A Really Big Family
Chapter 10
I start inspecting the blade of my new sword, surprised by its sudden change "I don't remember it being a saber... strange...".
"865...? (How...?)" 01 mutters, still shocked.
"No time for that" I quickly reply, grabbing my weapon with both hands "This beast has lived far too long for my taste"
"9 17955(I agree)" The raven warrior replies, finally regaining her composure.
"Per l'onore e per la gloria!*" I shout my battle-cry, launching myself towards the beast, as the beast rises its fist.
I duck underneath the beast's arm, stabbing my sword into its abdomen and uppercutting it, leaving a large wound.
Stunned, the beast stands there, leaving an opening for 01, who slams her hammers on top of the beast cranium, the sound of bones cracking echoing in the air.
The beast shakes its head, furious, staring me with rage-filled eyes as it tackles me, but flying up in the sky, I dodge the attack.
As I float in mid-air, watching over the roaring monster, I decide to take advantage of my ability to fly.
With a smirk on my face, I fly right in front of the monster, dragging its attention, as it keeps swinging its arms in the air, in a futile attempt to drag me to the ground.
Behind it, 01 is chasing after it, reaching closer to the beast every second that passes, and as she's close enough, she crashes the monster skull between her hammers, leaving me the opportunity to strike.
I gain altitude and slam my sword right in front of the monster "Gravitational strike!".
As a result, the monster is sent flying away not to far away.
The monster lands a inch away from a nearby cliff, giving 01 the chance to finish it.
"2655 2951259! (Bone breaker!)" She shouts, hitting the monster right in the face, sending it into the cliff, as it roars in pain and anger.
#The monster has been taken off... But I didn't get to finish it...#
#Current Shares available at 10%. Emergency shutdown initiated# The A.I. like voice in my head says, as I'm forced into my human form.
And at that moment everything that happen really came to my mind.
With a look of shock covering my face, I turn to see 01, who in the meantime is trying to flee.
"55'33 4552 17195 (We'll meet again)" She says with monotone voice, before trowing a smoke onto the ground.
"NO YOU GET BACK HERE!" I shout, trying to anticipate the girls movements, running into the woods.
As soon as I get out of them, is see a silhouette running taking a left behind a rock, and assuming it was my target I start chasing it.
But when I turn left around the rock...
Thumph
I bump into someone, falling with my butt onto the ground.
The girl I just bumped has raven air, tied up in two twintails by two black and blue ribbons, and has bright red eyes.
She is wearing a sophisticated black dress with golden buttons and detail matched with a white skirt with a black border.
And she also wear a ribbon around her neck.
"Ow!" The raven girl complains "Watch where are you going!".
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't saw you" I apologize.
She gets up, sighing "Oh, what a day.."She looks pretty beat, both emotionally and physically.
#I wonder what happened to her...#
"I don't want to do the wimp and all but... can I know what happened to you?" I ask the girl, while playing nervously with my indexes.
"Uh? W-Why are you so interested about me?" She asks, surprised.
"I-I don't mean any harm! I just wanna help you out, that's all" I answer, reasoning with the girl.
"Fine... You don't seem so suspicious yourself" She gives up, starting to investigate my clothes as well "You look pretty beat, by the way".
"I just got out of a nasty situation" I briefly reply, scratching the back of my head.
"What nasty situation exactly?" She asks, bringing her right hand to her chest.
"Someone is after me... and I dunno why" I lower my head as I say it.
"Hmm? Sorry, after YOU?" She asks in disbelief "Who are those people?".
"I dunno either..." I reply.
"That's troublesome..." She replies back, closing her eyes "Are you traveling with someone, at least?".
"Yes I am but... I got separated from them" I answer, crossing my legs.
"Well then..." The girl speaks up, bringing her hand closer "I will help you find them".
At first, I was kinda of surprised by her words, but I soon got my composure back "Thank you..." I reply, grabbing her hand and standing up "Also... May I know your name?".
"I'm Noire. And what's yours?" She asks in a friendly way.
"I'm Terra" I briefly reply, letting go of her hand "So... What should we do now?"
"We should get out of the dungeon first" Noire says "Then, we will-" But she's cut off suddenly by someone hugging her from behind.
"Gotcha!" The figure exclaims, with a familiar cheerful voice.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!" Noire screams in surprise as she's hugged by the mysterious girl.
"Gotta catch em' all!" She exclaims again, making me sweat-drop as I realize who she is.
#Neptune...?#
"Wh-What?! Like, wait! What?! Why?!" Noire stutters in confusion, embarrassment and surprise.
"I'm not letting you go until you spill everything you've got" Neptune threatens Noire, while hugging tighter.
"Huh?" Neptune says, realizing she did a mistake "Wait... I've got the wrong person".
