Chapter 9: Past Memories Pt. 1

Young Sapphire's POV…

It's been a month since I was born and announced to the public (at least what I think Histy did) and I have no idea what is going on. I just feel very confused at this point like where am I supposed to go and what am I supposed to do. Though she has been teaching me some things (even though I have no idea what she's telling me).

'I think it was something like… mat…? Adding…? And subtracting…?' I tried to understand what that actually means before shaking my head since it was very hard to wrap my head around. 'I… don't understand…'

It was one of the few things that I couldn't understand, other than the fact that Histy calls herself a tomb or something like that. And that the Biggie Tower is more confusing inside than the outside. Like the going-up-and-down things and the many doors that Histy told me not to go into. Plus, when I looked beneath it, I was so confused on where to go there if I ever went down. Well… I'm actually down here…

Even though I'm walking around, some of the stuff in there is really cool! Like the bed Histy gave me felt really comfy, to the point I want to sink inside it. There's also something called 'ice cream,' it tastes really good! But for some reason, everytime I eat it, my head starts to hurt for some reason. But it still tastes good and I don't understand why.

'Did Histy make that?' I thought as I walked around the area, trying to understand what it looked like. 'If so, she should make more!' I thought in glee as I skipped on the block, wanting to have more of that 'ice cream.'

And sometimes she had me meet people that work there (something about me speaking to other people more)? Though I usually ran and hid somewhere inside. But today when she had me meet some new people at the Biggie Tower, I instead ran out…

I immediately stopped as I looked down, remembering what I felt when I saw those people. I then felt my body shake in fear, when I saw their faces.

I'm scared of people…

It's not that I hate them or anything like that, but something about seeing them makes me jump and run away. I could see something glowing on their chest and change color every time they look weird or something, that scares me. On top of that, it feels like everyone is staring at me… and I hate that… I don't understand a single thing at all…

'I-I'll just keep my h-head down…' I thought, as I pulled my head down with my hands, keeping my eyes from looking up. Then I hug my favorite plush in front of my face so I won't be able to see what's in front of me. 'E-Everyone's so scary…! I-I don't like it… But… I don't want… to go back… They're so scary… I…'

"Out of the way! Move, move, move, move!"

'Eh…?'

"Move, move, move, move! Get out of the way!" A bright and cheerful voice exclaimed, feeling like it was getting louder and louder until someone crashed into me. "Owie~! Ah. I'm sorry, kid! I was in a rush so I…!"

But whatever this person was about to say next, I immediately stood and ran away from them while shutting my eyes. I didn't care whether I bump into people or not. I didn't even want to hear what that person was yelling at me about something (it was probably something very mean like those big meanies say and did those mean things to me).

After running for who knows how long, I started to slow down before I stopped and collapsed on my knees, panting from exhaustion. I was shaking from fear when that person talked to me. I looked around, I was in some sort of dark place that I didn't even know. I looked down at white dress, saddened that it got dirty again. 'Histy gonna get mad at me again… At least these slippers look okay… Huh…?' I then looked around, trying to find my favorite plush.

"M-Ms. B-B-Bunny…? W-W-Where are you…?" I called out, trying to find my favorite plush. But, I couldn't find it anywhere. "M-Ms… B-Bunny…" I felt like I was going to cry as tears started to fall on my face. "M-M-Ms… Waaaaaaah!"

"Hey? Do you hear that? Is someone… crying…? Wait a minute… Isn't that…!"

I immediately jumped before running away again, afraid whoever saw me. I kept running until I was, what seemingly, looked like an abandoned street. Instead of the really pretty brighty lights on the buildings, they were almost flickering. Instead of the white colors, they were a lot more gray.

'W-What is this place…?' I thought as I looked around, walking down the streets, trying to find the way back. But then I remember one thing that Histy told me. 'If I ever get lost… look up at the Biggie Tower and walk over there… But I want to find Miss Bunny first…' I thought before looking around before the really white, big tower. "T-There!" I exclaimed as I ran over there, before getting tired. So I decided to just walk there, also wanting to find Miss Bunny.

