Nepgear's Sister
Chapter 1
Sisters
In all her life, there was only one person Nepgear'd look up to. Sure that person was a lazy blob, always fooling around and dumping all the work to her while she fled to bother Noire, but Nepgear knew there was a lot more to her sister, Neptune. Planeptune was not formerly the most advance country without a reason. Back then the four countries of Gamindustri actually fought each other in a war for shares. It was Neptune who made Planeptune the strongest country at the time. It was also Neptune who became the bridges to connect Noire, Vert and Blanc together and made peace, which would eventually cause her very birth to Planeptune. She knew that beneath that lazy attitude, Neptune was a caring goddess who always made sure that her people were protected and her friends were happy. She would go any length to help strangers and befriend them. That was the goddess Nepgear admired.
She could still remember the earlier days when she was just born. Those times were the most treasured memory of her life because Neptune was always there for her. It was also one of the few times Neptune truly looked the happiest because of her. For her very first month, Neptune spoilt her as though she was a baby. She fed her by spoon, much to Nepgear's embarrassment. They went through all the best clothing stores Planeptune has to offer to get replica sister clothings to match. She brought her to Planeptune's most advanced theme park and had her first blast of fun there, all the while with Neptune's hand in her's.
She recalled her very first quest and how uneasy she felt going out to risk her life fighting monsters. It was Neptune who took her hand and led her out to the wilds. When she was stricken with fear at the sight of monsters, Neptune would promptly destroy whatever dared to scare her. It was at that moment, that Nepgear had realized that she has fallen in love with her sister. It was not just the fact that Neptune was protecting her. It was not just the fact that she have so much fun when she was with Neptune too.
It was her smile. How unconditionally Neptune had shown the brightest part of herself to Nepgear. It overflowed her with happiness and love. It was then she realized who she herself was.
She was Neptune's beloved sister. She was born as the Purple Sister, her very existence was to be Neptune's. Therefore her fixation on Neptune was natural, even determined by the very incomprehensible laws of Shares.
Nepgear was not afraid to express that part of her. She was proud to be the beloved sister of Neptune. Some people, like IF, told her that she needed to be independent and be herself more but the very idea of being herself, without her sister there, seemed preposterous. Neptune was her world. As long as Neptune was by her side, her world would continue to be lit alight and she would be contented.
But by the second month, Neptune was gone.
It had only been a day, but to Nepgear it was an error of reality. Neptune was supposed to wake her up and they would bathe together for a long time until Histoire got mad. If there's work to do, Neptune would have Nepgear by her side to do and teach her how to handle documents. Or else they would go out or play games together. That's how it was, that's how it should have always been.
Histoire told her Neptune went out. No, there wasn't a monster terrorizing Planeptune. No, she was not out for an international meeting. It was something really trivial, something Neptune has done very often before Nepgear came about.
She went to Noire's house to play. She would probably be back in time for dinner.
Histoire never noticed what was wrong and told Nepgear could have the day for herself before she left. If she had stayed, she would have noticed the frown on Nepgear's face and done something about it.
But she didn't, and Nepgear was left alone.
She holed up in her room for the whole day.
What did she do wrong, that her sister would just left without saying a word? Did her sister hate her? Or was she bored of her? Just what does she need to do to make sure her sister would never leave?
She never left her room, never left her bed. She had always been following after Neptune, so this was actually the first time she started to think for herself. She laid on the bed her sister had slept with her the other night, her mind started to work. There was a problem blocking her path to happiness, find the means to solve it.
If Histoire had noticed Nepgear's paranoia, she might have been able to convince Nepgear that it was normal for sisters to be apart, to do their own things. It would have helped and let Nepgear knew how sisters worked.
But she didn't, and Nepgear was left alone to reflect on what was to her a reality check. Let it be known that giving a newborn conscious that much unconditional love, and suddenly left her alone was unhealthy for the mind.
That much love might as well be a drug.
And Nepgear was addicted to it.
What does she need to pay for Neptune to show that much love again? Even though Neptune knew everything about her, she knew nothing about her own sister.