"Wh-Why are you here?!" Noire asks, like she already met Neptune...
"Ummm... I'm looking for a girl. Did you see anyone come by?" Neptune asks, looking around her "She's black , shiny, and was flying. I figure she'd be really easy to spot".
From behind Noire, I speak up "No, I didn-" but I'm cut off by Noire, who covers my mouth for no reason.
"The description reminds me of an insect pest..." Noire comments Neptune's description with a look of disgust "But, there was someone going down that direction. Like, really fast".
"Huh?" Neptune remains confused after I try to speak, looking behind the raven girl"Wait..., Terra!" She literally dives onto me, sending both of us onto the ground while she hugs me.
"Took you long enough to notice my presence..." I reply, rolling my eyes.
"You could have spoke up sooner, y'know!" She complains, bringing her face closer "Where the Nep have you been?!".
"I was... dealing with something. Nothing to worry" I look away, trying to lie to her.
"You're all scratched, tho..." Neptune mumbles, worried, while letting go of her grip around me "But now my target surely ran away...".
Neptune sighs, getting off me "Iffy is SO not gonna like hearing she got away...".
"Yeah, she'll probably scold you... And she will also scold me for disappearing..." I reply, while sitting up onto the ground.
"..." Noire stays there where she is, speechless, and Neptune looks at her with a worried look "Huh?".
"Yikes..." Neptune says, standing up and getting closer to Noire "You're really badly hurt too".
"I know! You two have have been attacked by a monster!" Neptune exclaims, clenching her fists "But don't worry! I'll protect you both!"
Noire mumbles something, with an annoyed look on her face.
"Hm? Did you say something?" Neptune asks, hearing Noire mumbles.
"Oh, nothing" Noire replies, looking away.
"Anyway, are you okay? Feelin' well and all?" Neptune asks, still very worried.
"It's only a bunch of scratches. Nothing to worry about" Noire answers, whipping her hair behind (again).
"But it isn't good to assume something without a professional opinion" Neptune exclaims, getting even closer to the raven girl, who takes a step back out of instinct.
"I know! My friend is an expert in medicine, so let's have her check you!" Neptune says, grabbing Noire's wrist and dragging her away, while she tries to escape the lilac-haired girl's grip "What? Wait, um. No, really. It isn't a big deal...".
"Oh, don't worry!" Neptune tries to reassure the raven girl "We won't charge you. No string attached, trust me!".
"That's not the point!" Noire looks away, still trying to break free.
In the meantime, I'm in the background, sweat-dropping.
"Compa-! Where are you, Compa-! Here, Compa, come here!" Neptune starts calling for Compa like she was a dog, while I nervously laugh, still sweat-dropping.
#The hell was that?#
"I don't think calling as if calling a dog will work..." Noire replies, making an annoyed expression with her face.
But suddenly, from the same direction Neptune came, the just-mentioned nurse-in-training pops out, with a innocent and honest smile "Did you call, Nep-Nep?".
Both mine and Noire's eyes went open wide as we saw Compa coming "What..?" "You're kidding me...".
"Surprised? I am, after all, the heroine!" Neptune proudly announces "I actually have 108 different skill styles, y'know?".
"Pffff..." I almost end up laughing after Neptune's comment. I don't know way, but I found it hilarious. And Neptune decides to ignore me.
"Stop lying, Nep. We just caught up to you right when you were yelling" IF scolds Neptune, putting on her serious face.
In the mean-time, Noire slowly goes near me and start whispering into my ear "So... Who exactly are those people?" She asks.
"Don't worry. They're the friends I travel with" I whisper back, smiling.
"They are... pretty lively..." Noire comments, half-closing her eyes.
"I know..." I reply back, with a nervous smile.
"By the way, did you need anything, Nep-Nep?" Compa asks to Neptune, tilting her head.
"Yeah" Neptune confirms "She...um, oh, right" She brings a hand behind the back of her head, facing Noire "I forgot to ask your name..."
"Anyway, my name is Neptune" The lilac-haired girl introduces herself "She's Compa, she's Iffy and she's..." but she was cut off by Noire "...Terra. she already introduced herself".
But soon after, the Brunette speaks up, correcting Neptune "Actually, it's IF. Nice to meet you".
"What's yours?" Neptune asks in her usual, casual way.
Noire's face goes a little redder than before #But I guess I'm the one who noticed# and mumbles something incomprehensible.
"What?" Neptune, fast as lighting, asks, confused.
"Noire" The rave girl replies, still red in face.
"Noire, huh? That's a fancy lil' name. I bet you don't have friends and stuff" Neptune's sentence goes quickly from "Hi" to "Haha! You suck!", shocking me.
