AN: Howdy everyone. It's been a while since I posted two chapters in one month. I guess being jobless allows me to write more ahahahahah!...
Kill me already...
Anyway, with this chapter, I'll be happy to say that we're now reached the 3/5 of the story! I think I will focus on the plot in this story, and perphas the next story will be a slice of life between Histy x Nep or... A new couple that I am enjoying watching on NepEHMYoutube. Which one, I will not say XP
The only lead will be: their clothes are in contrast in terms of color. And they are of the Neptunia series.
Moving on with the reviews!
Authoria - The Heart: Thanks to your review, I was able to give a bit more extension to this chapter, I hope it will be of your liking.
I still have a lot to improve, but I will do my best!
Jerzu: Yes, IF to my opinion is always the one who strike right to the core. And thanks for your concern, I appreciate it.
Archaeologist of Humanity: Your praiers had been answered!
Hellscythe007: thanks. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and let's reach 3 or more reviews!
A special thanks to Ghost132 for betareading this chapter.
Cap 25: Photos
It was snowing in the Lowee nation. Small white flakes were falling from the sky, covering the land in white, as quietude ruled over. Thus, the title of the Land of White Serenity. The center of the capital was made with buildings that were based on the Edo era, while the periphery with mushrooms building. It was quite bizarre to see. But alas, our attention will be not about the city. No...
Our attention will fall on a small forest on the tallest mountain in the nation. A single girl was walking in the middle of it, struggling a bit to walk on the snowy field, plus the fact she was actually climbing. This girl was the one we already saw many times in this story: it was the black-purple parka dressed girl. As she gripped a branch as a support for walking, she monologues.
"Tell me, why do we have to walk?! I mean, we have magic on our side, we could have just used that teleportation spell, and yet why don't you want to use it?! You're a bore..."
As she continued to walk on, once she reached what it seemed like a shinto temple entrance covered by the snow, she said.
"... Because the mascot will trigger some kind of alarm if you're in control uh? Makes sense... Well, leave it to lil' old me then!"
Taking a deep breath as she regained a bit from the fatigue gained by climbing that mountain, she walked towards a miniature temple. Inside of it, there was a white disc floating while radiating a feeble light. As she approached, the disc's light became a bit stronger.
"Who's there?"
So it was awake uh? Well, no matter, why not greet it normally? Saluting with a hand, and using a friendly tone she greeted.
"Yahalloooo! 'Been a while!"
"... That voice... It feels familiar... Yet, older..."
So the disc remembers well, otherwise it wouldn't have said those words. With a small smile she admitted.
"Well... What would you say if I do this?"
Bringing her hands over her hood, she lowered it, revealing so her face. If the disc had a face, it would have been surprised or even shocked.
"That face...! How could this be possible?! You shouldn't-"
"Actually it's possible if you forfeit your role."
"I see... When did this happen?"
... It seems that the mascot was thinking of the present one. Sighing, she revealed.
"... I'm from the future."
"From... The future?... Knowing you from what Milady say, it wouldn't be so strange."
Now she was the one who was surprised. She wouldn't have expected the mascot believing her! Raising an eyebrow she admitted.
"I'm actually surprised that you're not going to say you don't believe me."
"Because Milady trusts you more than anyone else, thanks to your honesty."
At those words she made a saddened expression. It hurted her that she was doing this to one of her old friends but... She came too far. There was no way she, no... They could back down from their own plan. They were now near to complete that stage, because as soon they will progress, the final stage will begin and then... The Three of them will become One. And that CPU will be not able to stop them when the time will come...
Taking a deep breath, she said.
"... I see. Listen, I need your help, for the Back Up."
"... The Back Up? How do you know about it?"
"Well... I revisited Celestia's ruined Basilicom. In that place I found out a lot of information. Information that the True Goddess never told us when we were born."
"... Understood. If you know that much, then something bad happened to the Tome. But... I can't leave this place. Without me, Lowee will lose it's protection from being rampaged by monsters."
"That will not be a problem. I got the perfect replacement here!"
Taking out from a identical Disc from her Dimensional Storage, she showed it to the mascot.
"That disc... I can clearly say it has the same functions as me, except for the Back Up."
"Bingo! I am amazing after all!"
"Still..."
The mascot "looked" at the girl for a moment intensively. How could she be able to replicate a mascot? Only the True Goddess could do that. Somewhat, this was fishy... And yet, the mascot couldn't deny a urgent request as that and the fact that she went even to create a good replacement. And so it said.
"Very well. I shall aid you in the Back Up. But first you will need the other 3 Mascots you know? And I don't even know if they are awake..."
"Don't worry about it! I'm sure they will help out!"
