Chapter 2: Venus

"Am I your WHAT!?" Noire freaked out.

"Are you my big sister!?" the girl repeated.

"I- I- Okay. Do I LOOK like your big sister?"

"Um... I don't know. What does a big sister look like?"

Noire facepalmed. "Really? Did you just, I don't know, call me your big sister because I'm the first person you met?"

"Y-yeah... I just woke up, and felt like I had to find my big sister! Are you... are you not her?"

"No," Noire replied. "You big sister probably, not always, but probably will look like you, but older."

"Okay. So, what do I look like?" the girl said, looking at her arms and dress.

Noire facepalmed again. "Really, have you never looked at yourself in a mirror."

The girl shook her head.

"Okay... follow me." And Noire guided the girl to the bathroom, where she showed her the mirror.

"Woah..." the girl said in awe upon seeing her reflection. "I'm kind of cute." She turned to Noire. "Do you think my big sis is cute like me?"

"I- I don't know," Noire stuttered, blushing. If this girl was who she thought she was, then, well... Noire never thought of you-know-who in that way.

Speaking of which, it was probably time to get to the point. "So, are you a... a new CPU Candidate?" Noire asked the girl.

"Hm, what's a... CPU... candy-date?" the girl responded, trying to sound out the words.

Noire sighed. "First of all, it's pronounced 'can-dih-date'. Secondly, the CPUs, or goddesses, lead the nations of Gamindustri, and some of them have Candidates, young goddesses who are the next in line to rule their respective nation."

"Oh... that sounds really neat!"

"And if you are a Candidate, then I might know who your sister is."

"Really!"

"Yes. Maybe it would be easier if I introduced you to her." Noire was about to lead her out, before she realized something. She was basically about to introduce this girl... and she didn't know something pretty important. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh, I don't have one yet," she replied, smiling.

"You're kidding me. Of all the- Okay... okay... you need a name, right?"

The girl nodded.

"Okay... let's see, what would your sister call you? ...How about this, your sister is named after a planet, so let's go with that."

"So, I'm going to be a planet?" the girl asked.

"You won't be the planet, you'll be named after it," Noire explained before coming to a decision. "How about Venus?"

"Venus?"

"Yes, do you like it?"

The girl pondered on this, before smiling and saying, "yes!" and then hugging Noire.

"Okay, let me go!" Noire complained. Once the young did so, Noire said, "All right, from now on, we'll call you Venus."

"Yeah!" the newly-dubbed Venus cried out in joy. "So, you're, um... what's you're name?"

"Noire," the black twin-tailed answered.

"Alright, No... No- No-wa- No-er," Venus went on, attempting to pronounce Noire's name.

"You... you can't say my name?" Noire replied, a bit surprised.

"I-I'm trying!"

Noire, again, sighed. This girl was a handful. "Okay, you're sister sometimes calls me 'Nowa'. Can you call me that?"

"Uh... No...wa... Nowa... Is that, like, with a lisp?"

Noire facepalmed again. Really. This girl was clearly an idiot, and yet she understood what a LISP of all things was.

"Aw, that's really cute. But does that mean it's 'Nora', or-" Venus started.

"Fine! Okay. You can call me Nora," Noire, now Nora to Venus, interrupted, "but NOTHING else, understand."

"Yep!"

"Okay... now, is there anything else you want to know?"

"Um, no..."

"Alright then, let's go meet your older sister."

"Yay!"

Neptune was enjoying a good dream. In the dream, she was with her beloved sister, Nepgear. Despite being the younger sister, Nepgear was taller and more mature than Neptune, though she still had that air of innocence and kindness around her. She had long purple hair with a single D-pad clip in it, and purple eyes. She wore a white-and-purple sailor-style dress with a yellow ascot, pink and white striped thigh-high socks, white and purple boots, and on her thigh, a pouch was strapped on, holding her N-Gear device.

The two of them were enjoying a picnic in the middle of a vast field, grass in all directions, the sky blue and clear. A perfect scene with the perfect sisters.

"Neptune, I love you," Nepgear told her sister.

"I love you too, sis," Neptune replied. "I'll always de there for you."

"Then why...? Why did you abandon me?"

Suddenly dark clouds covered the sky, and the wind picked, becoming fierce.

"Wha-what's going on!?" Neptune called out. Suddenly there was a bright flash of lightning, and Neptune's vision cleared, Nepgear was gone, and Neptune was left alone in a desolate wasteland. "Nepgear? Nepgear? Where are you!?"

"You abandoned me, Neptune. I'm gone..." Nepgear voice sounded, echoing around Neptune until faded away. "Gone... forever..."

Suddenly, Neptune snapped awake from her dream-turned-nightmare. She was covered in sweat, and her eyes were full of tears. "N-Nepgear... Why did you have to go..."

Neptune wiped the tears from her face, and was about to lie back down, when she heard a knock on her door. "Hey! Neptune!"

"Noire?" Neptune responded upon hearing the voice on the other side of the door. "Coming."

Neptune got out of bed, walked up to open the door. Upon seeing her old friend, Noire, Neptune got a little huffy. "No need to shout."

"Well, you usually sleep like a rock," Noire countered. "It's really hard to get you up you know."

"Okay, good point. But what could you possibly want to this time of night?" Neptune argued.

"I have someone you who wants to meet you." And Noire stepped to the side, revealing a purple-haired girl who seemed familiar, yet Neptune was sure she never met her before.

"Hi, I'm Venus," she cheerfully said. "Are you my big sister!?"

