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Chapter 8: Everyone was different back then...
Dimension: Hyperdimension
Nation: Planeptune
Location: Basilicom
Time: 3:40 PM
Point of View: Acallaris (Narrator)
"Wait, are you serious?! You're Mom went missing?!" Nomia seemed to be lost for words. Immediately after Laxtria had found out that her mother went missing, she ran to her room and began to cry to herself while Rult tried to cheer her up. While she was crying, Nomia had called, mainly to ask Laxtria a question. "How could this be?!"
"I-I…..I really don't know Nokia…" Laxtria's voice was very weak from crying. Laxtria caressed Rult's fur while he rested on her lap, he also had a saddened expression on his face. "It's sort of like when my actual Mama and Papa disappeared… except this time, I didn't actually see them disappear."
"You didn't see your Mom disappear…so what are you crying about?" Nomia asked. "Just cause she suddenly vanished, doesn't mean that the unthinkable happened! I bet she's still out there Laxtria, you just have to find her."
"I just have to…find her…?" Laxtria repeated to herself. Finding her mother would mean that Laxtria would have to leave the Basilicom and go outside…all by herself. The last time Laxtria was outside and by herself, she was chased by some guys who stole her locket, she was saved by Tamazaki and Neptune not too long after. "But…I'm scared to go and look for her myself, and if I tell anybody about this, then they'll just put me on high security."
"Then I'll come with you! And I'm pretty sure Rult will be happy to tag along!" Nomia said very happily. "If anything were to happen, we'd be able to protect you from any harm!" Unfortunately, when it comes to the fighting department, Laxtria isn't the best. All of her friends are being taught how to fight from their Guardians, while Laxtria barely knows how to use a hatchet.
"N-Nokia, you don't have to travel from the comfort of your own home just to help me with my problems…" Laxtria told Nomia, only to realize from her tone voice that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "But…I really don't have anyone else to turn to, could you please help me?"
"That's what I wanted to hear! I'll ask my sister and Histoire if I can come over there right away! You better be ready by the time I get there, okay?" Nomia told Laxtria before hanging up the call. Laxtria stared at her cellphone for a few minutes and then looked up at the ceiling, she then proceeded to of out a massive sigh.
"If only she understood Rult…If only she understood…" Laxtria muttered under her breath, Rult cocked his head to the left and looked up at Laxtria. "Ahh, don't sorry about it. Come on, let's go get ready for when Nokia gets here, okay?"
"Arf?" Rult didn't seem to be paying attention to the call that Laxtria had, but regardless, that was an order that he had to follow. "Rawrf!"
(Location Updated! Powerlevel Island)
(Time: 3:45 PM)
(Point of View: Alex)
Not too long after Nepgear got the call from Histoire, we separated from each other and made our way over to Powerlevel Island, while Nepgear and the others left for Virtua Forest…huh…I don't know why, but I feel like a lot happens in that forest for some reason. Despite that, the forest is still able to keep it's environmental friendly state…it's really weird.
Terra, Luth, and Zest were supposed to meet up with us at the Island. However, I'm not really expecting them to be there once arrive, after all, Powerlevel Island is apart of Planeptune. Me, Kashi, Caem, and Taem arrived at the Island and landed on a platform that was below us. "Well then, that certainly took us some time…" Kashi fixed his glasses onto his face. "I'm surprised that the others weren't here before us."
Caem, Taem, and I just shrugged in response. This must've been a bit weird for Kashi since we couldn't really speak verbally, all we can use was our hands. Wait, hold on…how come we had to learn sign language anyways? Isn't that for people who are usually deaf?...Well, I shouldn't really complain, I should just be happy that I'm able to communicate with others.
"Hm…Why don't you three go and start searching?" Kashi suggested, making the three of us raise our eyebrows in response. "Don't worry, we'll regroup once the others have arrived." I kind of felt like Kashi wasn't really being honest with us, but I should just trust him and try not to pry into his business.
Me, Caem, and Taem nodded and made our way inside the island. All of us turned back to look at Kashi, he was sitting down on the ground and was looking up at the sky before looking down. I could hear a small sigh escape from his mouth. Once again, I'm not going to pry into his business, this seems like something that he wants to take care of himself.
Alex has unlocked an achievement: "All Around Him Are Familiar Faces…"
What the hexadecimals?! Did I just get an achievement for minding my own business?! Wait a minute…didn't this happen in APLA when I walked in on Nepgear while she was taking a shower?...Oh God, these things are back to haunt me! "*Huh…I guess it's almost that day…*" Taem signed while we walked. "*Kashi always gets like this…*"
"*Huh? What day?*" Caem seemed curious. I guess since we're not going to bother getting any information out of Kashi, we might as well ask the closest person to him. "*Wait…Taem? Does this have something to do with…Aria?"