When I looked around, thinking that there was no way that I would see anyone. Then my eyes widened as I saw small groups of people, battered and dirtied. This was the first time I've seen something like this. 'What happened here…?'

"Please…! Help us…!" I heard someone calling out to me, to which I froze up and looked away from whoever was calling out to me. "Lady Sapphire…! Please…!"

That person calling me a Lady was all I needed to know. I immediately ran away, not caring if I was tired or not. I knew that the word 'Lady' refers to me being a CPU. 'I don't understand… I don't understand… I don't understand…'

"Is this the CPU of Planeptune…? This is pathetic…!"

"Why would I follow someone like her…!?"

'No… please… I don't want to hear them…' I tried to stop these voices in my head from taking. 'I don't wanna… I don't wanna… I don't wanna…' I then stopped and dropped to the ground before curling up in a ball. I started to cry again, trying to shake away those voices.

"Hey, kid!" It was that same person that bumped into me earlier. I was about to stand up and run away again, before a certain plush was shove right in front of my face. "Before you actually run away again, don't you want this back first."

My eyes widened in shock before taking my plush from this person and hugged it very tightly. I felt my body start to calm down before slowly looking up to see who gave my plush back. This girl looked older yet younger than the people I was supposed to meet up with. She has long, curly purple hair and light purple eyes. She wore a dark purple shirt with a black skirt, white sock, and purple and black shoes.

"Hm. Miss Histoire told me that if I find you, the CPU of Planeptune, I should immediately give it to you and have her return ba…" She stopped as she seemed to notice that my body tensed up at that. "Oh? Is there something wrong?"

"U-Um… I-I… u-um…" I tried to speak, but my voice failed. So I instead buried my face in the plush, trying to hide it from her. I tried to run away, but I felt my body was all so shaken that I couldn't.

"Is there something wrong with calling you the CPU of Planeptune?" She asked, to which I tensed up again. "Oh. You hate being called that… huh…" She then hummed for a little bit. "I know! How about I call you 'Princess' instead!" To which I slowly look up cautiousness and confusion. "Huh? Why are you looking at me like that? Do you not know what a princess is?" She asked, which I nodded as an answer. "Well… that's what you are! And I am… well… the Knight who'll protect you no matter what!"

'Eh? Princess…? Knight…? What does that supposed to mean…?' I thought, trying to figure out what this person's goal is. Then, I noticed there was a glowing thing on her chest. 'Oh no… It's happening again… huh…?' I then narrowed my eyes to the glowing thing. 'Why does this one feel warm… and fuzzy…? Like that light thing in the sky…'

"Wow! I didn't know you wanted to—! Wait, you're probably too young for that joke." She said, seemingly catching whatever she was about to say to me. "Either way, let's head to the shopping area. Okay?" She said as she took out her hand to me, to which I immediately shy away from. "Oh. Sorry. Just stand close to me, okay?"

I nodded before slowly walking close to her, cautious enough to not let this stranger get close to me. Then the stranger walked away, which I followed after her. I was confused about who this young woman is. What are her motives? What is she thinking? Everything is coming all at once to the point I don't even know…

"We're here!" She exclaimed, making me jump out of my thoughts. I slowly looked around, seeing that we're in fact in some sort of area. Different things inside glass windows. A lot of people were walking around. At this point, I was curious, confused, and cautious all at the same time.

"Now! Where do you want to go, Princess?" She turned and asked me, to which I looked at her, perplexed. "Wait. Did you just follow me without knowing where we're going?" She asked and later widened her eyes when I nodded slowly. "O-Okay…! Which one stuck out to you the most?"

I looked at her with suspicion before scouting around, looking for anything of interest. Then my eyes widened as I immediately rushed to the point of interest before pressing my face to the window. Inside, they have this picture in the back that has this 'ice cream' Histy made for me.