Gather information, Histoire would know. find what would capture her sister's attention, what would make her happy, what would make her notice herself again.
By the time Neptune was back for dinner, she realized that some of her menial work have already been done. Dinner was prepared and there was pudding on the table! The limited pudding parfait that could only be gotten by lining up for hours! Needless to say Neptune was more than touched that her very own little sister has done so much for her when she was away. That and the limited pudding parfait! No one had ever went through the trouble to get her that before!
Nepgear noticed her arrival and took the pudding. Fidgeting her legs, Nepgear slowly walked up to her sister and offered the pudding parfait.
"I heard from Histoire that you liked pudding so I went out to get this..." She sounded very unconfident, her eyes were stuck staring at the floor as though she dreaded a bad end. But she eventually looked up and held up the pudding further to her sister. "I want to give you this. Do you like it?"
The return of the warmth she yearned for gave her the answer. Her hands were stuck with holding the cup of pudding parfait straight when Neptune had pressed herself to her and snuggled her head against hers. She wasn't expecting her strategy to be this effective, but she could hardly complain. The stimulation of Neptune's hug and their noses touching each other were too soon for her to handle. Her mind had just shut down and let herself be entranced by Neptune's love.
It was the next morning, the first time she woke up earlier than Neptune that she was over the intoxication. She remembered feeding the pudding to her sister, going up to the top of Neptower to watch the night view and cuddling each other to sleep.
Turning to her side, Neptune's face was there. Right beside her where it should be.
It worked, her plan worked. She even got to see a new bright side of her sister, one of appreciation. Neptune's adorable face when she was fed pudding has also been screenshot and saved in her mind's 'Oneechan' folder too. It definitely made up for skipping lunch to line up at the shop for three hours herself.
She knew Neptune would eventually leave her to go play with someone else again. Histoire let up about how Neptune visited different goddesses randomly almost every weekend. Her sister was like the sun, and she was one of the many planet revolving around her. Neptune was simply too bright, and it was her very nature to shine on everyone. That was how Planeptune maintained its shares even though Neptune was lazy. That was how Neptune turned her former enemies to friends too.
As long as she kept pleasing her sister, Neptune would be at home more often and came back happier to her more. As she stared Neptune's face that was intimately close to hers, she decided.
Waking up having her sister beside her would be what she lived for, it would be her tomorrow's happiness.
"Hey, Oneechan."
"What?"
"We are going to be together forever from now on, aren't we?"
"Of course! Even if you don't want me anymore I won't let you go!"
"You promise?"
"I promise! It's not even something I need to promise!"
"...Thank you."
Nepgear woke up. She tried not to reflect about her nightmare. It was simply easier for her that way.
She did wipe off her tears. The citizens of Planeptune were already unhappy about the absence of their true goddess, Iris Heart. Worse, ASIC has found its way to the Ultradimension and was spreading at an uncontrollable rate. She could not appear to look weak now.
"Nepgear, are you awake?" It was little Histoire, her small voice came from outside of the door. "There is an emergency."
"I will be there soon." She needed to make herself look presentable to the people. No matter how much the people hated her, she needed to win their hearts back for Planeptune.
It was her duty as a CPU after all. Nothing else.
Nepgear opened the door and was surprised to see IF, armed with weapons to the teeth, standing beside Histoire outside. Both spent a good few seconds staring at her but ultimately said nothing.
"We have located an ASIC hideout. We need put their operation to a stop as soon as possible. IF volunteered to accompany you today." Histoire explained.
Great. At least she don't need to face her people with red eyes.
IF twirled her motorbike's key and gave a smile. She knew Nepgear loved riding with her on the bike. She could hug IF tight from behind without embarrassment and lose herself to the sound of the engine and the rush of wind. IF don't mind her intimacy at all.
Nepgear wasn't the only one who's hurt too.
"Ready for another ride?"
"Gladly."
