Chapter 45
Compose or Dispose
Minerva
"Ha . . . ha . . ."
I don't know what's louder—the words Sylvie said or the sound of my sister and Ragnor moving out of the scene. It's a shame I couldn't get to talk to my young sister, but with my current state, just trying to convince her it's me won't be easy. But I'm more surprised she's with Ragnor—the same person who attacked us one night and gave us one of the two pendants I have around my neck.
"Dead . . .?" Uni takes a step back.
They're not lying, are they? This whole time—the times I've spent with Sylvie, even if they were just a short while, she means to say that she wasn't alive in during all of those? Of course, I couldn't have known if her hands were warm or cold because of her lacy gloves, but that's normal, isn't it? When I wear those kinds of gloves, it takes a lot of sweat to get those gloves warm.
"You . . . What do you mean?" Nepgear asks. Even she's unsure about it. All of us might be unsure for all I know. I find Blanc's warmth on her hands. She's not my mother, but this always helps me whenever I don't know what to do or feel.
"Want some proof?" With a mix of laughter and a playful tone, Sylvie grabs Nepgear's wrist and places her hand on her chest. It takes a dozen heartbeats before she speaks again. "Do you feel it?"
How does it feel? How is it any different from mine? Although, the heart I have isn't my own. Is it beating the same way as the others? Or is it very different where it's hard to distinguish whether the beat of her heart is being genuine or toying with her? But Sylvie's not one to lie. Not from the many times she'd shown and talked to me. She claimed she knew Maki and was her childhood friend—that was true; she worried about Uni, but she also worried about Maki when he was blaming himself for what happened to her—I'm sure that was also true.
There's no way she'd lie to us now.
It might sound ridiculous after what he and she did just a while ago, but I was too blinded from their acts that I lost trust in them. I've even forgotten how good Maki is at acting, even after he helped me stop my arranged marriage to a prince from a faraway kingdom.
"It's . . . it's beating. It's beating, but it's so slow," Nepgear says.
"Were you always like this?" Uni asks.
"When we stepped into Gamindustri, yes." Sylvie removes Nepgear hands. "None of you would've noticed it, but I thought it was strange that Maki never mentioned anything about our deaths, though."
"But he was skeptical about your appearance during our picnic, no?" Vert asks. "But at that time, we thought he meant that you were not supposed to be here, but rather in your world still."
Our world . . . that's true. Why didn't I notice it sooner? The Silverstem family always traded with the kingdom every new moon during the season of Eclipse. Then they stopped doing it at some point, but I don't remember when it happened. I'm not trying to make an excuse, but maybe it's because I was too preoccupied with convincing my father to stop the wedding that I never noticed.
"That's true. I gave him quite the shock when he saw me, didn't I?" Sylvie says.
"Haha . . . haha . . ."
"But why tell us now?" Noire takes a step forward. "What will you gain by telling us?"
Sylvie shakes her head. "I'm not after anything. I just want you to know. Especially to a certain person with us here." She winks at Blanc's direction, but I'm sure it was directed at me.
Letting go of Blanc's hand, I approach Maki. I want to hear it from him. He never mentioned anything about his hometown before and what his life used to be, but maybe this is a good opportunity to find out. "You knew all along?"
But in response, Maki arcs his back and laughs. He laughs and laughs as though he gained complete control of the whole world. His voice fills the air, petrifying those around him. My heart beats faster. One of my knees touches the ground, but it's not because of the sound of his voice; my entire vision is swarming with monochrome images. None of it makes any sense. My head is tearing her apart, and the pain is so severe that even Rom can feel it.
"It . . . it hurts . . ." She wants to cry out. To Blanc, her twin sister, her friends, but no one can hear her pleas. No one except me.
"Rom, what's wrong?" Compa wraps her arms around me.
"I'm . . . I'm fine." I force a smile and stand up to prove it to her, but it's taking me every ounce of energy to keep myself from fainting. Once she turns away, another sharp sting shoots my head. "What . . . what is this?" I try to make any sense to the images before me, but once the laughter stops, the images also disappear. Face damp with sweat, I murmur an apology to Rom. I never intended to have her experience the same pain as I experienced. "I don't know what happened, but I hope it didn't hurt you too much."
"I hate the pain . . . but I'll be okay."
She's a strong girl. It's very admirable, but my admiration only lasts for a few moments. At that point, Maki is already composing himself, coughing and grunting from displaying such behavior.
"M-Maki?" Nepgear's feet remain planted on the ground.