"Ah. You want ice cream, right?" She asked me, to which I turned and quickly nodded to her. She giggled before she opened the door. "Alrighty then! Lead away, Princess!"

Again, I was confused about why she is calling me that. But I just ignored it and blitzed inside. 'This ice cream is even more important than that!" I thought, remembering the taste of this ice cream from before. I look around; the walls, the tables, chairs and floor are very colorful. In the back had these window-looking things with all the different colored ice cream inside.

"Hello! Welcome to the—! Wait…" I looked up to see an older woman behind the counter with a wide-eyed look across her face. "You're—!"

Then the purple-haired girl immediately shushed the older woman. "She's with me." She cuts her off, giving her a cheeky grin. "We're just gonna sit down and eat some ice cream. That's all."

"A-Ah. Okay." I then heard her taking a huge breath before seeing her smile at both of us. "Ahem. Welcome to the Planeptune's Ice Cream Parlor. How may I help you?"

"Hmmm…" The girl hummed a little with a very neutral expression before giving a small smile. I'll get a strawberry sundae and… um…" She then turned to me. "What are you having today?"

I looked back at her with curiosity and confusion. I didn't know what to get nor do I know why there are different colors of ice cream. "S-Sundae…? W-What's… a… u-um…" My voice trailed off as I froze up again. "U-Um… u-um… u-um…"

"Do you not know what a sundae is?" She asked me, which I quickly nodded while answering her question. "Then, do you want one too?" She asked, to which I looked at her for a little while, thinking about it, before nodding. "Okay! We'll have two strawberry sundaes."

"Okay, that'll be 442 credits." The older woman said to her before the purple-headed stranger took out some sort of small pouch, taking out some sort of paper, before giving it to the older woman. After that, I honestly don't remember what she said afterwards because my mind just shut off. I don't think it was important…

…Right…?

"Hey, Princess. We should take our seats." I heard the purple-haired girl said, to which I immediately jumped before backing away from her. "Oh. Sorry about that." She then chuckled awkwardly as she then led me to a table and some seats before we then sat down.

However, the table was a bit too high for me so the purple-haired girl told me to stand up, to which I reluctantly did. She then walked over to the corner, grabbed some sort of block, walked back, and placed it on my seat.

"Sorry about this." She said before she immediately grabbed me and lifted me off the ground. I started to panic and started kicking at the stranger. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She repeated over and over before placing me on the block. "There. Now you can eat the ice cream." She said before going back to her seat.

'O-Oh… So that's what she was doing…" I thought, feeling very guilty about kicking her. 'Oops…'

We were both sitting down silently for a long time, not talking to each other. Of course, I didn't look at her as I was looking down, seeing my feet dangling off the seat. I don't know what I should say or what I should do now. I don't think I could run away from her since she could probably catch up to me. Plus, I want to try out that sundae that this person mentioned.

After a while, the same woman came to our tables and placed these really weird glass-looking cups with ice cream, mixed with clear red things and these red-looking things on the top and two spoons. I looked at the stranger, who seemed to be already eating hers. Seeing her delighted expression when she took a bite.

I then took my spoon, scooping some ice cream, before putting it in my mouth. 'It tastes so good!' I thought in delight before scooping more up and eating it. 'Mhm Yummy!" I then scooped up more before putting it in my mouth again. I then ate the ice cream even faster before feeling a sharp pain in my head. "Owie!" I exclaimed, clutching my head with my open hand.

"You got a brain freeze." The girl suddenly spoke up, which I just looked at her confused. "Oh. You don't know what that is? It pretty much happens when you eat cold things too fast." She explained, which I still look at her confused. "That's literally it. There's nothing else to explain." She said, which I shrugged and ate more of this sundae.

After we finished, the purple-haired girl took our cups and put them on the counter before going back to our table and sat down. I don't understand what her motives are. The bright thing I saw didn't feel off… though I feel like she was actively trying to get me away from the Biggie Tower.

