lying on it. When I get out of bed and take a closer inspection, I see two round thingies spinning while it's speaking in Kuro's voice. "I'm going to get my friend up. So, take your time, and meet me in the dining hall, okay? Hope this is enough to wake you up." Then it stops. I pick it with my hand and start looking around it. I even try to see if there's magic in it, but there's none. Is this something normal in Kuro's world? After that, I change to my uniform and pocket the thing, and about to turn the doorknob when…
*Boom!* It shakes my room a bit. Who could have made an explosion in this early in the morning? No, I know who can do that. The question should be: why did she make an explosion this early?
At that moment, Kuro's POV
What the actual eff just happened?
I left the recorder in Tabitha's room and played it to wake her up, then I walked to Louise's room. I was about to knock on the door when it suddenly opened by some kind of force, which pushed me, hard, right to the wall behind me. My bones are not broken thanks to my God status, but it sure as hell hurts. And the wall is cracking now.
Man, I just checked where her room is, and I'm so disappointed that I cannot let you fall down to the ground.
'I'm both happy and angry at you here! Also, screw you for what happened 19 years ago!'
Hey, memes never die!
'I hate you!'
Love you too. And if you don't understand, then I'll give you one word: Noire.
"Are you okay?" I look at the direction of the voice. It belongs to a maid with Asian features, who's walking fast to me. I think that's enough to know who she is, right?
I slowly push myself off the ground and the wall. "I'm fine, Siesta. Thanks for your concern." However, I sway a bit, and she runs to me and holds my arm to keep my balance.
"Are you sure sir? It looks like it hurts a lot."
I smile to her, and she blushes a bit. "I'm fine. This is nothing. But…" I look at the room, then to Siesta. "Can you go and check if my friend is okay?"
Siesta nods and is about to walk in, when Saito stands up, his right hand holding his backside of his head, and he notices me. "Kuro? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to wake you up. What the bloody hell happened here, Adam?"
"I don't know. I was trying to wake Louise up, but then she turned her wand right at me, and I had to duck before…did you get hit by it?"
I point my thumb to the wall behind me: "Take a guess."
He looks behind me, and smiles sheepishly, but then turns back to Louise when she coughs.
"Pervert…" That one word…
I look at him, and he looks back. "What did you do?"
"I did nothing! I swear!"
I sigh: "Just…go out…" As he runs out, I start closing the door, but not before I gave Louise an apologize and told her to meet us at the dining hall.
As we walk to the dining hall (and I can walk normally now), we start exchange words.
"Now, about before…"
"I swear I know nothing, okay? I'm trying to…"
"I know, I know. I guess that she was just having a dream about you. Or rather, your 'intimate' moment with her…"
Both Saito and Siesta blush. Saito nearly shouts: "What are you talking about? We only met a few days, why can she…"
"Do I sound like I'm talking about you?"
Saito takes a moment to think, then: "You mean the original me?"
"Yeah."
"The Creator's work?"
"Maybe…"
Siesta is confused: "What are you two talking about?"
I turn to her: "Oh I'm sorry. Please, don't mind about it. Anyway, do you need any help from us?"
Siesta thinks a bit: "Well, in the morning, not so much. I think it will be more problems in the afternoon. But I shouldn't ask you two to help, since…"
I wave my hand: "Don't worry. We're having lots of time in our hands. You can ask us anything."
Siesta nods: "Well, maybe later. But thank you for your offers. I have to go now, see you later." She bows and leaves. By the way, we met her before, but she doesn't know about our power and our past, yet. She only knows us as Noble's familiars, that's all.
As we're near the dining hall, we see Tabitha and Kirche, the later is holding the recorder I gave to Tabitha, and the record button is pushed. Kirche notices us and: "HEY, DARLINGS! YOU"RE UP! What took you so long?"
Saito: "Just a little problem when I tried to wake Louise up."
Kirche looks at us curiously: "Oh, she wouldn't wake up?"