Taem stopped for a moment and clenched his fist, Caem and I looked back at him with worried expressions on our faces. Taem slowly shook his head before continuing to walk, this time, he was walking ahead of us. Lately, I've been noticing that both Kashi and Taem have been hard on Caem, even though he doesn't really deserve it. I looked at Caem, who's eyes were now being shadowed by his hair.
I patted him on the back, and he looked up at me. I gave him a little smile, he returned that smile with his own…Unfortunately, that smile didn't last long like the smiles he gave people five years ago. Caem started to follow his brother, while trying to keep some distance away from him. You know…even though being in the catacombs was supposed to strengthen our bond with one another…I feel like Caem got the short end of stick.
The three of us had begun to search around the area for any sort of clues that could lead us to Tam or Neptune, we decided to split up, but made sure we were in the same general area as each other. Unfortunately, I wasn't really having the best luck when I was searching as I found absolutely nothing…then again, I am practically a very unlucky person.
I decided that it would be best for me to take a little break since I wasn't really finding anything useful, Caem and Taem continued their search however, although, the both of them were pretty far away from each other. I slid down on the grou-...Hm? Did I just sit on a rock or something? I got up and looked at what I almost sat on, and let me just say that my jaw almost dropped to the floor.
The hard object that I sat on was someone's phone, however, I knew who this phone belonged to. I picked the device up and turned on the screen, I input a specific password into the phone, which immediately unlocked it once I tapped "OK". Yeah, this is definitely Tamazaki's phone that I'm holding, so there's no doubt that he was actually here last night.
As I was about to go show this to Caem and Taem, I noticed that there was a large black circle on the middle of a platform that was just ahead. I made my way over to said platform and noticed that there was a…stone, right in the very center of the platform. The thing had a weird design on it, and if I didn't know any better, I would say that this is some sort of ancient language. Regardless, I picked up the stone and slid it into my pocket.
(Location Updated! Virtua Forest)
(Time: 3:45 PM (Same time in a different area)
(Point of View: Nepgear)
"Took you long enough!" Noire had said once we had arrived. "You don't know how close I was to actually leaving, you guys were taking too long!" I never actually knew that Noire could start to get impatient…or maybe she doesn't, maybe this is a part of her personality. Either way, it seemed like Noire, Uni, and Vert had been waiting for us for quite awhile.
"When did the three of you get here?" Blanc asked. "We left the Basilicom as soon as we got the call from Histoire, you couldn't have been waiting that long…"
"Well, unfortunately, a certain APL of Lastation wanted to quickly leave to go on a manhunt for his best friend." Noire told us. "This just so happened to be immediately after Histoire told us that Tamazaki and Neptune went missing." H-have they really been waiting for that long?
"We didn't exactly know where to go, so we checked by some other areas nearby Planeptune. As soon as Histoire called and told us about the two locations, Terra…sort of dragged Luth with him to Powerlevel Island." Uni sweatdropped at the last part. I'm quite surprised to be honest, I never thought that Terra would be so excited to hunt for Tamazaki, it's like they're best friends!
"I, on the other hand, arrived here moments before you," Vert told us. "I would've arrived sooner, but Chika was lashing at Zest and a few of our staff members, so I had to resolve that issue." I can't really remember how long Chika has been an Oracle for, but I have a bad feeling that she won't be able to keep her role if she keeps acting like this.
"Well, since we're all here, we should search for anything that will lead us to Neptune or Tamazaki." I'm guessing that Neptune had to be in the forest, after all, Histoire did say that there was a strange reading that came from this forest around the same time Neptune left. For now, maybe we should focus on-
Nepgear's "Logic" Ability has ranked up!
What the?! I thought I was supposed to be earning new abilities! I didn't know that my old abilities could get some sort of upgrade! And why did my logic even rank up? That was really simple and you shouldn't really have to put much thought into it!
We all broke off into groups and went to go investigate different parts of the forest. Noire and Vert went together to search the Eastern side of the forest, and Blanc, Rom, and Ram went to the western side. This left both me and Uni to investigate the northern part of the forest. It's been a few weeks since Uni and I hung out, so I guess now would be the perfect time to ask her how she's been!
"I've been doing okay, I guess…" Uni responded. "It could be better, but things have been really busy in Lastation. And now that Luth and Terra are back, things are going to start getting pretty hectic." I never expected Lastation's Basilicom to be a hectic place, I guess it's because the nation has the highest amount of shares, so everyone thinks that the nation is the definition of perfection.
