Ugh. So this took much longer than intended. Why 10k took five-ish months, I dunno. Well, not true, COVID happened, plus quarantine, my mild addiction for Azur Lane and a few other mobile games.
Good news is I have another drabble in the works. Whether or not my attention span lasts long enough to finish it before New Years.. eh. Maybe.
This is a continuation of To Triump Goes and features an uncomfortable scene in the beginning, plus some very unchildlike behavior from our dear protagonist. It's a little bit darker, but nothing too overbearing just yet.
Happy Holidays! And I do hope the rest of the year and next goes well.
Oh and if anything looks funky. Blame the site's formatting, it has gotten weird. Doesn't help that the app isn't helping with it either, so yay.
Posted: 12/24/20
Another crack echoes throughout the room and Neptune can't help but wince as she sees the small body meet the floor again. The sights and sounds go on like clockwork, again and again the cycle repeats.
She didn't really think of the consequences before coming here. Sneaking all the way to Lastation to catch a glimpse of Black.
Only, instead of finding her buddy alone and talkable, the goddess ends up seeing a training session that's taken waaaay too much time. A constant replay of Black being beaten.
Purple hates it more than she hates most things.
But Black doesn't relent after over a dozen losses: she gets up again, picks the sword from the cold tile and retakes her stance once more. Her instructor is stone-faced with each attempt, a mortal man that cares little for the literal deity standing before him. She can't stomach him being around her. In fact, she feels as much distaste towards this ass to the girl that played with Black that one time.
Which is a lot. But what can Neptune do here? She isn't supposed to be here in the first place, none of them even know she's here and watching this so-called training session unravel. No, she's just a spectator to this and that's what bothers her so much.
"What are you planning to do with that thing?" He says as Black gasps for air. "Fight? You'll get yourself killed by doing this. The other CPUs are stronger than you, but look at yourself."
Neptune grips her parka at his words, though her partner makes no such show of emotion. She's blank, standing up again and pointing the thick sword back at her opponent and barely able to breathe.
"You're absolutely hopeless."
She isn't. She really isn't, Purple wants to scream, wants to shake the man who dares to look down on her partner, her Snowy.
He keeps talking, "I don't see what the nation sees in you. What Lastation, the rest of the organization or what this goddamned church sees. At the end of the day it doesn't change reality that we were saddled with a mons—"
"Enough, Zachariah." Neptune and the mortal jump at the sudden interruption. Both of them too caught in the string of words that was about to be said.
Just as an auburn-haired woman walks out of the shadows — which is a scarily impressive feat seeing as Nep didn't even notice her enter the room — Black makes her move. With a grace and speed out of place for such a bulky blade, her bunny lands a hit on the unsuspecting jerk. He curses, dropping his sword to tend to his bleeding wrist as the lady steps in between them.
"Corazón, I meant yourself as well."
Black looks away, finally showing signs of her frustration with a frown.
The man glares at the woman, gripping his wound with a faint hiss in his tone. "You see what I have to deal with, Freya?"
The titled Freya, who Neptune has long since decided is leagues better than this Zachariah dude, rolls her eyes. "No, not really. Seeing as you were bullying our little god, I don't see what your deal is."
"You are aware of what you're doing here, right? Belittling the one who's going to lead Lastation in the future will only cause more trouble for us."
Zachariah grit his teeth, "She's unnatural and you want that thing to represent us?"
Neptune definitely dislikes that guy, nope, nope. If she isn't hiding from them, then the deity would have had a fit at how her friend is being treated and in her Basilicom no less!
"That thing is listening to you right now and is friends with your daughter. She is the only CPU we have and I advise you to conduct yourself professionally from this point on, your grudges have no place here, am I understood?"
His.. daughter? The baby goddess mulls over Freya's words, blandly noting the resemblance between this guy and Black's friend. All this means is trouble.
That little girl would have to pick that jerk of a father or Purple's bunny rabbit. And if she chose her dad…
Well, Neptune hopes the two of them would get to meet if she made the wrong choice, then there'd be a good couple of words she'd tell the human before getting rid of her. Snowy doesn't need to have false friendlies, all she needs is an awesome Nep and maybe even the other CPUs as her buddies — mortals could stuff it for all they care. This place isn't meant for someone as fluffy as Black Heart.
He snarls at the woman, "Do you think I want her near my child? If it were up to me, they wouldn't have met; I came here because I am the best swordsman this nation has now. Had I known our supposed leader was this thing then I'd never have come."
"So, treason then?"
Ooof. This is not the conversation Purple thought she would see.
She's heard rumors of the discourse swirling around Lastation's basilicom and it's obvious not even Black is being spared.
No, that's not right.. It seems like a big part of it is Black herself, though Neptune doubts she had a huge hand in this man's negative attitude.
Black tries too hard to ever wanna cause this to happen. So, what was up?
"You do realize all that you're showing is how weak our church is to the others by acting so weak? Rejecting the god that has been given to us to raise and acting in such an uncouth manner could get you executed."
At least Freya doesn't seem susceptible to whatever the heck has Zachariah jerk treating Black so rudely. So Nep knows she can trust this lady just a tiny bit, but the rest of the church is a major unknown in her sneaking and peeking operations. Protecting her buddy is key. Purple doesn't plan on sleeping easy with this happening.
But the guy is the stubborn type too. "And you smothering her doesn't put much confidence in your abilities, Freya. You're damn too attached to her."
Freya just rolls her eyes. "It's called loyalty, Zachariah, and it would be smart if you learned it."
She turns back to Black, her gaze softening in no time flat. "Now, I believe it would be best for you to return your room, no? Would you want a lift to your quarters then, corazón?"
Her half says nothing, simply nodding as the woman takes her into her arms. It's actually kinda cute, seeing her partner being carried around that way. In the future, Purple's gonna do that too!
Nep would need to work on her arms before any of that could happen, though. That shouldn't be too hard for someone as great as her, a little bit of training is nothing for this goddess. And then she'd really surprise Black Heart too.
