Goddesses Never Cry.
Act 1: Sentimental Spring.
In the land of Gamindustri lies two major countries, Planeptune and Lowee. The origin of each country long since theorized and aggrandized by their residents. Many argue that the land originated from four goddesses while others believe that only one goddess had reigned the whole continent. Regardless of mythology, the harsh truth of reality reigns dominant. Countries and legacies have risen and fallen, lost to time and space. The rise of goddesses and basilicoms have come and went without even a scream into the night. Gamindustri is both ruthless and beautiful in its ability to capture the essence of humanity: its passion to create and destroy. And nothing demonstrated this as well as the notorious Console Patron Units. These goddesses demonstrated raw willpower and motivation through the power of shares: the essence of the faith and hope each resident lies within their own CPU. The stronger the faith, the stronger the goddess. But with great power comes the even greater possibility of corruption, despite their holy nature, even CPUs have elements of humanity within them. Desires, dreams, motivation, despair. All things a goddess is well capable of experiencing. But what separates a goddess from man is their ability to act on such emotions. Whether in malice or benevolence, goddesses represent humanity without limits. And without limits comes the ability to exacerbate humanity's greatest passion: creation and destruction.
Chapter 1: The Reason You're Here.
Planeptune outskirts ~
A storm of fire surrounded Neptune and her younger sister. Their house was set ablaze from edge to edge. Crawling on the ground in hopes to avoid breathing in the ever-increasing carbon monoxide buildup, Neptune inched ever closer and closer to the front door, holding her baby sister tight as the ground below her started to scorch at her skin. She started to question whether or not she'd make it, or if she would succumb to a painful and fiery death. As she got mere inches from the door, the ceiling above started to give way. The wood cracking and crumbling as Neptune reached for the doorknob. Just as she managed to turn the handle to feel the cold breeze of the open air, the ceiling fell in, almost crushing the two sisters.
In a flash, the burning pillars were knocked away, Neptune looked up to see her mother Uzume save them in the nick of time. Her purple twin tails glistening and standing out from the rest of the burning manor. The three rushed out and barely escaped the crumbling home.
Neptune looked back down at Nepgear, her breathing slowing down and growing fainter. Neptune started to panic, holding her sister tight. Uzume rushed in and casted healing magic, stabilizing Nepgear's breathing. Neptune sighing in relief and standing back up dusting her ash-ridden clothes off ass her legs trembled in fear.
"Mom… what the hell happened!?" Neptune had merely woken up as she smelled the burning wood and rising smog.
"We need to escape, hide in Lowee! Get as far away from here as possible!" Uzume dusted off Neptune's clothes, grabbing both her daughters as she prepared her flight unit, the first of its kind in Gamindustri.
"Not so fast Uzume…" CPU Uranus emerged from the burning house as CPU candidate Plutia scampered behind the three. "Your crimes against Planeptune won't go unpunished!". The CPU unlocked her suitcase and held it forward as its individual parts and pieces rapidly transformed into a mechanical scythe. At the base of the blade, the core a sharicite core was imbedded inside. Plutia pulled out a rifle, trembling as she pulled on the slide.
"You took Umio away from me, dammit!" Uzume clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. "Did you honestly expect me to sit by as you killed my husband!?"
"It's unbecoming of a goddess to let her emotions get the best of her… your husband was an enemy of the state, why can't you see that!?" Uranus tucked her collar as she brandished her scythe. "This argument isn't getting us anywhere. You're a murderer and nothing more. You and your children are a curse to this very nation."
Uzume held her daughters closer to her with her one hand, she had no weapons to rely on, only her fist and her will. The flight unit would take seven minutes to charge. Seven minutes she had to defend her daughters and herself.
Plutia and Uranus closed in slowly, the two daughters grip on their mother growing tighter and tighter. Uzume looked deeply into Uranus's visor, and inside the reflection she saw Plutia shaking heavily as she got closer. "Poor kid" The CPU thought to herself "She must have no idea what she got herself into." Uzume nudged her daughters to her right and stomped the ground behind her, knocking dust and gravel into Plutia's eyes which caused her to panic and fire away. Uzume shielded her daughters from the barrage of bullets which dug into her back and hit Uranus as well.
