Honestly, I'm surprised I've managed to keep writing until this point. Most of the one-off stories I write usually end after the third chapter. Most of my inspiration mostly dies after that point. A pleasant surprse, but definitely surprised. Not sure how long I can sustain it, but I guess I'll try my damnest to keep this thing going for as long as it can. Chapter size won't increase though. My workload is big enough. No need to add another pile onto it.
Anyways, just some nice foreshadowing for future plans in this chapter. Oh, and a quick introduction to Compa. The girl won't be making much of an appearance until much later, since the girl's still a training nurse and all.
(And I know Compa technically never finishes becoming a full-fledged nurse because of...reasons, but let's assume she needs to spend some time getting training, yeah?)
[6] - Re: Miniscence
She'd told her story, got a receptionist kicked out, and bore witness to why Histoire was Planeptune's Oracle.
And then she was dragged to the hospital by a worried Histoire.
She should've seen this coming. Drinking three SP Chargers a day was already a cause for concern. Drinking five in the span of an hour was a certified reason to be carted off to the hospital.
SP Chargers didn't really…fill her with SP, per se. It was more of a drug that sped up her body's generation of SP explosively for a small moment. Hence, the headaches and the bodily pain.
She thought she was fine. She felt fine. But the moment Histoire turned to her and expressed her concerns, her words had failed her. Her throat constricted, her vision blurred, and all she could remember was that overwhelming fear and regret as she ran and ran and ran and ran and-
She'd burst into tears seconds later.
She didn't remember much after that. She remembered crying, remembered shouting out apologies as voices wailed in the back of her mind. She didn't remember much, but she remembered how panicked Histoire became, how she tried to calm her down and all she could see was her bloodied corpse slowly fading into shards of light as she screamed and-
By the time she came back, she was sitting in a hospital bed, with Histoire and Neptune hovering beside her. They were worried, their mouths moving, but she couldn't hear much. It was odd really. Everything felt so far away.
The doctors were saying something to Histoire, and IF watched as Neptune's face remained grim. It's…strange to see the normal Neptune wear such an expression. She'd normally be happy, smiling without a care. Why was she so sad?
She didn't really know. Neptune had patted her, whispering something with a smile, and IF felt herself drift to sleep.
Neptune was somewhat worried-, no, scratch that, she was definitely worried.
Histoire gave her a short (and not dumbed down, no sir!) briefing over what IF went through, and she couldn't help but grimace. An entire subspace at Darkness 60, filled with Viral monsters and a giant unidentified mech monster? It sounded almost like some kind of hidden super powerful dungeon the devs would hide for future content.
But what worried her most were the Viral monsters. Monsters infected with negative energy and turned feral. For a dungeon to have so many Viral monsters meant that the air itself was infested with negative energy, and alarm bells had shot on in her head.
And as she feared, IF was infected. It took some time to identify, but she could find traces of negative energy clinging onto her. It was probably why the normally stoic girl broke down. Negative energy tended to do that.
What was more confusing was the…hole that was left behind after she purified her. She didn't really know what it was, but it was as if some part of her was missing. It was concerning.
Out of curiosity, she tried filling that empty hole with some of her own share energy, and Neptune could only gape as her shares neatly slotted themselves into the hole.
IF had the potential to gather share energy.
Histoire was just as shocked as she was. Humans could generate share energy, but not store it. Only CPUs could do that. For IF to be able to store share energy, no matter how small that storage was-
It meant that IF was, somehow, capable of becoming a goddess.
Was this a byproduct of her getting infected by negative energy, or something else entirely? Whatever the case may be, IF was IF. She was the girl who'd saved Nepgear. She was the girl who'd beat her at her games. She was the stoic girl who could still smile and laugh as she sat down and played.
She was the girl she'd become friends with.
Turning to the windows, she clenched her fists. IF was hurt. She was really hurt. Neptune didn't know if she'd lost someone or if someone had caused that to her, but she promised one thing.
She was Purple Heart. She was the goddess of Planeptune. And all that dared hurt her citizen will burn.