"Whoa! What's with that freaky laugh? Are you the villain all along? Hey, everyone, I think we jumped straight into the final boss!" Neptune says some more nonsense once again. But I can't disagree with her. He sounds just like that one video game character Neptune showed me one time. It was a weird clown who was obsessed with three statues.
"It's like he's the evil mastermind," Noire says.
"Rom, stay back. He might be dangerous." Blanc pulls on my arm. But my feet refuse to budge. She shakes me with more vigor, but the result is still the same.
"Please forget what you saw," Maki says, using the same tone he uses whenever he gained the privilege to have an audience with my father. "I didn't mean to burst out like that." He faces away from everyone, but I doubt it was because of what he did. Not from how I know him. "Why didn't you find me when you arrived here?"
"We didn't know you were here," Nana says.
Maki nods, raising his arms to the side as though he's beholding us. "Of course. It makes sense that you wouldn't know it was me when you took my order at that restaurant. And of course you wouldn't know it was me after dealing with that bastard who yelled at you. And of course I wouldn't recognize you were that waitress."
Nana opens her mouth but no sound comes out. She bites the bottom part of her lip as she clutches onto Kyle's cloak, refusing to blink.
"You even said so yourself," Maki continues. "You came here much longer than me. You had contact with Sylvie—she told me—and she was the one who found me first. The main reason why I parted ways with Nepgear after meeting with Histoire was that I thought I saw Sylvie. And again, she told me—it was her."
Sylvie and Nana keep their eyes away from his.
"Maki," Compa approaches him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Please, that's enough."
He doesn't brush her hand off, but he turns his head to the side. "Why are you defending them? They captured you."
Why would she defend them? It's not like they're her dear friends. But then again, I don't know if I'll bear to watch anything happen to Sylvie. She's not a terrible person if they get to know her better. How am I supposed to convince them? I'm not trying to tell them to forget what they did, but Sylvie was just trying to stop her friends from doing anything they would regret further. Isn't that why she had Maki and my sister stop them?
Compa answers without a stutter. "They didn't hurt us, and we let them capture us."
"What?!" Maki jolts his body around. "What do you mean? Let them capture you? Don't you know how worried I was when I saw you get eaten by that plant? Why would you agree to such an absurd idea? IF, tell me, did you also know about this?"
She nods. "Yeah. Compa talked me to it. But I want to get this out clear, I don't mind you yelling at me, but you better watch your mouth to Compa."
"Iffy, it's fine."
"No, she's right." But his face becomes flushed with a color almost similar to his hair. He takes a deep breath and gives each other some distance. "Just tell me one thing: why?"
"It's not because I want to defend them. I just don't think you should be mad at your friends."
He flinches and takes another deep breath. "I'm not mad at them." His voice comes out with less strength, as though he gave up trying. "But you—don't get yourself involved in this. It doesn't concern you."
"Hey, I told you not to take your anger out on her!" IF says.
"I'm not angry either." He walks away from the group, his hands on the pockets of his coat. Before anyone can say a word to him, he breaks into a dash. Nepgear and Uni chase after him. Neptune protests at her sister's actions, but Noire says nothing and has her eyes follow them before they disappear along with Maki.
"Ahh, and they're gone." Neptune puts her hands behind her head. "Great. Now we're left with these three."
"No use complaining," Noire tells her. The air sweeps pass through as it fills the area with its whistling. Her mouth keeps going agape but closes not long after. She must want to ask them something, but she might not have the right words. Instead, Vert asks in her stead.
"If it's at all possible, could you tell us the name of the one responsible for those tattoos on your bodies?"
"Tattoos?" Kyle raises an eyebrow.
"Those things." Vert points at the glowing image on his hand. "I can tell you three aren't completely terrible people. If there's anything we can do to help you, you shouldn't hesitate to tell us."
"Are you mocking us?"
She shakes her head. "Not at all." Stepping back, she mumbles something under her breath. I'm closest to her next to Blanc, and I manage to hear what she says, causing a bead of sweat to form on my forehead. "His looks are perfect for a BL game. If I get him to owe me a favor . . . hmhm . . ."
"Why give us concern? Redemption cannot be obtained by mere forgiveness. Even if we apologize wholeheartedly, our deeds are too severe. You need not concern us. Exile us, torture us, throw us to the ocean, send us to a pit of fire—it doesn't matter. But we only ask you to let Maki out of this."
"What makes you think we'll do what you say?" Blanc asks.