I answer: "No. But when Saito tried to, she pointed her wand directly at him and fired a spell, which he dodged and it hit me instead. Reason, we don't know."
Kirche: "That's strange…"
I decide to ask Tabitha: "Tabitha, did Kirche say anything pervert about me and Saito?"
She's about to answer, but Kirche uses her free hand to cover her mouth: "Nothing! Nothing my darlings! I was just asking if she saw where you were!" I'm not buying it though.
"Can you give me back the recorder?" I point to the mentioned thing.
Kirche looks at it: "Oh, this thing is yours? Here, you can take it back." As soon as she gives it back to me, I hit the play button instantly, and…
"Where did he sleep usually sleep, Tabitha?"
"On the ground. Next to my bed."
"You didn't offer him to sleep with you?"
"Why?"
"I want to know if he tried to do anything with you last night, okay? He's handsome, and I want to see if he's any good in bed."
I hit the stop button and look at Kirche dryly: "Does this prove my point?"
Her mouth is agape, and Tabitha is surprised, a bit: "How did it…when did…"
"It's called a recorder for a reason. I will let this slide, for now. Let's wait for Louise to come and we go in."
A bit later, Louise arrives, and says her sorry to me for knocking me to the wall. I think my status makes her acting like that, even though I told her to treat me normally. Anyway, we go in, pick our food and get our seats. I and Saito wait for the girls to pray to Brimir first 'why?' 'religious stuffs, don't ask', and we start eating our food. Of course, it won't go unnoticed.
"Why do you two commoners dare to sit with us Nobles?" Short yellow hair, light blue eyes? I honestly don't know what color they are with a rose in his hand, Guiche walks to us and asks with his demanding voice.
Louise speaks to him in annoyance: "What do you want, Guiche?"
Guiche: "Why are you letting these two sitting in the same table with you? You forgot all of your pride of being a Noble already? Or right, you can't even do any spells properly!"
You know, I'm a little bit annoyed by this guy. I know he can be fixed, but in this moment: "You're being rude to your classmate, mister Guiche. You forgot all of your manners of a Noble already?"
Some students chuckle at my retort. Guiche is a bit angry: "Don't tell me what I need to do commoner! Or should I show you where you should stand right now?"
"You should take care of your 'girlfriend's problems' before showing me anything, gay-boy." I have no intention to insult anyone, however if I need to act like a jackass, then I will.
Everyone gasps at my exclamation, and Guiche is red from anger and embarrassment: "Watch your tongue! Don't you insult my good looking like that!"
I smirk: "Is that why you don't have any girlfriends yet? I feel pity for you."
Guiche shouts: "Why you!"
Luckily Montmorency walks to us and pulls her 'boyfriend' away: "Stop it Guiche. You're just embarrassing yourself, talking to them like that…"
"But…but…" And he's gone.
Tabitha looks at me: "Necessary?"
"No, but I need him to go away. He's a bit of annoying."
Kirche suddenly asks me: "I almost forgot. We know that Saito is over 100 by his mental, but how old are you?"
"Just over 60, why?"
Louise: "Well, because the way you speak, it sounds like you're even older than Saito."
"Because Saito lived his life on his own, like, his life is his and no one is interfering it. I, however, had to act as every single citizen for 7 years, that's why I have to make myself older."
Tabitha: "Reason?"
I sigh: "It's…something I don't like to speak now."
They drop the subject and continue the breakfast. After that, we go to the school field, and…
"By the way, Kirche, where's your familiar?"
Kirche has a look of realization: "Oh right! I forgot to introduce him with you two. Flame! Come here!"
A large red lizard comes to us. A salamander to be more exact. But when he looks at me…
"He knows how dangerous I am, doesn't he?"
"Maybe…Can you get him off me, Kirche?"
"I think he will get off, once Kuro's not around."
Yeah, Flame decides to cling on Saito, which bothers him just a little.
"By the way, Kuro."