She shook her head. Getting so worked up wasn't like her. She was the cheery protagonist! This kind of mulling and brooding was so Blanc and Noire's thing!
No, it didn't work. No matter what she tried to think, her mind kept moving back to the sleeping girl beside her. She'd only been friends with her for a day at best, but it felt like they've known each other for a lifetime.
She felt like…family.
She smiled slightly. She wondered if IF could become a full-fledged CPU. They'd be sisters by that point, even if she came from a different origin and all. She wasn't sure if IF would want that though. She seemed to be the more adventurous type. She doubted she'd enjoy being tied down to the Basilicom and being forced to go through paperwork.
She suppressed a shiver. Paperwork. It was her true kryptonite. She wished she could just make all problems go poof, but nooo, she had to be all formal and stuff.
"Neptune? Shall we go back?"
She blinked. Why did Histy look so…worried? She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but her words were stuck. Her mouth shut.
What was this crushing feeling in her heart? Why did leaving IF alone feel so hard?
"I…" She tried again, violently grabbing at her hoodie. "Can we…stay here, a bit more?"
Histy looked at her, really looked. She then sighed, and she almost looked like she'd aged several years. "...sure."
They remained there for a couple more hours.
IF felt…awful. She'd never had a hangover before, but she was pretty sure this was what a hangover felt like. She groaned. Her head ached. Opening her eyes hurt. She felt marginally better, but everything still felt too heavy for her tastes.
She tried opening her eyes again, wincing as sunlight fell onto them. Her vision was no better. Everything was blurry. Her surroundings looked like splodges of paint. She slowly turned her head, watching as the colors slowly shifted from white to blue, then pink and-
…pink?
"Oh! You're awake!"
Her eyes went wide. That voice…!
"W…ho…?" She tried asking, but her voice refused to come out.
A giggle. "I'm Compa!" She heard her say, and IF could feel tears building in her eyes. Compa was so close to her, and she could do nothing. How pathetic. "E-Eh? Why are you crying, Ms. IF!? Is something wrong?!"
"Co…mpa…" She tried saying. "I…I…"
"Ssh…" She could feel a hand on her head. It felt warm. "It's okay, Ms. IF. You'll heal soon. I'll make sure of it!"
Heal? Oh, right. IF was hurt, wasn't she? She'd almost forgotten about that. She choked out a small laugh and nestled into the warm hand. "Com…pa…"
A hum. "Yes, Ms. IF?"
IF smiled weakly. "It's…nice…to…me…et…"
She awoke again some time later. She felt far better. Her head still ached, but her eyes were fine now. Her vision was still shot though. She internally grimaced. She hoped this blurred vision thing was temporary. She liked wearing glasses for style and all, but zooming past enemies with a pair of glasses on her face would get annoying fast.
There was no one in her room this time, and she silently sighed. She wished she could see Compa again. It'd been…far too long since she last saw the trainee nurse.
She sniffed. Far too long.
She wondered what happened to that previous timeline? Did it still exist, now bereft of her? Had it ended already? Did it disappear the moment IF jumped timelines? IF didn't know. She didn't really want to know.
She sighed. No use wondering about it now. Idly, she began surfing through her status. She'd gotten another level from her endeavors, which was nice. Cross Impact was also getting particularly close to that 100%. She hoped the rank up requirements weren't too hard.
She smiled, and let her eyes close.
"Gah!? Another game over!?"
"Suck it, Neptune."
"Wa-wa-wa!? What's this, IF!? When did this power up happen!?"
She smirked back. "You're just bad." She grinned as Neptune cried out in indignation. The little goddess pouted at her for a moment, before she huffed and turned away. IF continued smirking as she booted up another round.
Neptune lost again, and IF couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh! She's awake!"
IF slowly opened her eyes. She felt…better than she anticipated. Her headache was almost gone. Her vision was back to being crisp, which was nice. Her body didn't hurt anymore either, though the fatigue was still there.
"IF!"
She blinked. "Nepgear?"