Planeptune was by no means a bad city to live in. It was quite the opposite, Planeptune boasted the best technology in Gamindustri that made life quite comfortable. It was all thanks to the 'substitute' goddess taking over the country. Ever since she took over, Planeptune made large technology advancement by leaps and bounds that put other three countries into shame. Where Lastation was still using fossil fuel technology, Planeptune was already using solar technology to power its city. Lowee possessed the most culture but Planeptune's state of the art city was a whole new culture that made sci-fi real. No matter how you looked at it, the people of Planeptune should be really happy.
It made no sense for Planeptune to suffer the worst at the hands of ASIC, Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime, at all.
...Which means this Planeptune is more than how it looks. I am missing a key to this puzzle.
The crowd in the street continued on their daily life, oblivious to the short lilac-haired girl observing them from corner of an alley leading to the darker side of the city. The girl wore a black one-piece parka dress with a purple hood over her head. Her purple eyes scanned through the crowd but failed to find any sign dissatisfaction the common citizens of Planeptune on their faces.
It was weird. Her people were all too happy to make the street gloomy and form protests. Those people tend not to live very long. Maybe the 'substitute' goddess was like her, silencing them with force? She couldn't even find a picture of this 'substitute', much less a name.
Well, she just got here. Granted she could have just asked but she don't want to draw any suspicious attention. Who doesn't know the name and face of their own goddesses anyway?
Then again, her own people probably do not remember her true name anymore. If this 'substitute' was a tyrant like her...
She patted her parka's pocket, just to reassure herself her only weapon was there. Before she came to this...Ultradimension, Arfoire challenged her to save this world. If the 'substitute' was a bad goddess, she wouldn't mind all the power she could get.
But first she needed information, and staring at the normal citizens wasn't going anywhere.
You know what they say. If you can't find your answer from the city, go to its underworld.
So the girl turned away from the light of the city and continued into the alley. It wasn't obvious at first, but the deeper she went the more litters and pipes brimmed all over the place. Interestingly, the walls and pipes doesn't look that old or broken at all. In fact most of them were clean and functional.
It's not that this part of the city that was old and forgotten. These buildings probably once stood proudly as parts of the main city. There were many billboards left and their architecture was not bad at all.
It's almost as though the advance buildings outside were the ones unusual.
The girl mused. There were more people, and a lot less thugs than she had imagined. She could see couples and families enjoying some food booths here and there. Some were happy, some have more obvious discontentment on their faces.
She walked on, and finally found a clue to what she was looking for. A crowd of people had gathered around a green-haired girl with unique pointy ears shouting on top of a makeshift podium. She pumped her fist into the air and yelled through her megaphone.
"Down with the substitute goddess! Planeptune for True Planeptunians!"
Again with the 'substitute' goddess... but True Planeptunians? Now that's a new clue.
The crowd roared in approval and chanted the elf's words. When the cheers finally died down, the elf jumped down the wooden crate with a sack in hand. Almost immediately the crowd shifted towards her, surrounding the elf with hands out.
"Chill guys, there's enough for everyone! Here's ASIC's latest chips. Inside contains all those overpriced softwares and games by Planeptune. Just keep supporting the ASIC and there will be more free softwares to come."
Bingo~. The girl smirked. Her instincts have not dulled after all.
She waited at the side for the greedy crowd to snatch the free chips and disperse. Since there was no order but snatch and grab, it took ten minutes before the last guy finally left. The elf slumped down onto the ground, obviously tired from being suffocated but a smile was on her face.
"I finally gave them all out." She tossed the empty bag away, she has no use for it anymore. "I wonder if Lady Magic will praise me...I can't wait to get back!"
Saying the very name of her idol uplifted her spirits. She got up and dusted herself. Humming a tone, she started to make her way back 'home'.
...Yes, home sounded nice.
If only someone wasn't following her!
She took out her metallic pipe and whirled around to face her stalker. It might be a guild agent, or even a soldier of Planeptune's small army on her tail. She couldn't afford to be careless and lead anyone to ASIC's hideout. She'd sooner die than disappoint Lady Magic that way.
...But she couldn't find anyone there. The alley was empty.