"So… is there something you want to ask me?" The purple-haired asked me, interrupting my thoughts. "Because~! You seemed very troubled about something…" She said, to which I looked at her warily. "I mean! If you don't want to talk, then it's fine…"

"U-Um… U-Um…" I tried to get my words out, but it immediately faltered. I looked down in both thought and sadness. 'Why…? Why can't I stop getting scared of people…?' I thought, trying to shake my fear off. "U-Um…"

"Wait! I got it!" She exclaimed as she summoned out a notebook and pencil. "You can communicate with this!" She said, sliding it to me. I then looked at it for a little bit before looking at her confused. "Just write your thoughts down. Doesn't matter how bad it is."

I looked at her for a little bit before opening up the notebook and writing the question that was on my mind. After I finished writing, I immediately showed it to her.

'Why r you kepping me frum Biggie Tower?'

"Huh. Well… You seemed scared when you were walking around that dark street." She started to explain to me, listening to what she had to say. "So I thought; 'Before I take you back, l want you to feel safe here.' Plus, you seemed frightened when we first met. So that's another reason for that."

'That was the reason…?' I thought before I started to write some more. I wanted to know more about this person. After finishing writing my second question, I showed it to her again.

'Who r you? Wat is your naem?'

"Me? My name is Murasaki." She introduced herself, which I just narrowed my eyes at her name. "Too hard to understand? Then just call me Saki, okay? Yeah. Yeah. I know. My name literally means purple and…"

"S-Saki… T-T-That's… a n-nice name…" I muttered to myself, to which Saki seemed to notice it before giggling to herself. Which immediately made me freeze up again. "U-Um… U-Um…"

"Sorry! It's just that… No one ever really said that to me." She said before giving me a warm smile. "Thanks for saying that! That makes me really happy!"

"A-Ah… Um…" I then looked down and smiled sheepishly. It wasn't something I usually hear from someone else. Usually some people would yell at me or boss me around, but she seemed nice.

Then immediately, I heard the door opening up before hearing it slam afterwards, making me jump. I then look over to see a young girl around my height with short black hair and yellow eyes back up against the door. She wore a tattered dress without any slippers. She seemed frustrated or terrified about something, which we both immediately noticed as we heard banging on the door.

"Get out here, damn brat!" I heard someone yelling from outside. Hearing that person saying that made me freeze up all over again. Something about that made me feel frightened about what was about to happen.

Then I saw the older woman from the counter walk up to the young girl. I heard her say something like, "Could you please move to the side?" or something like that. I then saw her standing up and walked behind the older woman. After that, the person who was yelling outside pushed the door open. He seemed to be very angry about something that the young girl was involved with. Though I really worry about the clothes he wore were very weird.

Then I heard Saki sighed, making me turn to her. "He's from that Sotenbori Bike Gang… huh…" I heard her mutter before noticing that I was listening to what she was saying, making her panic. "A-Ah…! Y-You shouldn't ask what that is! O-Okay!? She said, to which I nodded very slowly.

"Please get out of this establishment." The older woman said, crossing her arms as the young girl hid behind her. "Don't make me call the guards on you."

"Bah! Go ahead! Bet those guards can't do crap!" The older man sneered, putting both of his hands on hips. "Hell! Even that kid CPU can do anything." He said, making my body freeze up.

'H-He's referring… to me… isn't he…' I thought, feeling rather upset from hearing that. 'He's right… I… don't think I can stop him… even if I tried…' I then looked down, feeling my body shaken up. 'Just don't look up… Just don't look at him… and everything will be fine…' I then looked at the young girl. 'But… if I don't get involved, then…'

I then scoot off my chair before, while holding my stuffed toy, walking up to the older woman and the weird man. "U-Um…" I softly spoke, trying to make the two look my way. "U-Um… I… U-Um…" I tried to speak a bit louder, even though my voice was failing me. The three then looked at me, catching them off guard by me just standing there. As they looked at me, I felt my body freeze up again. I tried to get my words out again, but they all fell silent.