She gives one last scathing look at the dumb mortal before trotting after the pair.
And by the time Neptune catches up to them, Black seems to have gotten into a more talkative mood.
"I can't stand him." She can hear her sniffle.
"I know."
"He's mean and he never says anything nice to me."
"I know that, corazón."
"He might be Valent's father, but I hate him. I really, really hate him." She whispers and that's totally justified after seeing how that guy treats her. It's a crime to have someone so nasty be around Black!
The woman lets out a hum, running a hand through short silvery-white hair. "And you're allowed to do so, just remember that he is your trainer and is capable of dealing a great deal more pain toward you. Be more cautious, okay?"
She sounds like a nice lady, gentle and calming to what has to be another stupid part of Black's life in her church. It's good that her buddy has someone like her around, from what she heard from that jerk, Black doesn't seem to be appreciated by a lot of people and Nep is not impressed.
Just thinking about him shouting at her partner makes her wanna wreck his ugly mug. A good CPU doesn't let nobodies talk to her people so rudely!
But at least this Freya is on her side, Neptune would spare her, just to ensure Snowy isn't surrounded by sharks or other skeevy mortals. Though, she is going to have to think of a few ways to make sure what she saw earlier doesn't ever repeat.
"I'm afraid this environment isn't suited for a god, but please try your best to make do, okay? You can't do much against the others, despite your status, so please temper yourself until then."
Black scowls at the thought. "He might try and kill me."
Which by the way only rankles at Purple's control. Somehow, this guy is rising higher and higher on her list.
"Then strike him down before he could do such a thing. Always remember that your life outweighs us all here at the Basilicom, never forget that fact, understood? Protect yourself, I know you dislike the concept, but please keep that in mind." And that officially cements her in the good books thus far while also getting Neptune even more worried for her friend.
Ouch, though. Purple hadn't been aware the situation in Lastation is this bad. She knows discourse and divisions happsn in the church, but not to the degree where they actually advocate the potential death of another member.
It makes a girl wanna kidnap her half before any more harm could be done.
Obvious crazy talk, but only for the time being! She's gonna have to scrounge around to find avenues around Black's current predicament without alerting everyone to her plans, not that she has anything that good stockpiled up yet.
If Purple had known she'd haveta deal with some of the lousy mortals taking care of Black, there would be more pudding in her inventory to offer her cloudy-haired friend.
Sweets always make things better. And pudding is one of the kings of sweets, no, not just royalty, but a god even!
Black enjoys chocolate, though, she isn't completely sure if that'll be enough after today.
A good pick-me-up needs impact after all. Like a head pat after a long study session or a nice snuggle after a couple days in Celestia or one of those just heartstopping shy looks that sometimes grace Snowy's pretty pale face. Those are just the best, ya' know? And her Black needs the very best after that cruddy mentor of hers decided help his stupid self into ruining the day for them.
He's going on her no-good list and when they meet outside of the Basilicom, that jerk would come to understand why bullying her friend is a mistake he never should have made.
Heck, if you add the looks of distaste and other crummy emotions pointed at Snowy, there would be a lot of people paying the piper and what better way to cement their relationship? Purple would happily get rid of these ungrateful mortals for her!
Not that they're gonna last, anyways.
And if they do, well, then she's gonna have a nice long chat on proper worship with them.
"I'm going to discuss Zachariah's treatment of you with the others, okay? Do your best to make yourself scarce in your room until things cool down."
"'mkay, I'll keep out of the way." Black's really subdued in this place. Like, really, really subdued and Neptune can't say that she enjoys how quiet and, uh, painstakingly accepting she is to the stuff happening around her
The pair's quick in getting to Snowy's room, a fact that makes it a tiny bit hard for her to keep up with the long strides of this Freya lady, but it isn't impossible either. One day she's gonna have long legs and walk fast too, just you wait, and so will her friends too. Eventually she's gonna have to befriend the other two, but the most important person comes first.
Herself, of course, and then Black.
And speaking of her lil' earless bunny, sneaking into her room is a piece of pudding! She's been told that it's technically cake, but while she does dig cake, pudding is so much better.
Her room's pretty bare, though, as in not a lot of stuff except for the basics, this weird lookin' stringy thing, a few stuff toys, a set of dolls that looks similar to Purple and the other two, a cart with some munchies on it, weapons on the walls annnnnd a big closet.
Not a very colorful place and the bed doesn't even sink in when Freya sets Black on it. It definitely needs some redecorating. Way too much blacks and greys and other dark hues.
Freya talks to her a bit more, patting her on the head, asking some weird questions about any pain or discomfort and after one last piece of advice for Black to sleep and explore elsewhere for the rest of the week, she leaves. And by then Neptune has a lot more questions than she does answers.
They aren't a huge deal. She'd figure out what's going on eventually, but her priority now is Snowy.
She's just… staring at the floor with empty eyes. Any spark of stubborness and bluster having gone completely dim in the span of minutes.
Black doesn't make a noise. It's uncomfortable to have to watch the person she'd seen so pleased and full of fire and life just.. flicker out without less than a handful of hours. Sure, they've barely been friends for a year, but Purple doesn't like this.
So, obviously, she goes for a hug.
It barely elicits a reaction out of her, a far cry from Snowy's usual jumpiness from any sudden physical contact. She doesn't move, doesn't even protest at being touched.
...this is the worst. If she hated the mortals here before, now she really wants to give 'em a good pummeling.
They did this, they were the ones to get rid of her half's happiness here. The Basilicom, the church is supposed to be a CPU's home, a place of safety where they can rest and relax and not have to worry about the crazies outside. Instead, a bunch of those people made it the complete opposite for Black and Purple didn't even know about this happening before now!
She takes a deep breath, tightening her hold on Black.
Neptune isn't pleased with this situation at all. Not when she's just a dumb bystander, a goddess should be able to stop mortals from badmouthing and glaring at their fellows. Instead, all she can do is comfort her partner. If it's even working.