Without adding any more words, the Mascot let itself to be replaced by the copy disc. Once it got secured inside a capsule (according to her to protect it in case something bad happen), and later being stored in the girl's Dimensional Storage, she said to herself.
"It was easy then we thought... C'mon, let's go to Leanbox. I got the feeling IF will have troubles in Leanbox..."
With that said, her whole body disappeared into nothing, leaving no trace of herself behind, since the snow that was falling was covering up everything.
.
In Planeptune's Basilicom, meanwhile, a certain CPU was struggling with the storage room of her own house. Yes, even Purple Heart had to clean, or at least, to tidy up the room. Or otherwise it would have been impossible to take something stored when in need. Why in her CPU form though? Because she couldn't reach the higher shelves.
"Urgh... It feels like no one came here for years! It's so dusty! I'm suffocating here..."
With all honesty, Purple Heart wanted to use Mr. Guard to help her out, but strangely enough, he wasn't was her at his home, nor at the Guild (every now and then he helped the Guild out). And no one heard of him in 3 days... Don't worry, she already requested to the Guild to search him. Still... Why did he vanish like that? Knowing for how serious he was, he should have at least warned them if he was leaving for more than a day. But this... Something must have happened to him.
As Purple Heart wondered about what happened to the guard, by mistake she made a false move, letting various boxes to fall on her.
Of course, it was needless to say that Purple Heart got out without any wounds , thanks to her Divine Protection, but this doesn't mean that dust couldn't enter her eyes.
"Ack! It stings! I need to go to the bathroom and wash my face..."
Trying using the wall, and her memories of how her house was difficult, she tried to walk towards the bathroom, hitting her legs on some furniture every now and then. She recognized the location of the bathroom thanks to the sound of water being used. Someone was in the bathroom taking a shower. Maybe it was Nepgear getting ready to go out with her friends... So there wasn't any problem entering the bathroom. After all they were sibling, and both of them are females. So no problem, right?
Once in the bathroom, Purple Heart used her hands to locate the sink, and once she did she started to splash some water on her face. And the moment she did, the sound of the shower ceased and the curtains being moved aside. Meaning Nepgear had just finished washing herself.
"Ah sorry Nepgear. I didn't mean to enter here without-"
But it wasn't Nepgear. No. Not in the slightest.
It was Histoire. Neptune was left speechless in her CPU form as she looked at the blonde haired beauty. Her long, blonde hair where pasted on her skin because of the water. Drops of water were falling not only from the tip of her hair, some were slowly sliding over her body, passing in places where goodness dares to say! And what's more, the vapor generated by the hot water used during the shower was hiding a bit the Oracle's body. Her big blue eyes, colored in surprise and shock...
It was... Something indescribable. A strange feeling was rapidly building up in Purple Heart's chest. It was something akin to excitement. No... Something even more than that, since it was like it was about to burst.
And strangely enough, she could taste even iron.
... Iron? Why were her lips tasting like iron? Brining a hand over her mouth, she discovered soon enough it was blood. Well, won't you look at that? She was having a nosebleed from just watching Histoire get out from the shower.
Turning her attention to Histoire, Neptune could clearly see the Oracle's rage about to explode.
"I-I can e-explain-"
*SLAP!*
.
Neptune was sitting on her knees as Histoire, now dressed of course, hearing her lesson of not entering the bath when someone was showering. And she was at it for like, one freaking hour... No wait, it was actually five minutes, but it felt like twelve times what it actually was. Even when she was in her CPU form, she could still feel her legs getting stiff. Let's not forget the slap on her left cheek: it still has a red hand mark on hit for how hard Histoire slapped her, and it still stings a lot.
While lecturing Neptune, Histoire was also treating the CPU's nose, cleaning her face a bit from the trail of blood.
"Seriously Neptune... Why the bath of all places to go and wash your face? I mean, you could have used the sink in the kitchen to wash your face. It was also the closest from where you were..."
... She did raise quite the good point there. Why didn't she go there? Perhaps it was because it was the most logical choice then the bathroom? That must be it!
After a few minutes, Histoire finished the treating as she sighed.
"There, all done. The blood should have stopped. How did you get it anyway?"
At this Purple Heart made a thin line with her lips. It would have been too embarrassing to say that it was because of her! But our protagonist knew how to prevent that! Without lying!
"I... Don't want to talk about it..."
That's right. Better not say it than to reveal something embarrassing. If then someone wants to know at all cost well... That's another matter.
Histoire with a sigh, said with a slight disappointed tone.
"Well, I suppose you wouldn't want to talk about it. I mean, it IS embarrassing getting crushed by a bunch of cardboxes after all."
... Wait what?