"What is this, Saito?"
"Why do Kirche and Louise remind me of our Goddesses?"
"I feel the same, not just you."
It perks their interest. Louise asks me: "We remind you two of your Goddesses?"
I nod, and pull out a photo. This one is in the animation. But there're some differences: Histy is above Neptune, Histoire is behind Nepgear a bit, Schwarz and Weiss are next to IF and Compa, Emerald is next to Chika, Falcom and Saito is in the right of the picture, and Kuro is in the middle with Arfoire. Brave and Magic are not here, sorry you two. The two start looking at it in awe.
Kirche: "Woah! So many beautiful and cute girls! Wait, why're there so many girls in this picture?"
"Most of the population in Gamindustri are girls. You can still see the boys around, but they're not very stand out."
Louise: "You have fairies there, too? But why is there a woman who looks like her?"
"Histy is one-of-a-kind. She is the tome, the recorder of history of the whole Gamindustri. The woman behind her is Histoire too, or Histy, so we have to call the smaller one 'Histy'. She's from another world as well."
Tabitha: "Another world?"
"There're multiple versions of Gamindustri. The bigger Histoire is from one of them."
Louise: "Is the girl in white and the woman in green…"
"Yeah. You two remind us of them: Blanc and Vert, or also known as White Heart and Green Heart."
Kirche: "So, they're like us?"
"You're like Vert, however Blanc is kinda a combination of Louise and Tabitha, to be honest."
Tabitha: "Similar…Family?" She's pointing to Schwarz and Weiss. Nice shot, Tabitha.
"They're my kids." The girls look at me in surprise. "The girl with the letter C on her head is Compa, the girl with the leaf bow is IF, and they're my wives' counterparts." They nod, then the truth sinks in.
"WIVES?" Louise and Kirche shout at the same time.
"Yeah. You didn't hear wrong. And…" I point to Falcom. "She is this guy's wife." I point to the Saito in the picture. "And he is this guy right here." I point back to the real Saito.
They're speechless. Hehe, a shock to them.
"I think we broke them, Kuro."
"Yep, we did."
After a while, they return the picture to me, still shocked of the information.
"Welp, they're not returning back soon. You want some ice cream?"
"Ice cream? Here?"
"I will go to the kitchen and ask the Chief to get us some. You wait here, okay?"
"Of course. Come back soon, okay?"
Kitchen, Kuro's POV
"Uh, hello? Is the Head Chef in here?"
"I'm here. Hello, mister. What do you need?"
"Can I ask for some desserts for my friends? Their minds are being fried now."
"Fried? What do you mean?"
"Overload information. I want some ice cream to cool them down."
"All right. Wait here. I will get some for you."
"Thank you, Head Chef."
"That's my job."
A while later…
"Here you go, sir."
"Thank you very much, mister…"
"Marteau, and you're welcome."
I bring the tray of ice cream glasses to where our group is. But…
"Where did you get this from?"
"I have told you, Mistress. I found it on the ground. I thought it was from Mister Guiche, so I tried to return it to him."
"That's a lie, Mon-Mon. I don't know where it's from."
This two-timer… I put the tray on the table of our group, who just now notice me, and walk to the scenario.
"What's going on here?"
Guiche: "It's none of your business, commoner."
"Oh! It's my business if you mess with the people around you. Tell me what happened."
Montmorency answers: "I was just walking with Guiche here, when this maid walked to us and said that Guiche dropped this bottle. But when I saw it, I recognized that's one of Katie's perfume bottle."
"Then why're you blaming the fault to Siesta, Guiche?"
Guiche: "That's because I don't know about it. How could I drop something that's not mine?"
I turn to Montmorency: "Then why don't you ask Katie directly, miss…"
"Montmorency. But she's not available now, so…"
I sigh, and pull out my recorder. "Screw this." I pull out the old cassette and put another one in. "You two, listen to this." I press the play button…
Katie: "I'm good at baking souffles."
