Me: "Hello, our good readers. Well, not that the hunt for the Key Fragments is over, we have to move to the next part of the story."
Heero and Neptune: (Enter IC from Lounge) "You mean the story's not over yet? There's still more stuff to do?"
Me: "Yup. What? Did you actually think the story would be over after you found the Key Fragments?"
Neptune: "Kinda… but this is awesome! We get to keep going with the story!"
Heero: "It was to be expected. Simply retrieving the Key Fragments wasn't going to just suddenly bring the story to an end."
Compa and IF: (Enter IC from Break Room) "So the story is going to be longer?"
Me: "You bet. I mean, you still have to free Histy, then there's the stuff you have to do after that… I'll just say that we still have content."
Histoire: (Enters IC from Lounge) "Hello? I was told that I was needed in here."
Me: "Histy, there you are. How does it feel to finally make a major appearance in the story?"
Histoire: "Well, it is certainly much better than being stuck in a secluded dungeon."
Zero: (Suddenly appears in IC) "It was a long and arduous journey, but it seems we've completed our objective."
Me: "And now you get to make an appearance in the Intro Corner as well, so bonus." (Looks at watch) "We should wrap this up. So, let's hear it people."
Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Zero and Histoire: "HeeroUzuki does not own Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or any work pertaining to any of these franchises. However, he does own the idea of crossing over Gundam Wing and Hyperdimension Neptunia."
Me: "And that's our cue to get back to work, peeps."
Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Zero and Histoire: (Leave IC)
Ch. 36 Release of Histoire and the Truth about Neptune
It was the morning after the party's foray into the ruin's on Lowee, and the group was in high spirits. The previous day saw them obtain the Key Fragment that they had sought for some time, and now the group was planning their next move.
IF was surfing through her phone on the couch as Compa, Gust, Nisa and Red finished gathering their equipment and personal items. As she gathered her things, Nisa noticed that three people were missing, "Hey, where's Heero? Nep and Lyrica aren't here either."
The Guild Moderatist looked up from her phone to look around the room. She already knew where Heero was, but the lack of a certain purple haired girl explained why it was so quiet, "Probably in the garage. Heero did get the rest of that stuff Chian made this morning."
Sure enough, Neptune was in the workshop, as was Lyrica. Chian had sent the remainder of the Avalanche equipment and Heero was finishing the process of fitting the parts onto the Gundam Exia's legs, thus the configuration into the Gundam Avalanche Exia Dash was complete.
Neptune had been helping the boy with his work, and she was understandably proud with the end result, "This robot is lookin' pretty awesome, huh? I betcha he could totally put the hurt on a bunch of monsters."
While the Avalanche pack wasn't intended to increase the Gundam's firepower, the suit did gain extra weaponry with the addition of the remaining components. A pair of leg mounted GN Claws with their own beam sabers meant that the suit now had a weapon in all four of its limbs.
Lyrica was impressed with how durable the material for the Gundam was, and it made the gears in her head turn as she thought about acquiring some of it for her guitar, "I wonder if I could get some of this for Mr. Guitar. I'd never worry about him breaking again."
While her it had not broken even once during their travels, Lyrica did worry that sooner or later she would end up breaking her treasured guitar. Having her guitar made from same metal as one of the Gundams would ensure that it was unlikely to break from being swung at a monster.
With the modifications to the Exia complete, Heero dismissed the Gundam. The Gundam pilot wiped his hands with a nearby rag after putting away his assortment of tools, "Now that this matter has been taken care of, we should reconvene with the others and decide where to go from here."
The boy brought up the idea of moving elsewhere, as the group had accomplished their main goal on the snow covered landmass and there were no job offers at the moment. They had faced a similar situation when they were still searching for the Lastation Key Fragment, and couldn't afford to become idle.
Having finished gathering their belongings and taking care of any last minute shopping and preparations, the party gathered in the living room to determine where they were to go, as it was obvious they couldn't stay in Lowee at the moment.
IF opened up the discussion by bringing up the obvious reasons why the group needed to move, "We've got the Key Fragment and there are no job requests. I'm pretty sure its obvious that we need to move somewhere else."
While the party did need to move to another landmass, the question was 'where' they needed to move. They already had all four Key Fragments from all four landmass, so it wasn't as if going to any of the other landmasses was a bad choice. The only wrong choice they could make was to stay in Lowee.
Neptune wanted to go to Planeptune in case there was another sale on puddings, "Let's go to Planeptune, then! We got nothing else to do."
While it wasn't much of a reason, the purplenette was right in that they had no other business on the other landmasses. They also had to figure out what they were supposed to do with the Key Fragments.
Heero decided to throw his vote behind Neptune's decision, "If there are any objections, let's hear them now."
The girl's exchanged looks with one another in case someone had something to say. No one had any better ideas, and Planeptune seemed as good a place as any to look for a lead as to what they were to do next.
Since there were no opinions against the idea, Heero turned his attention to Neptune. "...It would appear that no one is against your idea."