The CPU Candidate nearly burst to tears as she hugged her. IF froze for a moment, before she hugged back. She was…admittedly confused and worried, but Compa simply smiled at her. IF kept her hug, gently whispering sweet comforts as she rubbed circles on Nepgear's back.
"You good now?" She asked. Nepgear sniffed and nodded, smiling brightly.
"How about you, Ms. IF?" Compa stepped up, a small clipboard in her hands. "How do you feel? Does anything still hurt? Anything out of the ordinary?"
"Mm…" She internally grimaced. Should she lie about her headache? But, this was Compa she was speaking to, and the sheer thought of lying to her friend felt like stabbing herself in the gut. "I'm still tired, and a bit dizzy, but I feel fine now."
"Hmm." The nurse wrote something in her clipboard, before she snapped it close. "Well, it's good that you're feeling better, Ms. IF! With a bit more sleep, you should be all good!" She cheerily said, and IF smiled. How nostalgic.
"Ah, thank you Ms. Compa!" Nepgear bowed, and IF silently grinned as Compa blushed. The nurse had never really gotten used to being complimented, and that was something IF loved to tease her about.
"Mm. Thanks Compa."
"A-Ah, it's nothing, Ms. IF, Ms. Nepgear! I'm just doing my job!"
Smiling, IF leaned back and closed her eyes.
It took another two days for her to be discharged. She…found that she didn't mind it all that much. Sure, she lost around five days worth of monster grinding, but Compa and Nepgear's company more than made up for it. Histoire and Neptune would visit from time to time, but they were both busy.
Heh. Neptune being busy. Now that's a word combination she never thought would fit. She wasn't quite sure what Neptune was so busy with though. Nepgear didn't know either.
She would've loved to immediately run back to Virtua Forest to grind some Exp, but Compa explicitly stated that she was not to work herself too hard for another day or so. Not that she'd be able to do that, with Nepgear near constantly hovering around her. She could easily break away, her Agi would make it easy, but that would just be mean.
So, she went to the store she bought her supplies from. The lady behind the counter nearly hugged her to death the moment she caught sight of her.
She then bought 199 Iron Bars and rented the shop's forge for the day. It didn't cost her as much as she thought it would.
The shopkeeper was curious, and so was Nepgear. IF grinned and told them of her new title, and the shopkeeper simply hummed. The woman knew exactly what her plan was, and she wholeheartedly approved.
Nepgear didn't quite know, so IF told her about the requirement for the rank up. She perked up and asked if she could watch. IF couldn't quite tell her not to.
So here she was, hammering her 98th Iron Bar into shape. It's strange. The moment she equipped Novice Smith, knowledge seemed to flow into her mind. She knew how to best wield a hammer, and she knew the basic steps of forging. The system was magical like that.
Nepgear was still watching, eyes completely captured by the sparks that flew as she hammered the red hot bar. She smiled slightly. Nepgear loved this kind of thing, didn't she? She was surprised the girl was still paying attention though. IF would've no doubt zoned out and did something else by this point.
Carefully, she moved the newly hammered knife into a bucket of water and sighed. That was the 98th knife made.
Still, she was only half done. She had just about another hundred knives to make.
She continued forging, making small talk with Nepgear as her hands worked on her knives. IF asked if she liked this kind of thing, and Nepgear had launched into a long rant about forging and making things. She zoned out half-way through her explanation, but she let the girl keep going.
Nepgear being Nepgear, she apologized about 5 minutes in, and IF simply laughed. Hearing Nepgear speak was nice on its own.
She then asked if she liked adventuring, and she could hear Nepgear sigh. She'd looked at the ground and said that she wasn't strong enough. That made IF stop for a moment. Nepgear, not being strong? That couldn't be right. Nepgear was a CPU Candidate. Even at level 1, she was far stronger than most humans.
And then,
"I can't transform."
IF fully froze this time. Nepgear couldn't transform? That wasn't all that weird, right? She was still a Candidate after all. But Nepgear had shook her head, tears in her eyes as she said no. Histoire had said that something was wrong with her core, something wasn't allowing her to transform.
