Hello my awesome readers! It's ButterHunter, back with another chapter to HDN, VC!
Why are you still listening to me talk? Let's go!
Chapter 21: Two Down, Two to Go
Battle start.
Purple Heart, Vert, Cameron, and Compa stood at the ready at this sudden second attack from Arfoire, who had suddenly just transformed into a fake version of Lady Green Heart.
The fake Green Heart, with a small, sadistic giggle, moved forward and targeted Compa. The surroundings became dark as the words, 'Kinestra Slash' appeared above her. She bounced a little, charged up an enormous amount of energy, and then slashed hard with her lance she now had instead of a spear.
The instant the move ended, the damage that stacked on Compa caused her to instantly collapse on the ground, unable to even get a word out before she fainted.
"WHAT?!" Cameron shouted. "This shit again?!"
He quickly fired a few shots from a distance, but it did nothing to the Fake Green Heart. Purple Heart and Vert had similar experiences.
Before the group even fully knew what was happening, suddenly everyone was down for the count. Fake Green Heart was extremely powerful, even at this stage.
Everyone slowly came back consious, all very winded, but alive nonetheless.
"W-well… I hate to admit it, but that was a worthy exhibition of my power…" Vert admitted, kneeling.
Purple Heart, leaning heavily on her sword, managed to get out, "I… can't believe it… even in this form…?!"
"I… I'm so calling hacks or mods on that…" Cameron got out, on his knees whilst still catching his breath.
"Hahahahaha!" the Fake Green Heart laughed haughtily. "The sight of the goddesses groveling in front of me! Splendid!"
Suddenly, without warning, she quickly yelled and slapped Purple Heart right across the face, triggering a yell from the goddess. "Kya-!"
"Neptune!" Vert called out.
"Here's one for you too!" the Fake Green Heart exclaimed, slapping Vert just as hard.
"Kya-!" Vert screamed in pain.
"Lady Vert!" IF yelled.
The Fake Green Heart laughed again. "Now that no one can get in my way, I'll slowly send you to your graves."
She slapped IF, Compa, and the goddesses again, relishing in their screams of pain.
Cameron watched the whole scene…
As his vision became crimson red.
"How about one for you too!" the Fake Green Heart yelled, pulling Cameron's face up.
Her hand started to get to him…
But suddenly, it stopped. Cameron's hand caught the fake's before it could come into contact.
"No one. Hurts. My friends." Cameron growled slowly, his eyes… glowing. They were glowing red. His entire body was shaking in anger.
It happened again. Cameron… his body…
Glitched. Again. Just like in Lastation.
This time, EVERYONE saw it. The green shirt, the rosy cheeks, the blood stains, the… the smile.
That smile… it sent a chill down everyone who saw it.
It lasted a mere moment before reverting back to regular Cameron, who suddenly pulled out his sword and swung with an insane energy boost.
The Fake Green Heart quickly countered, but Cameron was so filled with anger and energy that he didn't care. Roaring like a crazed animal, he started hacking and slashing as hard as he could, trying as hard as he could to hit the damn woman.
For a moment, the only sound was the crazed noises coming from Cameron and the sound of metal ringing against metal. Fake Green Heart looked very surprised at this new revelation, but she quickly grew tired of the rather fierce, but stupid, last stand.
"ENOUGH!" she yelled, pushing Cameron to the ground and using the pole end of her lance to knock him over to the others. The way she hit him, it connected right to the side of his ribcage, which hurt like a BITCH.
His anger gave way to the pain, and he clutched his side, moaning in pain. Purple Heart looked beyond concerned for Cameron, but quickly was pulled away from that thought when Fake Green Heart slapped her loudly again.
Meanwhile, nearby, Ran-Ran watched the whole thing with fear. She shook fearfully in place as she murmured, "('・ω・') Aaaaaaah… Lady Vert is in danger… Ran-Ran needs to get help quick."
That simple sentence made Ran Ran think. About how she first met Lady Vert.
It was on the outskirts of the city, and Ran Ran had just arrived. "('・ω・') Ran-Ran thinks Lastation seriously sucks bad. Ran-Ran escaped from the horrible Land, but what to do now?"
Ran Ran looked like it was about to start crying. "(' ; ω ; ') Ran-Ran is hungry…" she moaned, her stomach growling gently.
It was then that Vert just so happened to walk upon her. "My, such a cute little piggy, aren't you?" she asked.
Ran Ran looked up. "('・ω・') Who are you?" she asked.
"Oh, I'm just a goddess passing by." Vert replied nonchalantly. "You look hungry. Do you want to dine with me?"
Ran Ran nearly cried. The thought of food made her very happy indeed.
Several days later, Vert and Ran Ran had become good friends. "Now Ran-Ran, I won't let you sleep tonight."
Ran Ran yawned. "('・ω・') More online games tonight?" she asked.
"Yes, I have an urgent quest that I need to clear." Vert agreed.
"('・ω・') Can Ran-Ran go as a Gunner class?" Ran Ran asked politely.
"This is a high-level quest so I'll kick you out if you come in that class." Vert responded honestly.
Ran Ran pouted. "('・ω・') That's so cruel…"
Some time later, Ran Ran had become curious with how Vert ran things.
"('・ω・') Isn't Lady Vert a goddess?" she asked one day.
"Well, yes, but someone stole my powers…" Vert replied softly, looking both embarrassed and a tad ashamed.
"('・ω・') Are you sure you want to tell Ran-Ran about this?" Ran Ran asked curiously.
"If I did not trust you, I would not have spoken to you in the first place." Vert responded, tapping Ran Ran on the (pig) nose.