Neptune jumped out of her spot on the couch with a grin spreading across her face, "Then let's get moving, guys! We gotta go find, Histy!"
Xxx
With the four Key Fragments in hand, the partymade the decision to move to Planeptune. Conveniently, the Sky Harbor connecting said landmass to Loweehad opened that very morning. How ironic was it that the party's first stop after collecting the Key Fragments was the landmass where they started their journey?
On their way to their safe house, the party passed through one of the major parks found within the capital city. Neptune looked around the park and took note of the pedestrians jogging around, "Have ya noticed all these folks jogging?"
Compa had taken the time to look at the people jogging and noticed that they were all wearing headphones, "It's really not safe to do while listening to music, though..." The nurse in training pointed over to a woman that was so busy listening to her music that she didn't notice the bicycler coming. "Look. That lady doesn't even know she's being approached from behind by Mr. Bicycler."
Seeing the accident waiting to happen prompted Neptune to think about the dangers of being unable to hear one's surroundings, "Maybe it's unsafe to not hear the stuff happening around you."
IF had been looking at the same thing the Neptune and Compa were, throwing her two cents in on the matter, "There are some leisure activities that take advantage of that." The brunette folded her arms over her chest as she thought of an example of an activity that made use of headphones. "I went to this one haunted house where you have to wear headphones while inside."
Compa seemed to know what IF was talking about as she described some of what could be found in the haunted house, "Oh, the place filled with dolls? It's so scary there!"
Hearing that both girls had been to the same place made Neptune rather jealous, especially when she had wanted to go to the same haunted house, "You've both been there?! Ugh, lameburgers. What's it like? Is it a big mansion? Do you take pictures of ghosts?
IF described what exactly it was that she experienced in the scary attraction, "It's like… stereophonic sound. Grotesque, unearthly noises sound pretty real and it makes you feel like things are a lot closer than they actually are."
Remembering her time in the haunted house caused Compa to shiver, "Yes, it made me think the dolls were actually alive!"
The two girls had obviously been creeped out by the experience, Compa even more so, but hearing what was actually involved made Neptune assume her thinking pose as she questioned whether or not there was something scarier in the house, "Huh. Wouldn't it be creepy if the dolls were really trying to talk to you, but you couldn't hear them cuz of the headphones?"
Compa stopped to thinking about the purplenette's question before her face turned pale at the idea. "...Wh-?!"
Seeing the nurse in training frozen in place over the possibility of something scary in the haunted house spurred IF to scold the party leader, "Don't creep her out even more!"
Lyrica had been hiding behind some bushes to avoid being seen by the groups of people walking about, poking her head out from the thicket every so often, "C-Can we please go now? Th-There are so many people her… I wanna leave now."
Nisa understood the musician's plight. Lyrica still wasn't over her borderline unreasonable shyness around people she didn't know, "I feel bad for her. I guess we should hurry up and go."
Deciding to take pity on the cerulean haired girl, the party quickly departed for their safe house.
Xxx
As soon as their gear was dropped off at the safe house, the party sought to plan their next move. Not wanting to be interrupted, the group found a small lake just outside of the city to discuss their course of action moving forward.
Neptune scratched her cheek as she tried to think of what the party was supposed to do now, "I was just thinkin', but what're we supposed to do when we get all four Key Fragments?"
Compa gave a smile as she reminded Neptune about what they were supposed to do since she was under the impression that the amnesiac had suddenly forgotten the purpose of finding the Key Fragments in the first place, "Rescue Histy, of course! Did you forget about that, too?"
Neptune rapidly shook her head from side to side, "No, no! I mean, she hasn't told us where she is. Actually... she said she doesn't know..."
The nurse in training looked at the party leader with disbelief… as did most of the group. Even after completing the set of Key Fragments, the group had still not received any word from Histoire. And now they were made aware of the fact that they had no idea where to find Histoire. To make matter worse, the person they were trying to save didn't know where she was either.
IF was the first to voice her complaints regarding the matter, "What?! You don't know that? I guess we never really discussed her location, but come on!"
Lyrica turned her attention to Neptune, hoping that she was either kidding, or that maybe Histoire had in fact told her and she just didn't realize it, "You're sure she didn't tell you anything? Maybe she tried to tell you at some point and you were thinking of food."
The amnesiac seemed a little offended by the songstress. Specifically, how she believed that she may have been thinking about food if and when Histoire tried to contact her, "That's mean, Lyrics. I don't think about food all the time. If anything, Histy might have tried to talk to me while I was thinking about Heero. I think about Heero a lot. Like what he's thinking, or what kinda food he likes, or if he likes girls with small or big boobs… or if he wants to have our M rated scene."
Only two of those questions were really of any interest to the girls in the party, one was a discussion for later in private, and the other… was just Neptune being Neptune. Red took a moment to think on Neptune's question of what Heero's preferences in a woman's bust were before coming up with an answer herself, "Heero must be an 'all boobs' kind of guy!"
