Holidays, health and weather...a combination of unfortunate events got mixed in with those and it's amazing how badly things can get slowed down. Vehicles freezing over, getting sick at the slightest (read: REALLY cold) breeze, and my old laptop itself acting wonky and refusing to start up immediately on some occasions. That last fear won't ever happen again hopefully because I've upgraded and finally managed to find wordpad...which wouldn't be an accomplishment but Windows 8 is weird. ANYWAY, you didn't come here to read a rant, you came here for Neptunia stuff and I do good news in regards to that. Obviously I'm able to get back to writing comfortably but I'm revising an unfinished piece of work and this time I plan on keeping that in the right direction. But I'll get more into that when the time comes, for now, enjoy Noire time. (Also, sorry ahead of time if I've missed something, all this cold has made me rusty.)
"Why!?" The sounds of our wooden swords filled the room with loud, solid clacks as Nepgear helplessly attacked me. Still wielding her weapon with two hands she tried coming from several directions and each attempt was met with failure. An attack from behind? I kept my back to her and tricked her into believing I was vulnerable and evaded while knocking her to the ground. Attacks from the side were no better and I even disarmed her a few times, whereas from the front...well, I hardly needed to put effort into protecting myself. For some reason she tried another overhead smash, but I didn't even bother deflecting it and stepped a few sword lengths away, watching her stumbling forward onto her knees and hands. "Why can't I hit you!?"
"I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you; you're nowhere near my level. You aren't even near Neptune's, despite the way she acts." I wish I knew where Neptune got her strength from, one moment she's in over her head and the next she's already achieved victory. There has to be some secret she's keeping from everyone else, and I'm sure it isn't related to her shares or her technique. I kept my sword arm pointed at her as I went on with my speech. "I'm afraid you won't be having as much fun with me as you would with Neptune. It's just not within me to take sparring lightly." There's something off about Nepgear, aside from her growing frustration, but I can't quite pinpoint what it is.
She sat up, hunched over, leaning on her hands, and spoke without even turning to face me. "S-so I'm...weak?"
"To put it bluntly, yes. Don't take it personally, everyone has their highs and lows and this is likely the first of many." I tapped my foot to signal for her to get up. Moping around isn't going to change anything and she needs to learn that now. "I don't go easy on Uni and I especially won't be doing you any favors, being Neptune's sister and all." She did her best to hide her sniffling and wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood up and once again she came at me, fueled with desperation and more open than before with this attack. Wait a minute, that's what the problem is! Nepgear's never fought holding her saber with two hands, and she's never had a reason to before. "Nepgear wait, I think I fou-" I almost let my own guard down in an attempt to speak to her and almost got struck in the head by another overheard attack.
"I'll do it! I'll land a hit before we're done!"
"Nepgear!" I've had experience dealing with Neptune's playful tantrums but this is an entirely different thing when the girl in question is serious. She's flailing all over the place and trying to parry her without doing too much harm was getting harder with each strike. I can feel myself losing my grip, I don't know how much I longer I can defend myself with this hand! "Nepgear, listen to me, you need to-" She wasn't paying attention at all, I need to end this before one of us seriously gets hurt. I tightened my grip and waited for my chance to strike...
She stopped for a brief moment and came at me again with a clockwise, spinning attack that, while impressive, was completely reckless and filled with openings I'd easily be able to take advantage of...with my dominant hand. Nepgear was spinning almost as fast as Falcom, so if I can wait it out and-kh! Her hair! I didn't take into account her hair being so much longer and I was nearly whipped in the face by it. I shielded my face with my injured hand and stepped forward, forcing her to attack sooner than she had planned. Luckily her strike didn't have force properly applied to it like our resident adventuress, and I was able to awkwardly defend myself. While we were clashing I shifted my weight while taking her weapon, and knocked her back onto the ground with my shoulder. She landed with a soft thud and looked up at me with an extremely distressed look on her face as her eyes welled up.
"What? I'm sure Uni's mentioned how strict I am when it came to honing our skills. There's no point in crying, especially when you're at fault for-"
"She did, and she's right! It's no wonder she complains so much! Y-you-" Nepgear pulled her knees up to her chest and broke down into tears. "I can't do it! I can't fight like my sister after all..."
I threw our swords away and took a seat next to her to try and comfort her, but she wasn't having any of it and scooted sideways away from me and let her tears flow. Have I become such a tyrant at home that Uni can't even speak to me? I knew she wasn't a fan of how I did things but is it really as bad as Nepgear is making it out to be? Maybe I should just let her...do her own thing now. She's old enough to make her own decisions after all, even though I've already figured out what's best for her particular style of...n-no! I-I am as horrible as they make me out to be! I've been deadset on deciding everything for Uni for so long that she's probably at her limits by now...and all it took was pushing the other most important person in my world's little sister to the point of tears. I wanted to reach out to her again but I decided against it and just spoke calmly to her. "Why are you trying to fight like your sister?" Just talk it out Nepgear...