She could have sworn that someone was stalking her. It was unusual for her underworld instinct to have a false alarm. She scanned the alley and knocked down potentially hiding places. She couldn't find anyone.
"...Guess I am paranoid. I better get home."
She sighed a breath of relief. If it had been the legendary guild agent on her tail it would have been real bad. Distributing ASIC's chips was not as easy and safe as it seemed. She needed to go to places where people were desperate for ASIC chips and distribute them without being noticed by the authority. Even if she were to be captured and tortured, she must not blabbered about ASIC's hideout.
Or else CFW Magic would come to give her a worst fate herself.
The elf shivered. She don't want to remember her training to become resistant to torture. It wasn't pleasant at all.
She pulled her grey hood further down her face and hastened her steps to get back home.
Nice intuition...but still a long way to go.
On the rooftop of a building, the lilac-haired girl mused. To be fair she couldn't blame the elf, no one she knew could jump all the way up to the rooftop of a building after all.
Now that the elf was on the road, it was time to give chase. The girl leapt roof to roof, her eyes never leaving the grey hood below.
"Looks like someone got there before me."
Even though her 'guide' below was still taking her own cautious pace, the lilac-haired girl could already make out signs of fighting in one of the warehouses ahead. It was hard to miss those pinkish beams and explosions from her rooftop view. Guess her plan to take out the hideout without anyone noticing was a bust.
She pumped more energy into her legs and leapt towards her destination two roofs at a time now. There was no real need to follow the elf anymore. While she missed her chance to interrogate whoever's in charge there, she should still be able to obtain valuable information by observing the fight.
That and judging from the lights and explosions, one of the combatants was most likely to be the goddess of this country.
She couldn't wait to see her for herself.
In her pocket, her weapon hummed as though in agreement.
"Guess you are excited too huh?" Her weapon hummed again.
The girl grinned. How long has it been since she felt the rush of excitement through her? She has been stuck in her own doomed world for so long that she has forgotten the majestic allure of an adventure. Just why had she stuck herself on her throne for the past few centuries?
Her mood took a sharp drop and a frown took over her face. She knew why she stopped her adventures. She shut down her train of thoughts before it could reach its station and flooded her with nightmares. She don't need that now, or ever.
She couldn't even remember their names anymore.
The concrete floor beneath her cracked as she kicked her against it for one last leapt all the way to the hideout. She braced herself and impacted the roof of the warehouse, rolling a few meters to decrease her momentum.
"Who's there!?"
Of course, landing on a metallic rooftop with enough force to leave a dent was going to create a loud noise. Why couldn't this warehouse use ceramic roofs instead?
That sure wasn't the most covert way she had wanted to arrive. Then again, it wasn't her character to sneak around. She's more of those epic protagonists who entered the scene with dynamic entry. That's more her style.
"Do you think you can afford to be distracted now?"
She could identify the latter voice as a different person before the sound of someone crashing against the wall took her attention. Oops, she hadn't meant to help either side at all. If anything it was the earlier person's fault for being distracted.
The pinkish beams she has seen earlier left quite several holes on the rooftop, some even big enough for her to enter too. She poked her head over the hole and stared down.
Floating on one side was without a doubt one of Arfoire's four felons, CFW Magic. The girl has not seen anyone else capable to match her in terms of exotic beauty. She remembered her because Magic has reemerged in her world to revive Arfoire countless times. She was some of the few individuals in her world that could provide her a real challenge.
Magic never showed weakness on her face, but she wasn't unscratched from the fight either. Her scythe has been bent, sword wounds covered her exposed skin and a deep gash at her abdomen continued to bleed. Nothing that would stop Magic to continue fighting until her life snuffed out, but it did cripple her fighting prowess. The goddess fighting against her must be formidable, much more so if the goddess had fought alone.
The dust built by the goddess' crashing finally settled. She could finally see who the goddess-
"Why must it come to this? Why must I take my own sister's life?"
Lilac hair like hers trailed down all the way to her waist. Her black-purple bikini-esque CPU armor was stained with blood.