What else can she do?
"I'm sorry, Black."
She doesn't know how long the hug lasts. Nobody else comes to check on her buddy in the time frame, but given the shouting she can just barely hear, there's a good reason for that.
Besides, if a jerk did come in, Neptune would have stabbed 'em. Probably wouldn't get Black in a good mood either, but sometimes you have to be selfish to get things done, especially when said things consisted of smacking some church members around.
So, they snuggle till she gets hungry. Thankfully, the cart thing with food is there, but it doesn't mean she's too pleased with what she knows. You aren't supposed to just leave a kid for hours on end with food like, like she's kind of pet. Black would make an adorable bunny rabbit, yeah, but she's a CPU. A goddess.
You know, that super central person that people need to lead and protect them? Why would anyone ever do this?
It's just so dumb. They're so dumb. How can Black just live with these guys?
The more she thinks about the logistics of this place, the angrier she gets. No wonder Black has so much patience, you need it in a contradictory church like this one.
How could anyone live in such a place? Why would someone submit another person to have to go about their day surrounded by glares and hateful whispers and not help them? The darker deity was so different, so vibrant and living and she shone with light and strength and that isn't what she saw here. And she hates it. Hates the people at fault.
Rage is an unfamiliar sensation. The feel of her skin heating up, a shot of adrenaline in her blood causing tremors to plague her limbs, senses sharpening enough to hear Black's steady heartbeat. She never needed it before meeting the others.
Her Basilicom sated every want and desire she could think of and even in the times where they refused, she could always work towards getting it herself. That isn't the case here.
It's, it's maddening. The thought, the concept of a mortal actively seeking to hurt her Snowy and the reality that it's been happening and would remain that way stabs at her pride. Fury would have easily overthrown her control if not for Black's own unresponsive presence. Going on a rampage wouldn't help her, not yet.
She needs to wait. Has to keep holding her breath and entrusting her little deity to the world's caustic gasp while trying to maneuver to alter the strings into her encompassing hands.
Plans upon plans. She's shifting everything for this, for her and it's worth it.
Nobody's inspired this much umph in her before and the wave of loathing and fondness only confirms Black's special status to her. Yes, they had that before too, but it wasn't as concrete and serious in taure.
This problem needs the best solution.
Blood preferably, but she could go for everyone at fault burning and Black rebuilding without an ounce of ill will. That'd make her day, it'd make her year.
Still, the people, the stupid mortals who hurt her rabbit would get theirs. A suitable punishment for a group of heretics and she'd gleefully strike them down when the time comes. They'd get their just desserts and finally meet their maker.
Now, how to put together something satisfying enough that'd last long while for a fragile being?
Poke, poke.
Purple jerks back just a tiny bit at the fingers nearly jabbing her eyes out. She may have also yelped as well, but nobody needs to know about that.
"You were zoning out."
Okay, that deserves some sputtering. "Huh? No, I wasn't! I was waiting for you to stop blanking out first and giving you a well-deserved hug." She glances at Black, instantly noticing that her bunny rabbit is still looking not so great. "..Are you gonna be alright, though, Snowy?"
Black's frown deepens, a sight that gets her insides twisted up even more. "Yeah, probably. When did you get in here, Purple?"
"Uhhhh." Since the dojo training thing, but saying that isn't what her buddy needs right now. "For a while now? You looked glum, heck, you still look down and out of it right now. It bothers me that I couldn't help you."
At the same time, Black definitely feels embarrassed with being seen in her previous state too, doesn't she?
Neptune knows her all too well to understand that. Pride is something all of the goddesses have and while the darker deity withheld most of her emotions outside of the usual range of annoyed, flustered and so forth, she undoubtedly basked in the small accomplishments and even preened when she thinks Nep isn't looking at her.
It's what makes her so cute. Besides, those moments never get Black sad.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see me acting like that."
She boops her on the nose, taking Black aback. "No, uh, apolo-gizing. I just want to beat the life out of those who got you to do it. Now that I know you blank out, I'll do my best to accommodate you as any proper CPU and friend would. Trust me on that."
Unsurprisingly, Snowy doesn't seem too convinced with her words. Which is fine! Words don't mean as much as actions and Purple Heart at her core is a girl of action through and through. It's why she represents War and the others, well, not so much. She's on a roll with securing faith from her too, so no biggie.
Time to do some distracting. And also get some more info to cool her still semi-angry brain off with cute little parts of Black's life in this place.
You know, something to keep Black unaware of her intentions to utterly wreck some people.
"Sooooo, what's that string thingy?" She points at the.. maybe instrument a few steps away from the windows.
"That's a harp. Israfil teaches me how to play it along with others. I would rather have something in my hands when its quiet, so tuning or playing piece is calming."
"Oooh, that's why you're always doing something in Celestia." Her head dips against Black's shoulder as they sit on the bed, the latter taking quick bites of pastries after she took some pill in a medication bottle on the cart.
She doesn't ask about it. Possibly there's a connection to that Freya's question about pain? But that's a steep fall to interrogate her about, medical stuff — despite that being a super successful part of Planeptune — is kinda too complicated for her brain right now. The violet deity knows some healing, but she'd need to know more to go any further.
Another thing to do later. Black comes first, of course.
"I dabble in playing piano. The church wanted to teach me the arts and I chose that one, maybe we can play together?"
"You with the piano and me with one of the instruments I know? That sounds fun." Yessss.
Hahaha, another playdate is now in the works. "We could even invite the other two to make it a full set. Oh! I know, a barbershop quartet."
"Do you even know what that is?"
"Nope. I know that quartet is four and they're generally involved in music or something."
Black massages the bridge of her nose, sighing. "They're singers and they don't use instruments."
"Ahh. Okay. Then just a quartet. How many things can you play?" There had to be a lot she was talented in, Snowy just had that feel.
"More than five. Harp, zither, a few lute variations with a guitar being one of them, guqin and that is the most I can remember. I don't care much for violins, though. The hardest part is memorizing the notes and the proper method of holding each one of them."