"I wonder what everyone would say at -the mighty Purple Heart, crushed by a bunch of cardboxes-. Quite the scoop don't you think?"
Was she...
"... Are you... Making fun of me?"
"Yes dummy, I am."
Dang it! Of course she was! She wasn't never able to keep up with Histoire? It was like her emotions were almost always out of control, especially when she was in her HDD mode.
... Could it be that while in HDD, not only her stats grow, but also her emotions? That... That's impossible, right? Deep breath Neptune, deep breath.
Raising from the ground, Histoire said after sighing.
"Let's go Neptune, to clean up the storage room."
Nodding with her head, Neptune followed her Oracle to the place where she was working earlier. Now that she regained her sight, Purple Heart could see that many items that were stored in the cardboxes were now on the ground, and few of them broken.
"Ah…. Would you look at that... I really messed up there. Don't you think-"
As she turned to Histoire, Neptune saw her on her knees, picking up pieces of what it seemed a very old console, most probably got broke from falling down earlier. What was it again? She... Really didn't have any clue. But judging from the saddened expression on the blonde haired girl, it was something that she held dear, just like that Dogoo doll. Kneeling beside the Oracle, the CPU asked.
"... Was it something you held dear?"
"No... Well, a bit. It was the first console that I used to play with you..."
Uh? The first console they used to play together? Right. The damned amnesia. Heck she really wanted to remember of how she was at playing video games! She was probably bad...
Sometimes she was happy she was an amnesiac, other times she hated it... And this moment was one of those.
"I see... I'm sorry Histoire... Not matter what, but I can't recall anything. Not even a fragment... It's frustrating me to no end."
Histoire flinched a bit at those words. Biting for a moment her lower lip, she said with an apologetic smile.
"It's okay Neptune. They will come... Eventually."
That... Seemed a bit off. Why was that? It was as if Histoire knew something about her memories... Perhaps she wasn't ready to say it, yet. Neptune knew that pressing Histoire on a matter that she disliked to talk about, would have put her in a position that the CPU herself didn't like to see, especially on Histoire. So she decided to let it slide, for now...
Looking then at the broken console, an idea pop up in Purple Heart's head.
"How about this: let's ask Nepgear to repair it! Perhaps the magazine you gave to her as a souvenir could be of use!"
Histoire, hearing at Neptune's propose, with a somewhat annoyed look on her face, she said.
"... Are you implying that it was a useless souvenir?"
Shaking strongly her head, Purple Heart denied.
"Absolutely not! Never said that!... I'll be honest though: it was a weird souvenir for my tastes."
With a sigh Histoire conceded, as she put the pieces of the console into its box.
Once they cleaned together the storage room, putting outside the boxes with the contents broken, Neptune said.
"I'm going to make a call to Nepgear, and ask her if she can repair it."
"Sure."
Then after a few seconds, she admitted with a small smile.
"I kind of wish to play it again... With you."
At that, Neptune stopped in her tracks toward the telephone. Slowly turning around, the CPU remembered something she was into lately whenever she had free time and didn't want to go outside.
"If you want to, there is a video game that can be played by two that Noire gave me... I don't remember when."
Histoire tilted her head to the side at this. What kind of video game would be? But first...
"First, call Nepgear for the console, and second: finish your work."
Of course it would have been like that. Sighing in defeat Purple Heart conceded.
"Yes ma'am..."
.
"Duck Histoire! Duck on the ground!"
Exclaimed Neptune, now in her human form, as she pressed various button on her joystick. Many of you would want to know about the call to Nepgear, right? If not, I will tell you anyway: Nepgear literally exulted in joy, accepting Neptune and Histoire's request with too much joy... Her electronic otaku nature had erupted perhaps? Somewhat, Neptune nor Histoire thought that... More like, her creepy side erupted. But now the damage was done, so Nepgear will work on the broken console, once she returns from Lastation.
Now, back to the present: Neptune and Histoire were playing Rainbow 9. And as Neptune thought earlier, Histoire was a really bad player... Heck she was always killing-
"Ack! A grenade!"
*Histoire headshots Neptune*
-Her. While shooting a flying grenade, and CASUALLY Neptune was behind a wall. Every. Single. Time.
And they did like five match now. And with this friendly fire, Neptune exploded raising her hands violently, letting the joystick fall on her lap.
"Aaaargh enough! This is the fifth time you kill me! Did I do something bad to you?!"
"N-No it's just... In this kind of games I'm not that good... I mean, when I first played video games with you, there weren't this many commands!"
Said Histoire with a tone mixed between being in panic and an apologetic tone. Well... Now that Neptune thought about it, perhaps the game they used to play were quite simple compared to the actual ones.
