Hello all of you awesome people out there! It's ButterHunter here, back with the next chapter! I hope all of you people are enjoying this so far. It's awesome to see how much people are liking this story as well.

Anyway, let's get right back into the story!

Chapter 3: Discovery, Caves, and Nep

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of HyperDimension Neptunia. Only my OC.

After about three minutes, the three new friends were walking through the heart of the city, more or less with Compa leading them. Neptune and Cameron were looking around the huge city, with all of the interesting people living here.

"Wow, this place is huge!" Neptune said, running around joyfully.

"Yeah, it is. By the way, what was this city called again, Compa?" Cameron said, turning to Compa.

"This is Planeptune. It's a city that Lady Purple Heart presides over." she said over her shoulder. Neptune slowed down a little when she heard that.

"Planeptune, huh? That… sounds familiar." Neptune said.

Compa nodded at that. "It sounds kinda like your name, Nep-Nep. You probably live here or something."

"Hmm…" Cameron mused to himself. "We should probably get going. Staying here won't get us anywhere." he said to the other two. "Where are we going again?" he asked, to which Compa said to the park just outside the city.

"Really? That's good! I really don't like carry…" Neptune started, but suddenly stopped as she spotted something. "Hm? Wait a sec…" she said, running over to a couple trash bins next to what looked like an apartment building of some sort.

She started to dig through one of them, muttering under her breath. "Nep-Nep? What are you doing rummaging through someone's garbage?" Compa asked. Cameron was glad no one was close by to see this, because this would have been awkward to explain.

Neptune found what she was looking for. "Look what I found you two! Swords!" she said, indeed with two swords, one in each hand. "Well, they're both made of wood, but hey, a swords a sword!"

"I see that. What do you plan to do with those?" Cameron said, looking closely at the one Neptune handed him.

"Um… LARPing?" Neptune said, trying to make a joke. This got a facepalm from Cameron and an awkward smile from Compa.

"Um… okay, Nep-Nep, whatever you say…" Compa said, before turning to walk again.

"Hey Cameron! Look out!" Neptune said. Cameron turned just in time to block a swing from Neptune.

"HEY! What the hell?!" he said, stepping in with his own jab. Neptune looked surprised, but then she grinned mischievously. For a good twenty seconds, those two fought back and forth. Cameron was more surprised than anything. 'Where did I learn to fight like this?' he thought.

But those two realized Compa was waiting for them, watching them from a safe distance. "Ooh… um… yeah, sorry Compa. Kinda got carried away." Cameron apologized. Compa said she didn't mind to much. In fact, according to her, it looked like Neptune and Cameron were having fun.

After a minute, the three continued to walk to the exit. Cameron and Neptune sheathed their swords, Cameron using a sheath that Neptune also found in the trash behind his back, and Neptune by using a sheath that clipped to her belt.

"You think it's strange to be walking around with weapons on our backs?" Cameron asked Compa a bit later, as he could swear at least two or three people shot second glances at the weapon strapped to his back in the last two minutes.

"I don't know, but maybe it'll be useful later on. Who knows?" Compa replied. Cameron didn't really know what else to say at that point, so he shut up for a while. But then one more question came to mind.

"What the hell were two swords doing in the trash? I mean, I know both of them are made of wood, but still? Who does that?"

About five minutes later…

Finally, the trio arrived at the park entrance. Strangely, no people seemed to be around, even though it was a beautiful day out, perfect for a park stroll.

"So, I guess this is the area where I was elegantly lodged into the ground, right?" Neptune said, looking around. Cameron was as well, looking for some sort of sign as to where the crash had happened.

"Well, not quite. It's much further back. But…" Compa said, noticing something.

"But?" Cameron asked, still looking around. He saw something move, just at the edge of the tree line.

"There are monsters all over the place now. They weren't here last night…" Compa said, looking a bit worried.

"Monsters? You mean, like that blue, dog-like jelly thingy over there?" Neptune said, pointing at a pile of rocks. Out of nowhere, a blue glob hopped out from behind the rocks. It almost looked like a dog, except that it was blue, and looked rather… squishy.

"Yeah, exactly like that. Like I said, they were here before…" Compa said, still rather worried.

"Um, wouldn't this world have monsters all over the place? I mean, this is a story based on an RPG, right?" Neptune said. Compa and Cameron stared at Neptune for a while, confused. "What?"

"No, not really. They just showed up out of nowhere the last few years." Compa said.