Guiche: "Then I would love to try one."
"Really?"
"Of course, Ketty. I wouldn't lie to your eyes."
Guiche is sweat dropping in fear now, and Montmorency is furious.
Guiche: "There's nothing hidden behind my feeling for you."
Katie: "Oh, you're sweet. Here, can you accept this perfume as a gift for you?"
"Of course. I cannot deny such a beautiful present from a pretty girl like you."
Guiche is about to snatch my recorder, but I retract my hand in time. "Well, is that enough proof? It happened last night, mind you."
Montmorency looks at me: "Thank you, sir." Then turns back to Guiche: "What are you going to say for yourself?"
Guiche is still trying to find his way out: "That's not the truth. That commoner just made all of them up."
"Ask the girl in question herself, miss Montmorency. She's walking to you." Then I put the recorder back to my pocket, which I actually open the hammerspace in it, and push Siesta to our group. "Let's get some ice cream, Siesta." Once we're back to the table, I pick up two glasses with spoons and give Siesta one, which she hesitantly accepts and starts eating.
"Kuro?" I look at Tabitha. "Trouble?" "Will be." "Hurt?" "Who?" "You." "No." "Guiche?" "Maybe."
The others look at me in awe. I look at them back. "What?"
Saito snickers: "I think I see why you're her familiar. You can understand each other quite easily."
I and Tabitha look at each other, then shrug and continue our desserts. The others follow.
When I nearly finish my glass:
"What are you going to say for yourself, commoner?"
"You should get some salt to rub on that burn on your face." Every boy around is laughing at him and at my sentence.
"That's it! I have enough of you! I'm challenging you to a duel!"
Louise stands up: "That's against the rule, Guiche!"
"Not between a Noble and a commoner! What are you going to do, now?"
"When and where?"
"Vestri Court, half an hour later. Don't be late!" And he walks away.
Kirche says after he left: "So, how're you going to fight him?"
I speak, while still eating: "Don't know yet."
Saito asks: "Are you going to use magic?"
"Maybe, I don't know. T.O?"
Your choice.
"Creator?"
The same.
"Magic it is, then."
Tabitha: "Which kind?"
I wonder.
Siesta asks in surprise: "Wait, mister Kuro can use magic?"
Tabitha nods: "Yes. Saito too."
Siesta looks at Saito, who just makes his hand lit on fire causing her to yelp in surprise.
Kirche: "So, your answer?"
I bring up my left hand, and the rune shines: "This."
Vestri Court, Kirche's POV
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IT'S A DUEL! GUICHE VERSUS TABITHA'S FAMILIAR!"
"Guiche is so dead." I say. There's no way Guiche can win against Kuro.
"Tell me about it." Louise's voice is bored too.
"What? You're expecting Guiche can pick up a fight?"
"No, quite the opposite. But, does he really go through everything just for this?"
"Well, it's Kuro for you. Don't apply the word 'logic' on him."
"Isn't he your friend, Saito? Shouldn't you help him?"
"Nah, no need. I hope he won't go too overboard, that's all."
"Death?"
"No death. But beaten up hard."
Then we return to the fight.
"I'm surprised you're not running away."
"Like you're trying to escape from the two lovely ladies? Nah, I have my own pride, unlike you." That earns a lot of laughs from the audience.
"You're really getting on my nerve! My name is Guiche the Bronze. Your opponents will be my Valkyries!" As he waves his rose, the petals fall to the ground and construct into many armor-clad shape of female warriors.
Kuro yawns: "That's it? Boring…"
"You…let's see how you can keep that attitude after this!" He orders one Valkyrie to sprint towards and attacks Kuro. And Kuro… does nothing to block it, as he received a number of punches from the structure! What is he thinking? More and more students start cheering for Guiche, and he's having a smirk on his face.