She gasps. "Maybe you have magic hands then. Or, or magic fingers."
A little bit of more the grump in Black finally makes an appearance as the cloud-haired deity rolls her eyes. "I don't know why, but something tells me that isn't how those words are used, Purple."
"Pssh, like it matters. I have the power of goddesses and a—!"
Black is covering her mouth in a flash before she can even finish saying 'anime'. "Shhh, you can't just yell. They'll find out you're here and you technically snuck into a different Basilicom and you end up getting kicked out of here and raising the security while you're at it."
Purple tries desperately to ignore the urge to lick the hand, mostly out of courtesy for her fluffy Snowy, she succeeds and decides on talking just above a whisper. "Fiiiiine."
On one hand, top tier sneak skill and on the other, Black Heart getting in trouble again by some jerkbag. It's pretty obvious what she goes with.
She is but a loyal Nep in a grass of venomous snakes.
Speaking of which.. "Do ya' think you could make a good snake? I think so. One of those lucky white snakes with their pure snow-colored scales suits you a lot, not entirely sure if the whole red eyes would be okay, though." That'd make Snowy one of those al, albino snakes, right? She'd look super cute as one, being all bite-y and liking being warm.
The befuddlement on Black's face is totally worth learning the word in the first place and it even distracts her from her crummy church. Only the best of the best can get people's minds off of the dark and heavy stuff.
"What are you even talking about?"
"Sneks. The classic danger noodle. Those cuties with a doggo like mouth that can swallow people whole, poison a whole town and even as-phix-iate people to the great beyond." Also known as death, 'cause not everyone can survive somethin' choking you.
Black looks even more thrown off by her. "Wha– why do you do these things, Purple?"
She shrugs, taking a seat on the edge of the not so soft bed. "I prefer seeing all the faces you make. Much better than that blank face you had on before."
And her friend looks at her, back to the floor and lets out a heavy sigh before just rubs her face in what seems to be frustration. "I don't wanna know how you saw that. Just don't get caught. I don't want you to get in trouble, so just keep doing what you're doing to not get noticed, it's not like I can feel you watching every time you do this. And if I can't feel you out, it's impossible that they would."
Aww, she's worried about her. "Fear not, as long as I'm super extra careful, no mortal shall see me. I'd really hate it if you got into hurt because of those dumb human too. Is that one guy the reason why you don't wanna spar in Celestia?"
"Sorta. You remember me using the uchigatana before, right?" Nep nods, easily thinking back on the first time they took a nap and cuddled together. "Well, he's not my teacher for that. My original one got in a disagreement with the guard and left, so now I'm stuck with a greatsword."
How interesting. "I wanna fight you with them both. Do ya' mind?"
Thankfully, Snowy doesn't seem to. She just gives her a not so crooked smile and goes with it. "Yeah, sure. You'll be my first sparring partner after Valent and him. You mind if I use any other weapon? I kinda wanna learn how to use something that isn't a sword. Variety and all that."
Purple very carefully doesn't say a peep about the mortal girl and her father, if only not to drag her partner's mood any further down. "Sure! It'll be our own little thing just between the two of us!"
Yup, she is not at all takin' advantage of wanting to spend more time with her. Nope. This is pure, unfiltered friendship here. Nothing suspicious here.
"I'm thinking of using a gun or a bow. None of us four use anything long-ranged outside of magic, so I just wanted to try it out and get a feel for it, either one sounds enjoyable to build too." Oooh, so Black is into making things? That's definitely important.
Enter stage right Neptune. "You could come to my church for that! I don't use a gun much, but we do have a gun range."
"Uh. Speaking of that, You won't get in trouble for disappearing from your Basilicom, will you?"
"Pffft, of course not. They let me do what I want whenever I want, I'm the boss after all and them bowing to my will is 'cause they know the decisions I make are the best for 'em!"
"What if you make a mistake?"
Neptune grins, "Well, then I have you to help me. I dunno what kinda kool aid some of your staff are drinkin', but they're really missing out by being so mean to you; humans should be thankful for all the stuff we provide and instead they're huge jerks."
Black, though, practically wilts at her words, almost as though she's withdrawing into a shell of shame. "Oh. So, you were there earlier too.."
"They shouldn't be lookin' at you with their ugly eyes. You deserve the very best for trying so hard! And that rude guy shouldn't have been calling you a thing either, you're a goddess, an immortal who's in charge of the place and he still decides on, on just treating you like you're scum beneath his shoe! He's the scum here!" It's just so frustrating to only be able to see what was going down in Lastation's church and not be able to do a thing about it.
Her half, her soft cloud-colored Snowy is stuck here and Purple can't even fix her situation.
She's gonna rush here when it falls apart for sure, but any action before attending the fallout would be tough, even for her standards. This is an intra-national affair. It'd be a different story if it involved the other nations, but they aren't that incompetent in their backdoor dealings.
Stupid and very rude, yes, but not to the point that snatching victory from these mortals would be unsatisfying.
Purple Heart isn't supposed to be here after all. She wasn't supposed to have seen how Black was being treated, wasn't supposed to be sneaking into Black's bedroom.
This is a monumental mess. One that's obviously gonna grow into a sizable conflict of some kind, but still a Lastationite thing. A foreign ruler can't just barge in and start pulling her weight around without stepping on people's feet, though, she'd approve of stomping on their everything if it were an option.
Nep's not one of those folks who relish hurting people or anything, but she is fond of winning and Black Heart. Hurting the ones who bullied her is a bonus, the sprinkles on ice cream almost. But it's not the warm fuzzy feeling either.
Not the way Black's smiles cause.
Ahhh, what she would give for Snowy to just be happy.
She pats the fluffy mop of hair, using her other hand to tug her partner closer. "Friends don't leave friends in bad places, yeah?"
Black nods, one of those guilty-looking frowns on her face again. Gah, she needs to fix that somehow or else she isn't victorious! "Yeah, but it's not like I can just ditch this place and go with you."