"Let's just head in. Maybe they won't hurt us if we don't provoke it." Cameron said, walking in a wide berth around the blue creature. It looked at Cameron, but didn't do anything else. Just watched him.

"What are you guys waiting for? Come on!" Cameron called over, waving at those two to hurry up.

Compa looked concerned, but she followed, Neptune close behind, though she seemed more interested in making faces at the blue creature.

"Aww come on! I wanted to fight it! We could get some XP!" Neptune complained.

"Come on, no reason to fight something that doesn't hit first." Cameron told her, before immediately finding himself surrounded by three more blue dog creatures. "Woah, hey, HEY! Back off!" he yelled, spinning around, trying to keep all three in sight.

"Cameron!" Compa called out, running forward to help. Neptune looked excited.

"Oh boy! Now do we get to beat them up?" she asked, looking at Cameron, who was still trying to get the creatures to back off.

She didn't even wait for his answer, before stepping in and jabbing at one of the creatures with her sword. BAM! Critical hit!

'Seriously?' Cameron thought, after seeing those words. 'We are actually typing this like it's an RPG? Oh well, the authors the boss.'

Quickly, Cameron pulled out his own sword and took a slice at the same creature Neptune had hit. Of course, he missed. "Well that's just great." he said sarcastically.

"Come on, Cameron! How can you be the heroine's sidekick if you miss!" Neptune teased playfully.

"Hold on, I'm a sidekick now? I'm supposed to be the main hero!" Cameron complained.

"Neptune, are you sure you can fight?" Compa asked, sticking to the back for now.

"I have a trusty sword (wood) and skills with me. It'll be a piece of cake!" Neptune replied proudly. Both Cameron and Compa looked at each other, but they decided to just let Nep say what she wants to say.

"Well, if you both are going to fight, then I will too! Just, let me get this out…" Compa responded, before pulling out that giant syringe from out of nowhere. She held it like a hammer almost, looking ready to fight.

"Uh… do I even want to know where that came from?" Cameron asked, while doing his best to also keep an eye on the monsters in front of him. Thankfully, they seemed a bit more interested in what was going on than attacking right now.

"Well, I gotta have something to fight with. As to where it came from… that is a Compa secret…" Compa whispered, smiling to herself. Cameron just blinked a little in confusion.

"Um, my imagination of where it came from can't explain the 'how'..." Neptune responded, voicing Cameron and her's confusion. "And you do know how cliche it is to carry a huge weapon, right?"

"Oh, that's just nitty-gritty info! Let's just beat the nasties and move on." Compa responded, standing next to Neptune, looking ready to fight. Neptune looked like she wanted to continue talking, but then the monsters got bored and looked ready to fight.

"So, Compa, all we do is just beat them up, right?" Neptune asked, holding her sword excitedly.

"Yes. The Dogoos are cute, but they are bad monsters, so we can beat them up." Compa replied, getting prepared herself.

"Yay! Then let's get this battle tutorial over with!" Neptune said.

"Um, Neptune? This is a story. There are no tutorials, remember?" Cameron reminded her. He wished there was one. A few more seconds of safety would be nice.

"Oh yeah." Neptune agreed, remembering her place. "Well then, let's get this battle out of the way so the plot can move forward! Nah, doesn't have the same ring…"

Cameron sighed. 'Whatever. Let's get this over with.'

Battle start.

Three Dogoos, as Compa called them, rushed forward. They looked rather harmless, but these three knew better.

Compa went first. She ran forward and shot one of the creatures with her syringe a few times. It didn't fall, but it did lose almost all its health.

Cameron was next. He moved ahead and beat down another one. This time, his swipes didn't miss. He actually managed to kill the thing, all from a couple of swings. 'Damn, am I already overleveled?' he thought, surprised at himself.

Unfortunately, one of the Dogoos moved now. He went straight for Cameron, smacking him in the face with its whole body. Fortunately, he had plenty of health to spare. "Ow! Cheap shot." he said, recovering instantly.

Neptune rushed forward now. She thought about it, and then went after the one that hit Cameron. "Skills time!" she said, holding her sword at the ready.

Then, the surroundings got dark. The words Cross Combo appeared above Neptune, as she said, "I'll slice you in half!" She rushed forward and delivered six quick swings, before knocking it into the air. She jumped up, and with one more smack, sent the creature flying back down to the ground. It didn't stand a chance.

"Remind me not to piss you off." Cameron said, eyes wide from Neptune's attack. Compa quickly finished off the last Dogoo, and then the battle was over.