"Alright, let's stop here for today, before i get killed by you any more..."
"Sure..."
Once Neptune shut down the console, she asked for pure curiosity.
"Say... Did I ever show you my human form before?"
From this she gained a serious and yet dubious look on Histoire's face. No, perhaps those terms were wrong, more like she was forcing herself to remember.
"Mmmh... No. Never. But you told me you had photos of yourself. But you didn't want to show them..."
And then they looked at each other. Both of them having the same thought: the desire to see an old photo of Neptune in her human form. Though most probably it wasn't that different compared to now, since a goddess can't age at all... But it was a curiosity they needed to be satisfied!
Raising from the ground, Neptune said with excitement.
"Then let's go and see! I think I saw an album in my room somewhere..."
With that, she sprinted to her room, searching from top to bottom, in all drawers and in all places that she would have used to hide something, until...
"Found it!"
She took an album that was placed, most probably by mistake, under some clothes in a drawer located inside one of her wardrobe. On its cover it was printed the initial year, which was like 1000 years more or less, until... Five years ago, uh... It seemed her old self didn't like to take many photos. Or perhaps it was too much of a bother? Who cares! Returning to where Histoire was, who was in the middle of putting the pillows they used to sit comfortably on the ground, where they belonged: the sofa.
Sitting on the sofa by jumping with her butt on it, Neptune opened the old album and patting beside her, she said.
"C'mon Histoire! Sit here!"
Histoire did what she was asked, and once she sat beside Neptune, the Oracle started to look at the contents of the album. At first there were only pictures made by painting (an applause to the artists for how well detailed they were!), than with black and white photos and lastly the actual ones. As they progressed, they noticed something about those pictures: Neptune in all of them, was in her HDD form. Raising an eyebrow, Neptune asked.
"What the goodness?! Why couldn't I take even a single photo of my human self!"
"That is... Strange. From what Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart told me, they did took a few photos of their human selves at few events in the past... Wait, I found one!"
With a finger, Histoire pointed at the photo that both her and Neptune were searching, and as soon they saw it...
"Uwaaaa..."
"Uwaaaa..."
Neptune, looking at Histoire, said with a tone worthy of someone who was perplexed.
"I... I heard from you that I worked really hard but... From this picture I can easily say that I was killing myself... I mean, look at my eyes! They're worthy of an undead! And let's talk about the clothes: they are a dark version of the ones I am wearing right now!"
Yes. In the photo, Neptune in her human form was wearing a black-purple parka dress, and she had heavy dark circle, and her skin was really pale and thin... Really, it was awful to see. It hurt even Histoire to see it. Now she understood another reason the Neptune from back then didn't like to show her human form back then... Turning around a few pages moving forward, she saw another picture.
"Hey, I found another photo of you! Here you look a bit more... Healthy."
This time, the photo showed Neptune being less thin than the previous photo, and her clothes changes into the ones she was actually wearing. There was still a trace of her dark circle...
"Oh nice! It seems that from here on, I am becoming healthier and healthier!... Wait a second..."
Taking the album from Histoire's hands, Neptune took the two photos they found about her human form in the past, and checked the retro.
"Yuuuup. There is quiiiite the leap in time between each one of them."
"May I see them?"
Once Neptune gave the photos to Histoire, and soon after she checked the retro herself, she concluded.
"This time-lapse... I met you for the first time a bit after the first photo, while the second photo was taken after we started to work together."
At this Neptune made an obvious conclusion.
"Of course my health would have improved! I mean, it's all thanks to you! As always. Maaaaan I am quite in a deep debt uh... From the very beginning, you're the only reason why I am still around..."
"Neptune..."
Those words made the atmosphere quite awkward between the two girls until Neptune, as she relaxed on the sofa with her back, said.
"Right, after all I-"
"Neptuuuuune! Histoire! I'm home!"
Aaaaand Nepgear ruined the moment, catching Histoire's attention from Neptune's words.
"Welcome back Nepgear. What were you saying Neptune?"
"Nothing..."
Said Neptune with her face totally red, though she tried to hide it behind her hands. She was about to tell her something without thinking. She didn't know if she was grateful to Nepgear, or not.
"I'm here too you know?"
Another voice echoed in the room, catching the attention of both the Planeptune's CPU and Oracle. The voice came right beside Nepgear, a voice everyone knew very well. It was Neptune who revealed the identity of this character.
"Noire?"
Yes, it was our twin-tailed black haired CPU of the Land of Black Regality, Noire. Passing a hand in one of her twin-tail, she said with a serious tone. A tone that Neptune almost never heard from Noire, a tone used only when she needed to talk about something really, really important.
"It's been a while. I need to talk to you."