Everyone in the party just looked at the read head as she blurted out what she thought of the Gundam pilot. "Normally guys fall under the small boobs or big boobs category when it comes to size preference. But Heero is one of the rare exceptions. As long as she's got a pretty face, he doesn't care what the size a girl's knockers are!"
Heero could do nothing but stare at Red. She claimed that he liked boobs of all sizes, so long as the girl they were attached to had a good looking face. The Gundam pilot had no idea where Red pulled that from, or why the group of girls was trying to analyze him in that regard, "(What. The. Hell?)"
Of course, the rest of the girls couldn't help but think on the subject now. Save for Gust, anyway. Neptune took her place next to Heero, her arms already around the boy, "I already know that Heero loves me even if I don't have boobs as big as Compa's, cause I'm the prettiest AND cutest member of the party! That and we're Destined Lovers."
Even though they were friends, Compa wouldn't have gone so far as to call Neptune the 'prettiest' or 'cutest'… at least not in this situation, "Nep-Nep, I don't want to sound mean, but you're not the prettiest or cutest. If anything, I'm the prettiest. Gust would probably be the cutest."
The aforementioned alchemist wanted nothing to do with their conversation, "Please don't drag Gust into this."
While the party leader and nurse in training started their bicker fest, IF looked away with her cheeks tinged red, stealing an occasional glance at Heero, "(If what Red's saying is true… then I've got nothing to worry about. I don't usually toot my own horn, but I've got a pretty good looking face.)"
Lyrica was pushing her index fingers together bashfully as she thought on the matter herself, "(I've got a pretty cute face… a-and I am still growing, so...)"
Nisa was in the same boat as the rest of them, talking to herself regarding the issue, "(I knew Heero would see past a woman's physical appearances! Proof that one does not need large breasts to win a man's heart!)"
While the girl's were busy thinking about him, Heero was trying to figure out how a serious discussion about finding Histoire turned into… this. The Gundam pilot worked to steer the conversation back to their objective, "I would appreciate it if all of you would focus on the matter at hand. We still need to find Histoire's location."
The girls weren't so involved with their current line of thought that they couldn't be brought back to the topic of finding Histoire. Each person of the group carefully thought of an actual way they could find the location of the mystery girl they were searching for that didn't include randomly searching dungeons.
Lyrica suddenly thought of what may very well have been the best possible way of finding Histoire, which was to get Heero's helper to find her, "Do we really need to look for Histy ourselves? Z can find her, can't she?"
A grin spread across Neptune's face as she thought about the idea. It certainly would have been easier than looking for her themselves, "That's an idea I can get behind. I guess even a meat shield can have good ideas!"
While Lyrica protested the party leader's claim about her being the group's 'meat shield,' Neptune immediately started asking the other disembodied voice for assistance, "Hey, you there Z? We kinda need some help here."
The purplenette only had to wait a few seconds to get a response from the ZERO System, "Did you need something?"
Neptune was confident that Zero would be able to help the party with their problem. She had done so more than once. "We're looking for Histy, but we don't know where to find her. We were wondering if maybe you could help us out."
Even though Zero had been able to help the group every time the group asked for it, the answer she had for Neptune wasn't what she was hoping for. "I'm sorry, but I am unable to locate Histoire at the moment."
When Neptune went silent, the group had assumed that something was wrong. Finally the leader of the group started talking again, "...What?"
"I've tried to pinpoint Histoire's location by finding areas with abnormal readings. I have also tried to locate her by listening in on her conversation's with you, but I have been unable to find the point of origin. I apologize, Neptune, but even I can't find her at the moment."
Hearing Zero say that she couldn't find Histoire caused the amnesiac to go silent once more. The second round of silence made the girls suspect that something was wrong, "...Well? What did Z tell you, Nep-Nep?"
Neptune's shoulders sank as she broke the news to the party, "Even Z can't find her… This sucks."
Since Zero couldn't find Histoire and they didn't have any potential leads the group was forced to think of another way to find the mystery tome themselves. Compa tried to think of something reasonable when thinking of her possible whereabouts, "Maybe She's guarded by a strong monster, too. Like the Key Fragments. We should be able to find her if we keep fighting strong monsters! Problem solved."
It was a rather sound idea. Each of the four Key Fragments had been guarded by a particularly strong monster, and one that wasn't exactly a common sight among the various monsters around Gamindustri. It wouldn't have been surprising if the sealed Histoire was also being guarded by a strong monster, seeing as how the Key Fragments were needed to find her.
Before the group could even begin the walk back to the city to start gathering information, Neptune and Heero heard a familiar voice, "...There is no need for that."
The one contacting the duo was none other than the person they were trying to find, Histoire. Neptune was elated to hear from the disembodied voice, "Histy? Can ya hear me? Can you chat right now? Over."
"Yes, Neptune. I am so sorry I have been unable to keep in touch lately."
Neptune conveyed Histoire's words to the group, or rather the rest of the girls since they couldn't hear her. "Histy says she sorry for not contacting us." The amnesiac then went back to talking to the disembodied voice, "I wish you woulda, like, texted us or something! Over."