"Goddamit Plutia! Get ahold of yourself" The furious CPU yelled as blocked the bullets wither her wrist. Uzume picked up Nepgear with her left hand and held onto Neptune with her right, making a run to the cliffside, the two CPUs just barely behind her. Uzume looked down at the flight unit, six minutes left. Bullets whizzed and grazed her shoulder and face. Uzume paused in panic as she heard the sudden rip of fabric following a gunshot, looking down in horror to see that Neptune had a bullet go straight through her chest, Uzume rushed un to heal her daughter, but before she could start, Uranus appeared from behind and slashed open her back with her scythe. Furious and in pain, she shoulder rammed Uranus and launched her meters away.
Plutia, could barely steady her aim and fired another round, which Uzume caught with her teeth and crushed it, the spark that emitted from the crushed bullet blinded Plutia for second and gave Uzume enough time to charge forward and pull her rifle away, dismantling it in seconds. Plutia fell back and cowered in fear, holding her hands in the air in surrender. As much as Uzume wanted to destroy her, she had to rush back and tend to Neptune's wound.
Neptune clutched her chest and looked up, her mother expending share energy to heal her wounds. She looked at her mother's flight unit, the timer closing down on two minutes left. Reaching the very end of the cliffside, Uzume gently passed Nepgear to Neptune. She looked back and saw the lights from CPU Uranus's processor unit coming closer and brighter.
"Neptune, you're gonna have to be strong okay? If I don't make it, you have to protect Nepgear! Get to Lowee and never look back! Understood!?" Uzume clutched her daughter's shoulders tightly. "The flight unit has less than a minute left" Uzume attached a buckle from the flight unit onto a chain on Neptune's parka.
"Mom wait!" Neptune reached out for her mother, as Uranus leaped in the air to unleash a devastating slash on the three, Uzume blocked it with her left fist, absorbing the shock. Uranus jumped back and Uzume stood firm. Neptune looked in horror as her Mother's left hand was completely demolished. Panicking and holding onto her younger sister tightly, she started to cry in fear. Fearing for her future and the life of her mother.
Uranus got back up slowly approached Uzume. "C'mon!" she scraped the ground with her scythe unleashing a trail of spikes that emerged from the ground, Uzume turned around and roundhouse kicked the spikes, knocking most of them away as some stabbed and plunged into Neptune.
Uzume got furious seeing her daughter harmed even further, she looked down at the flight unit, thirty seconds left. Uranus charged in again and swiped in from the right. Uzume grabbed the handle of the scythe and twisting it, disarming the CPU, throwing it away off the side of the cliff. Desperate, Uranus pulled out a grenade infused with share energy and primed it, focusing all her strength into charging at the three and ensuring none of them would escape.
Fifteen seconds left, Uzume couldn't take the chance, she needed to make sure the Neptune and Nepgear would live to see another day, she looked back at her two daughters and smiled. "I love you." The last thing she would say before grabbing the charging CPU and throwing themselves off of the cliff, the explosion was so strong it destroyed the entire cliffside, causing Neptune and Nepgear to fall until the flight unit activated and pulled the two with great force far away from Planeptune.
Neptune floated away with despair, her mother, her home, her life. All gone in the blink of an eye. Clutching her only family left, she cried into the night, drifting in the air all alone.
~ Lowee, 20 Years Later ~
With great force, Neptune pushed open the window of her apartment room to be welcomed by the rising spring weather. She looked off in the distance see miles of melted snow dissipating and unraveling the green and luscious fields in Lowee. A goodbye to the harsh cold and a welcome to a new day. She went back into her room, brushing past her old military uniform and jersey, she grabbed her parka and rushed out the door. She didn't need to worry about her breakfast, as today a friend of hers would be treating her today. One Mina Nishizawa, who knew Neptune from her past in the military. She was a tall and mature woman with long and thick blue twin tails which had large clips tied at the end of them. Along with high heels she also had short rimmed red reading glasses, a rather exuberant outfit fitting for a basilicom secretary. The breakfast Neptune was invited to wasn't just for pleasantries, Mina had a job in mind for Neptune, the description was vague. "Protection" was the only word the Mina used to describe it before hanging up. As much as she hated jobs with little information, the money on hand was just what Neptune needed to move up in the world. Of course, Neptune had her suspicions but at this point she had little to lose, she was four months behind on rent and she also had to pay off the tuition her younger sister's university.
When Neptune reached the coffee shop, she got odd looks from both the patrons and some staff, which wasn't exactly unwarranted. Her unusual attire and her spiky purple hair weren't exactly conventional, but she brushed the odd looks aside and saw her client at the polar end of the café. There, she saw a petite brunette girl next to Mina. Despite her small structure, she looked not too far off from Neptune's age. Neptune eased left and right past the waiters and waitresses, getting closer to the table and a better look at the girl. When she finally reached her seat, a small cup of coffee awaited her.