"Wha-?!" Noire replies, even more shocked than me.
"That wasn't nice...!" I exclaim, my eyes wide open.
"Why, you!" Noire's shock turns into anger pretty quickly, as predictable "Oh, is that the way you greet someone you meet the first time?!".
"Oh, lighten up. It's just a joke" Neptune says, rising her hands in defense "I was just trying to be funny here...".
"You need to learn "when" in being funny, Nep" IF grins back at Neptune "Compa, will you?".
"All righty! Leave it to me!" Cheerfully, Compa brings out her bandage kit and starts bandaging Noire.
"Hey! Iffy! You took my line!" Neptune pouts, offended.
"Leave it to you and we'll never get things done" IF crosses her arms, looking away.
After a few minutes, Noire was being bandaged by the nurse-in-training, who already almost finished.
While she was being patched, I checked my wounds as well, and turns out they've already cured themselves.
#So no bandage for me...Good#
"Here you go!" Compa exclaims, as she finishes with the last bandage on her left arm.
"Thank you, this helps a lot" Noire thanks, smiling honestly "Ah...was that, Compa?".
"Are you...Terra's friend?" Noire asks.
"Yes. We've been traveling along since we met" IF explains, jumping into the conversation.
"That you know, was she being chased by someone?" Noire asks, her smile fading and changing into a worried look.
"Why THIS sudden question?" The brunette asks, suspect in her voice.
"She told me that someone was after her, and that she got separated from you guys" Noire replies.
IF gives a glare at me, making me shiver, sighing afterwards "We're not sure... but is positive that someone is after her, even tho we don't know the motive".
Noire expression becomes grim "What could they possibly want from her?".
At that moment, I suddenly gasp when a sudden realization came to my mind "It may have something to do with my parents...!".
"Wait, your parents...?" Noire asks, confused.
In the meantime, Compa mumble something under her breath, sweat-dropping, and I'm unable to hear it.
"That might be right..." IF expression turns grim too "But there's something else which is bothering me".
"What exactly?" I tilt my head in confusion.
"What was Noire doing here, all scratched up too?" IF asks to no one in particular, like she was accusing her.
"I...um..." Noire tries to answer, but ends up mumbling.
"Yeah. You never told me how you ended up all wounded..." I reply, putting my hands into my hoodie's pockets.
"Well... I'm not sure too, and..." She tries to explain, but the more she tries the more she sounds suspicious.
And right at that moment, Neptune jumps in, shouting "What? Then..you're a fellow amnesiac?!".
"Huh? Oh, yes! That's right, amnesia" She tries to make up a credible story "I can't remember a single thing! It must have happened when I was attacked".
It was obvious that she was lying... #But I think that's for personal reasons...#
IF mumbles something, while glaring at the girl, studying her.
"Uh-oh...Then how can we get you back home?" Compa asks, putting her index on her chin.
"I know how it feels, having no idea how you were..." Neptune comes closer to Noire, patting her on her back "I know! I'll help you! Like, I've been without memory longer than you".
IF, after hearing this, goes into shock "We're actually believing her...?!".
"Apparently...but I guess it's okay" I reply back, smiling.
"So, what should we do?" Compa asks again, still thinking.
"Well... we could take her to the Basilicom. They should keep her safe in custody" IF suggest, alarming Noire.
But her suggestion is quickly rejected by all the three of us "Not over there!" Compa exclaims "Those goons wouldn't know how to handle a girl right!".
"Then... Why not let her travel along with us? It should be fine, right?" I suggest, while Noire sighs, apparently in relief #Another detail only I noticed, probably...#
But Noire's expression changes suddenly, and she screams "Wha-?! Tag along?! As in together?!".
"That's only until you get back your memories..." I try to reason with the girl "Also we won't force you...".
"Yes. It's safer than being at the Basilicom. And it's more fun, too!" Compa agrees with my idea.
"Um, ah, it's not like I don't want to... I was just... surprised" Noire mutters, her face slightly red again.
"Well, then. Nice to meet you again, Noire!" Both I and Neptune exclaim, with unnatural coordination, like we were twins.
And like this, the raven princess joined our party...
Dictionary:
Per l'onore e per la gloria! : Terra's HDD mode battle-cry, it means "For the honor and for the glory!" in Italian.
Hi everyone, my name's HyperAle and first, I wanted to apologize to you for the sudden and long delay of this chapter.
But, in the end, I did it.
And also Noire, the ultimate tsundere (totally not a reference) joins the party, just like the game tells us.
But now, how the story's going to turn? Will Neptune and the others ever find out about Terra's powers (I think this is a stupid question tho)
Anyway, hope you enjoy, and feel free to live advises on the comment section of this story.
And said so Farewell.