Heero couldn't help but point out the flaw in Neptune's request that Histoire 'texted' them, "You realize that if Histoire were capable of other means of communication she would have contacted either contacted us sooner, or the authorities."
"I'm just sayin' that it would've been nice to hear from her sooner, y'know?"
Unlike their previous talks with Histoire, this one was different in that Neptune and Heero weren't the only ones that could hear her. Compa looked around the party's immediate surroundings for the source of the voice, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, "...I can hear her. It's faint, but I can hear her!" The nurse in training looked over at IF. "You can too, right Iffy?"
IF had in fact heard the same disembodied voice that Heero and Neptune had been in contact with throughout their travels, but she was having difficulty hearing her, "Yeah, but barely. How, though? We were never able to hear anything before."
None of the other party members had been able to hear Histoire up until that point. Compa proudly proclaimed what she believed to be the reason for her suddenly being able to hear Histoire, "It's most likely because I've become a tough, independent girl who doesn't cry!"
Unfortunately for Compa, Histoire was about to burst her bubble, "...Actually, that has nothing to do with it. My seal has weakened since the fragments are gathering in one place. It also has something to do with you all being on Planeptune."
While slightly disappointed, the nurse in training remained upbeat about the situation. Compa then took her cell phone out to check her reception and found that it was working properly, unlike when they were on Lowee. "My cell phone is working again, too. We must be getting more bars all over the place!"
Once again, Histoire had to shut down Compa's idea. "...No, it is possible that you are closer to where I am being held. The Key Fragments should lead you to me."
Neptune was growing more excited with each passing second. After all the traveling, questing and fighting, they were finally going to find Histoire, "Heero and I heard ya for the first time on this landmass, too. All right, so the fragments will know where Histy is! Over!"
IF suddenly turned to the purple haired girl with an agitated look on her face, "Just don't try to talk to them. I don't think they will respond to you."
"Right. Try watching them closely. They should show some response as you come ever closer to me."
The idea was to use the Key Fragments as a compass to find where Histoire was being held. Heero held his hand out to Neptune for one of the fragments, "I need to see one of the Key Fragments. I want to test something."
Neptune dug into her hoodie pocket and pulled one of the gold fragments out, "Here ya go. What'cha gonna do?"
If the Key Fragments gave a response as they drew closer to Histoire, perhaps they could get some kind of response from where they were to help give them an idea on where to go. The Gundam pilot held the Key Fragment at eye level as he slowly moved his arm, "(If the others can hear her, Histoire can't be too far away. In that case, we should be able to get some kind of indication...)"
It wasn't long before the Key Fragment began to give off a soft glow. When Heero stopped, he was facing north. "...That way."
Heero gave the Key Fragment back to Neptune, who was all too eager to head off in the supposed direction of the captive Histoire. "We're finally gonna save Histy, you guys! Let's hurry up and find her so everyone knows we're the greatest heroes ever!"
A bold claim for sure, but it wasn't as if it wasn't without merit. Before they had gone to find the Key Fragments, Histoire had said that saving her was tantamount to saving the world. The party immediately headed in the direction specified by the Key Fragments to achieve their long awaited goal of finding Histoire.
Xxx
Using the Key Fragments as a sort of compass, the party found a dungeonon one the floating islandsjust outside of Planeptune's capital city. Neptune peered into the ruins with a bored look on her face. She had obviously been expecting something a bit more exciting, "...Here? Doesn't look too wacky. Actually, it's pretty much normal-bormal."
Compa had been expecting the dungeon to be different as well. She was a bit disappointed that the dungeon where they were to find Histoire looked like much of the same that they had encountered over their travels, "Yes, this is an important area. It could've looked a little unique. I'm a tad disappointed."
Unlike her two companions, IF wasn't so much concerned with the how the dungeon looked, but rather the dungeon that they were supposed to find Histoire was actually out in the open. Saving Histoire was essentially the same as saving the world and considering how important such a task was, it was a rather odd that the location wasn't a secret dungeon or the like, "Why would anyone hide something in a place that stands out?"
Neptune assumed her thinking pose as she tried to come up with an answer to the brunette's question, but couldn't think of anything. Heero on the other hand could plainly see the reason as to why such a location was chosen to hide Histoire, "I believe that's exactly the reason why Histoire was hidden here. What better place to hide something important than the last place you would expect?"
IF was going to question Heero's logic when she stopped to think about it. It actually did make sense. Normally when someone wanted to hide something important or valuable they look to hide it in a location that was hard to reach or unknown to the masses. The last place anyone would expect to find something valuable was out in the open or in a location that was obvious.
Nisa commented on the fact, thinking about just who it was that hid Histoire in the first place, "Whoever did this was not only evil, but cunning. Truly the work of an evil mastermind!"