Wait, a sec. "Snowy! You're a genius!"
The look of absolute confusion on the baby goddess' face is equally uplifting. Yes, this is just what the doctor ordered: when in doubt, just swipe your friend from the bad place!
It would totally cause a miiiiinor incident, but Black was told to skedaddle for a while and what a good lil' solution to leave by ditching the place all together and come with her. Totally not a kidnapping since her friend is willing to leave.
"You're crazy, you know that?"
"Pfffft, crazy? Me? Nah, I'm a one-hundred percent bonafide awesome person is all."
Black purses her lips, "You're on the floor, Purple."
And she is indeed on the floor, but to be precise, Neptune and her buddy are in her Basilicom and she had been bested in a spar for the first time in a long time. 'Cause as far as she could remember, Nep's never been so tired and worn and generally in this much ouch before.
Snowy's not to be underestimated, nuh-uh, never gonna happen again. Oof. Her head aches, her chest hurts and her whole body feels like it was tossed around like a hacky-sack in a blender.
Which, by the way, she has never done. Not at all, seriously.
Nep's basically on the mat, trying to mentally debone herself to get rid of the full body ache in her bones. It's not working. She isn't melting into a puddle of unfeeling goo and it sucks. Sparring with her friend is fun, but wow, can she feel her lungs right now.
"Um," Black glances at the staff member in the room, unsure of what to do. "I'm sorry? I shouldn't have pulled all that stuff on you since we were just practicing."
Oh nononono. "You don't need to apolo-gize! I asked for this, all of it and I don't regret a single thing." You have to work for fun things, not everything in life is just handed to you.
Especially when you wanna ride a whale and the whale doesn't want to be ridden.
This is sorta like that. Only, safer because of actual adult supervision and standby medical attention in case of accidents and she didn't sneak out of a beach house to bend a sea creature to her will this time. Nope, no conquering here, instead she got grabbed, flipped and then tossed like pizza dough.
Nothing's broken besides her pride. But, hey, at least it was Black who did it and not some rando.
She's gonna have to train a lot if she doesn't want a repeat of this, though. Purple never saw the chaotically strewn strategy until she actually felt it all over her once unbruised and unbeaten self; this is not at all how she expected her day going.
"I must applaud your usage of the environment, Lady Black Heart." The deity in question instantaneously straightens up at their watcher's praise, quickly turning to properly face him. "Manipulating the mats to the point of tripping your opponent and taking advantage of the lights to momentarily blind her is not a stratagem typically done. You're quite the cunning girl. I'm blessed that my goddess has you."
Neptune preens, or tries her best to do so while still on the floor that is.
He didn't even mention the hair yanking, chest punching and the full body tossing. This guy's the best. Even he can see bits and pieces on why she wants Black to herself. True dedication at its finest.
The jerks in Lastation were just too stupid.
And it's been, what, a day since she managed to sweet talk Snowy into leaving her church for a while? That's some good progress. Everyone should get to see why Black's so great, not just anybody could best her; not even White or Green were able to do that in Celestia.
He continues to round up what he saw, poking at the numerous positives and the sole negative. No shocker, but the latter of the categories had been Nep.
"Your fighting style is very… um," Purple takes a moment to mull over the word, trying to scour her brain for juuuust the right one. "It's very.."
"Ruthless," the staff member suggests.
"Yeah! It's very ruthless, you should be proud, Black. All you do is listen to the rules and then BOOM, you got me. I blame your muscles."
"You do insist on me carrying you." Black says, a tiny smile against her lips.
"You give the best piggyback rides, I don't need my legs or flight with you around."
"Maybe that will help your upper body strength?"
She'll just jolt that down as a mental note for later. There are more pressing matters for her. "Gotcha'. Did fightin' help?"
"Huh?"
"You were super skittish and tense since ya' got here yesterday, always looking over your shoulder and always jumping whether something loud happens." Granted, the latter tends to happen period, but it got a lot more frequent the past twenty-four hours with raised voices.
A scared Black does not inspire the happiest feelings in her.
If anything, she'd prefer banning that.
Anything that gets rid of the happy, beaming smiles Black seldom gave her deserved nothing more than absolute deletion.
"Oh." Her face falls, the inkling of guilt crystal clear. "I'm sorry about that."
"You don't need to ap, apologize!" Ugh, that's such a weird word. "I really worry about you and want the best for you.."
"Ah, right.. I, uh. Mmh." She pauses, looking down Nep, her hand stretching out to her while her face is all crumpled up as if she's got something to say but can't exactly fit it into words. Or maybe she's struggling on said word? "Noire."
Neptune blinks, secretly giving a confuzzled glance to the staff member, who smiles.
"That's my name. Noire."
Oh.
The violet goddess reaches out to the hand, taking it without a moment's hesitation. B– Noire pulls her up and does her hardest to look her in the eye despite being all reddish and flustered. Cute as always.
"Nice ta' meet ya' then, Noire! The name's Neptune and the two of us are gonna be taking this boring little world of ours by storm!" That's a cool and quirky opening line, right?
"Y–Yeah."
She pulls her into a hug, smiling all the more now that she's exchanged names with her and after a lot of months of trying too!
"You're my Noire, you know that? Mine. I'll be doin' my very best to make you the happiest Nowa that ever Nowa'd in this whole wide world."
"Then, um, I guess, you'd be my Neptune."
Aww, now that sounds really nice. Just what the doctor ordered to make her losses worth it! Neptune nuzzles the curve of her neck, marveling at just how more Noire-esque she seemed in her colors instead of that kiddy uniform thing she was stuck with wearing in Lastation.
It isn't anything too regal or comfy, a soft balance between both of their preferences. The fake button-up look with vest only made her even more huggable than usual and it actually fit with her whole image as a future ruler n
A perfect little selection from her and the ever helpful peanut gallery. She fit in her skin a lot more with that on.