"Hey? Think I can handle this?" I heard someone ask, to which I turned to see Saki behind me. I nodded slowly before going behind her. "So? Is there something wrong with this young girl?" She asked, pointing at the black-haired girl.

"Yeah! This brat stole my wallet!" The man exclaimed while glaring at the girl, who immediately hid behind the woman. That honestly confused me; what is this wallet? Is it something very important to him?

"I see… It's probably a bit of your fault for not putting it away somewhere…" She muttered, seeing that the man's anger is growing even more. "However, this doesn't mean that this young girl is at fault…" Saki then looked at the black-haired girl. "Can I please have this man's wallet?"

The black-haired girl then narrowed her eyes, before hiding behind the woman while shaking her head. Which is something I didn't understand at all. Why isn't she giving this wallet back? Shouldn't people be told what to do?

'Isn't it easier to listen so that no one gets mad at you?'

But instead of getting mad, Saki seemed to look at the young girl's face closely. "Why do you need the wallet anyways? She asked the young girl, who seemed a bit confused. "There has to be some reason for that."

"H-Hungry…" The young girl softly spoke up before hearing some audible grumbling. "I-I'm… hungry…" She muttered before seeing looking a bit red.

"Oh. I see." Saki then smiled warmly. "Okay. How about this? If you give me his wallet, then I'll buy you some ice cream?" She told the young girl, before looking at the man. "Then I give the wallet back to you and you leave peacefully? Does that seem fair?"

Everyone just looked at her in surprise, including me. I don't think I can come up with anything like that. My thought would be to just tell him to go away without listening to him at all, but Saki listens to both of them before making her own decisions. 'Whoa…! I wish I could do that…! Then maybe…' I then looked down. 'I don't have to fight…'

"Wait… wouldn't the guards come here?" The older woman asked, putting my attention onto her. "I mean… someone must have called from outside, right?"

"Oh… right… But that's where the Princess comes in…" Saki said, referring to me. She then looked down to me before kneeling down, giving me a neutral look. "Now tell, should these two be punished for what they did when they have a good reason to do them?"

I stared back at Saki, seemingly putting me on the spot. Then I looked around, everyone was looking at me. Even the people, who I now saw were outside, were peeking inside. I then look down, thinking about it. 'I-I don't know what to do… What am I supposed to do…?' I then looked at the two who started all of this. 'One of them is scary… But… they shouldn't be punished… It just… doesn't feel right to me…" Then I looked up and shook my head as an answer.

After the young girl stared at Saki, seemingly thinking about something. "Okay…" She muttered before taking some sort of pouch out and gave it to the purple-haired girl. Saki then gave it to the man.

"See? Is this better, right?" Saki asked, to which the man nodded. "No one gets hurt and everyone gets to live peacefully!" She then turned to the door where all the people were peeking inside. "Including all of you! Move along everyone!"

After a while, the people started to walk away from the scene and went back to their normal lives. Then the man, without saying a single word, left the room. Of course, there was an awkward pause as I looked up at Saki. Something about her is different from the other people I've met before.

"Okay, okay! So, kid…" Saki then turned to the young girl, who was still hiding behind the older woman, and put her hands on both hips. When I looked up to her, she had this really cheeky grin. "What do you want?"

"Hm… Vanilla…" The young girl muttered, looking less terrified than before. She slowly walked out from behind the woman. "I want Vanilla with that." She said as she pointed at the cone-shaped thing.

"Okay! I want—!" She then turned to the older woman, who was already walking to the counter. I remember her telling Saki about the price of this Vanilla, which she paid for. But instead of us waiting for a long time. The woman then went into the glass-thing, seeing the ice cream being scooped up, before putting in this cone-shaped thing. Then she gave this Saki, who then gave it to the young girl.

She looked happy about it as she went in and took a bite. "Thank you!" She exclaimed as she started to eat some more. The way she was eating was a bit weird to me. I have never seen someone eat so fast and strangely. "This is my first food for this week!"