"('・ω・') Lady Vert…" Ran Ran murmured happily.
As Ran Ran's flashback ended, she looked back to everyone getting owned a bit further away. "('・ω・') Lady Vert is hard to play games with, but she is really kind…"
She wrestled with her thoughts for a moment longer, before steeling herself. "('・ω・') It's Ran-Ran's turn to help Lady Vert!"
Meanwhile, Fake Green Heart was standing in front of Purple Heart again. "Hah! What's the matter? Where did all that poise of yours go? Aah?!" she mocked, slapping Purple Heart again.
"Augh…!" Purple Heart moaned in pain.
Fake Green Heart stumbled a moment, having put a tad bit more force into the last hit. "The power is fine, but this overly suggestive front is a bother… I tire of this form already. Let me take your power now."
Fake Green Heart started to reach for Purple Heart, but Cameron suddenly was in the way with one last bit of fire in his eyes. "Touch her, and you'll WISH the author left you out." he challenged.
"Still, you fight?" Fake Green Heart asked. "How pathetic. Noble perhaps, but pathetic."
Cameron quickly fired a blast from his arm cannon, but missed. He growled and tried to throw a punch. Still missed.
"Just get hit already!" Cameron screamed in anger, slowly prepping his sword again. His mind might have still been raging to fight, but his body was far from that. Against his will, his energy was slowly sapping. It wouldn't be long until he completely lost that fire.
"Are you finished yet?" Fake Green Heart yawned, growing tired of these pointless antics. She slammed the butt of her lance into Cameron again, this time in the stomach.
Cameron yelled in pain and fell to a knee, using his sword as a support. His entire body was begging him to give up… to bow down… to accept defeat…
But… deep, deep inside him…
Something called out to him.
Something that told him to NOT give in.
To NOT let the evil win.
To NOT give up.
Slowly, but surely, he stood up on extremely shaky legs, and pointed his sword one more time. "N… never… I'll… I'll never stop… until…!" he managed, fighting to even say words.
Fake Green Heart sighed. The guy was persistent, she'll give him that. But it was becoming very, VERY annoying.
"Perhaps you need a time out!" Fake Green Heart told him, using her lance to, again, bash Cameron away to the side. She hit so hard, his bag fell off and landed at Compa's feet.
As soon as he stopped rolling, an energy field formed around Cameron, forming a large bubble of green energy around him, trapping him inside. "Now, no interruptions…" Fake Green Heart sighed, glad that was finally over.
She slowly walked over to Purple Heart, smiling sadistically. "Let's see how you'll like being killed by your very own power!"
"Tch…!" Purple Heart responded, struggling to stand up.
"Heh heh heh… now, don't move…" Fake Green Heart instructed, pointing her hand towards her.
Cameron was on his knees, leaning against the bubble he was trapped in, watching the whole thing. "N… Neptune…! R-run…!" he tried to yell, but it came out too weak.
Dark purple energy started shining from Fake Green Heart's hand, forming into a small orb. Had everything gone like she wanted, it would've fired downward into Purple Heart's face.
But that's when everything happened.
"('・ω・') Stoooooooop!" Ran Ran shouted, running towards Fake Green Heart.
Just before the orb would've left Fake Green Heart's hand, Ran Ran more or less tackled her to the ground, forcing her to miss. "Wha-?"
Ran Ran did something else behind the Fake's back, and suddenly, Fake Green Heart turned back into regular Arfoire. "You! Still here?!" she shouted at Ran Ran.
"('・ω・') No one notices Ran-Ran." Ran Ran stated, almost proudly.
In a flash, a ball of light suddenly came from out of Arfoire, ending up right in Ran Ran's hands. "A… ball of light?!" IF asked in confusion.
"Tch! How dare you! My copy… my power as a goddess…!" Arfoire mumbled angrily.
Ran Ran quickly turned to IF, tossing the ball of light into her hands. "('・ω・') Miss IF. Please give that to Lady Vert. Hurry!"
"Got it!" IF agreed, turning over to Vert, who was finally starting to stand up.
"This is all your fault! Deja vu again! Dammit!" Arfoire yelled, beyond angry. She slapped Ran Ran across the face, which, while not as strong as it had been moments before, still hurt.
Through her pain, Ran Ran spoke one more time. "('・ω・') Miss IF, please take care of Lady Vert… or I will kick you out."
"Ran-Ran…?!" Vert asked, as Ran Ran ran off to hide again.
"Lady Vert! Here, take this!" IF yelled, tossing the ball of light to her.
Wasting no time, Vert quickly took the orb and held it close. For a moment, blinding light engulfed the area.
When it subsided, Vert stood there, looking… a hell of a lot stronger. "This power… it feels like it's been a while since…"
In a bright flash, Vert finally transformed. When it subsided, the TRUE Green Heart stood, in all her glory.
To call the Lady Green Heart a being of beauty would be an understatement. Her blonde hair was now sea-foam green, much longer, and worn in a straight ponytail. Her eyes had changed to a light purple color. Her outfit appeared to be a white bikini style HDD suit, with small black and green pieces acting as decoration. And of course, due to the transformation, her breasts had become even MORE exaggerated, though it did not seem to faze her. Unlike her normal form, the HDD form had the bottom of her breasts exposed, as opposed to the top like before.
(Going quite far into describing me, are we?)
(Would you rather have little description? Now keep quiet, and grab some popcorn, it's getting good.)
IF stared at her goddess in her true form. "So this is Lady Vert in HDD… how pretty… no, beautiful…" she murmured, almost breathlessly.