Cameron sheathed his sword, and grabbed something the monsters had dropped on death. "Dogoo Jelly?" Cameron said, a bit disgusted.

"Ooh, money!" Neptune said, grabbing coins of some kind that fell on the ground as well. "Cha-ching!"

"Here. I'll hold on to everything. I'm the one with backpack after all." Cameron said, holding out his hand. Neptune handed him the coins, which weren't ones that he was used to. They felt like they were made of plastic rather than metal. 'So the currency is tokens in this place? Odd…' he thought.

"Victory! See?" Neptune said, doing a small little dance on the spot. "Leave it to old Nep and her trusty sword (wood)!"

"Hey, we helped too you know." Cameron said indignantly. Neptune looked back and saw him glaring at Neptune.

Before she could say anything, Compa interrupted. "So, how was it fighting Mr. Monsters?"

"There's still a lot more that I need to learn, but I think I got the basics down." Neptune said.

"I agree. A few more times fighting like that and I think I'll get the hang of this." Cameron said. "Still need to work on strategy, though. Rushing up and smacking things around will probably only work for so long."

"You might have a point." Compa said, tucking her syringe back into who knows where. "Well, there's plenty more where those came from. We can train on the way."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Neptune said. She quickly grabbed Cameron by the hand and started pulling. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Hey, HEY! No pulling!" Cameron shouted, trying to break free.

"Those two get along so well." Compa said with a smile, following close behind.

About five minutes later…

"Okay, so let's try this…"

Cameron had been writing as he walked, deciding on their plan of attack.

"So, when we get to the landing sight, let's look around a little. First, we'll clear out any monsters that may be there, and then, let's look in bushes, around trees, anything that might give us a clue. Maybe we dropped something when we hit the ground." Cameron said, looking at his paper. He looked up to see Neptune chasing after a Dogoo that was running away. "Neptune! Were you even listening?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what to do Sherlock. Let's not make a big deal out of it." Nep said, taking out the monster.

Cameron sighed. "Come on Neptune, this is serious. Our memories are gone! Doesn't that concern you in the slightest?"

"Oooh! More money!" Neptune said, finding another bag full of tokens behind a tree. "I mean- of course it does! I just don't see any point in rushing. Don't be a downer."

"I'm not a downer, I want my memory back." Cameron said, standing up and brushing off the dust on his pants.

"Well, standing there with your piece of paper won't help. Come on Cameron, Nep-Nep. We're almost there!" Compa said, moving ahead. Cameron sighed again.

'Well, at least this hasn't been for nothing. We've gained a few levels by now.' he thought. That much was true, by now each of them had gained two levels each. 'We're just getting started.'

"I will say though…" Cameron said, as he began walking again. "I never thought getting my memory back would involve fighting walking flowers and weird blob creatures."

"First for everything I guess." Neptune said, walking along side Cameron. The two didn't say anything for a minute.

"Soo… anything quirky to say?" Cameron asked, trying to break the silence. Neptune thought about that for a second.

"Nope. I got nothing." she said.

"Heh. That's unlike you." Cameron said.

"Maybe." Neptune replied, blushing a little. Even she had to admit it was different for her to not have anything to say.

Before either of them could say anything else, Compa shouted out, "Over here you two! This is it!"

The two looked at each other, then dashed ahead. They parted some bushes and…

"Woah." Cameron said, his eyes getting wider.

Woah was right. It was a large clearing, and dead center of it all was a massive crater, which looked as though something exploded. Cameron and Neptune walked over to Compa, who was standing at the edge of it. "This is where I found you two."

"Wow… that's a huge hole right there…" Neptune said, surprised.

"No kidding… I thought it would be maybe a hole where we landed, but…" Cameron agreed.

"Nep-Nep, does this make you remember anything?" Compa asked curiously.

"..." Neptune tried to remember something. Cameron did too, but nothing was coming to mind.

"Um… Nep-Nep?" Compa asked.

"Mmm…" Neptune said, now getting a bit frustrated. "Mmmmmmmm…" her tone keep getting more and more angry.

"Ah! I can't remember a thing! Compa, are you sure we were stuck here?" Neptune finally shouted out, upset.

"Yes. You fell from the skies like and shooting star and landed right there." Compa said, pointing at a part of the crevice that had two slightly deeper indents in it.

"Like a shooting star, huh?" Cameron replied, sliding down to look in the crater better.

"That's right!" Compa replied, her voice a tad higher than normal.

"Something wrong Compa? Why'd you raise your voice?" Neptune asked. Cameron was still busy looking at the crater, even though there was nothing there other than dirt.