After a while, Kuro stands there, with the fist of the Valkyrie connecting to his stomach. Guiche starts talking: "Well now, you see why you shouldn't mess with us Nobles? You should have watched your tongue from the beginning." And he's laughing out loud. This guy…
"Grade A, for effort." Kuro suddenly speaks up. Guiche hears it, for sure.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Grade A, for effort." Kuro raises his head up, he's smiling and showing no pain. "But grade F, for performance." Then he punches the Valkyrie in front of him, the punch was so powerful that it knocks the structure into another one, causing both of them to collapse instantly.
Everyone is silenced after that. A 'commoner' just received tons of hits from a Valkyrie, and he showed no pain and just crashed two with just one punch.
I would be shocked too, but…
"Like I said, Kirche. Don't put logic on him. It doesn't work."
Guiche is a bit shocked after that, however he recovers quickly: "It seems you're not bad. But that's just one. Let's see if you can handle many!" As he says so, he commands three more to attack Kuro, this time with their spears. Kuro sidesteps to the right this time, and grabs the tip of the spear of the nearest one and slams the Valkyrie down to the ground, turning it into scraps. Then he grabs the handle and spears the other two, instantly destroys them. Guiche then sends five more, but Kuro just swings his spear and shatters all of them in one swing. Then in panic, he sends all of his remaining Valkyries to attack Kuro. They're all pointing their swords and spears to him. Kuro then drops his spear, puts his right hand to his coat pocket, his left hand is gesturing that he's going to snap his fingers. Then… he snaps them. All of the Valkyries instantly blow to dust right on the air. Everyone is shocked by it, even Guiche, as he's falling to the ground to avoid any debris that could hit him.
"What…what are you? How can you defeat my Valkyries so easily?"
Kuro stands there, looking at pathetic-looking Guiche, then he smiles. Then a laugh, a maniac laugh. His rune shines up, and the shadow below him rises up…
"I don't know about how you're thinking about me, but… I'm definitely NOT a commoner." His left eye is having some kinds of runes spinning, and a figure is floating just above him. That figure is…
"Death." Tabitha says, in her surprise. Yes, Death. The life consumer, the deity who's responsible to stable the cycle of life and death. And it appears right in front of us, in its fullest. Warp itself in a black cloak, it's just a huge skeleton, with a massive scythe that it uses to harvest the souls of the death people. And its interest right now: Guiche. Kuro is laughing like a psychopath, and he's looking right into Guiche's soul, while the figure above is swaying his scythe lazily, waiting for its master's command to do its job. Guiche is trying to crawl away, with no success, as Kuro suddenly teleports right before him, and uses his right foot to stomp right on Guiche's leg, causing him to scream in pain. Then the figure suddenly swings its scythe down, the blade closely stops right in front of Guiche's face, causing his face to be even paler. Everyone is scaring right now, and they're holding their breath, and praying that Guiche, by a miracle, can survive through this.
"Now…What should I…do to you?" Kuro's voice is no longer clear, it's like multiple voices saying at once. "A quick, instant death? Or a slowly and painfully one?"
Guiche is shaking his head like crazy: "NO! PLEASE NO! PLEASE, SPARE MY LIFE!"
"Oh? Spare your life…Hehehe… Why should I…When you didn't do it before?" The figure is making the same smile as Kuro now. It's so creepy! "How about this? I kill your 'girlfriends' after I kill you…so you can 'play' with them when you're in Hell. Is that…okay?" He's asking sweetly, the sweet of a sadistic, oh Founder!
"NO! NO! NO! PLEASE! ANYTHING BUT THAT!"
A moment later…
"I will take that as a yes." And the figure swings its scythe down in full force.
"NO!" *Splash*
Everyone gasps. Many of us turn away in fear, while some stand up to see if Guiche was killed or not. All of us are wearing looks of worried and scared now.
One second…
Two seconds…
Three…
Four…
Is…Is Guiche…really dead? Is he…killed?