"Thank you Iffy, but let's first defeat the enemy in front of us." Green Heart informed, twirling her lance in preparation. "Neptune. Compa. Can you both still stand?"
Purple Heart took a short breath, then stood up, seemingly better now. "Of course." she replied. "I won't be beaten that easily."
"If Nep-Nep is going to stand, then I will too!" Compa added, finishing quick first-aid on herself.
"Cameron, are you-" Green Heart started to add, until she realized that Cameron was still trapped. The green energy field had not dissipated, and he still looked tired.
"Hmph!" Arfoire huffed. "How persistent! And I thought he was bad enough. No matter. I can still take care of you all!"
"Then if you can do that, why not let our friend out?" Green Heart taunted.
"Ha! You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Arfoire laughed. "But I'd rather let him see you all fall, one by one by one."
"Hmph. Have it your way then." Green Heart scoffed. "But be warned: I will make you regret your decision!"
Battle start.
Arfoire may have been back to normal, but that didn't mean she wasn't strong. She got first turn, and quickly jabbed at Green Heart. Thankfully, she missed, which is not how anyone, even the enemies themselves, wants to start a boss fight.
Green Heart was up. She quickly charged and rush-attacked Arfoire, doing solid starting damage, though she had plenty to spare. Purple Heart followed suit with Cross Combo, and soon after IF and Compa went and attacked.
Arfoire wasn't going to be taken out so easily, however. She quickly targeted both IF and Compa, who had stayed close together the previous turn, and slammed her spear down hard on them.
They lost a lot of HP from one strike, which was rather worrisome. Thankfully, they had plenty of healing items, due to Cameron losing his bag when Arfoire slammed him away.
Speaking of, Cameron was still trapped in that green bubble, left to only watch as Arfoire slowly chipped away at his friends. He knew they were strong, but even they had limits. He needed to get out. NOW.
Slowly, he tried to bust out by punching the energy field. That didn't work. He tried again, slamming his fists harder. Still no effect.
"Come on, come ON…" he grunted angrily, slamming his fists against the energy field as hard as possible. It might have shook slightly, but nothing else changed otherwise.
"ARGH! There's gotta be SOME way to get out of this…" Cameron mumbled, thinking. But a yelling sound caused his attention to be brought back to the battle.
Several turns had passed, and now Arfoire was down almost a quarter health. Compa had just taken a nasty blow from Arfoire, and was almost down for the count. She quickly healed herself as best as she could, but she might've needed a little more to be safe.
It was Green Heart's turn now. She seemed to be preparing herself for something big. The surroundings became REALLY dark. Like, midnight dark. Then two words appeared above her.
'Spiral Break'
"I shall have you perish here!" she yelled, charging forward with lighting speed. She struck Arfoire for really good damage, but the move was only beginning. She slowly turned around and charged multiple times, doing heavy damage with each strike. She charged a dozen or so times until finally pulling away and charging one last time, somehow doing even MORE damage than the first charge.
But she STILL wasn't done. "May your spirit be cleansed from existence!" she shouted, standing back and throwing her lance for one last hit. When the lance made contact it literally exploded into a ball of green light, dealing one last massive amount of damage.
After all that, Arfoire was down to half health, which seemed to brighten our heroes. Maybe they did still have a chance.
While IF and Compa both had their moves, Cameron was still trying to figure out how to get out of the energy field. He'd been pounding on it for a long time now, but it wasn't having any effect.
Slowly, he looked down at his right hand. Towards his sword. Slowly, and idea started forming in his head of a skill he learned a while before this. He knew it was a potential way to beat Arfoire.
"But… will it work…?" Cameron mused. "I've never used it before, so…"
He turned back to the fight. Another few turns had passed, and Compa had just healed everyone fighting. Arfoire was almost down to a quarter health, but was fighting even more viciously.
She slammed her spear as hard as possible into Compa, who had been a very big thorn in her side due to the healing she provided. Compa just barely managed to stay up, but was leaning heavily on her giant syringe weapon.
Purple Heart retaliated with a Cross Combo, which helped quite a bit due to Arforie's guard being down, but still wasn't going to power miracles.
Cameron desperately needed to get out of this energy field. He was worried that something might happen. The fight was teetering on the edge here, anyone could still take this.
He tried one more time to slam his fists into the force field… and suddenly, cracks started spider webbing across it… from the back side?
Cameron turned to see… Freddy! "You need a handsome devil to save ya, bud?" he asked, smiling. His sword was puncturing the force field, causing more cracks to appear. The energy field must have been weak from the outside.
In a moment, the energy shattered, then disappeared into nothing. Cameron was just about to thank Freddy for the assist, when suddenly Arfoire laughing called his attention back.
Arfoire had just hit Purple Heart hard, causing her to take a knee. Compa, who was still hurting, tried to heal her, but she was out of SP. Unless they got some extreme help in a moment, they might have been toast.
"Go! Get to them!" Freddy commanded. "I'll stay close by and assist if trouble happens!"
Cameron nodded, and charged, sword in hand. "Compa!" he yelled.
Compa looked over to see Cameron charging in. "Tag out! Tag out!" he yelled, his off-hand extended.
"What?!" Arforie yelled, looking back at where the energy field used to be. Nothing was there. Freddy was gone, supposedly hiding in wait.
"C-Cameron?" Compa asked.
"No time to explain! Tag out!" he yelled, bearing down on her. A hundred feet. Fifty. Twenty.
Compa reached out her hand just as he got to her, making them switch places. "Alrighty! You wanna tangle with the hero?! Well, prepare for the worst!" he yelled at Arfoire, a fire, now a raging INFERNO, back in his eyes.