"Like Cameron said earlier, maybe there's a clue around here somewhere." Compa said, looking around a bit. "Nep-Nep, did you lose anything by chance? Maybe an ID card or something like that?"

"I wish, but you know, I can't remember anything, so…" Neptune started, but then, something clicked. "Hey, wait… I do remember something I'm missing!"

"Really?! What is it?" Compa asked, excitedly. Even Cameron glanced over at Neptune, wondering what she had remembered.

Neptune paused for a second, before revealing what she was missing. "Well, that's obvious, isn't it? It's…" she paused again, before shouting out…

"My memory!"

For a few seconds, no one made a sound. Compa and Cameron were looking at Neptune, for different reasons. Cameron was looking with disbelief at Neptune's… different sense of humor, and Compa was looking with a blank look.

"Um… wasn't that… funny?" Neptune asked, becoming nervous. Compa simply shook her head at Neptune. Cameron went back to his searching, clearly thinking that this wasn't the time for jokes.

"Nep-Nep? I don't think this is the time for fooling around…" Compa said, looking a little disappointed in Neptune. Neptune looked a little taken back.

"Wait, what? I thought you were joking when you asked me if I remembered!" Neptune said.

"Why would the nurse in this group joke about amnesia? That's not something you joke about, I would think." Cameron said, glancing at Neptune.

"Ah well, joking aside, let's just look for some clues." Compa said, looking in the bushes around the crater. Neptune soon joined in, digging around in the crater. For a few minutes, no one found anything.

"Hold on…" Cameron said, making everyone stop in place for a second. "Does anyone else hear that?"

The sound of something shifting around slowly grew louder. "I don't like this… I got a bad feeling…" Neptune said nervously.

All of the sudden, the shifting was revealed to be the very ground beneath the trio's feet. Cameron nearly fell in, but stepped away just as a hole appeared where he had been.

"Whoa! The ground's crumbling away!" Neptune shouted, trying to climb out of the crater, but it was too late. The ground gave way under Cameron first, sending him free-falling downward, shouting. Neptune and Compa fell in shortly after.

"We're falllllllllllllllllling!" Compa shouted, as the pair fell into the gaping pitfall.

One minute later…

"Ow… ouch…" Neptune moaned out softly. She sat up, and realized that she hadn't been too badly hurt, she just landed at bit hard. Thankfully, Compa was right next to her, and she also looked okay. The pair of them had landed on something soft, cushioning the fall.

"I didn't expect that…" Neptune said, shaking Compa. "Man, this story is going to have all kinds of expected happenings, huh?"

Compa stirred. "Compa! Are you alright?" Neptune asked, concerned for her friend.

"Y-yessy… I think I'm okay. Just… I'm glad I'm not too badly hurt." Compa replied, sitting up and rubbing her head.

"Wait! Where's Cameron?!" Neptune said, looking around worriedly. "Came-ron! Where are you? Are you hurt?!"

"Cameron! Here, Cameron Cameron Cameron! Are you okay?" Compa shouted out also.

"Now your making him sound like a dog." Neptune said, still searching for Cameron. "Cameron! Say something if you can hear us!"

"Try looking down." said a voice, a bit weak and muffled. Both Neptune and Compa looked down to see that the soft thing that broke their fall was Cameron, facedown on the hard stone floor.

"Oh cod! Cameron! Are you okay?!" Neptune asked, quickly getting off him. Slowly, Cameron stood up, checking himself over.

"I'm fine… I think." he said, looking up at the hole now twenty feet above their heads. "That was… quite the fall." Looking around, he saw many crystals, all glowing with a mysterious light. "Where are we now?"

"Looks like we're beneath the forest…" Compa said, looking around nervously. "This place feels a bit weird…"

"Yeah, like… something's out there? I'm getting a lot of bad vibes from here…" Neptune said, also looking at the cave they were in. Then, she noticed something. "Um, Compa? What's this? Any idea what it is?"

Compa walked over to what Neptune was pointing at. Almost hidden behind a crystal, something was on the ground. It looked almost like a rock, except it had cracks that glowed with a bluish color. Something had clearly been broken off of it, as one end of the rock had a broken edge. "I… I've never seen anything like that before.

Cameron bent over and picked it up. For a second, the blue light seemed to become stronger in his hand. Then suddenly, the whole thing slowly melted into a small blue piece of metal, with one end of it still broken. Surprised, but also intrigued, Cameron turned the metal piece over, inspecting it. About the size of his hand, there was nothing remarkable about it, other than it being blue. "I wonder what it is…" he said, voicing his thoughts.