The girl next to Mina was rather unwary of her surroundings, completely absorbed into the book she was writing into, it wasn't until Mina shook her roughly that she let it down and looked back at Neptune. Awkwardly staring at each other for a couple seconds, Mina finally spoke, but in a rather quiet tone, unlike many of the usual conversations she had with Neptune.
"You want me to what!?"
The proposition almost angered Neptune, and also shocked the young girl that was sitting next to her. Mina had proposed a protection job for Neptune to act as the bodyguard for this young girl for the time being. When Neptune first heard the job proposition, she had expected to work as some bodyguard to a public official or as security at a public event. She did not expect to be protecting this random girl, an annoyance to Neptune since she already had a younger sister to take care of.
"Neptune, if you don't like it, I can simply find someone else" Mina said coldly as she started to pull out a folder, likely detailing other candidates that could serve as a bodyguard.
Neptune thought back to her overdue rent. She needed the money, how else was she going to get it? Her background in the military wasn't as valuable as she thought it would've been, and many of the gigs she had relied on had long since disappeared as the war between Lowee and Planeptune had long since ended. Realizing her options were limited, she had to give in.
"Fine!" Neptune's rather abrupt shout attracted the stares of others nearby before they quickly lost interest. "What's her name?"
"Blanc." Mina said as she slid her a folder. "Sign this".
Neptune, still slightly hesitant about all this. Her hands were shaking as she scribbled her signature onto the form under the fine print. She had very little experience taking care of another person, not even her little sister who was relaxing comfortably at a university who she knew very little about. As her hands left the paper, she felt her worries seep in. She looked back at Blanc who was also very nervous as well.
"Who should I be looking out for? What do people want with this girl" Neptune asked with a slight tremble in her voice.
Mina took out a cigarette and lit it to the dismay of the other patrons in the café. "You'll be attending Celestia University up north, this school is meant to act as our first layer of security, you and Blanc will be disguised as everyday students with everyone else. The place is also heavily guarded and observed all day every day, acting as our second level of security. And when all else fails, you will be the final defense. You and Blanc will share the same dorm, we expect you to be next to her at all times. Is that understood?"
Neptune was annoyed that Mina didn't answer her question directly but decided not to press on her any further in hopes of ending this meeting faster. She looked down at the folder and saw that the school she would be attending is the same school that Nepgear was attending as well, the job got a lot more personal now. She had to be Blanc's protector, if this girl was super important then everyone else at that school was in danger as well, including Nepgear. "I understand." She told Mina firmly.
"Good! You'll be attending within the week. Expect your payment every three months you protect her, and we'll also be paying off whatever bills you owe." Mina nodded as she headed off to her car, not even waving goodbye to Blanc as she left.
Neptune was slightly relieved that she didn't have to worry to much about living expenses. But being responsible for the life of another was something she could never be prepared for.
The two sat at the table nervously and awkward alone. Barely making eye contact with each other before Neptune broke the silence out of desperation.
"So uh, what are you writing?" Neptune asked nervously.
Blanc slowly moved up her book onto the table and turned it over. Neptune got a clearer look of a diary with an electronic lock over it. Nodding in approval, Neptune finished her coffee and stood up, lending her hand out to Blanc.
'C'mon, I'll take you to my place, hopefully you'll be a lot more comfortable there." Neptune said with a half-smile, hoping to get more accompanied with Blanc.
Blanc reached out for her hand, pulled out of her chair the two got a complete look at each other. They were similar in height and age, and that's all they knew about one-another. Blushing out of embarrassment, Blanc pulled away her hand and Neptune pulled back hers as well.
The two exited the café with an air of uncertainty in front of them. The two knew next to nothing about each other, their interest, their distaste, and everything in between was left under the veil of mystery they could only lift by continuing forth. And so, they stepped through the streets of Lowee towards Neptune's apartment.
It wasn't long until Blanc asked her first question. "Neptune… do you not own a car?" She asked nervously.
Neptune scratched the back of her head in embarrassment but nodded. "Not exactly something I can afford easily these days."
"Because you're paying off your sister's college tuition?" Neptune looked back with intrigue. "I saw a glimpse of it in Mina's folder about you. You do owe quite a bit…"
"Yeah, I do, but I manage and that's all that really matters" Neptune said apathetically. "Hope you weren't expecting too much this Christmas, eh?" Neptune joked.