"The power and shares we have gathered should be enough! If we fight together we can surely-"
The goddess stabbed her gunblade to the ground, her right arm using it as a pivot to push herself up. She fractured her left arm with that loose guard just now. Her side was bleeding non stop, she wouldn't last long. She couldn't feel her left leg. Her right leg has a response. It would be enough to stand up.
"It doesn't need to be your life! You can take mine instead!"
Magic was waiting for her, she was giving her a chance. Access processors. Engage.
"...I understand. Oneechan, goodbye."
Her flight processors came back to life. She could float to equal height as Magic now. Her body obviously couldn't fight, but there were still resolution in her iris.
Magic flinched from her wound, and next she found the goddess has impaled her.
It was the same face,
It was an impressive burst of speed, but it also sealed her fate.
"...All is for the Deity of Sin."
The scythe was swung. The goddess faced her end with a content smile.
before her dearest sister took her own life.
"NEPGEAR!"
Feeling its master's grip, the cursed sword unleashed itself alive.
Unable to process the foreign code, reality glitched.
"-of Sin."
The scythe was swung. The familiar voice washed all all the resolution she had. She lived for that voice. She-
She couldn't die here!
Her goddess mode came undone and she fell.
Her back hit the ground, and a purple sword blocked the scythe right before her face.
"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"
The girl roared, fueling her sword with centuries worth of hatred.
She hated the Deity of Sin for forcing their hands. She hated CFW Magic for imprisoning her, forcing her sister to become stronger or die.
Most of all, she hated the coward that was herself!
She should have taken the sword and killed herself! Instead she had told Nepgear to kill her own sister. She had handed the sword to Nepgear, without realizing she had forced Nepgear to make a decision.
"I love you, Oneechan. I will always be with you...
That was how she lived, that was how she killed her little sister.
But right now, Nepgear was here alive. Not for long, the cursed sword hummed. Her breathing was getting ragged and the light in her eyes were damping out. There couldn't be much energy in her left.
Yet the little goddess used the sacred energy she has left to stretch her hand and grasped the girl's arm. At her death door, all the goddess wanted was a touch of someone she had lost so long ago.
"I lov.e..you..Onee...chan."
The hand fell, and the touch was gone.
MASTER!
"DEVOUR MY ENEMY! GEHABURN!"
With it's true name revealed, its master's emotions ignited its blade aflame. In its master's hand the cursed sword struck true, its purple and black energy ripped the line of reality in its path.
A hand stretched for the girl's throat but Gehaburn would have none of that. It tore through Magic's heart and absorbed the enemy it killed like a black hole.
The hand never reached its target, and all of Magic was no more.
With its master's enemy deleted, it quenched its beam blade and returned to its handle-only form. Its role was finished, but it was not over.
"Nepgear! Hang in there!"
She dropped down beside Nepgear and examined her body. Her sister was recovering but not fast enough. Her sister simply do not have enough shares to recover itself.
Is she really going to lose her sister again? She had barely found her!
"Gehaburn! I don't care what I have to do, tell me how to save her!"
She cried against her last resort, the cursed sword that once killed all the people she loved. However it has also been her partner for so many years.
Its advice always has a price. She doesn't care how steep it would be this time, this was her only second chance.
She would save Nepgear no matter what.
Her sword hummed. That was all the answer she needed.
She took hold of Nepgear's head and gently lifted it to face her. She knew she was going to cross many forbidden lines for this. Just earlier she had been trying to erase her own sister's memory from her mind. She failed her own Nepgear once, she doesn't deserve her.
But she loved Nepgear, she couldn't bear to see her die again. Even if it's another dimension, please...
She closed the distance between their faces and sealed her lips.
Let me be your sister again.
A/N: Hi, thanks for reading this story. This is a what if Neptune (Conquest) meets Nepgear (mkII's True End - V's Good End) story. Just a question, between Nepgear calling Neptune 'Neptune' or 'Oneechan', which do you prefer? What do you guys want to see more?
Please read and review~!