"Well, at least you're doing okay." I smiled. I consider Uni to be my best friend (although sometimes, she may deny the fact that we're close friends), so it's only natural that I care about what she goes through back in her nation. "Oh! By the way, how are things going with you and Luth? Did the two of you have any time to spend with each other?" I then noticed that Uni stopped in her tracks and tightened her grip on her rifle. "Huh? Uni?"
"... Nepgear, could you promise to not say a word to anyone about this?" Uni was putting her trust in me all of the sudden! But why now out of all times? Oh, who cares! I'm glad that Uni is starting to open up to me more!...Even so, she didn't seem to happy. I nodded my head in response, Uni sighed and looked up at the clouds. "…I'm… going to break up with him…"
W-wait…W-wait….U-Uni is going to break up with Luth? "You're…going to break up with him?" I repeated to Uni, in which she slowly responded with a head shake. "But…why exactly are you doing this Uni? Did you just fall out of love after not seeing him for so long?"
"That's…the thing…I never actually did…love him." I don't know why this was hurting me more than it was supposedly hurting Uni, she didn't seem to be processing her choices…it's as if she's wanted to do this…before…"I originally thought I was in love with him for the longest of time…but that was just my mind saying that…not my heart. Although he's had somewhat of an impact on my life, it's not really the type where I would want to spend my whole life with Luth romantically." Uni started to walk ahead, she didn't look back at me. "I remember when I told Noire about him, she just told me I was going through a phase…and…she was right."
Her mind was telling her she was in love…and not her heart? And she said it was just a phase?...Now that I'm starting to think about it, this kind of has me thinking…am I actually in love with Alex? Or am I just going through a phase? I know that I let out all my emotions last night when he came home…but I didn't really feel much of anything after that…I kind of…didn't want to be around him that much anymore…
"I need to stop thinking about this, or else I'll just end up doing something that I'm going to regret…" I whispered as I followed after Uni, but to stop after hearing something crack from right under me. "Huh? Did I walk on something fragile?" I looked down at the object that I supposedly stepped on and nearly jumped out of my shoes. The object I stepped on was someone's cellphone, although I'm pretty sure it wasn't just anyone's cellphone. I picked the phone and noticed that it had a cracked screen, despite that, I turned it on and saw that there were a few missed call notifications, and all of them were from one person…that person was me.
"Hey Nepgear, what's the holdup?!" I heard Uni shout from far ahead. I looked back at the cracked phone and then back at the direction in which Uni went. Although I found Neptune's phone, there might be something else we haven't found yet.
"I'm coming Uni!" I shouted back. I stored the phone inside a pocket in my uniform and chased after Uni, while also trying to suppress the unwanted the thoughts that were running through my head.
(Location Updated! Basilicom)
(Time: 3:48 PM)
(Point of View: Laxtria)
"Alright Rult, let's check everything we have so far!" Since we were going to go and find Mama, we needed to make sure that we had everything we needed for this...wait...what can this be called anyways? Is this a search mission? Or is it a adventure? Cause if I were to choose, adventure sounds way more awesome and fun! "Alright, snacks!"
"Rawrf!"
"Extra clothing!"
"Rawrf!"
"Picture of Mama!"
"Rawrf!"
"Protection in case anything happens!"
"Rawrf!"
"[Insert your name]!"
"Rawr-...Hrm?" Rult titled his head when I said your name, probably cause he hasn't met you yet. That's kind of strange to be honest, I thought Mama, AunGear, or Unlex would've told people about you, but apparently not...
"Oh uhh...don't worry about that last part, I was only getting someone's attention." Rult was looking at me funny since he thought it was just us in the room. "Ahh forget it, I'll explain it to you soon. For now, we just have to find out where Nokia is!"
I double checked to see if we had everything and zipped up my messenger's bag. I pushed the bag under my bed and turned towards the door, I was going to go and see if Nokia had arrived and was in the Sharicite room, and even if she wasn't, I would have time to make up an excuse to why Nokia was coming here.
I walked over to the door with Rult following close behind me. I opened my door only a little bit and jumped back when I saw two people standing outside of my room in silence. "Mr. Hinato? Nokia?" Both of them were just standing there in silence... How long have they been standing there anyways?! I only left my room once, and that was immediately after Nokia called! "Eek! Hi! How are you doing?!"
"I'm uh...doing pretty good." Nokia spoke in a low tone while slightly looking over at Mr. Hinato and then back at me. "Hey Laxtria? You ready to play that new game we've been wanting to play for a long time?"