"Ughh, this again?!" Arfoire yelled angrily. This was turning bad for her.
"Cameron! Do you have a plan?" IF asked.
"Yeah. I call it, 'Operation Beat 'em Senseless!'" he replied with a smirk.
(*nods and gives thumbs up* Gooood plan.)
Cameron glared at Arfoire. "Let's see how you like THIS!" he yelled.
Suddenly, he froze.
His mind became blank.
An extraordinary feeling started seeping into his very soul.
Words appeared above him.
'Final Edge'
"Let's dance." he stated, hefting his sword, which was now glowing gold like his eyes. The rainbow energy was being released off of him again.
He quickly ran up to Arfoire and started slashing and hacking as much as he could, doing lots of small damage to start. He then jumped back, and prepped himself.
As if he was suddenly a machine, his hands started twirling, making his sword spin like a baton. Bright bolts of energy rocketed off the sword, blasting Arfoire repeated for good damage.
"An encore? Why not?" he asked rhetorically, as he stopped spinning his sword around. He ran his hand across his sword, a bright gleam flashing off of it.
He pointed it straight up into the sky. "FINALLLL…" he started to yell, the sword building power…
"EDGGGGGE!" he shouted hard, as large, colorful waves of pure energy rocketed off the sword's edge. Arfoire couldn't dodge them as wave after wave slammed into her, forcing her over her limit.
The moment the attack ended, Arfoire stumbled, then fell to the ground face-first, weak, but not dead. The battle was over.
(Hey, how come Cameron gets to have so many skills?)
(A: He's my character. B: He has three different weapons. And C: The hero always gets the most skills, or at least has the potential to get the most. It's just RPG logic.)
"*gasp*... *pant*..." Cameron panted, breathing hard. He blinked and his eyes returned to their normal brown, as did his sword return to its normal color.
The first thing that he saw after a second was a knitted sweater filling his view. Then, he realized Compa had nearly tackled him into a hug, which she could do easily since he was on a knee. "Cameron! You did it!" she yelled happily, squeezing him tightly.
"Ack! Compa-! You're! Squeezing! To! Tight!" he managed. His breathing was already through hell, he didn't need Compa making it worse.
"Sorry!" Compa apologized, letting him go.
IF had wide eyes. "Huh. So you DID have a plan." she mumbled, looking impressed and shocked at the display.
"So, now you know two EXE skills, it would seem." Green Heart started, looking impressed herself.
"EXE skills?" Cameron questioned. "Uh, I think its the memory loss, but… I'm pretty sure there wasn't anything stated before about EXE skills, whatever those are."
"I'll explain later." Green Heart assured. "In any case, that was amazing. How'd you get out of that force field?"
"That'll be explained later." Cameron answered. "Nep's coming, and my lungs need to be ready."
"Cameron!" Purple Heart yelled, nearly crushing him into a hug until he reminded her of his lungs, causing a much less tight, though still firm, hold on him. "How'd… you're… you…!"
"Woah woah woah, Neptune! One thought at a time please!" Cameron insisted. "Yeah, I'm okay. It'll take a lot more than a lance to the gut to keep me down. At least this time didn't result in serious injury like last time."
Purple Heart looked relieved and worried at the same time. "I'm… I'm just happy you're okay…" she breathed.
"Trust me, I'm not going down easy." Cameron reminded her. "Now come on. Halloween Queen is waking up."
The group made their way over to Arfoire, who was, indeed, waking up and coughing. "I can't believe it… how did you have that much power left…" Arfoire moaned, clutching her side.
"Cliche as it may be, this victory is for Ran-Ran and Iffy." Green Heart stated. "Without them, I wouldn't have my powers back."
"Umm, Vert? You're forgetting three others here." Purple Heart reminded, Cameron and Compa next to her as well. Cameron especially looked a little ticked.
"Auu… we're not important to you, Lady Vert?" Compa asked sadly.
"Oh, that was definitely not my intention." Green Heart explained, realizing what she said. "I just gave them a little extra praise."
"Ahh, don't take it to heart." Cameron brushed off. He didn't really care, as long as Green Heart was being honest. "I'm just happy you got your power back."
"Me too." Purple Heart added.
"Indeed. I extend my gratitude here to you all." Green Heart praised.
"So, what should we do with this evangelist?" Purple Heart asked, pointing at Arfoire.
"Let's get as much out of her as possible. I am sure Lowee is at least somewhat behind all this." Green Heart instructed.
"Hah." Arfoire scoffed, standing up. "Do you really think you can get information from me?"
Cameron, in response, cocked his arm cannon and pointed it at Arfoire. "Do we STILL look like a joke to you?" he asked.
"Still acting strong, are you?" Green Heart added.
"Not quite. But I will have to bid you adieu now. Farewell!" Arfoire mocked with a wave.
"Oh no you-!" Cameron yelled, firing a blast, but it was too late. Arfoire already disappeared into a bright flash. She ran away.
(That's a talent ALL bad guys seem to share, huh? Running away powers. Who knew?)
"She's gone!" Purple Heart stated angrily.
"And just when we had her too. Seems she is quite adept at running…" Green Heart sighed. "If we meet her again, she will not get away."
"Well, let's just be happy that you got your power back. We all need to rest." Purple Heart offered.
"So true. I do need to attend to Ran-Ran, so let us return, shall we?" Green Heart asked.
Cameron sighed, and lowered his arm to collapse his cannon. But as he did… he saw something on the ground where Arfoire had once been. "Wait…" he started, noticing something familiar.