"I thought-hic...I thought that if I fought like her she'd want to be around me more but it wasn't any use. She never noticed and we finished quests like-hic-like usual..." She nearly slammed into me with a hug, sobbing uncontrollably. "Why? Does she not love me anymore?"
"Of course she loves you, she'll always love you." I carefully wrapped my arm around her and she flinched a little, but I held on tight and tried calming her down. "You know how Neptune can get with food but I've said my piece using that." I'll spare her and myself from that embarrassing example again. "Two fighting styles that are similar aren't as effective as two unique ones. Would you find fighting with Uni remotely interesting if she tried fighting exactly like you?" She paused for a moment and shook her head. "Look at Ram and Rom; at a glance they both seem like your typical casters but they both fight differently. Rom specializes in more defensive spells while her sister uses more offensive ones. Their styles compliment each other well and that's what makes them a deadly combination, which is why..." I paused a bit for emphasis, "...you need to find yourself a sparring partner. You don't want to fall behind, do you?"
She had finally stopped crying, groggily stood up, and walked towards the swords and picked one up again. She took a few practice swings with her right hand with excellent form, and even performed a few of her moves perfectly in silence. The first of which being a few steps in one of her techniques, Mirage Dance I believe, followed by the special move she used earlier today. A small wave of energy fiercely shot out from her sword that was much more potent and controlled than the one she used earlier, and it fizzled just before reaching the wall.
I got up and brushed myself off before going to pick up my own sword when Nepgear stopped practicing and looked at me. Through her tear-stained eyes I could see a newfound glint of certainty; the time for words were over. Having gone back to her true fighting stance I can properly gauge where her strength lies in relation to everyone else. I took a quick step towards her, making her jump back quite a ways, and got into a more aggressive stance to show that it was my turn to be on the offensive. With my right hand behind me I ran towards Nepgear, trying to analyze the slightest movement to plan my first attack when she finally shifted her left foot behind her. No doubt she plans on actually blocking me, so I suppose I'll humor her effort and see if she has what it takes to do so. Seeing someone in action is completely different from actually dealing with them and Neptune certainly enjoys making things look easy, so Nepgear probably thinks she can do the same. As I approached her I gracefully spun once and stomped in between her feet, meeting her face to face to avoid being entirely predictable by attacking right away.
"Gah!" Unfortunately my attempt at testing her fortitude resulted in her stumbling backwards a little and she lost her confident stance. Since most foes won't wait for her to recover I pressed on the assault and took another step forward, bringing down my sword straight towards her head. As I had hoped she blocked with her fake blade, but she needed to hold it near the tip with her other hand as well to prevent a solid bump to her noggin. "Kh! N...Noi..."
I had gained the upper hand and forced her to one knee, locking my sword with hers and watching as she trembled under my power. "Now isn't the time for you to be talking!" I leaned forward, forcing her to both knees as I mercilessly overpowered her. "Concentrate! Free yourself or get crushed!" That...came out much more threatening than I had intended it to. I don't want her to get too hurt but I also don't want to let up and show her mercy either, she needs to free herself with her own power. Her guard was faltering more and more with each second that passed and at this rate... "Nepgear!"
Even though her face had gotten red from trying to hold me back she finally started to make her move. She abandoned the idea of keeping her guard up and slammed her left hand on the ground, and used that for support as she twisted her body a little and tried to sweep me with both legs. There was a reason I had put so much pressure on the poor girl; I knew she wouldn't attempt to attack unless I gave her a chance and her being at a disadvantage severely limited her options. I effortlessly somersaulted over her and watched as she failed to complete her sweep and fell to her side as I got into position to land properly.
After sticking the landing I turned to see Nepgear still lying on her side struggling to get up. She was visibly shaking as she did her best to just sit up, but even that seemed to be too much for her. I-I only attacked once as a test, I didn't mean to completely drain her like this. "...I can understand if you want to stop now..." I really am a monster if my own sister would rather vent with other people than to talk over her concerns with me. How could I have been so blind to how she felt about my methods? Why can't I stop myself from pushing others like this? I understand Neptune and the other goddesses and can give them my all without a second thought, and I thought I could do the same for my own sister, but this is proof that I'm just an overbearing person that can't control herself. I'm a monst-"Hm?"