Ans for herself? Well, just a normal hoodie combo. Nothing major, but still pretty big difference in their preferences. This is her home after all. No need to push on the manners or anything, comf is essential to happiness and a lack lf clothing complaints. But, she's sorta gone off on a outfit tangent.
There's one little thing that needs to be addressed.
Purple looks at their watcher and using her free hand, she lifts a finger to her lips in warning, eyes telling him what remains unspoken — he says nothing, bows his head and obediently leaves the room and them to themselves. What smart mortals she has.
He, among the many who serve under her, was allowed to bask in Noire's presence, but not in moments like these.
The only worthy person to witness it is Purple Heart and her alone. She's the one who brought her here and she would be the one to see to it that all the cracks in her half would be properly tended to. And Neptune does not make statements of that nature very lightly, baby CPU or not.
She strokes the soft, short silvery-white strands in silence.
They're finally alone and the staff member would be taking what he heard to the grave if she has any say on him. Good, Nep can work with this. Even if Noire has to leave eventually, she's not gonna go back unprepared; there's nothing in the world that'll stop Neptune from protecting her. The oceans, the stars and the sky don't stand a chance against them.
"Noire, say 'aahhhh'!"
"Ahhhh— mmmph." The stubborn girl makes a face at her as she quietly chews the rather plentiful spoonful of curry she gave her.
There might have been a slight chance Neptune had put a bit too much, but it's food and Black has always had a good appreciation of delicacies. Heck, Nep didn't even have to teach her the greatness that is food and the pinnacle of all eatings that pudding resides over. Thank goodness that was nothing like the bed argument they had.
Who knew that a hard mattress had benefits? She didn't at the time, though, Nep will consistently prefer the soft plushy kind. A shame she wasn't able to convert Noire to it, but she didn't want to make too many complaints about her living habits to those jerks in her church.
You know, after she returned to her Basilicom and Neptune snuck in not long to check on her, Black actually had a slap mark on her face. She nearly marched off to shank the chump too!
Only her friend stopped her from doing that and causing an international incident. Also the whole outing the fact that Purple Heart was in Lastation in the first place.
That's why Neptune's doting on Noire now!
It's crucial to pamper her after she's able to leave that place. Sure, Neptune did give her an ice pack and some cuddles before, but that wasn't now and she has to make up for dealing justice where justice is due.
She inwardly scowls at the thought of the man who probably smacked her buddy so hard that it left a mark. Purple is definitely going to give him his surprise too.
Not now, of course, but eventually. Probably when eggplants hit the fan and Last's church really starts to physically fight itself. That's in due time, though. And it's not even the most part of today's to-do list! No, that is Nep herself followed by Noire.
Green and White miiiiight find their way on the list too, since she's putting out some feelers for them too, but first come, first serve!
Besides, it is never not a time to give Black some quality Planeptunian care.
"You gave me too much food, mongrel."
"Awwh, sorry. I just wanted to show you how good food over here is."
Noire's eyebrows crinkled up at her words, a pout quickly forming on her face. "I can feed myself too, you know." Waaaaaah, what's with all the suspicious looks?
"B–But don't you feel all-powerful and mighty when someone feeds you?" Neptune certainly gets a power high whenever someone does that for her. Though, she supposes it'd probably be a nice warm fluffy feeling should Black ever get the urge to wanna do that for her instead. "I just wanna share it!"
Still, she knows it would take a while before Noire fed her anything.
A pity, yes, but she'd get there.
Eventually, anyways.
Her displeasure falters only a slight bit. "Shouldn't you feed yourself, though? We shouldn't be relying on anybody else to do things for us."
Neptune hums at that. Well, now that Noire's said that, convincing her should be easy-peasy. "I'm not talking about reliance, though." Black looks even more confuzzled. "What I'm talking about is basking in how great we are to be fed, a reward that we can sit and relax to."
Never will Purple say Black doesn't need to calm down and unwind. She's perpetually so panicky and working and doesn't seem to want to take breaks. Doesn't help that she's alsp stubborn about it either, so she has to convince her every time.
Or, well, trick her into it. But, that's a bit extreme.
While being all shady does have its perks, Neptune doesn't have it in her to step on the trust Noire gave her; boundaries are something people need to consider in a healthy relationship, at least according to her caretakers. And really, that sort of thing makes sense. Being bitten for over extending her reach also isn't so good of an outcome. Tough luck for her, huh.
"Mmmhm, when you put it that way, I guess I can't argue." Black side-eyes her nonetheless. "Don't expect me to feed you, Neptune, your ego's big enough without me."
"I kind of expected that from the start." Oh well, progress is still good progress.
Purple could just set off another one of plans to replace this one in limbo. It's what you have to deal when trying to unravel the rather literal bundle of nerves and uncertainties that Black tends to embody. How she got the domain of Destruction out the four of them is one of life's mysteries.
She got War, White received Repression and Green had Revelry. They weren't the most positive of concepts, then again, they are fairly young as divinities and would likely acquire more domains with age.
The former goddess — their warily titled mother and creator who apparently went mad a decade or so before their creation — was a good couple centuries old.
So, chances are that they'll live to that age and pass it. None of them are super into going coo-coo anyways, the most they'll have to worry about is cooperation. But if she of all people can tug her buddy into working with her and more, then getting the others shouldn't be that big of an issue. Hopefully. Nep would be okay with fighting if they disagreed.
Huh. Maybe that's why Noire got Destruction?
"Say, do you get any urges or anything?"
"What."
"Liiiiike to use your special skill? You know how I tend to lurk around with a bit of finagling? I don't think I've ever seen use yours in any way, shape or form?" She carefully prods her with another spoonful which Noire silently accepts.
Of course, that meant she took a couple seconds to chew and swallow before responding, but it's not as though she'd get distracted. "I've been using mine fairly often."
Huh? Neptune scrunches up her face, trying to recall that happening.
"You probably didn't notice, then." Noire recounts, slipping off one of her monochrome gloves, the white one to be specific. "I wear these things as a precaution, it won't do much but they act as a decent barrier."