"Next week was supposed to be my birthday." Blanc said solemnly, holding her suitcase up to her chest hiding her mouth behind its edge. "I spent so much time studying last night I forgot what I even wanted."
"Not even an idea of what you want?" Neptune turned back, her walking pattern becoming a lot more relaxed, Blanc following suit.
"No not at all, not even an iota." Blanc said, slightly picking up her speed to catch up with Neptune. "I've traced my steps back through the entire day and can't even come up with a fragment of a memory" Blanc clutched her sleeves in anger.
Neptune started to understand, this girl just wanted to live normally, but likely due to some political nonsense she had to be sent away in hiding. The two reached the apartment, Blanc stepping over all the eviction notices stacked on Neptune's doorstep, many of them ranging back into the early months of the year.
Upon stepping inside, Blanc cringed back with how messy everything was. Brackets of empty pudding containers were littered across the table, dozens of unwashed plates piled in the sink, the trashcan was overflowing with garbage, and the living room was nothing except a mere lawn chair facing a television connected only to a single game console, which looked like an export from Planeptune.
"Alas, my humble abode." Neptune waved both her arms in the air in a sign of disappointment of herself. "Had I known what job I was taking exactly I probably would've kept up the place a bit, but here we are. Here…" Neptune handed Blanc her phone which was opened on a food delivery app. "Knock yourself out. I'm beat."
Blanc took the phone with hesitation as she took in her surroundings "It's certainly uh…" she was at a loss of words and couldn't even muster up a half-hearted compliment. "… You're a very carefree person I see." Blanc turned around to see Neptune pulling out a mattress onto the living room, dusting it off and applying a simple bed sheet and comforter onto it. It wasn't the most glamorous, but it looked like it did the job. Blanc set aside her suitcase and hopped onto the bed in silence, Neptune sat down onto the lawn chair, the two sitting together as the windy trees brushed against the windows.
The uncomfortable silence drained both of them on the inside, they didn't want to speak to each other, but they couldn't stand the lack of communication. Desperate, Neptune turned on the game console, Blanc's eyes lit up as she recognized the game on screen.
"Oh! You have Four Goddesses Online?" Blanc became far more energetic, jumping out of her bad and kneeling next to Neptune's chair, her eyes intensely focused on the screen. "Oh! You've already maxed out the Hero class!? But it was only released 3 days ago! How many hours do you have on this game!?"
Neptune looked up at the ceiling and pondered just how much time she truly spent, upon entering the pause menu she noticed a whopping five-thousands hours on screen in the top left, even she was astounded by how much time she spent alone playing this game.
"Five-thousand hours… wow… you're lucky!" Blanc said jealously. "I have to spend so much of my supposed 'free time' on studying for entrance exams!" she pouted, crossing her arms in sadness.
Neptune looked at Blanc with extreme distress and confusion. "Why the hell would she be jealous of me of all people!?" Neptune thought to herself. "I spend all my time playing video games and working minimum wage." She refused to vocally respond, she just shrugged her shoulders and continued to play.
"Woah! You can royal release one of Vergil's summoned swords!?" The way Neptune was playing the game vastly differed from Blanc. Neptune casually destroyed her virtual foes without even flinching. Parrying and dodging attacks with finesse and style, whereas Blanc would always struggle with a small group of mobs.
Neptune thought she'd be annoyed with Blanc's company, but she was actually rather happy seeing Blanc jump with joy as she played the game. She tried to think back to all the times in her life where she was happy in the company of others but couldn't pull up anything from all the repressed memories of her time in the war. With all intents in purposes, this was the first time she had the company of a friend. And she didn't entirely hate it.
A loud knock interrupted the peace. "Food's here!" Neptune grabbed a package from the drone outside her doorstep, she set aside Blanc's meal on the table, realizing there was only one chair there since she always lived alone, she grabbed the lawn chair from the T.V area while Blanc sat at the other end of the table.
Blanc ordered an eggplant salad and poured on it the packaged ranch that came with the meal. Neptune looked in disgust which started to put Blanc on edge. "Umm… Neptune? Is there something wrong?"
"Eggplants… I fucking hate eggplants…" Neptune looked away while gritting her teeth "Of all the things you could've ordered…"
Blanc distressingly ate her food while avoiding eye contact with Neptune, who realized how uncomfortable she had made Blanc. "Sorry, It just brings me bad memories when I was in the military, there was a time where HQ botched our supply depot and gave us nothing but eggplants for half a year. You didn't do anything wrong-"
"It's fine" Blanc, while still nervous, understood Neptune's anger just a little bit more. "Mina told me many stories about the war between Planeptune and Lowee. She told me about how incompetent both governments were at preserving life, with our senators focusing solely securing resources and power positions. With all of that on top of what happened to you, I completely understand" Blanc wolfed down the entire salad in seconds, shocking Neptune. "However, there's one thing that confuses me greatly… that console over there… that's a console that originated from Planeptune, is it not?"