"Wha- WHAT!?" Neptune cried out.

"Well, is she?" Venus asked, turning to Noire.

"I can't imagine anyone else being your sister," Noire answered.

"Noire, what is this? What's going on?" Neptune asked, highly confused.

"Well, if I am correct, Venus is a new Candidate, and YOUR new little sister."

Neptune tried to process this, until she figured out the only possible explanation.

...And then she let out a big laugh.

"Aw, that's good, Noire. That's a good one. Oh... Great prank, but she can't be my sister."

"...I'm not," Venus replied, disappointed.

"Neptune..." Noire replied, distraught by Neptune's response. "This isn't-"

"What is with all the yelling and laughing!" a voice said from the end of the hallway. "It is 12:30 in the morning! Everyone should be-" Histoire floated around the corner, and paused when she noticed who was there, particularly, the newcomer. "Oh my, who's this."

"This is some girl that Noire tried to pass off as my sister," Neptune explained.

"Neptune, I'm trying to tell you, I'm pretty sure she is your sister," Noire told her.

"Let me see," Histoire responded, and flew up to the distraught girl.

"H-hi there, miss book fairy," she greeted.

"My name is Histoire," she corrected the girl, "I am the recorder of Gamindustri's history, and the Oracle of Planeptune."

"Cool... I don't get it!"

"...That's fine for now. Now, if I may..." Histoire focused intently on Venus. "Neptune."

"Yeah," Neptune replied.

"Noire is right. She is your new little sister."

"What! No, it- it can't-"

"Not only does she look like you, as do all the other Candidates to their respective older sisters, but I can also sense the Planeptune's Share energy within her."

"So, she is my sister?" Venus asked.

"Yes," Histoire answered.

Venus's smile returned as she shouted, "yay!" and then pulled Neptune in a big hug. When she pulled away, she took a closer look at Neptune. "You're... kind of small to be my big sis."

"I... get that a lot," Neptune replied, the thoughts in her mind going wild.

"Venus, I told you, you're sister would probably look older, but in this case, she doesn't," Noire said. "She still is your older sister, however."

"I just wish I got to her sooner. As an Oracle, it is my job to prepare the new Candidate BEFORE she meets her older sister," Histoire said, "help her chose a name, get a more appropriate outfit."

"Oh, I already handled the naming part," Noire told Histoire.

"You did? What did you call her?"

"Venus."

"Yep, I'm Venus!" the overjoyed Candidate responded, "and that's Nora!" she said, pointing to Noire.

"Nora?" Neptune replied.

Noire sighed. "She can't seem to say my name properly, so I gave up, and just let her call me 'Nora'," she explained.

Neptune let out another laugh as Venus let her go. "Really? Nora? Bahahahaha. Aw man, now you know my pain. The pain of having no one be able to pronounce your name right," she finished off dramatically.

As annoyed as Noire would've gotten at Neptune for that, it actually felt good to hear. This was the first time in a whole year that Noire had seen Neptune even remotely like her old self. It was good to see...

Neptune calmed down before saying, "well, anyways, I think that... um, uh..." Neptune took a deep breath. "I think Venus is a great name for a little sister! Thanks!"

"You're welcome..." Noire said softly.

"...I see this will take some getting used to," Histoire noted, "for now, we still need to get Venus a proper outfit. The simple white cloth she was born with will simply not do."

"I can handle that," Noire offered. Everyone looked at her. "I-I mean, I'm good at making outfits, I'll have you know. And besides, I already named her, so I might as well."

"Wait... are you trying to take Histy's job from her!?" Neptune exclaimed.

"No! I was just offering my help!" Noire replied.

"Regardless, your help is appreciated, Noire," Histoire told her. "I would love your assistance."

"Of course! It should take me only a few days to finish."

"Now that has been addressed, next we need to plan an event to introduce the new Candidate to the people of Planeptune."

Venus turned to Histoire upon hearing this. "How many people?"

"Millions," Histoire replied.

"Uh... um... that's..." Venus was very nervous now. She hadn't met very many people yet (obviously). She wasn't sure if she could handle so many.

"...Maybe she should start... small," Noire said, upon noticing Venus's reaction. "Let's start with introducing her to the other goddesses... and maybe some of Neptune's friends."

"Yes, that would probably be a good idea," Histoire replied, "I'll begin preparations. We should be ready in three days."

Neptune turned to her little sister. Was this really happening? Did she really have a new sister?

Maybe... maybe this would be okay?

As Neptune thought about this, Noire was watching, and saw her smile, for the first time in a long time.

I guess Venus is what she needed, Noire thought. She finally has a sister again, even if it's not Nepgear.

So that was it. This was Neptune's second chance at sisterhood. This would be the chance Noire wanted, to see Neptune become her old, happy self again.

If Venus was the key, then Noire would be there to make sure she grew to be a proper Candidate, and a good sister.

Author's Note: And here she is! Venus, the newest Candidate of Planeptune. I love this character idea. She's basically the lovable idiot, emphasis on idiot. I know Neptune is supposed to be the lovable idiot archetype, but Venus is more so. She's completely stupid and misunderstands things all the time. Well, she does know things, but it's highly limited, like only the most basic of things. Her thought process is very simple, and more complex stuff goes over her head.

She's supposed to be charmingly stupid, not annoying so. That's the hope, anyway. I get this might be subjective from person to person, but I'd hope Venus doesn't become unbearably stupid. And really, I hope you guys like her!