Then…
"HAHAHA! Oh my god! You have to look at your face right now! HAHAHA!" That's Kuro, but he's laughing normally now. The figure suddenly disappeared, and everything turns back to normal, like, nothing has ever happened. Everyone in the audience lets out a sigh of relief that Guiche survives. Kuro then kneels down to Guiche's scared face: "Luckily for you, I have no intention to kill you. You made mistakes, and you tried to push those problems to the others. However, I know that you can be redeemed, so I'm giving you a chance now. Go and apologize to the girls, and fix your habits, okay?" Guiche is nodding furiously now, Kuro smiles and pats Guiche's arm, stands up and walks to us, which makes a lot of students to back away from him as far as possible.
When he reaches us, he shows his toothy smile: "Well, everything is okay now. How about some tea?"
A little later, Kuro's POV…
Kirche finally asks after a long silence: "So, what's that before?"
"It seems the rune is not Death itself, but it gives me another form of my Dark form."
Saito: "Really dude? Your Dark form is bad enough already, combining with it just makes everything worse."
"Heh, those're just scare tactics. Just don't piss me off next time."
Guiche: "Won't be any next time. I learnt from the hard way." I invited Guiche and Montmorency too. Unfortunately, Siesta couldn't join us, since she has works to do.
"Glad that you learnt. Anyway, do you have any plans for the Void day?"
Saito: "Void day?"
"Basically it's weekend to us."
Louise: "I'm going to the city to get more supplies for my studies. What about you two?"
Kirche: "Not so sure. I think I'll stick with you guys."
Tabitha this time has her book with her now. I ask her: "Do you need something, princess?"
I receive a whack from her staff to the face. "No."
"Do you need anymore books?"
"Currently, no."
Suddenly my N-Gear rings up. I pick it up and open the hologram-cam option, and…
"One-two-three, one-two-three, is this thing on, Nepgear? Oh hey it's Kuro!"
"What? Kuro? He received our call as well?"
The face of Neptune is filling the whole screen, as she's pushing her face to it.
"Neptune, can you push yourself out of the screen? You're blocking the view."
Neptune does so, and asks me: "Where have you been? We've been stuck here for a while already!"
"Sorry, no can do this time. I'm in another universe with Adam."
"AH, SHUSH! Why are you not there when we need you the most?"
"Kuro, can you connect to Histy as well? She's also receiving our call, as we're speaking."
"Roger." I swipe my hand horizontally, and another screen appears next to the first one, and Histy appears.
"Kuro, thanks goodness. You're here."
"Hi Histy. Is everything okay back there?"
"It's still stable. ASIC is helping us in defending Planeptune during the Goddesses' absences now. However, citizens are worried sick about their leaders."
Nepgear: "Right now, we're in an old facility in Zero Dimension. We've just arrived here and Histy has took the call instantly. You're a bit later."
"Is that a transporter facility? Histy, you can open a portal to get them back from there."
"I would do so if I can. However, the other side also needs to be able to do the same."
"Nepgear, can you do something with it?"
"I will try, but there're lots of missing parts. It'll take me a while to find some items and to reconstruct the machine."
"Hyperdimension is not in risk now, so don't need to…"
"HEY! NEPSY! GEARSY! WHO'RE YOU TALKING TO?" I hear a voice in the background.
"Is that Uzume, you two?"
"Yeah. She is…"
"Woah! Two screens? One is Histy and…who are you mister?" Red pigtails, orange eyes, white jacket with orange tie and black tube top, and gray pleated shorts. Yep, Uzume alright.
"My name is Kuro. I think these two…" I'm pointing at Neptune and Nepgear. "Had told you about me, hadn't they?"
"Oh. You're that Kuro? But… I thought you're older…"
"Same question every time. Yeah, I'm this young."
"And…who're the people sitting behind you with their mouths open?"
I look left and right. Yeah, they're shocked now. Better introduce now…
"You guys want to introduce yourself or not?"
Tabitha looks at me and points at the screen, whispers: "Goddesses?"
"Yes."