"Oh! I know! It must be a part of a medallion or something that we will change into items from a king later on!" Neptune said, smiling at her brilliance. But before anyone else could say anything else, something made a large noise. A low, powerful growl that seemed to shake the very ground under the trio's feet.

"What?! W-where's that plot-inducing growl coming from?!" Neptune said, fearfully dancing on the spot, looking around.

"Nep-Nep! Cameron! There's a huge monster over there…" Compa said weakly, pointing behind Cameron. Both of them turned, to see indeed that a ginormous monster was in fact behind them. It looked like sort of a half spider, half man thing wielding a humongous sword with one arm. But before any of them could do anything, the monster quickly reached out with its free arm and grabbed Compa by the waist, preventing her from moving.

"HELP! HELP ME! CAMERON! NEP-NEP!" she shouted, as the creature roared at her.

"Oh no, Compa! She's being *censored* and *censored*!" Neptune screamed, shielding her eyes. Cameron just glared at Neptune.

"No she's not! Now's not the time to crack a joke!" Cameron said, drawing his wooden sword. But he knew instantly this sword would do barely anything, if at all, to that creature.

"Oh come on! The readers need something fan-servicey to read. Ah well, time to get serious." Neptune said, pulling out her own sword. "Don't worry! I got this! Taaake this!" she shouted, rushing in and thrusting at the monster's torso, where the spider body turned into a sort of man.

Neptune's Attack

Bam! Bam bam! went the sound of the wood hitting the creature.

No effect.

"What the?! Why didn't that work?! And who commented on my attack?" Neptune shouted in confusion.

"I am sorry. I didn't want to surprise you, but I couldn't stop myself." said a very familiar voice.

"Wait, that voice sounds familiar… have we met?" Neptune called out. Cameron would have said to stop wasting time, but he had also heard the voice Neptune was talking about.

"I am Histoire. I thought I explained this to you and Cameron when I was in your dream, Neptune." the voice said again. Suddenly, it clicked in Cameron and Neptune's mind.

"Oh right! Histoire! From that dream… wait, that was real?" Cameron said, looking around to see if Histoire was close by or something. Thankfully, the monster was a bit focused on Compa right now, as she was still trying to break free. The creature kept having to readjust its grip on her, distracting it.

"Um, Nep-Nep, Cameron? A little help here, pretty please?" Compa called out.

"Oh right, Compa! Ms. Heavenly Voice, can you help? We need to save Compa, but my strike is doing nothing!" Neptune called out.

"I can't do anything, but if you use your Hard Drive Divinity, things should be okay." Histoire said. She seemed to be referring to Neptune exclusively.

"Hard Drive-what? I lost my memory, so do you mind taking it step-by-step?" Neptune said, completely lost.

"I see… so that's why the conversation was all over the place last time…" Historie said, her voice becoming thoughtful.

"Um… if I use that Hard Drive-thingy, I can save Compa, right?" Neptune asked.

"Well yes, but now I'm not sure if you can use your Hard Drive Divinity…" Histoire said, still thoughtful.

"Well, I'm Neptune! I'll go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb!" Neptune said indignantly. 'That's probably very true about Neptune…' Cameron thought, rolling his eyes.

"So please… lend me a hand! I want to save my friend!" Neptune said, for once her voice full of determination.

Histoire didn't say anything for a while. Then she spoke again, her voice sounding serious. "...I will force run Hard-Drive-Divinity from you. Are you ready?"

Neptune backed up, her face full of steely determination. "Ready and willing!"

Histoire then began a chant. For a second, it didn't make any sense.

Then she spoke normally. "Neptune, may your power arise…"

Suddenly, a column of white light engulfed Neptune, with what appeared to be streams of purple data lines running straight to the heavens. For a second, the light filled the whole cave.

Then the glow faded. And everyone saw what had changed in the light of power.

The only thing that came out of Cameron's mouth was this. "Oh my. What happened?"

And that's the end of chapter three! I'm SO sorry that this took so long to get out there. I've been distracted by my other story, plus the fact that I have to get the lines from the game, and then twist them to fit this story as I see fit. Don't worry, this story isn't dead. It's just been a rough start-up.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter. What did you all think of it being in third person instead of the view of my OC? Let me know. It is easier to type this in third person, but I'd rather get opinions from my readers before permanently switching.

As always, if there are any questions that you all might have, PM me and I'll do my best to answer them. Until next time guys, stay awesome.