"We're only asking," Nana says. "We never said we expected you to. You people with great power will never understand the pain and struggles we lowly peasants have to suffer."
"You can't put us on the same plate as those bastards." Blanc's voice echoes throughout the city.
"What makes you any different?"
"Enough—both of you!" Vert and Kyle chorus.
"I'll ask you again: who gave them to you?" Vert deepens her tone, almost matching the man in front of her. She neither blinks nor looks away. Yet, to her surprise, Kyle nods at her question. Nana remains quiet beside him, but her eyes are looking at somewhere farther away. To the path where Maki, Nepgear, and Uni ran off to.
"You're persistent about this, but I have unfortunate news for you. Neither one of us knows who or what the person looks like. But what we do know is she wears a similar cloak as ours." Kyle crosses his arms. "I'm only telling you this for Maki's safety. Beware if you happen to cross paths with her. There's no telling what she could do."
"We'll keep that in mind, then," Blanc says, returning to her monotonous tone. "But why go for something so extreme just to get Shares? There must be some other energy you could use."
Kyle shakes his head. "We wouldn't have done any of this if that was the case." He takes his giant sword out and places it on the floor. He rummages his small pouch around his belt for something. Nana does the same with her talismans. She takes out a small brush and an ink bottle. How did she manage to keep it safe from the whole fight?
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Maintenance." Kyle pulls out a small yellow cloth and rubs it on the non-sharp side of the blade. "I have no idea how your weapons work, but ours require proper care; otherwise, they'll rust and rot away." He looks at Blanc straight in the eye, keeping his head down. "If you're worried we'll pull a stunt again, you don't need permission to confiscate our belongings. After all, peasants don't have any rights in the presence of people with high authorities."
Blanc growls at him, but she makes no move to do what he says and steps back.
Neptune, on the other hand, looks over from behind Kyle's shoulder. "Aren't you gonna do the same, Sylvia? That shiny bow of yours might go bronze or something."
"No need. My maintenance requires a good workspace. And that's way back in Lastation." She shoots a glare at her. "Also, it's Sylvie. Don't go changing the letters of people's names. That's rude."
"Sorry, sorry~" Neptune apologizes, but the way she sounds when she said that didn't sound genuine at all. Especially with the playful tone she gave.
"In any case, you three committed a huge crime." Noire sharpens her gaze at them. Sylvie, Nana, and Kyle all lower their heads. "But why don't we make a deal?"
The three looks at each other, furrowing their eyebrows as though they heard a language they could not understand. Sylvie returns the stare with one of her own. "A deal? That would be injustice for you and your people."
"Might be," Blanc says, "but we're giving you a chance to let you off the hook. So, will you take it or not?"
Sylvie catches the gazes of Kyle and Nana again before running a finger through her hair. "Tell us."
While Sylvie is discussing with the other CPUs, my focus shifts to the one CPU who shows no interest in the conversation.
"Hey, guy with the big sword!" Neptune waves her hands in front of him. He shows no reaction from her behavior, but a small vein pops on his forehead.
"What is it, CPU of Planeptune?"
"Aw, c'mon. I have a name, you know? Like, it's not that hard to use right? It's Neptune. N-e-p-t-u-n-e!" She flails her arms around as she says. "You and your pals might've messed up half my city, but if you help us fix it, I may be able to forget this ever happened at all."
So lenient, yet so nice. Is she like this to everyone, or is she doing it with a purpose in mind?
Nana puts a hand on Kyle's shoulder. The gesture startles him, but he remains composed and doesn't show it to those around him. Shaking her head, she tells him, "I know how you feel. Really, I do. We both know this. But we shouldn't cause any more trouble to him any more than this. We already failed, okay? You don't have to reject everything they say for our sake."
Kyle releases a heavy sigh. "Very well, then. Just this once, I'll listen to what you have to say."
"Great!" Neptune raises her hands in the air. "Why don't we start by telling us embarrassing stories of Maki when he was a kid?"
He puts a finger on his chin. "When we had school, he gets kicked out of class often."
"What kind of trouble did he cause? If he keeps getting kicked out, he must've been a wild one. Did he embarrass the teacher or something? Or did he cause a scene with his classmates? He did, didn't he? C'mon, tell me. Is it true?"
Kyle grabs a can of spray and adds something to the cloth before rubbing it on the hilt of his sword.
"He did something to the class, didn't he?"
He inspects his sword, shifting the areas where the shine is hitting it.
"Hey!"