"Oh! Nep-Nep!" Compa yelled, seeing it too. "Just a second!"
Both goddesses turned back to see Cameron leaning down and picking something up, Compa next to him. "What's the matter you two? Did you find something?" Purple Heart asked.
"Call us crazy, but I think we did." Cameron stated, his eyes widening. There was no mistaking it. He picked it up and showed it to the rest of the group.
Purple Heart's eyes widened. "This… A Key Fragment?!" she shouted, looking at the piece in Cameron's hand. Indeed, though it still looked like a rock with blue veins around it, it looked just like the first Key Fragment they found back in Planeptune. "What's one doing here?!"
Cameron allowed the piece to fall into his palm. Almost immediately, the piece softly glowed, then melted into another small blue metal rod. This one had two broken ends on it, as opposed to the first that had only one.
"Allow me to explain…" a familiar voice said.
"That voice… Histy?" Purple Heart asked aloud.
"It has been quite a while. And, firstly, nice to speak with you, Lady Vert, IF." Histoire greeted.
Green Heart looked a little surprised. "So, you're Histy…" she mumbled.
"I thought you were sealed away?" Purple Heart asked.
"I am using the resonance of the Key Fragments that you've already found…" Histoire explained. Cameron quickly pulled out the other piece they had and held that with the other. Histoire's voice definitely seemed a tad clearer. "This way, I am able to temporarily speak through them."
"I guess that makes sense…" Cameron responded. "So, then why was this Key Fragment here, of all places?"
"That is the one that Arfoire was carrying and dropped." Histoire explained.
"Arfoire… so that's her name." IF said thoughtfully. It just occured to the whole group that they never really knew what her true name had been till then.
"I believe she feared you collecting them, so she kept one on her." Histy explained.
"That does explained that…" Cameron agreed.
"One word of warning…" Histy started. "Arfoire's true power is the power to 'copy.'"
"So…?" Purple Heart asked, not getting it instantly.
"...I see…" Green Heart mumbled, her gears turning. "I did get my power back, but she could have a 'copy' of it with her."
"Exactly. Arfoire may alter the copied power to make it her own." Histoire agreed solemnly.
"Well that isn't good." Cameron worriedly stated. "I don't want to think about what would happen if she took Neptune's power on top of that…"
"Precisely why I wanted to warn you of her unique power." Histoire explained, her voice starting to become softer. "...it appears as though my time is up. Please, continue looking for the Key Fragments…"
Histoire's voice slowly faded away. "I can't hear the voice anymore." Compa punctuated sadly.
Purple Heart, on the other hand, looked confident. "But the information we got was invaluable." she stated with a nod.
"True. I must now be wary to avoid the same happening again." Green Heart told herself.
With two flashes, the goddesses reverted back to normal Vert and Neptune. "What will you all do now?" Vert asked.
"Well, first we'll probably stay here for a day to wrap up any loose ends, head back to Planeptune, and then head on to Lowee." Cameron offered. The other girls had no objections to this.
"Aww. Going home already?" Neptune complained. "Let's stay for a few more days and have some fun for a while."
(I mean, we just wrapped up everything we NEEDED to do, so why not relax and enjoy some fun while we were there?)
"Histoire asked to collect those Key Fragments. Getting them is first priority." IF told Neptune. "I would love to stay with Lady Vert for a while, but we have to do what we have to do."
"Awww… you're both so committed…" Neptune whined.
"What shall you be doing then, Lady Vert?" IF asked.
"There are quite a number of tasks to take care of, especially after all this." Vert explained, almost a bit nervous. "I need to keep watch of the Overlord worship and the Enemy Discs too… But once I am done, I will definitely go and see you both, Iffy, Cameron."
Cameron sighed. Finally. No more fighting for a while. It seemed like every ten minutes he couldn't go without some sort of fight happening. But now, they were done, at least for a few days. Now was the time to-
"COMING THROUGH!" a voice yelled. From out of the forest line comes Freddy, with a damn shotgun in his hands and at the ready.
He didn't see anything wrong though, so he lowered his gun. "Uhh… did I come late?"
Cameron smirked. "Just a bit. Like, five, maybe ten minutes?"
Freddy had joined the party!
That afternoon, back at Vert's room…
Neptune, Compa, IF, Cameron, Freddy, and Vert had just spent some time over at Vert's room, having a, let's say modest, celebration at finding the second Key Fragment, and re-claiming Vert's lost powers.
Let's NOT go into much description about everything that happened. Let's just say that the entire thing involved video games, at least two metric tons of pudding, and an almost dangerous accident involving a pillow fight. Don't ask.
(It's better if you don't know. Trust me, I was there.)
Anyway, at 9 o'clock at night, Neptune, Compa, and IF seemed to be just three minutes away from passing out. They called it a night and headed back to the hotel. Freddy seemed out of it soon after, and after downing one more glass of soda, he waved goodbye and stumbled away, supposedly heading home.
That just left Cameron and Vert, both of whom still looked in rather good condition. They seemed to be locked in a very serious stand off in one of Vert's games. They had been going back and forth for quite some time, so much so that they could've probably set some world records.
The game they were playing was a shooter, something called Order to Action, White Corps III, (XD) which Cameron was a little iffy about playing at first. He never considered himself that good at shooters. But once he got into it, he realized how awesome he was at it, he had to try and butt heads with Vert.
By the time they quit versing each other, it was nearing eleven o'clock at night, yet they still did not feel very tired. A little winded perhaps, but not tired.