She cocks her head to the side, quietly watching as a mass of darkly-colored sparks begins to caress her partner's small, unassuming fingers. Purple is almost tempted to touch it to see how it feels, but given how stiff Black is holding herself, that won't end well for her. The electricity doesn't seem to want to separate from her either, content with merely dancing against pale skin.
What an odd little ability when compared to her own illusions. Very, uh, innocuous at first glance, but her instincts disahree. Just how much control can Noire extend over it?
"I can see the gears turning in your head."
Lavender falls back to her. "It lets you do that?"
Noire snorts, "No, you mongrel. I was just joking. Don't bother trying to touch my hand right now, either; I don't use this on people, but I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up slowly disintegrating."
"Dis-inte-grating?" She glances at their minder, the one who made them the curry in the first place, still tending at the pot.
The guy pursed his lips, letting a low noise. "Disintegration means to weaken or break up something into smaller pieces, according to what Lady Black Heart said, I'd have to presume that anything that comes into contact with you will be reduced to nothing? Quite the versatile talent to have under wraps in my opinion." Haha, what a good employee of hers.
Sure, that sounds sorta terrifying, but this is Noire, her soft and fluffy Snowy who'd never go about willy-nilly using her power for crazy stuff. Unless she gets something out of it, anyways. Still, glad to know that her people will praise her friend.
Positive reinforcement is a must! Nep has no intention of letting anybody insult and hurt Noire with their words, that's just plain rude.
"That's super cool! Kinda similar to my illusions, only the opposite." Purple nods to herself, yes, that's definitely how it works. It's nice to know that as partners they even have matching abilities with one another. "Is it another reason why you don't fight in Celestia?"
If it wasn't for the occasional spar in her church, Nep would have believed that Black was a pacifistic type of person and shied away from conflicts or whatever.
That is completely wrong.
As in her bruised ribs and the boatload of evidence she has argued against it. Black Heart doesn't pull punches and that's great, seeing as she needs a good sparring partner to really sharpen her skills. Her bones totally suffer from it, but suffering builds character! Probably. Purple has never really suffered in Planeptune.
Shame that the same couldn't be said for her buddy.
"Uh, yeah. I'm not good at manipulating it. If I get too worked up, I end up breaking my weapons." Noire looks down in her lap, a… nameless emotion filling her gaze. "I, I really don't want to do that to someone I care about. So I have to be careful with myself."
Neptune nibbles a bit on her bottom lip, stealing more looks at their overseer as she debates on what to say. "Do your staff members help you out with it?"
"...Freya does. But a few of them don't want to touch me because of it."
More people to add to the hitlist, then.
Geez, you'd think that some people would treat their local deity well. What sort of crud did the parents of these mortals feed their kids? At this rate, Noire is going to have run a recruitment drive when the Lastation Basilicom cleaned house.
More people for Purple to smack around, she supposes. Not too bad a deal. That's basically stress relief, yeah?
So, she does something that's most likely the dumbest thing she's ever done thus far.
Purple tries some good old hand holding with her.
It's a weird sensation. Her fingers aren't numb or doing the disappearing thing the guy said they would, but flow of energy is.. peculiar? Not as strong as she expected, but that could be attributed to Black's own control.
With her Basilicom situation, you'd need a lot of it to not dis-in-te-grate people. Actually, is that one of the reasons why some of those mortals don't shun her? Her domain?
Man, they suck.
Destruction may sound scary, but it's a necessity. Even an immortal of her age can understand that. You needed to destroy before creating, it would be trying to add a house atop of another house without setting up the proper supports or foundation — all you would get from that is a ruined pair of houses that would need to be cleaned up anyways.
Plus, the thing with forest fires. They destroy trees and flora and stuff, but in the desolation, more plants can grow and propagate.
Why hate on someone and something so essential? Ugh.
All the more reason to keep her, to make sure that Noire is by her side and doesn't wanna fight or listen to those people outside of training. She's better off with her. She's not even afraid of her ability, the same trait her buddy holds to her chest when her illusions pop up.
Her hand's still warm too. Not too tough to intertwine their fingers together and let the skittish faux-electricity dance along her skin. It took a second for it to happen, but Black's domain doesn't seem to mind her.
She looks up into wide green-blue eyes, smiling as gently as a Nep can. "See? Nothing wrong here."
It's critical to be gentle with her. Sure, Noire can handle being tried roughly and could return the favor tenfold — the growing number of training sessions between them confirmed it — but Neptune is a gentle soul or sorts. Just not completely, 'cause goddess of war and all that fun stuff. Hurting Black's the last thing she wants in life and the second thing is her happiness.
And that shouldn't be too hard to achieve. Getting her to crack a smile here and there isn't rocket science, though, judging by the faces of the minder and Noire, somehow sneaking out of what comes next will be just as trying.
"You're an idiot. A tried and true idiot above all ages."
"Hey, I'll have you know I'm very intelligent. Everybody loves me for it."
"You can be an idiot while also having intelligence, you fool. First you take me from my church while singing about a 'whole new world' from the top of your lungs as we fly and now you randomly grab my hand while I have the ability that has legitimately reduced several someones into nothingness. You know a lot of words, pronunciations aside, but you seem to be into doing a lot of Stupid things and, on top of that all, worrying me."
"...I worried you?"
"That's the only portion you got?" Ah, yes, the return of the unimpressed face.
Neptune quickly shakes her head. "Nonono. I got everything else, you just, uh, how do I say this without it sounding too much? Ummm, you don't usually mention how you feel to me. Your face or your eyes reflect it and I tend to go with how they seem to be."
"I shouldn't be caught up in my feelings."
"Buuut, if you aren't, how will you get better? When you were bummed out in your room, I tried to do my best go help and even hugged ya for it."
"..I'm still not supposed to be feeling that way, though."
Purple pouts at that, "Then maybe I should grab your hand again."