~0~0~0~
Maki
"Wait up!" I hear Uni behind me.
"Please come back! Why are you acting like this?" It's Nepgear. She came along as well? I'm trying to gain some space for myself here. Can't they see that?
"Don't run away! It's confusing, we know," Uni says. "but you should try to be calm about it. Believe me, I understand. There was a time where I trusted no one but myself, but now I have Nepgear and the others. She was dumb and awkward when we first met."
"O-oh, c'mon. I've never talked to anyone my age before."
"But she made me realize it! It's okay to lean on your friends. If you want to tell them something, you should tell them exactly."
"Uni . . ."
"I-I just thought I'd tell him what you told me, got it?"
"Roger. Ehehe . . ."
Reaching the first tree where I first met Nepgear, I stop in front of it. The footsteps following behind me also stop. The leaves sway in sync with my breathing. I'm familiar with this scenery, but I'm also quite alien to it. Is it because someone else is here other than Nepgear? I'm not sure.
"Are you two done talking?" I ask. "If so, then leave. I have no energy to talk to any of you." I'm being too harsh on them, but it's necessary. They need to leave, and they need to do it now.
"You should be more grateful to us, you know?" Uni says, her voice growing louder with each word. "We chased after you ran away from them. Just come back with us. They're waiting for us."
"You two head back. I'm staying here."
I place my right hand onto the trunk of the tree, while the other on the left side of my face.
"I'm not planning on doing anything," I continue, "but after what's been going on, I need some room to think." They need to get away; otherwise, 'it' will go out of hand. "I'll come back, mark my word." I heard once from my mother that if I need some room to think for myself, just go back to my place of origin. In this case, my place of origin here is this tree. Right here. The tree where I first met Nepgear.
"I'm not leaving," Nepgear says.
"Why?"
"Should there be a reason why?"
I punch the tree. The pain wraps around my left eye, as though thorns are squeezing it. Although, I'm less worried about handling the pain than having Nepgear and Uni find out what's going on with 'it'.
"What's wrong with you? Nepgear's being nice to you, you know?"
I know, I know. She's right in every regard, but I never mean to make it like I'm angry at them. They just need to leave until 'it' dies down. It shouldn't take that long, but I wish it'd hurry up. It's getting harder to keep myself sane from the pain.
"Nepgear, c'mon. Let's leave him," Uni says.
"But—"
"He doesn't want us here. If he's just going to be a jerk to us, then let's just leave. Sis might get worried. Not like I care, though . . ."
What face is Nepgear making after hearing that from Uni? I'm tempted to know. Just turn my head around and I'll know for sure. But that's not possible. As long as 'it' is active, I can't have them at risk. If I turn around, it's over.
"Okay," Nepgear says with a defeated tone.
Uni whispers behind me. "You owe me one."
"Thanks."
I mean it. I can't thank her enough for this one. If we ever went back to Lastation, I'll cook her that dish she always liked. It's not much, and most won't understand, but this is a big deal for me. Everything counts as long as 'it' is involved.
Nepgear and Uni are gone. That means it's safe for me to lean on the tree. Closing my eyes, I listen to the humming of the breeze around me. The pain is gone, and so does the strength on my feet. I just want to relax here for a while before returning.
"What am I going to do with them?" Sylvie and the others are back there, but I can't waltz in there and act like nothing happened—
Breathing. Behind me. Slow and steady.
"I can hear your breathing. There's no use hiding. Come out of there."
Adjusting his glasses, Ganache steps out behind the tree and stands before me. His face wears a frown, and his glare locks onto mine. "You know, I don't seem to like how sharp your ears are," he says.
"You're the millionth person who mentioned it." What is he doing here in the first place? Isn't he supposed to be in Lastation right now? Or is he having one of those vacation trips again?
"I'm honored, then." He makes a dramatic bow, the corner of his mouth shifting from going down to going up. "I know you must be confused why I'm here—"
"What's the catch?"
The corners of his mouth go back down as he composes himself. "I haven't said anything yet."
"Don't bother." Something like this happened to me before, and to be honest, I'm only experimenting on it on him. There's a fifty-fifty chance he's here for what I think he's going for, or he's here for an entirely different reason. Whatever it is, I don't want to have any of it right now. Not when I finally got 'it' to calm down.
"I'll have to add your keenness to my list of things I hate."
"Funny, I was thinking of putting you into my list of crawlers who are bad at hiding." It's right inside the secret compartment of my coat if anyone is wondering. Yes, it's a legitimate thing. No, they're not all monsters—they're both monsters and people, regardless of race. "Tell me and be done with it. Whatever you're gonna say next, I'm rejecting it."