Neptune nodded "That's right… what about it? Are you wondering why I have a console from Planeptune despite being a Loweeian soldier?" She stood up out of her seat and stretched her arms. "Look here Blanc… you clearly have a secret, a secret so important you need a personal bodyguard. Unless you tell me what that secret is, I see no reason to tell you mine."
"That's fair enough" Blanc said with a slight hint of disappointment.
After the two finished dinner they headed to their beds, each pondering about the other intently.
"Just who the hell are you?" They both said to themselves as they drifted off into the night.
~ Gamindustri Graveyard, 10 years ago ~
Neptune took a swig from her canteen, the last bit of water that was inside was taken, and the road ahead was long. She looked to her left and right at her comrades who were tired, weary, and hungry. A soldier behind her collapsed in pain before being picked up by the rest of her comrades. Suddenly a loud crack rang in the distance, artillery hellfire. Everyone in the battalion scattered, reaching for whatever they could muster as cover. Neptune hid behind a nearby boulder holding her rifle close to her, she turned to her left and saw another group of soldiers who were hiding behind a fallen tree turn into a cloud of red mist upon the impact of an artillery shell.
Another shell landed next to Neptune, launching her meters away, had she not been the daughter of a CPU she would've been destroyed. Dazed and confused, she tried her best to push herself off the ground, after a good while, the strike ended, but a large battalion of Planeptune soldiers started to charge, guns a blazing and picking off Neptune's battalion. Her options were limited, she needed to get away, or did she?
She looked to her right and saw dozens of her dead comrades scattered across the field, a rather morbid idea came to her mind. Loading her sidearm, she aimed it at the right side of her chest and fired, and then lied face-down on the grass. Footsteps of nearby soldiers stomped passed her, crunching through pouches and irritating puddles of blood that formed in the grass. Luckily, none of the enemy combatants had shot her while she was down, she looked down at her chest and saw the bullet wound slowly healing herself. The enemy battalion long since passed her, leaving her in the clear.
Thinking she was safe, she stood right back up, only to duck into cover again when she saw five aircrafts in the air, and in the middle of all of them stood a woman with an iris processor unit barking commands at her subordinates.
"This is the seventh battalion we've ambushed and yet I haven't seen the annoying brat anywhere! Do none of you care about your country!? Weaklings!?" Iris Heart shouted at the pilots. "If none of you finds her within the hour, I will discipline each of you personally, just like how I'm dealing with these broken toys here".
Neptune peeked her head out of cover to see dozens of mutilated corpses of other fellow soldiers scattered below Iris Heart, one soldier was still left alive despite being completely cut in half, crawling away in pain leaving behind a trail of intestines and blood. Iris Heart flew down and grabbed the soldier by their leaking guts and carried them in the air, placing them behind one of the thrusters of the aircraft and burning him alive, laughing as they screamed in pain and turned into a crisp.
"Iris Heart!" She ruggedly whispered to herself. Neptune had been apart of many battalions that were destroyed by Iris Heart and seeing her here again only further angered her. It angered her so much she started to ignore her increasing pain and wounds. How many of her friends and comrades did she let die due to Iris Heart pursuing her? Ripping off her military uniform, leaving only her tank top and cargo pants she ran back to the scorched earth and dug through the remains of her comrades to get any and all forms of explosives she could gather. Anything that could pierce through the processor of the CPU above her.
Covered in blood and dirt, the best she could manage were 4 bricks of C4 explosives, 2 launchers, 3 hand grenades, a long piece of rope, a riot shield, and a hand cannon with one round left In it. She knew she had no chance at killing Iris Heart, but anything to weaken her would mean the world to both her and the rest of Lowee. The core of every CPU functioned like a reactor, volatile but efficient. Introduce enough ruptures to the system and it overloads.
With a heavy breath taken in, and a heavy breath taken out, Neptune dual wielded the launchers and hit two of the five aircrafts in the air. A burst of metal and fire burst from the damaged aircrafts, their pilots ejecting instantly as their aircrafts crashed into two of the others, leaving only one remaining in the sky. The remaining aircraft unloaded all of its arsenal at Neptune, who ran as fast as she could behind a nearby boulder as sediment and gravel rained from the sky.