IF opened her mouth, and shut it close. What was she supposed to say to that? That she was sorry? That she hoped she could transform soon? That this was temporary?
Well no, to hell with that. Nepgear was one of the strongest people she knew. Something like this wasn't enough to get her down.
"So what?" IF said, not quite able to hold back her anger. Nepgear flinched at the tone, and IF took a quick breath. "So what?" She asked again, softer this time. "You can't transform? So what? Does it change anything?"
"E-Eh? Of course it does, I can't-!"
"Does not being able to transform make you someone else?" Nepgear froze at her words, and IF continued on. "Do you need to transform to be Nepgear? Do you need to be able to transform to be Neptune's sister?"
"N-No?" Nepgear sounded so, so confused, and IF could see the thoughts warring inside her mind.
"Then that's that."
"B-But I'm weak, and-"
"Then change that." IF barely managed to keep her voice level, but the fire in her eyes burnt without restraint. Nepgear watched, afraid and entranced by the weight her words carried. The confidencetrusthope she could feel was near overwhelming.
"You said that you're not strong?" IF slammed her hammer down. Sparks flew into the air. "Then change it. Do something about it." She slammed her hammer down again. "Humans can't transform, but we've been able to grow strong." Another slam. "If we normal humans can," Another. "Then surely you can do it as well, right?"
SLAM
A small silence swept between them as IF moved her new knife into a bucket of water. The hiss of steam echoed as she brought out another Iron Bar from her inventory.
She began forging again.
"We weren't born strong." IF began. "We didn't have any special powers. We didn't have anything we could immediately rely on. We had nothing."
She stared at the glow of the flames. It danced silently. "We had to become strong. We needed to. Monsters that could destroy entire cities lurked just beneath the shadows, and we had nothing but this body we were born into."
"We had to become strong."
I was always left behind.
"We had to grow."
It seemed like I could never catch up.
"We had to suffer."
I went through so much.
"We had nothing."
I had nothing but daggers and a head full of stories.
"Absolutely nothing."
I was nothing but a child. I was but a child when everything fell apart. I left so much behind. I watched so many things break apart. The things I'd come to care for, the things I'd come to love, the things I learnt, the places I went to, the people I talked to,
They all faded one by one.
One by one.
IF could feel the tears in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Not now. She'd cried for them already. She wept and grieved for those she'd lost already. The empty pang of regret thrummed through her heart, and she knew it'd never go away. The wails and screams in the back of her mind would never disappear.
Why did she have to live? Why did she have to live when others didn't? Why did she have to be saved?
WhY dID shE HAve tO liVe?
She took a deep breath, and slammed her hammer down. "We had nothing, and so we couldn't lose anything." She finally continued. "We took as much as we could, learnt as much as we could. We searched for every single cheat we could do, found every single path we could take. We learnt and searched and found."
Smiling, she turned to meet Nepgear's eyes. "We are humans." She said, with confident finality. "We are humans. We had nothing. We were weak, and so we turned ourselves strong."
Nepgear was crying now. IF was sure she was too. "We turned ourselves strong." She repeated, and she grinned. "If we can, so can you."
"...r-really…?" Nepgear hiccuped, tears trailing down her cheeks. "C-Can I…really…?"
"Yes." IF said simply. Because she knew Nepgear could. She'd seen it before. She'd seen the girl brave so much with a smile. She'd seen it all. She knew she could do it.
"And besides," IF winked with a smile. "When you finally can transform, you'll be even more powerful, right?"
Nepgear giggled, and despite the darkness of the forge, the smile the girl held shined as bright as the sun. IF huffed and closed her eyes.
Why did she have to live?
Because there's still a chance.
[Confirmed. [ Novice Smith ] → [ Veteran Smith ]]
Honestly, that last scene was way too fun to write. Wasn't even planning for IF to become a weaponsmith. The idea just kinda...popped into existence, and my fingers moved on their own.