Regardless of who or why they did it, the group had come with the intent to free Histoire. As soon as the party entered the ruins the first thing they came upon were the remains of dead monsters. Nisa was concerned that someone else might be there looking for the same thing, or rather person, "Looks like someone else was here. Are they perhaps looking for Histy?"
It was doubtful, but no beyond the realm of possibility. Neptune immediately went to the party's best tracker for the info, "Is there somebody here, Z? Like, maybe a psycho who came looking for Histy? Or maybe the whack job that stuck her here in the first place?"
"There is no one in the area other than all of you. It was most likely one of the local raid parties sent to thin out the growing monster population. Planeptune does suffer from numerous attacks, after all."
The amnesiac breathed a sigh of relief before sharing Zero's information with the group. "Z said that some adventurers probably came by and beat up the monsters."
Heero saw no problem with someone else doing the work of defeating the monsters, "If the area is clear, we go focus all of our attention on finding Histoire."
With the knowledge that the had the run of the entire set of ruins, the group began their search. Even though they didn't have to worry about dealing with monsters, the party still had to invest some time in searching every nook and cranny of the dungeon.
After fifteen minutes of searching, the party arrived at the final stretch of unexplored hallways within the ruins. Lyrica was starting to question whether or not they would really find Histoire, "Are we sure Histy's here? We've been searching for a while now."
Red was starting become doubtful as well, "I don't think I've ever put in this much effort to get a wifey."
IF just stared at Red as she complained. Thoughts of what she had to put with when Red was trying to make IF one of her wifeys such as the horde of monsters came to mind, "Really? You've never put in THIS much effort to get a wifey?"
The red headed girl thought on the matter for a moment before remember what she did to win over IF, "Well, with you it was different! I knew you would be a tough nut to crack."
Heero wasn't as worried as the girls. He knew that Histoire had to be there in the dungeon, "The resonance from the Key Fragments pointed to this being the only place she could be. Histoire can't be anywhere else."
The walk down the last corridor was filled with silence, everyone waiting to see some sign that Histoire was there with bated breath. At the end of the corridor was a small room, the only notable difference between this one and the other rooms was that situated in the middle of the room was a pedestal with a book placed on top of it. The book was dark blue in color with gold bordering and a large green gem in the center of the cover.
A quick check of the room revealed nothing beyond what the party could see. There was no place for a person to hide, no hidden switches or trap doors. Just when the party was about to give up, Histoire's voice filled the air, "I have been waiting for you. It must have been a difficult journey around the world. I am glad everyone has made it safely. Thank you so very much for gathering the Key Fragments."
Neptune looked around for the source of the voice before calling her to come out, "Hello? Where are ya, Histy? Where's the girl with a cute voice? Here, Histy Histy Histy, come on out, girl!"
While Neptune's excitement was understandable, Heero couldn't understand why it was that Neptune was calling for Histoire like she was a dog, "She's not an animal, Neptune. You can stop treating her as such."
The source of the voice was the tome located on the pedestal before the group, "I am the book before you. I am a tome. I contain all information regarding this world."
Silence filled the air as the party looked at the book in front of them. The majority of them had expected to find a person in the dungeon. This was an unexpected twist for them. Neptune's excitement hadn't diminished in the slightest, "So this book is Histy, eh? All right! What d'we do now?"
The purplenette turned to the party, hoping one of them had an idea as to what they were supposed to do regarding Histoire. Just by looking at the book it was clear that they couldn't just crack it open. Even if they could, it would likely damage it's contents, and by extension the girl they were there to save.
IF didn't want the party leader looking to her for an answer, "Don't look at me! I'm sure if you put the Key Fragments together, something will happen."
It made sense. The items that they had been tasked with finding before coming here were called 'Key Fragments.' If they put the four pieces together it would have to make a complete Key. Compa seemed to catch on to the idea, "...Like a puzzle? One sec. Let me give it a try..."
The nurse in training took the four gold colored objects from Neptune and began trying to make them fit together. Neptune offered up her help in assembling the Key Fragments, "I'll help ya, too. Well, this one obviously goes here. Oh, that one's on this edge… umm..."
For the rest of the group it was painful to watch the two girls try to put the Key Fragments together. It was almost like watching two children try to put the square block through the round hole. Everyone tried to take their minds off the matter by doing something else.
IF started checking her phones, Lyrica was restringing her Guitar, Gust was checking her inventory of reagents, Nisa was fiddling with the cuffs of her gloves, and Red was thinking about how she was going to get her one hundred wifeys.
Heero watched as Neptune and Compa tried everything they could think of to get the Key Fragments to fit. They came close to actually getting somewhere a few times, only to miss it and try something else.
Neptune scratched her head as she tried to figure just what exactly the Key Fragments were supposed to look like when correctly put together. "What's it supposed to look like, anyway? Maybe we should stack 'em like a totem pole." As the purplenette tried to implement her idea, her hand brushed against one of the pieces, causing it, and all of the other Key Fragments to fall into place and form one object. Once connected, the single object the fragments now formed began to glow, "Oh! Oh, it's glowing!"