Neptune notices her: "OH HEY THERE! You look so much like Blanc! What's your name?"
Tabitha is a little surprise when Neptune says to her, but she greets back: "Tabitha."
Neptune: "Oh! A not-so-talkative girl? Well, I'm Neptune. I'm the Main Protagonist of the Protagonists. Nice to meet you all!" No answer, yet. "Are you so shocked about my beautiful bod that you're speechless? I'm so flattered."
Yeah, no, I'm not letting her say anymore. "Nepgear, can you introduce yourself, more proper than Neptune please?" "AH! YOU'RE MEAN, KURO!"
Nepgear complies and bows to us: "Hello everyone! My name is Nepgear, the Planeptune's CPU Candidate. It's nice to see many friendly faces around Kuro. Hope you're going to be good friends." Yeah, good friends, especially after that…
Guiche nearly turns back to his flirtatious self when Montmorency stops him: "Don't you dare flirt to the other girls!" Then she turns to Nepgear: "Nice to meet you. My name is Montmorency. And this idiot is Guiche, my boyfriend."
Nepgear looks at Guiche: "Well, he's sure handsome." Nepgear, no! "Unfortunately, I already have someone for me. Sorry." Thank you, Uni! Or Brave, if you're lucky!
Kirche then starts speaking: "Hello Nepgear. My name is Kirche. And this…" She is grabbing Louise's arm in her chest, which makes her squeak in surprise: "Pink mob is Louise." "Hey, let go of me! I can introduce myself! And put those things away!" "Why? You're so cute."
Nepgear watches these two interacting with each other, then she turns to me: "They're reminding me of…"
"Yeah. Saito said it before. And miss Tabitha here is like calm and cool Blanc."
"She likes books, too?"
"Yeah. And Uzume…"
"How did you know my name?"
"Ask Neptune and Nepgear later. Can you introduce yourself?"
"I suppose." She turns to everyone else, as they're staring at her. "Hello! My name is Uzume Tennouboshi. Yeah, my name is pretty badass. Don't need to compliment more."
Silence…
Uzume is very confused, and probably afraid that her 'cool' meter just goes down: "Eh…What's…that reaction?"
"Uzume..." She turns to me: "Your name is cool, I admit, but that introduction is not…very well. Try to think something more…creative next time, okay?"
Uzume's voice is shaking a bit: "You…you think my name…is cool, right?" I nod. "YES! AT LEAST ONE NOTICES IT! Alright, I'm going to improve my introduction, and then…" She starts walking away, her shouting can still be heard though.
Louise then asks me: "May I ask, is there a connection between Neptune and Nepgear?"
Neptune overhears that: "Of course there is. Nep Junior is my little sister!"
Kirche: "You're…the older one? I'm sorry, but I think Nepgear is the bigger sister here."
Nepgear smiles nervously: "We get that a lot. But Neptune is truly my big sister. I'm not as cool as she is."
Tabitha is not convinced, though. "Proof?"
Neptune smiles: "Of course I have one! Watch this!" Then her body shines, so much that most of the students have to cover their eyes, except Tabitha. Then, when light dies down…You know what it is.
"Now, do you believe that I'm the Big Sister?" Neptune, now as Purple Heart, asks the stunned students. They're overwhelmed by her beauty *cough* body *cough* that they cannot say a word. Then Kirche nods and says: "I believe you now. So that means you two are the Goddesses?"
Purple Heart asks: "Oh? Kuro has told you about us?"
Louise finally finds her voice back: "He did, but he only showed us your picture with the others, and he hasn't pointed out who're the Goddesses. We found Green Heart and White Heart though, since he said we're similar to them."
She giggles: "Well, I see why he said like that. Your similarities are uncanny, in a good way."
Guiche, after snapping out of his daze, asks Louise in his surprised tone: "Wait, you said Goddesses, you meant… the actual Goddesses?"
She nods. "Yes. And Kuro here is a God too."