My thoughts were interrupted by Nepgear's shudders as she got on her feet. The sight of her having trouble standing back up made me both proud and worried for her; I'm glad she's gathered the will to stand and fight to the bitter end but at the same time I'm afraid that she won't want anything to do with me after this since. I can't help myself though...and seeing her turn to face me confirmed that. I readied myself and waited for her to do the same and I lunged forward, intentionally missing her with my first poke. Her evading was sloppy at best, but the fact that she was able to react quick enough in the first place is enough for me even though these weren't serious attempts at hitting her. With each dodge it took more and more time for her to recover and eventually I didn't even have to go through most of my motions. Just feinting was enough to get her move out of my way and-
A knock at the door distracted me and before I could answer Kei had already stepped in. "Lady Noire, you have a visitor." Casual untucked white button-up shirt? Sleek black pants? This is the first time I've seen Kei outside of her uniform and...I think I'm at a loss for words. Had her timing been better I would've loved to give her a brief interrogation but that will have to wait. "Shall I tell them to now is not the time?"
"No, I think it's best I go see what they want and give Nepgear a chance to rest." For some reason it felt like something light landed on my shoulder and it certainly wasn't my hair. I glanced to my side to see the tip of a sword resting on me, with an exhausted young candidate standing behind me. "Can you make sure she's ok while I take care of this?" Kei nodded and briskly walked towards me and eased Nepgear off of me so I can attend to the guest that's requested for me personally. Was it me or did Kei smell a little like...perfume as well? Thoughts of what Kei did in her spare time, what little of it she had anyway, filled my head while I approached and opened the front door to the basilicom.
"Heeeeeey Noire! Why're you in gym clothes?"
"Ram?" What in the world is she doing here? "Where's Blanc? Did something happen?"I could understand Rom going out on her own but...
"Nope, I'm on a mission!" She pulled out her little console and began tapping the screen with her stylus before staring me dead in the eye with a serious expression on her face before pointing at me with a dramatic tone that rang out from her device. "Grillin' time! What is the goddess of Lastation's favorite fruit!?" I stood in the door dumbfounded as her question echoed throughout the room behind me. It was only a matter of seconds before Ram got frustrated by my confusion. "Come ooon, I need an answer! I can't stand here all day."
"Oh right." I never really thought about my favorite fruit but if I had to choose it'd be-"A little bit of everything. Err, no, strawberry if I had to choose only one." This...is actually a difficult question to answer. Each fruit does have its own merits but I do have a soft spot for strawberries after all, at least I think I do, but at the same time-
"Great, thanks!" Ram happily said as she jotted down my answer in on the bottom screen of her handheld. "Oh, and I have a message from my sister. 'Get your asses some fancy clothes. Your cosplay crap is fine. You'll find out soon enough.'"
She saluted me and skipped off before I reached out to her, but I realized my questions were already answered. I assumed by 'asses' she meant Neptune as well, so I wonder what she has in store for us...and why Ram was wandering around by herself. I let the door close by itself and made my way back to the training room to see Kei kneeling down next to Nepgear. "Wh-what happened!?" I ran to see if she was hurt but, to my surprise, all was well. She was simply lying there with a smile on face and seemed to be...at peace.
"Shortly after you left she collapsed and was mumbling to herself. I'm not sure what she meant but the the only thing she said that I could understand was 'I got a hit in'. I believe she also tried to mutter a thank you as well before..."
"That's a relief. Mind helping me get her back in bed? I don't think we've worked hard enough to warrant another bath and well...personally bathing her is out of the question." I think I'll spare Nepgear my training for the remainder of her stay unless she really, really wants to go at it again. Neptune approved of me handling her but I don't think she's ready to go up against me just yet. Maybe I can convince Uni to train to with with her, at the very least they'll both have someone their own age and skill level to take their frustrations out on.
"As you wish." Kei carefully propped Nepgear on my left shoulder and made sure she was secured as I stood up. "What are your plans for her tomorrow?"
"I'll think of something Kei," I said as we left the training room. "I might let her do her own thing and leave her be. It seems I can't hold back like Neptune after all, and if I hurt her sister neither of them would ever forgive me."
"They wouldn't have agreed to this if that were the case." I stayed silent and let Kei's surprisingly wise words sink for a moment. "You worry yourself over irrelevant things. Neptune has complete faith in you, despite the injuries you brought upon her. Nepgear on the other hand sees you as a woman that's worthy of looking up to due to your history and newfound relation with her older sister." She had some harsh words as well but she has a point. We were nearing Uni's room now and I finally decided to speak up as we tucked Nepgear in.
"I'm impressed. I thought you were all business and had no interest in the affairs of others."
"The happiness and well-being of my Lady is my business." She said with a slight blush as we lightly stepped out of the room and closed the door.
"Oh? If that's the case then you won't mind chatting with me tonight. We're caught up on work, Nepgear will surely be asleep until morning, and I need some comp-I mean, I'm bored." I took the lead and went towards the kitchen to prepare a light snack for our inevitable heart to heart. "It seems I need to get to know more people than Neptune anyway...starting with you."
"Y-yes, my Lady."