"Wooh!" Cameron exhaled, wiping his brow. "That got a little intense, huh?"
"Quite." Vert replied. "I still don't know how you threw those bombs so well… or how you seemed to know where I was before I knew it."
"Well it definitely wasn't screen peeking, if that's what you were implying." Cameron denied. "No one likes a screen peeker."
Vert playfully shoved him. "Cheeky man."
"Call it what you like, it was GG worthy." Cameron told her. "We'll have to do that again some time."
"I agree." Vert replied, smiling.
The two sat in front of the TV Vert had, simply relaxing after the heated session. Cameron's heart was still pounding, giving him late minute adrenaline.
"Heh… it's kinda funny when you think about it." he admitted.
"Mm?" Vert hummed.
"Here I am, just a regular human like the hundreds of thousands of other people out there, yet I'm here in the Goddess's room, playing video games with her like we're old high school buddies." he stated, snickering a little bit. "It's just… strange to think about."
Vert watched him carefully. He seemed a little more… revealing than normal. Perhaps because of the fact that he was well fed, happy AND had been binge-drinking soda all night?
Whatever the case… maybe she could ask him a few questions she'd been wanting to ask.
"Hey, Cameron?" Vert started, smiling at him kindly.
"Mmm? Yes, Vert?" he asked.
"Well… I was wondering." Vert continued, becoming seemingly… nervous. "I… I was wondering about things. Things relating to you and… your memory."
The moment the words left her mouth, Cameron's eyes… changed. Not, like, in a bad way, just… they looked a little more serious. "My… my memory…?" he asked.
(Oooh, that's a very sensitive topic for him... tread carefully.)
"I… I know what you all told me, about the Key Fragments and Histoire and all." Vert continued. "But… I was wondering if that's really the ONLY option you have."
Cameron slowly looked down at his hands. They seemed normal enough. But… he couldn't help but feel… that every so often… and this will sound strange, but…
Like it wasn't his.
Like an entire piece of him wasn't his.
He tried before many times to think about why that is. Why wouldn't a piece of him not feel like his own?
But every time he did, a feeling of dread and sadness twanged in his heart, making him really want to stop.
ALL other times where he tried to remember who he is, he felt only confusion that he couldn't remember anything. So why was THAT the one memory that seemed to trigger another reaction?
Why?
Cameron had to think about it again.
Until he realized something.
Did… did he hear a second voice as he asked himself why?
Why did you lose your memory?
There it was again!
Cameron put his hands to his head, and gently rubbed his temples, as though he had a headache, trying to focus.
Indeed, that is a question I asked myself. Why would you lose your memory? Was it better for you to lose it? What will happen if you don't?
Well, I learned a long time ago that you shouldn't focus on those things. After all, once you're memory returns you'll remember everything, so why bother forcing your mind to remember something it's clearly forgotten?
'Because what if Histoire CAN'T restore my memory? What if that's beyond her power? The GODDESSES can't make my memory come back. So what if Histoire can't?' he asked himself.
You're thinking far too worst case scenario, friend. Where's the Cameron I knew? The one that tackled any challenge presented to them with gusto?
'...'
In any event, relax. Enjoy the moment. You're halfway to getting your memory back! All you have to do is find the other pieces and then find Histoire. Besides, she said that she'd restore your memory as well, right? And does she seem like a person that would lie about something like that?
'Well… no…' I thought.
Then what do you have to lose?
Cameorn remained quiet as the voice in his head grew silent.
Then he remembered that voice.
"H-hey, wait!" he called out, trying to get the Voice's attention again.
Vert looked at him funny. "Hm? Who are you talking to?"
"A-ah… uh, nothing… it's nothing, sorry… I was just really lost in thought again…" Cameron stammered, doing his best to hide his guilty face.
Vert saw through it in an instant, but she really couldn't do anything about it. But Cameron looked rather distraught… something must've really been wrong with him and his missing memory.
Slowly, as Cameron tried to think of something else to talk about, Vert slowly reached out her hand and rubbed Cameron's head in a comforting way.
"W-what are you…" he started to ask.
"Shhhh…" Vert shushed, still only rubbing his head gently.
Soon enough, Cameron seemed to lose tension in his shoulders. He slowly bowed his head and let Vert do what she was doing.
(Ooooh! Vert's making a move!)
Gently, as to not disturb him, Vert quietly scooted closer to the silent man and gently pulled him into a hug. Cameron possibly tensed up the slightest bit, but remained calm and hugged Vert back.
For a few minutes, they just hugged like that. Vert gently rubbed her hands on his back in a comforting way, whispering gentle, kind words like, "It's okay… it's okay." and "You don't need to worry."
Eventually, Vert released Cameron and let him sit up on his own accord. "Mm… thanks, Vert. I feel a lot calmer now."
"I'm glad." Vert responded, gently taking his hand.
Cameron heart started gently increasing in rhythm. Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum. He started feeling rather nervous, not to mention a little warm in the head.
Vert seemed to notice. "Becoming a little nervous around me, are you?" she asked gently, smiling cutely.
"...a little." Cameron admitted, avoiding eye contact. "I'm just… honored that you'd even think to comfort someone like me."
"Nonsense. You helped me get my powers back. If anything, you're overqualified." Vert laughed.
Cameron chuckled gently, some of his nerves disappearing. "Yeah. I guess that's true."
Slowly, he made eye contact with Vert. She… she really did look good in that dress, didn't she? And not just because it left little to the imagination. She… she really was stunning, even for a goddess.
Cameron couldn't help but wonder… what does Vert think of him? Besides, you know, the guy who got her powers back?