Guiche and Montmorency look at me, their eyes are open as large as possible. Then they kneel on the ground, their heads touching it. "WE'RE SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE OUR DISRESPECT TOWARDS YOU!"
I pinch my nose bridge in defeat, as Purple Heart giggles: "Did you do something to them?"
"The boy tried to pull a me on two girls but failed, and he blamed me instead and challenged me in a duel. He lost, obviously."
Nepgear laughs nervously: "Hehehe… I think no one could pull a you that easy in that matter…"
Guiche is confused for sure: "What do you two mean by 'pull a me'?"
"To put it in simple, I have two wives and two kids at the same time. Saito here also has a family too."
Silence again.
You broke them, again.
"Yeah. They're so fragile." I turn back to the screen, well, to Histy first. "Sorry for the fiesco, Histy. Do you need anything else?"
Histy shakes her head: "I don't think so. Oh, right, Falcom asked me to ask you if Adam is okay. Is he there with you?"
"He's here." I point at him, who waves back at Histy. "Hi."
Histy: "… That's not Adam…"
"That's Adam, but right now he's Saito Hiraga. Falcom will understand, or…" I turn back to Adam. "You told her, right?"
"Yes."
I look back: "That's your answer."
Histy: "…What's your case, Adam?"
"Reincarnation, Histy."
Histy nods. "All right. If there's nothing else, I will close the call. Hope you have good time in your adventure."
"Thank you." Oh, right. "Oh, I almost forgot. How much do you know about the Void?" That got EVERYONE's attention.
Histy blinks: "Void? Sorry, but why don't you ask Arfoire? I think she's better than me…"
"I asked her, but she only uses Dark Orb and Dark Spear regularly. Is there nothing about it in your past?"
Histy shakes her head: "Not from what I know."
"That's troublesome."
Histy: "Why do you need it anyway?"
"Well…"
"How about Rei?" Surprisingly, the one giving the suggestion is Neptune. "When she teleported us, she used some kind of Void teleportation, right?"
I think a bit… It's true that the portal looked like it's made from the Void, but the concept might be different…
"I will think about it. Meanwhile, Neptune, turn back to your human self, don't waste too much power."
"Of course." Another light occurs. "So, when will you two come back?"
"Eh, not so sure. Maybe nine volumes?" No one understands that, except Neptune.
"That long?"
"Like I said, not sure. Maybe shorter…All right, goodbye you three."
"Take care! / Be careful. / Take care, Kuro and Adam." The screens turn off.
Louise turns to me, and gives a look of 'are you crazy?': "Why did you talk about the Void so openly like that?"
I shrug: "Everybody would know, eventually. And Saito…" He turns to me: "About you using magic, I won't stop you, however, you need to be careful. You're not immortal, or undead like me, people could find a way to hurt you, or worse, people you care about. Right now, it means…"
"Louise and her friends, I got it. I know about this. You're not screwing around when it comes to everyone's safety, huh?"
"That's why I'm still walking. If not, I would have just laid down and let everything goes by its own. So…" I call out one of my katana and throw it to Adam, which makes him catch it in surprise. "Care for a little spar? I hope that you won't disappoint me, A-Rank Hunter Adam."
Chapter 2 end!
Yeah, Kuro vs Guiche. Even if it's Saito vs Guiche, Guiche would be wrecked either way. I mean, Kuro is OP like I have said before, and Saito actually has a hundred years of living (mentally) and probably 20 years of fighting monsters (he's A-Rank for a reason).
So the gangs met the Goddesses of Planeptune. Nice conversation so far.
Nearly forgot, the cringy 'bed-time story' is a make-up that I hope I won't do again. That's just...so poorly written. But, it's a little hint for what Tabitha is. Not 'was', but 'is'.
Also, I have updated my profile. If there's something that might confuse you, maybe my profile will help you with it, so that you won't have to read my previous story.
Well, you know what I will do in the next chapter. See you when the chapter is out!