The light emanating from the object began to intensify, drawing the attention of the rest of the group. Everyone was forced to shield their eyes as the light filled the room, and when it subsided, the object was gone. When they uncovered their eyes, the most notable change the party could see was the book lying on the pedestal. Not only was it now open, but there was a girl seated on top of it.
The girl had fair skin and soft blonde hair with her curled bangs reaching down to her chest. The rest of her hair was worn in pigtails that were held up in pigtails by a white, black and blue headdress that covered her ears, and a pair of purple and gold ribbons. Her petite frame was covered by a loose purple dress with ruffled lining with gold accent, and a loose green-teal tie was wrapped around her collar. The shoes the girl wore were white and mary-jane in style with matching colored socks, and four objects that looked like widespread butterfly wings were floating just behind her back.
The girl slowly opened her eyelids, her dull blue eyes scanning the party. Her lips formed a smile as she finally spoke to the group, "Thank you! Now I am freed from that seal! Nice to meet you. I am Histy… rather, Histoire. \(*・'*)v"
The group was silent as they stared at the girl that was Histoire. No one was sure what to expect once they actually freed her, but this certainly wasn't what they were expecting. Not just her appearance, but the manner in which she spoke, too. She she spoke like a normal person, but she was also speaking in emoticons.
Neptune voiced her disbelief over the matter, "She sounds kinda the same, but it's not really what I expected."
Heero couldn't blame the purplenette. Hell, he hadn't expected Histoire to look like this either, "I will admit that I'm not sure how to describe this."
Histoire could sense the disappointment from the group, as was evident by her nervous smile, "Sure. I look a little different when I'm a tome. Like a book. Minor changes are normal. (*^-^*)""
IF folded her arms and offered up an awkward smile as she tried to steer the conversation away from Neptune's obvious disappointment over Histoire's appearance, "Okay, so Histy is just Nep's pet name for you. Anyway, that's one down. What're we doing now?"
Neptune wasted no time in throwing out her suggestion as to what the party's next move was to be, "We're gonna go after Overlord Momus and Arfoire! We're not done yet!"
Of course, no sooner had she blurted out her idea did the purplenette remember that the party didn't exactly have any clues as to the whereabouts of either Momus or Arfoire. "...We didn't find either of 'em, even though we were zooming all over the world. Got any cryptic messages metaphors for us, Histy?"
It was at this point that Heero decided to drop his own theory as why the group had not encountered the so-called Overlord Momus, "Given the fact that we haven't encountered this Overlord despite our continued interference with the monsters throughout Gamindustri, the only possible explanation is that Momus doesn't actually exist. It is merely a name used to instill fear in the civilian populace."
Histoire gave a brief nod in affirmation of the boy's idea, "Heero is correct. Unfortunately… rather, fortunately… Overlord Momus doesn't exist. It was all fabricated by Arfoire. Arfoire disguised herself to suit various situations. All of these are falsities."
The party was surprised to hear that Overlord Momus didn't actually exist, but were simultaneously glad over the news. It meant that there really wasn't some all powerful goddess capturing entity trying to destroy Gamindustri. Histoire revealed yet another surprising fact about their adversary. "...To top it off, you all actually have fought Arfoire."
Neptune assumed her thinking pose, as moment to wrap her mind around everything that had just been revealed to the party, "Nuh-uh. Wait, so Momus is all pretend… and Arfoire is the one spreading stories about him?"
Compa was trying to piece together how they came to know of the Overlord from who they found out about it from, "We heard the story from a heretic first, who heard it from an Evangelist. She came to us about it too, at one point."
It took her a moment, but Neptune finally remembered just who it was that the nurse in training was talking about. "But that Evangelist was like a witch who was all stalking and attacking us. That was also Momus's messenger, huh?!"
Only one person fit not only the physical description that Neptune used, but also the occupation as well. Lowee's Evangelist; Conversation. Of course, it was now that they realized that the name was nothing more than an alias. Histoire further elaborated on Arfoire, "Sometimes she is an Evangelist. Sometimes the Overlord's messenger. She was doing this all to achieve one end..."
Neptune wasn't bothered with what Arfoire was planning. "In that case, we've already beat up Arfoire."
Histoire gently shook her head. Apparently the party hadn't beat Arfoire yet. "No. All those fabrications were mirrors of her true self she created. Did you not notice? On each landmass, you dealt with some sort of scheme she created."
Heero did in fact notice that they had run-ins with Arfoire on each landmass, as well as some kind of plot aimed at demoralizing the citizenry and ultimately undermining the CPUs. The exception to this was Planeptune, where the party didn't have to deal with any underhanded plots or schemes, and instead simply had a direct run-in with Arfoire herself.
While it was odd that the party kept running into the same woman on each landmass, Neptune had written it off as a coincidence, "She did keep coming back over and over, but they were all different lands. I just thought they kinda looked similar."
The Perfect Soldier looked at Neptune questioningly. They had multiple run-ins with Arfoire, or rather, her clones, and Neptune actually seemed to think they were different people that just happened to look similar, "You didn't actually think that they were different people, did you?"