Vert seemed to read Cameron mind. She giggled a little bit, and pulled Cameron's hand towards her, making Cameron lean forward gently.
"Do you want to know what I think of you, Cameron?" Vert gently whispered in his ear.
Cameron's heart rate skyrocketed. Was she… was she going where he thought this was going?
"Well? Do you?" Vert whispered again.
Cameron was quiet for the count of five before whispering back, "Y-yes."
Vert seemed to smile brighter at that. "I think… that you are special to me. You are more than just the person who helped a damsel in distress. You really do mean something to me."
Vert pulled Cameron into another hug, holding him so that they were eye level with each other. Vert gently blushed, but her face held no shred of doubt as she stated with warm eyes. "I… I think that you are the nicest, kindest, and sweetest person I've ever met. And… I love you for that."
And in the next moment, Vert kissed him.
(THERE'S the sugar! XD)
To say that Cameron's brain was blue screening a hundred times over would be an understatement. But… through his sudden wave of emotions at Vert's kiss…
He feltl a few standing out among the rest.
Calmness. Joy. Passion. Just to name a few.
So, his mind went to autopilot.
He wrapped his arms around the woman and pushed into the kiss himself.
The kiss was soft. Tender. They stayed locked together for nearly a minute, until Cameron needed to breathe.
He pulled away, panting a little, his face bright red. But… he didn't feel scared. He felt beyond nervous, sure. But scared? Nah.
Once he got his breath back, he looked up at Vert again. She seemed a little embarrassed herself, but still had her composure that she executed so well.
"Ve… Vert…" Cameron mumbled, his voice soft.
Vert seemed pleased with herself. "That… that is how I feel, Cameron. Do… do you feel the same?"
As if Cameron could say no to THAT.
"Do I feel… of-of course I feel the same." Cameron responded. "I… I really like everything you do, Vert. The way you move, the way you talk, the passion you have for the ones you care about… I… I can't help but like you for that."
Vert blushed a little harder. Her smile grew even bigger. "Thank you… Cameron…"
She slowly stood up, with Cameron following suit just after.
"Perhaps it is time we go to bed." Vert offered. "You have a big day ahead of you… as do I."
Cameron was downtrodden. "Oh… oh yeah… we got what we came for here, didn't we?" he asked sadly.
Seeing that, Vert pulled him close to her and hugged him again. "Hey, hey… you don't have to be sad. You have my email, do you not? You can talk to me at any time you want."
Cameron regained a little bit of his smile. "Heh… thanks Vert."
He held the slightly shorter girl in a small hug. And… he… he wanted to make sure that he had something to remember her by.
"Umm… Vert?" he asked, bracing himself.
"Mm?" Vert hummed, looking up. "What is- mmph!"
The last part was slightly muffled because Cameron leaned down gently and kissed her. Vert seemed a little surprised for a moment, before collecting herself and kissing him back.
The two stayed together like that for quite some time. They seemed really happy together like that. Cameron was grateful that everyone had already left. It would've been very embarrassing to have to explain all that.
Of course, not even two seconds after that thought left his head, he could clearly hear the soft sound of a phone camera flashing.
Cameron quickly pulled away and turned around, wide eyed. The door to Vert's room was wide open, and standing in it was Neptune, holding one of IF's phones out, grinning like crazy.
Before Cameron or Vert could even say anything, Neptune dashed away, giggling hard, bordering full blown laughter.
Cameron's face was beet red. Even his ears seemed to become red. "Nep…! Oh, great… now Neptune saw us… and she's gonna show IF and Compa, and Freddy, and-"
Vert interrupted him with a finger to his lips. "Shhh… think about it. Does it really matter?"
"Well, yeah, kinda!" Cameron responded indignantly. "She's bound show that to the rest of our friends and embarrass the hell out of me. I can't think about what would happen once IF of all people finds out…"
"But… in a way, this isn't all that bad." Vert offered. "After all, now you don't have to force yourself to tell; you literally have no choice but to come clean."
Cameron could see the logic behind that. "I… I guess that's true."
"Besides, does it matter if you kissed me?" Vert asked. "You love me, I love you, is that really a huge deal?"
Cameron pondered that. He slowly realized that he must've said something similar to IF when they became a thing.
"I… I guess you're right, Vert." Cameron slowly agreed, taking a deep breath.
The two stood there for a long time, thinking about what they were to do.
"Well… I guess I'd better head back to the hotel. We have to be ready for Lowee tomorrow… and you have your missions to continue, huh?" Cameron asked with a smirk.
Vert smirked back. "I'll see you soon, Cameron. Give Iffy my thanks!"
Cameron headed for the door, and waved as he closed it.
Both people were filled with… an odd mixture of relief and anticipation of what was to come.
But one thing was certain.
Life… life was pretty good right now.
(What, were you expecting something profound?)
The next day, back at Compa's room in Planeptune…
"'There are quite a number of tasks to take care of, especially after all this.'" Neptune quoted, seeing the… let's be generous and call it a 'scene,' in front of her.
It was back in the guest bedroom in Compa's apartment. Neptune had just walked in the room to see…
Mmm… what's a good way to say this WITHOUT seeming… too…
(I honestly think there's nothing you can do to sugarcoat this. Just say it.)
Well, what Neptune saw was…
Vert. And… IF. And Cameron. With Vert… smothering the other two into her impressive chest, with a very passionate expression on. Not even kidding.
(You really CAN'T make this stuff up. It's too strange TO make up.)
(Then again, I'm sitting next to three of you goddesses, so… maybe we're kinda past that point of strangeness.)