"Cease fire dimwit!" Iris Heart screamed. "We need her ALIVE!".
"Alive!?" Neptune started to panic. She long since new Iris Heart was hunting her, but she presumed it was just to finish the job she started ten years ago. Why did Planeptune need her alive? Before she could ponder anymore, Iris Heart started to speak.
"Neppy!? Is that you!? That's… well that's just fucking hilarious! All this blood and sweat to find you, only for you to walk right towards me!" Iris Heart landed down onto the burning grass and slowly walked toward Neptune, who hid behind the rock nervously. "What a shame! I just got this new processor unit and I'm gonna have to dirty it so soon… no matter." The devilish CPU charged forward and smashed through the boulder to grab Neptune by the neck.
"If only Uranus could see me now…" Iris Heart solemnly uttered as she started to choke out Neptune. "No use idling on the past now!" The CPU slammed her prey into the ground, creating a shockwave that created a strong gust of wind that even pushed the aircraft back a couple meters.
Neptune couldn't feel the rest of her body as Iris Heart towered above her. Yet her plan was only beginning. "Dumbass…" she smirked. Iris Heart looked down in shock as she saw four bricks of C4 placed under her that were tossed into the air by the shockwave she created. Neptune jumped and raised her riot shield as she detonated the explosives which threw her into the air and knocked Iris Heart out of her CPU form and returned her to Plutia.
As she was launched into the air, the pilot of the last aircraft fired a missile in panic, Neptune primed her first grenade and tossed into the air behind her and pointed her riot shield to protect her from the blast. The missile approached her with intense speed, but the detonation of the grenade launched her toward the aircraft, as she flew, she threw the rope to grab the missile and directed it right back the aircraft. The pilot ejected immediately as the jet was destroyed.
Neptune fell down to earth with an uncouth slam. She was beaten and tired, but she still had a job to finish, Plutia was laid unconscious across the ground from her, no longer in her CPU form.
"Plutia you son of a bitch…" the beaten woman grabbed her by the collar and lifted her into the air "How does it feel now!? How does it feel being just like me!?". While Neptune was expecting Plutia to bark back at her, instead she was met with cries of a tired girl.
"Huh…?" Plutia uttered as she opened her eyes "What am I doing here?"
Neptune was shocked, she had heard rumors of Planeptune experimenting with bipolar CPU personalities which essentially made both the human and the CPU inside two different entities, but this nothing like what she expected. As desperately she wanted to kill Iris Heart, did she have the gall to kill Plutia along with her?
"Plutia…" Neptune gritted through her teeth "Do you have any idea what just happened here?"
"Who… are you!?" Plutia screamed in panic, flailing her arms in a panic. Slapping Neptune incessantly. Annoyed, Neptune slammed Plutia into the ground and pulled out one of her hand grenades.
"I don't know if Iris Heart's in there or not… but you're still a fucking murderer regardless" Neptune grabbed Plutia's hand, placing a hand grenade on her palm and pushing her fingers onto the switch. "Whether or not you're innocent, that's for you to prove." Neptune tied Plutia's hand to the grenade together and pressed them tightly. "Now you walk your ass back to Planeptune, you hear me!?"
Plutia, holding the grenade tight with both of her hands, nodded, as she slowly walked away from Neptune into the horizon. She eventually faded into the night, and Neptune was left alone in a field of fire and blood. Neptune looked up as the rain poured in, washing the blood off her face, and leaving her cold and alone.
~Present Day~
Neptune stared out the window of the limousine she was in, the pouring rain reminding her of that terrible night. She still wondered if leaving Plutia alive was the right choice, as she was no different than her mother. Both Plutia and her had gone insane with power due to their HDD forms. Yet even so, her mother's final moments were in human form to save both her and her younger sister. Did she really have the right to kill another CPU? These thoughts consumed her mind and ebbed at her soul.
"Neptune… are you okay" Blanc uttered, shaking her shoulder. "Are you really nervous about going back to school?" she joked, hoping to ease the situation.
"I never did go to school" Neptune said bluntly. "Never had the time for it." Ever since her mother flew her away from Planeptune all those years ago, her life has been a constant struggle to survive, whether it been in the military or on the streets.
"Oh…" Blanc was dumbstruck, she didn't how to respond to that, as if Neptune had thrown a brick wall her way.