"It's not totally unheard of. I mean, it happens in anime a bunch!"
Compa was interested to know just what it was that Arfoire was trying to accomplish, "So what was her objective? She's been involved in a whole lot, but I don't have any idea who she is."
Histoire offered a timid smile knowing that she had a lot to tell the group before they would have an idea as to who they were dealing with, "...True. There is still much I have to tell you. How about we find a place we can have a more comfortable discussion?"
If they were going to have a long talk, it would have been better to do so in an environment that wasn't a dungeon. The party turned to make their way back out of the dungeon and only made it a few steps before Histoire had to get their attention, "Pardon me..."
The party turned back around to face the fairy-like girl that they had just released and found that she hadn't moved from the pedestal she was on. Histoire looked down at the edges of the pedestal, looking for some way to get down before returning her attention to the group… Heero in particular. "I apologize, but could I trouble you to carry me? It seems that I can't move at the moment."
Everyone in the group had expected the young looking girl to just hop off of the book and walk with them, but it seemed that she was actually attached to the book in some way. Neptune thought that perhaps Histoire's legs had fallen asleep or something along those lines, "Did your legs fall asleep, Histy? You've been cooped in here for a while."
Heero walked over to the pedestal Histoire was situated on and lifted the tome up, "I hope this doesn't become a regular necessity."
Once again, the party headed for the exit, this time with Histoire in tow.
Xxx
The party dropped Histoire off at a hotel while the party headed back into the city with the intent of unwinding before sitting through the rest of what Histoire had to say.
The group found themselves in the park once more as they decided how they wanted to spend their time. Nisa and Gust went off to procure alchemy materials from one of the local stores, Lyrica went to buy more guitar strings, and Red went off in search of more 'potential wifeys.'
Neptune had been actively looking for a food stall or a concession stand when she caught sight of a boy walking in their direction, his attention focused onthe hand-held device, "Here comes a boy. He's got a nifty game console in his hands." The purplenette gave the young boy a friendly hello as he passed by them. "Whassup, kiddo?"
"I need to get this fixed."
IF focused her attention on the gaming hardware in the boy's hands. It wasn't hard for her to figure out that it was an older model game console, "It looks like a pretty old model. I don't think it's even available to purchase..."
"So? I like it. In fact, it was a huge success in foreign lands! The Morotola 68000 processor inside it means it's got Blast Processing and can kick serious butt! Though, the sales pitch 'the first domestic 16-bit game console' is a bit inaccurate. Another 16-bit console was released 6 years prior within its home country and 8 years prior outside of its country!"
It seemed that the boy was being a bit argumentative. IF was hoping the boy wasn't going to drone on about the game console in his hands. "...Is this going to take a long time?"
"...Hmph. Sorry, but I should get going!"
The young boy darted off, leaving IF to fume over his disrespect, "What's up with that brat? He's got no respect for his elders."
While he was disrespectful toward her, IF had acted slightly immature herself, a fact that Compa pointed out, "But you were kind of immature, too..."
Xxx
After their short outing, the party returned to the hotel they were keeping Histoire. Having had time to decompress, they were ready to hear more from the tome. Once everyone was comfortably situated around the room, Histoire started the conversation, "...Well, where should I start? Not that I know much, right? ...(-3-)""
Histoire took a brief moment to collect her thoughts before deciding on a topic to begin with. "How about I introduce myself formally and talk a bit about Celestia?"
Compa was quite surprised to hear that Histoire had knowledge pertaining to Celestia, as it was a place that humans couldn't access, "You mean where the goddesses live? Did you come from there, too?"
The fairy-like girl nodded her head with a smile, "Why, yes. I have been a part of the goddess' powers for a long time. One goddess in the past gave me a portion of her powers in the event she would try to misuse it."
Now the in training was interested to know just what Histoire was capable of us, as was made obvious by the excited look on her face. "What kind of powers did you get? What're you capable of doing?"
Unfortunately, Histoire wasn't quite as powerful as Compa was thinking. "Nothing alone. Same goes for the goddesses. They cannot change the world without my explicit consent."
The nurse in training had been expecting more, but it really just boiled down to Histoire being like some kind of boss, "So, you're like the boss. But… I still don't get exactly what you are."
"I am the world. The world is me. Everything within this tome is within this world. Change the tome, then the world will change and vice-versa. I am one with the world. Since the beginning of my existence, all succeeding goddesses ruled and made changes to the world through me."
Neptune assumed her thinkin pose as she wrapped her mind around what the tome was saying. Histoire made it sound as though she was quite powerful, but it didn't explain how she was sealed away, "So you got control over everything! How didja get locked away, then?"
Histoire's eyes fell to the ground, "A goddess is the only one able to script changes in the tome. I could only try to resist in vain… (._.)" I am just a part of one almighty goddess. I only contain the power to execute an idea."