(*shrugh*)
"Sooo… umm, Vert? What'cha doing here?" Neptune asked, though it was clear she was forcing her casual tone.
"It couldn't be helped…" Vert replied, tightening her hold on the two. "I couldn't stop my inner urge to see Iffy and Cameron…"
"Nah vah bla, rema-" Cameron mumbled out, his mind too deep into blue-screen mode to form words. Who can blame him, really? His face was literally two centimeters away from Vert's chest.
"But, I thought you said you had lots of work?" Neptune asked, tugging at her collar.
"Oh, Ran-Ran and Yvoire can take care of all that. Not a problem." Vert shrugged off.
Meanwhile, in Leanbox…
"Please confirm and approve of these documents by today." a worker at the Basilicom instructed.
"We're getting complaints that no one responded. What's going on?" another asked.
"W-wait! Please! Let me sleep…" Yvoire begged, having been shaken out of sleep from his desk.
"('・ω・') Ran-Ran had no sleep for three days. Lady Vert… help…" Ran Ran mumbled, up to her armpits in files and paperwork.
"Here are two more manifestos to add." the first worker told Ran Ran.
"('・ω・') Yaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Ran Ran yelled out of frustration.
Back in Compa's place…
"Umm… heh, heh… almost felt like I heard screams of agony from Leanbox…" Neptune commented nervously.
"Oh, now. Being strict is fundamental in providing a solid foundation." Vert informed. Hard to tell if she was being honest, what with Cameron and IF still being nearly smothered into her chest.
"L-Lady Vert… you're… squeezing me too tight… he… lp…" IF managed to get out.
"My, how quickly I found out that I need my Iffy and Cameron around me…" Vert commented, squeezing the pair in her surprisingly strong arms. "I need them to be with me twenty four/seven. And hence, I won't let you both go easily, my sweets…"
About twenty minutes later…
It nearly took a crowbar and then some, but eventually Vert released Cameron and IF from her literal death grip. IF and Cameron were blushing hard, moreso Cameron. IF was just glad that she was still able to breath.
"Uh… hahahahaha… why do I feel like I've seen this before?" Neptune asked.
"Ugh… and here I thought that last night was bad… what with Neptune showing that photo…" Cameron mumbled quietly, still trying to recover.
Compa came over from her kitchen, holding, what else is new, a bowl of pudding. "Nep-Nep. I brought us some pudding." Compa informed, holding out the treat.
"Ooh! Compa, you're super!" Neptune praised, digging right in.
"I made some green tea pudding this time just for you, Nep-Nep." Compa explained happily.
"My, does it look delicious. May I have one?" Vert asked kindly.
"Oh yes, here you go!" Compa replied, pulling another pudding out from nowhere and handing it over.
Unfortunately, at least in IF's case, she had sat down next to Vert, and now Vert was looking at her expectantly. "Now, my Iffy, open wiiiide…"
"Ah, I can eat the pudding on my own…" IF tried weakly.
"Oh, don't be shy. I want to spoon it to you. Now, open wiiiiide…" Vert insisted, pushing the spoon against IF's lips.
Blushing, IF nevertheless complied, and gently opened her mouth. "...aah…"
"Is, uh… is this common occurrence around with you people, or…?" Freddy asked. He'd been standing in the corner so quietly, no one really remembered he was there, nor that he'd joined the party two days ago. He'd been a little nervous about traveling to another Land, but he did so after talking about it and saying bye to his mum.
"Whoa, is it getting hot in here? This is just like a dating sim!" Neptune teased, watching IF gleefully.
IF quickly swallowed the chunk of pudding in her mouth and stammered, "Wh-what?! I-I'm only complying because refusing Lady Vert would be rude…"
Cameron shot Freddy a look that said quite plainly, 'More or less.'
"Oh, speaking of, Vert? You came all the way down, so how's about joining us?" Neptune asked.
"Well, of course, being twisted on Cameron and Iffy's little fingers, I would be happy to join." Vert agreed with a smile.
"Well, then we got another camper in this roller coaster we call a story." Cameron stated, rolling his eyes with a smirk.
And thus, Vert officially stayed with the party, as did Freddy.
Only one more Land was ahead of our heroes now: Lowee.
What sort of adventure would they have once they got there?
Only time would tell…
Annnnd that's that!
(This was a very good chapter, Butter. And nice job describing my HDD form.)
No problem Vert. Least I could do with you literally staring at the screen over my shoulder.
(You were typing, were you not?)
I wasn't complaining. After all, I think I recall MAYBE once these two looking at the work while it was half-done. At least YOU stuck through with me till the end on this one.
(Well, I didn't help much because I wasn't in this chapter. I'm not in any anymore until at least a few more chapters later.)
(And I had important business downstairs! Very top secret!)
Heads up Neptune: make sure you actually close OUT of Netflix once you're done. I know that you were binging RWBY and Sword Art Online.
(Wh-what?! Bu-but I logged out AND wiped my history! I think…!)
Aaand there's your problem.
Anyway readers, I hope you enjoyed! This chapter was a little bit longer than the last one, because I've been gone for so long. I think this is kinda my normal upload speed now. Before, I was cranking them out every week or something like. Then I actually started getting more into the writing, taking more time to develop things, actually using words other than 'said,' you know? It's that old saying, 'quality over quantity.'
I COULD publish fast, at the cost of really bad grammar, underdeveloped characters, and other things, so I'm just gonna say I'm making a good call as-is.
As always, if you have any questions for me, or the goddesses for that matter, be sure to PM me and we'll answer. Until next time, readers, stay awesome.