And her friend's response to it is practically scalding. "I've changed my mind. You're not just an idiot, you're the idiot. The mongrel to rule them all who's going to die amidst her quest because of her monumental Stupidity."
On one hand, it got a reaction out of her and on the other, hearing that feels like a kick to the chest again. Ouch, Noire. Have mercy on your nearest and dearest friend.
To make things stumble even further down the rabbit hole, next the staff member watching them starts.
"While I wouldn't normally agree with such a statement, I can't find any ill will in your words, Lady Black Heart." Their watcher says. "And while I'd hate to end your effective tirade against my goddess' actions, one of my colleagues has requested you in medical."
Ah, wait, nevermind.
Black, on the other hand, tightens up at his words, very unenthused with the prospect for some reason. "I have to go to the hospital?"
"Oh no, not the hospital. Just to the clinic the Basilicom is intertwined with. We've simply came to the realization that we lack any of your medical information and will need to have it to ensure optimal health throughout your time here." Also to check for any lasting damage.
Nep nods. "A check-up basically. And don't worry a thing about 'em, all of the people there are well-trained and won't do anything to you. Plus, they have their patient and doctor con, confident.. confidentiality."
Noire gives her an anxious look, a little thing she's gotta help rectify somehow. So they spend a minute or two eating some more, mostly to Snowy herself, and providing some consolation head pats to boost up her suddenly low self-confidence. Another prospect to poke and prod on, maybe?
One surprisingly hesitant departure later and Purple is left eating alone while the tall guy in the room quietly observes her. Awkward, but she knows what's coming.
"My lady."
"Hmm? What is it?"
He takes a deep breath and then sighs, starting up with the scolding she was expecting a while ago. "While we have been accepting of your choice to entice another goddess, we'd rather you not put yourself second and her first."
"En, entice?" Ergh, she's gonna have to look that word up later, isn't she? Oh well.
"What I mean to say is while we do approve of your decision to befriend Lady Black Heart, we would prefer you stop harming yourself unnecessarily."
Neptune frowns. "She wouldn't hurt me."
"Not on purpose, no. But accidents happened before in the past and the results of such a thing could possibly be irreparable. Have you ever thought of what might happen should you have gotten injured? Can you imagine the sort of anguish she'd be in?"
Ah. Purple didn't even think about that when she grabbed her hand. That's why Black was so shook about it and even called her an idiot, huh.
"Well, yeah, but I won't do it again. Probably. Hopefully… I don't really know, actually."
"Your words aren't at all encouraging my, and by extension, the Basilicom's collective worry."
She scoffs at that, rounding out to finish the rest of the curry. "While I am a CPU, it doesn't mean I can determine the future or whatever. Noire regularly tells me not to make promises I can't keep, not that it stops me from making them and, you know, actually doing them, but still."
"It is good to hear that she's helping with your maturation a bit more." At her disapproving stare, he goes on. "Not that you lack it entirely. This is just a conjecture we've noticed."
"I told you guys that Black's good for me. I'm glad to know that you can see what I saw in her, she's my little bunny and she isn't even afraid of cri-ti-quing my decisions and to top the pudding cake off, Noire is a view to look at too. Just the package I ordered." Her partner, hers and Neptune needed the world to properly get the message. Sure, some heads would roll, but too much was meh.
Her Basilicom would be very concerned too, if they caught wind of her plans and schemes. Then again, they were always worried when violence came in. Something about the war aspect influencing her choices and leading her down a bloody path.
Not gonna happen, though. Probably. She's got Noire now, so maybe that could be dealt with? But, then there's the budding issue of her cravings..
Purple really couldn't be sure. What she does know, on the other hand, is that she's winning. Whether or not this is the whole bout or a measly little firefight aside, Nep has not fallen off the path to victory and boy, is shs happy to hear that. Just a little while longer until the finale.
"Your face tells me a massacre is soon to happen." The dude says, suddenly.
She looks at him, then back to her cleaned bowl on the table. "I'm just pleased with my progression. Events and flags are being hit, Noire's being taken care of, plus me figuring out whatever it is she's taking, Leanbox and Lowee are being prodded, and I've gathered a lot of info on those jerks in Lastation."
"You are welcome for that, ma'am. It was a trying endeavour to garner any knowledge of the eastern nation's guard, but it wasn't an impossible task to undertake."
"Duh. You guys are mine after all, one of the best."
"Then, may I ask why the need to dig so deeply with one of the premier swordsmen on the continent?"
Neptune smiled. A faint sliver of hate escaping her airtight grip in front of one of her trusted people. "He did something he will come to regret. Poorly." She hasn't let it go by the way, the film of her half being beaten by that jerk. "I will of course spare his daughter if she fails to make the very same choices he did." Not that the girl would succeed.
The type of mortals that surrounded goddesses vary, yeah, but there tends to be a consistent thread with them and it isn't hard to figure out which one fit with the blue-haired child she saw a year ago by Noire's side.
"And your Black Heart will be none the wiser to your stratagem too. If we didn't know you, I'd almost be concerned with this behavior." He shrugs, uncaring to victims-to-be.
"We're going to be the best of friends."
His eyebrows twitch. "Isn't that girl she mentioned before the best friend?"
"That Valent girl won't be hers for very long." Not on Purple Heart's watch. "Shouldn't a proper immortal be her closest instead of some finicky human?" Black deserves a gal who could give her everything she needs.
And according to her sneaking records: Valent, the daughter to that jerk Zachariah, has no right to stand beside her Noire. Finicky mortals can shove it.
The man sighs, shaking his head with a rueful smile. "I expect no less from you, my lady." He glances at the clock above the door. "And I believe you should get going, that best friend of yours will probably be more upset with you the longer you aren't there by her side, yes?" The cheeky guy just smiles at her as the realization settles in.
"Oh crap, you're right."
Zenir: Yeah, I'm okay where I am. Managed to get home from abroad before COVID really hit. Mind if I ask what was so confusing about the last chapter? You could DM me for anything specific.