"Are you certain about that?" This time, his face contorts into a wicked smile. The ones where they gained control over something they've been longing for.
"Intrigue me." I have absolutely no care in the world for whatever he's going to say. Leaning my back more onto the tree's trunk and placing my arms behind my head, still keeping my left eye closed, I motion my chin to have him go on.
"It's about Lady Uni," he says.
I stand up and glare at him.
"Before you get into any wrong ideas, hear me out." He raises his hands in front of him, waving them. "According to a reliable source of mine, Lady Uni has been frantic about the upcoming event. It appears she has an eye to ask someone out on a dance. Makes you curious who this young fellow is, don't you agree?"
What makes him think I care anything about that event he's talking about? Plus it doesn't concern me. Uni has every right and freedom to do whatever she and who she asks for a dance.
"So? What about it?" I shouldn't have any care in the world, but for some reason I want to hear what he has to say.
He narrows his eyes but still maintaining the same smile on his face. "That's all I have to say. My work here is done." He cleans his glasses before turning the other way. But he stops after taking a few steps. "I'll lend you a piece of advice: if you're unsure to attend the event, you might miss out on something valuable." Letting out a soft chuckle, he strides off.
I let out a sigh. "Why should I bother with that event anyway?"
"Bother with what?"
I turn around and slam my fist onto the trunk of the tree. Before the punch connects, I manage to spot who the person is and stop myself from hitting her. Some of its leaves fall, making a bustling sound, and gets on my head and my shoulders. With her back against the tree, her mouth slightly agape, she looks deep into my eyes. Right at this moment, I forget to keep my left eye closed.
"Uni? What are you doing here?"
"G-geez, you scared the heck out of me. What was that for?"
I don't know why, but for some reason I'm captivated by her crimson eyes. It's even clear enough to show my reflection.
"Uni, I—"
"Kabe-don! Kabe-don! Look guys, Uni's getting kabe-donned!" Neptune's laughter fills the air. She has one hand pointing at us, while the other clutching her stomach. "Look, Noire, your sister beat you from getting a kabe-don!"
"I-idiot! Who wants to get kabe-donned, anyway?" Noire's face flushes as she grinds her teeth on Neptune.
Ram laughs and also points at us. "Kabe-don, kabe-don! You two look so stupid!"
"Kabe-don . . . ?" Rom asks Compa beside her.
I don't know what in the deep chambers of Soleil's prison cell they're talking about. But whatever it is, I can't help but want to find a hole and crawl into it. Retreating my hands into my pockets, I stride off back into the direction of Planeptune city. I want to get out of here, and I want out now.
"H-hey, where do you think you're going?" Uni chases after me.
I break into a dash. "Just let me find a hole, woman!"
"H-hole?! Pervert!"
"Context, woman! You're out of context! I mean finding the most rotten soil and digging a hole on it!"
"What are you gonna do with a hole?!"
"Crawl inside it and never come out. Now, stop following me!"
"Maki—hey, Maki, come back here!"
Can't I get a moment's break at all? There've been too many things I had to deal with today. I'm out. I'm out. I'm definitely out. I'm going to find the smallest tea shop around Planeptune and buy every stock they have there, and no one's going to stop me.
Author's Note:
I haven't uploaded for a long time now, huh? To be fair with all of you, I was having troubles with the transitioning. You'll notice that I placed the two MC's names on the beginning. That's a new style I picked up from reading books with multiple perspectives as mine. (The Sun is Also a Star, anyone? Also, I've recently been picking up of Stephanie Garber's series of Caraval; and I've got to say, I love it! I suggest you read it too)
While I have been distracted because of reading, I've also been having issues with university. Especially since the end of the school year is nearing. I don't know if it will affect my upload schedule, but I'll try to upload sooner rather than later.
But what I can say is, I have been writing future chapters in the sidelines, as well as an outline for the whole novel. And I'm happy to say that the outline is complete! There should be little confusion about some stuff now, like if there are some items, characters, and scenes that may look like they were just placed there for no good reason.
In any case, I do apologize with the lack of uploads. This chapter in particular isn't my best, and I can't say I'm 100% satisfied with it, but I've been frantic about this chapter for a long time and didn't want to delay it even further.
This might be a drag at this point, but I wanted to get this out of there. At least to those people who reads Author's notes, anyway. Well then, see you all in the next chapter!