"We're here." Mina stepped out the limo and held open the door for Neptune and Blanc to leave. The two were dumbstruck by the size of the school, which was big enough to almost be its own city. The surrounding walls were so high that, as they approached it, the sky started to be completely blocked from view, darkening the world around them from the already grey skies.
Blanc's breathing got heavier, too heavy, Neptune started to get concerned. She looked down and saw her legs shaking uncontrollably, she thought back to her time when her childhood home burned down, as she saw Blanc quiver in fear she could only see herself all those years ago. Whether out of desperation or an innate desire to control the situation, Neptune softly grabbed Blanc's hand, with Blanc looking back up bashfully. Neptune let out a tired but reassuring smile, hoping to calm her down.
The large gates opened up, the force of the chains pulling them open created a gust of wind that caused both of their skirts to fly up, Neptune apathetic while Blanc pushed hers down in embarrassment. The three continued forward as they saw dozens of the same concrete monoliths scattered across the marble plains.
"You'll need this." Mina handed Neptune a map of the entire school, a top-down ten by ten grid each representing a mile, the vertical Axis ranging from A-J while the horizontal axis ranged from 0-9. Scanning through the map she realized the her and Blanc's dorm was all the way in most northeast section of school. Which would make each morning trip to the actual school, which was located at the center of the map, at the very least an hour-long walk. Letting a heavy sigh of both disbelief and pain, she handed the map to Blanc who also shortly found out.
"An hour-long trip to the school! What the hell, Mina!" Blanc crunched the map in her hand as she marched. "Do you honestly expect me to walk an hour-long trip to class every morning for god knows how long-"
Mina ignored Blanc and looked at Neptune firmly. "Can you handle it?" She asked sternly.
"Yes mam".
"Good." Mina lit one last cigar before returning to the gate and disappearing from Blanc and Neptune.
Blanc fell onto the concrete floor, weeping in anger. "God fucking dammit! I don't want to be here, Neptune! But she never listens to me! She never wants to listen to me!" Her tears fell down creating dots of despair that stained the entrance to the facility.
Neptune grabbed her hand once more, she didn't know how to handle with such emotional issues, all she could do was complete her mission. It was the mindset she always fell back to whenever she was faced with something like this.
"Let go of me dammit!" Blanc cried as she yanked her hand away from Neptune. "Everyday I'm told that I'm going to have to decide for myself! That I'm going to have to be responsible for myself! Yet they always treat me like I'm a fucking child- no! They treat me like I'm a toy! Bringing me to wherever the hell they want without asking me how I feel about it! Fuck! They want me to be strong! Be brave! I don't care anymore! I just want to be safe! I don't want to-"
Neptune knelt down, without thinking, she slapped Blanc across the face. It was something she always did to other soldiers who were panicking in the middle of battle, she had done it so many times it became an instinct.
"Blanc!" Neptune firmly grabbed her wrist a pulled her up. Blanc looked around realized the commotion she was making as nearby students and staff looked at her with contempt and annoyance. "Listen to me Blanc… I can't say I understand what you're going through… but I know what it's like to be separated from home, separated from a peaceful life when it's all you've ever wanted. I'm not going to lie to you and say that this will be easy, or that things will get better. I don't know if they will. However, if there's one thing I can guarantee, I will protect you. No matter what."
Blanc's tears slowed down, she rested her face into Neptune's chest, she still wasn't happy about where she was, but Neptune made her feel better, unlike many of the people in her life, Neptune was the only one who bothered to try and comfort her. Hesitantly nodding, she held onto Neptune's arm.
"C'mon, let's go" she muttered as best as she could through the tears. "I'm not going to be magically pulled out of here, so let's just get to our rooms so we can rest."
And so, the two made their journey across the concrete jungle. From what they saw, it seemed that this place was much more than an ordinary school, there was a whole economy and society here. They could make out dozens of shops and restaurants that seemed to be managed by students themselves, Blanc and Neptune tried to keep an eye out for any teachers or staff they could find but the were seemingly absent, as if the students themselves were running the school.
"Neptune… what do you know about these 'Lastation' and 'Leanbox' names we keep on seeing mean?"
"Nah, never heard of them before in my life." The two walked through a small set of buildings, somewhat resembling a small town. "Leanbox territory" was written on a signpost, just outside the perimeter. The place had quite the affinity for green coloring. Amongst all the grey and drab buildings was a green symbol with what seemed to be a curved sword and a spear crossing each other, making the shape of an X.