'Eh? What did she mean by that?'

"A-Ah. I see…" Saki said, sounding a bit nervous. She then beckoned to the table and chairs we've sat on. "How about we sit here for now? Is that okay with you?" She asked before the young girl immediately walked to the chairs and sat down on one of them. "Ah. Okay. I…" She sighed before walking to her chair and sat down, which I later followed.

We've sat there for at least a while, silently looking at each other. 'This is so weird… We went from a man yelling at someone to this…' My mind feels fuzzy for some odd reason. I looked at the black-haired girl nervously. She seemed to be around my height, but she doesn't act like me. 'Is everyone so different from each other…?' I asked myself, unable to think of anything else. 'But there is something else I don't understand…'

"U-Um… M-Miss… Saki…?" I spoke up, trying to get my words out for the first time in front of total strangers. I was clenching my knees rather hard, to stop them from shaking. "W-Why…? W-Why did you u-um…" Then my voice started to fail again. "U-Um… U-Um…"

"You don't have to speak… I already got the message…" Saki said before looking up in thought as she crossed her arms. Then she gave me a small smirk. "Well, I just want to protect the people and not hurt others. You know, stuff like that."

'Really? That's… so cool!' I thought, looking at her with amazement in my eyes. 'To protect people… I wish I could do that!' I then gave her a really big smile on my face. 'I… wish I could do that…' I then looked down. 'But I can't… because… I'm scared…"

"Huh!? That's it?" I then jumped before turning to the young girl, who seemed to look angry for some reason. "What sort of motivation is…?" She stopped herself as she noticed me looking at her really confused. "Why are you looking at me like that!?"

"W-Wha…? W-Wha…?" I tried to ask her 'What is motivation?' to her, but my voice keeps failing on me. I tried to avoid eye contact from her, but she kept trying to look me in the eyes.

"I think she's asking, 'What is motivation,' right?" Saki asked as she looked at me, to which I slowly nodded as an answer. She then smiled before giggling to herself. "Well… it's a goal you want to reach. You know?"

'A goal… I want to reach…? That sounds… so cool…' I thought as I looked at Saki, feeling a bit comfortable with her. 'I wished I had… that…' I then looked down to the ground. I then looked at the young girl. I started to wonder what her name is. "U-Um… Who…?"

"Oh. I haven't told you my name yet…" The young girl muttered to herself before looking directly at me.

"The name's…"

Older Sapphire's POV…

I… remember this… This was when I first met Saki… and Kuro… before we even became friends…

I don't remember why… I trusted her so much… maybe Saki seemed so nice compared to the others I've met… Maybe because she was trustworthy enough… Maybe Histoire… trusted her… saw something in her…

That… I don't know…

But…

Why can't I remember…?

Why can't I remember what really happened back then…?

Did I really meet Kuro that day…? I can't remember… Did we really become friends that day…? I… don't know…

What happened back then…? Why can I remember…? It's hurting my head… I…

I don't know…


That's all for now! This is a bit of a short chapter because this is technically a beginning chapter for Young Sapphire. Either way a lot of stuff I'll be talking about this chapter, starting with Young Sapphire.

Young Sapphire is a bit of a weird one to write in first person since she seemed like she doesn't know what to do (which is something I intentionally did). She gets impressed with anything you show to her. She's not exactly like Older Sapphire, but some of the stuff she thinks about is something that she still does think about in the future.

Saki (also known as Murasaki) is one that pushes Sapphire to the right direction. I want to expand on this character.

Kuro is someone I have plans for in the future, but I won't tell you what that is.

I don't want to do Histoire's character for this chapter (maybe for a future chapter), but I do want to expand on that character.

And if you're wondering if this is either Sapphire's dreams or her actual memories. Well, they're her memories but it's a bit messed up at this point in the story.

And of course, I had to put a Yakuza reference in there. And actually, there is a scene in there where I was thinking about Majima's introduction in Yakuza 0.

Either way, Please Review and Stay Safe!