Game? What game-...Ohh, I see. Nokia is just trying to cover up what we're about to do from Hinato. I looked up at Hinato, who for the first time in forever, had a really scary and intimidating face on. "Yeah! I'm ready! I've just been trying to find that extra control-"
"I know what the both of you are planning." Hinato spoke while I was speaking, but I'm a bit more scared than upset for him interrupting me. I looked at Rult, Nokia looked at me, the both of us looked at Rult, and then we all looked back at Hinato. "All I must say is that you shouldn't pry into business that you doesn't involve you, otherwise, someone may get hurt." And just like that, he walked away like the creep he's always been.
I've always thought that Mr. Hinato was a weird and mysterious guy. From what I remember, Grandmama captured him for a very long time... but why did she exactly? She was sort of insane back them, but... she captured him before... she went insane... right? "That was... sort of scary." I spoke after I was sure that Hinato was gone. "He's a real..."
"Rawrf..."
"Yeah, I agree." Nokia said. All of us went silent for a few minutes, it wasn't until I looked at Nokia is when she decided to break the silence. "Whelp, you ready to go? I think we should leave before you're family and friends come back, otherwise we won't be able to when they get back."
"Oh, yeah!" I shook my head. "But first, could you check what Rult and I gathered? I wanna see if you think it's okay or we should change some stuff." We never really did heed Hinato's "warning", but I guess that's cause we aren't really afraid of what happens to us, after all, we're able to defend ourselves! We're strong, and nothing is going to stand in our way!
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I really hope I didn't eat my words...
Acallaris: What's going on everybody? My name is Acallaris, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for taking so long, I had gotten the flu and I was recovering (what a great way to spend my Spring break!)
*Door bell rings*
Acallaris: Ram! Go get the door! I'm doing the outro!
(No one replies...)
Acallaris:...God damn it Ram, you're unreliable as all hell... *walks over to the door and opens it* Hell-AAH!
Nepgear: O-oh! I'm sorry for scaring you!
Acallaris: N-no, no, it's fine Nepgear! I just never expected you to be there! But anyways, why are you hear?
Nepgear: Well, I heard that Ram was working with you... which means she's pulling pranks on you often.
Acallaris:… I have to sleep with one eye open at nights now...
Nepgear: Well, I was wondering if you needed my to-
Acallaris: *takes both of Nepgear's hands and raises them inbetween their faces* YES, PLEASE!
Acallaris: And so, I have another co-host! This time, it's someone who I know won't bother the everloving shit out of me!
Nepgear: I have a feeling that I won't really meet up to your expectations...
Acallaris: Just do your best, I'm not really asking for much to be honest. Anyways, I have something I want to ask you guys. So, remember how I asked not too long ago about ways to get chapters out faster? Well, two ideas popped up into my head, and I want to see what you guys think:
Idea One: Have chapters pre-written
So idea just came to me today, but I remember seeing a Neptunia Fanfiction that was updated daily. The reason being that the Author had wrote the WHOLE story before hand, and had uploaded a chapter every day until the story finished. I sort of want to do a similar thing where I write something like five chapters before uploading them at a daily pace.
Idea Two: Revert back to APLA's writing style
My new writing style basically consist of me being way more descriptive when I write, this is mostly the reason why it takes a long time for chapters to come out. My old writing style consist of me just getting straight to the point and not trying to be so descriptive when I write.
Acallaris: So? What do you guys think? Should I do both? Do one but leave the other? Or is there something else you think I should do? I'd love to see what you guys think I should do!
Ram: Hey Dummy! *runs into the room* There's a weird dude with- *sees Nepgear* Huh? Nepgear? What are you doing here?
Nepgear: Oh, hi Ram! I wanted to help Acallaris out a bit, so I agreed to being his co-host!
Ram: Hey! You can't take my job!
Nepgear: Huh? Oh no! I'm his second co-host, I wouldn't want to take your job from you Ram!
Ram: Yeah, I wouldn't forgive you if you did!
Acallaris: Uh, Ram? What were you saying?
Ram: Oh yeah, there's some weird dude selling bananas in the backyard.
Acallaris: Ba...nanas?
Ram: *shakes head*
Acallaris: That's weird-...Ram? Does this guy had pointy ears like a elf and has a giant backpack?
Ram: You know him?
Acallaris: *snaps fingers and a metal rod appears in hand* WHY WON'T THE YIGA CLAN LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE?! *runs out the room*
Nepgear:…
Ram:...Whelp, should we end the chapter?
Nepgear: I think that would be a good idea...
Ram: Well, thanks for reading the chapter and stuff! See you next time when that psychopath called Violent Player beats the stuffing out of the emo guy!
Nepgear: Take care everyone!
Ram: Later!