A rather expensive convertible car approached the two, the driver had a normal school uniform and a long green ponytail. However, the passenger was dressed far more eloquently, with a fashionable long green dress with a rather questionable window over her bosom, which was protruding intensely as if they were trying to break free. Blanc grabbed her own chest with insecurity, distraught by the immense difference in size.
"You two must be new around here." The blonde woman took off her sunglasses revealing a stern pair of blue eyes glistening under the grey sky.
"What makes you say that?" Neptune knew this woman was no ordinary student but what was she then? All she knew about the school was its immense size and security, nothing about whatever the names "Lastation" or "Leanbox" meant. Judging by where they were Neptune assumed this woman was a part of the latter.
"Neither of you have a weapon on you. None of the new students ever bring a weapon with them!" She smugly said, crossing her arms and legs. "And without one you aren't going to last long in here."
"A weapon!?" Blanc stuttered in disbelief "Why the hell would we need a weapon in a school!?"
"You two are definitely new here. Here, take this as a welcoming gift." The blonde woman brought out a handgun, scaring Blanc who hid behind Neptune.
"Relax, it's not a lethal weapon." Neptune reluctantly took the handgun. She noticed that it was a rather older model of standard issue riot suppression gear.
"Not lethal!? It's a gun!"
Neptune pulled back the slide and ejected a round, catching it in the air. "See this top part of the bullet? That's a rubber round. It won't kill anyone but it sure will hurt like hell when it hits."
"Oh my… you seem to be rather knowledgeable about this." The blonde woman opened the door of the car, revealing the rest of her exuberant dress an outrageous size, towering at six feet and seven inches. "You can simply call me Vert, I'm the leader of Leanbox."
"Nice to meet you Vert, but we need to hurry off to A0. It took a long drive to get here and she needs to get some rest." Neptune took Blanc's hand tightly. She flicked the rubber bullet into the air and pulled back on the slide, letting the bullet back into the handgun and reloading it, she then flipped it downwards, barrel pointed at the floor, and handed it back to Vert. "I appreciate your gift, but I think we'll be able to manage on our lonesome."
"There's no need to rush ladies! Besides, I don't believe I got any of your names-"
"It's Neptune" She quickly uttered before pulling Blanc away with haste.
"Neptune! Why did you give it back to her!"
"We don't need it. Besides, It's an older model, meaning it isn't as reliable as you would think. She could've done anything with it, could've placed a tracker, maybe rigged it to explode." Neptune couldn't help but be paranoid due to her time in the military, she had to cautious with every piece of gear she picked up, she needed to be sure her weapons wouldn't fail her. "Sometimes not having a weapon is better than relying on one that jams."
As the two hastily walked away from the town, Neptune saw a battalion of horse riders approaching. "The fuck!" she thought to herself. "Horses!?"
The two quickly rushed to the side as the riders passed them, Neptune caught a quick glimpse of what she thought was the leader among them. Another tall woman with red eyes and black twin tails. She was donned in a gothic dress with a black and white patch with an "LS" imprinted on it. She looked back at the town in the distance and saw the leader leap off of the horse while brandishing what looked like a rapier.
Vert slowly approached her with a suitcase that transformed into a spear. The two struck the ground causing red hot sparks to fly in the air, leaving marks of bunt ash stains.
"Oh my god! Are they going to fight each other!? Where are the teachers!?" Blanc panicked.
"Blanc… I don't think there's gonna be any teachers to protect us here, and I'm going to go and take the wild guess that those horse riders are Lastation. And that the chick with the twin tails is their leader." Neptune tugged Blanc's arm again, urging her to move on. "C'mon, this isn't any of our business" But Blanc stood still, almost entranced by the battle that was taking place.
~One hour later, A0, the northeast corner of Celestia~
After a long and arduous walk, the two finally reached their dorm. It was rather lavish, unlike what either of them were used to. Mahogany furniture accompanied peach carpeting and white walls. The two were actually relieved by the sight, a nice distinction from the concrete landscape and drab buildings. The two approached the reception. Neptune, noticing that the receptionist was asleep, rang the bell loudly.
"Oh! I'm sorry… Hello you twoooooo, I've been expecting you!" The voice shocked Neptune, she could've sworn she had heard it before, but from where? "Here's your keycard, and make sure you don't lose it! We only allot one replacement per month. Lose both, and you're on your own!"
"Excuse me" Neptune said with a heavy breath. "Have we met before? What's your name?"
"Oh me? I'm Plutiaaaaaaaa!"
To Be continued
A.N: Not to sound desperate but it wouldn't hurt to leave a review, even if you're trashing the fic I enjoy the communication.