IF did what she could to break down what Histoire was saying so that the less educated members of the group wouldn't feel lost… namely Nisa and Red, "...So the goddesses are the ones who think up the ideas."
Histoire nodded her head, affirming the brunette's thoughts, "Correct. To make a change in the world, we are both necessary."
The more Heero thought about it, the more he began to wonder just why it was that Histoire was sealed in the first place, "(Histoire is capable of enacting change in this world, but requires a goddess in order to do so. A goddess can only make a change to the world if she has permission from Histoire. There seems to be a system of checks and balances in place to keep anyone from abusing that ability, so why was she sealed in the first place?)"
Neptune seemed to get the gist of what was being said, using an analogy to describe it, "I getcha. It's give-and-take. She scratches your pages, and you scratch her itchy spots."
It took Histoire a second to get the purplenette's analogy, "S-Sure, if that is how you want to put it… That is the gist of out symbiotic relationship. Now, to the main topic."
With opening discussions out of the way, Histoire revealed to the party just who it was they had been fighting against during their search for the Key Fragments. "The one interfering with all you have been trying to accomplish is none other than the former goddess, Arfoire! She is attempting to destroy this world. She is trying to weaken the goddesses' powers by summoning monsters to affect the amount of faith powering Celestia."
Neptune remember just how it was that the monsters were being brought into the world, throwing out her own idea on the matter, "The discs! Whoa, yeah, I getcha, it's possible for a goddess to burn multiple copies of disks illegally!"
An outrageous claim to be sure, but such was to be expected from Neptune. Histoire gave a nervous smile in response to Neptune's theory, "Burning illegal copies, eh? That aside… \(^^\)(/^^)/ I have been following your journey by writing inside the tome." The small girl then listed off three familiar names. "Singe in Lastation, Yvoire in Leanbox, and Ganache in Lowee… It seems like corporations, Basilicoms, and the Guild were the cause of all the ordeals, but it was Arfoire's influence."
Even though she looked as though she was putting a lot of thought on the matter, Neptune soon revealed that the list of names wasn't helping her remember anything. "...Those names don't really help me remember any specific."
Heero couldn't understand how Neptune could forget those three. One was bent on replacing humans with machines, one tried to have her killed by poisoning her, and one constantly went behind their backs to get rid of them, "You can't possibly have forgotten. Each one of them tried to have you killed in some way."
Try as she might, Neptune couldn't remember anything about the three men, "I can't remember much. They were just some nobodies we had to deal with, right?"
Histoire looked at the amnesiac in disbelief. How could she forget the names of people who put the party through so much trouble? Histoire turned the discussion back to Arfoire and her plans, "That said, Arfoire's goal is to rule over a decimated world. I do not know her intentions, but we must do something."
Neptune wasn't to thrill about having to look for Arfoire, especially when the group had no idea where she was. "We don't have any idea where she is. Do we have to go all over the world again? Jet lag is making me gain weight."
Histoire could understand the party's reluctance to search the four landmasses again. They had done so before during their search for the Key Fragments, and they did so while facing many trials. The tome wanted to reassure the group that it wouldn't be as stressful this time around… and also took the opportunity to point out how 'Jet lag' wasn't the cause of Neptune's weight gain. "That is due to your eating habits. But there is no need. I am the world's everything and it is my everything."
Any and all doubts that Neptune may have still had at this point were swept away when she heard that last line. The amnesiac was elated that they had, in fact, actually found Histoire, "Ooh, I remember you saying that line before! So you really are the Histy we've been looking for!"
The fairy-like girl was connected to the world of Gamindustri in such a way that she had information on virtually everything. It was thanks to this connection that the party wouldn't be stuck blindly searching for Arfoire, "Now that I am freed, I can find anything. According to the records within the tome, Arfoire is hiding in Celestia. With the goddess vacated, she's taken the opportunity to control the holy land. How bold… As expected of her."
Compa had an incredulous look on her face. The location where Arfoire was hiding was a problem, as it was the holy land of the goddesses and humans didn't exactly have anyway of reaching such a place, "Then, wait a second! How are we going to get to her if she's all the way up there?!"
IF was equally as perplexed as the nurse in training. Since humans had never actually been to Celestia, there was really only the fairy tales to go off of, and even those were rather vague, "Yeah, where is Celestia, anyway? Fairy tales usually says it's beyond the sky… Should we take a shuttle from Planeptune?"
Red had a truly outrageous idea on how the party could reach their destination, "What if we got a REALLY tall ladder? That could get us there, right?"
Lyrica wasn't sure if Red was being serious about her suggestion. Even if she was, it was highly doubtful that it would actually work, "I don't think anyone sells a ladder that tall. Where would we even get one?"
Nisa was trying to think of a possible way for the group to reach Celestia when she thought of the party's alchemist. Gust had been able to cook up potions for many occasions, so surely she could make something for their current situation, "Do you think you could make a potion that would let us fly, Gust?"
The young alchemist couldn't believe the heroine was seriously asking her that. Sure Gust had made some outlandish potions before, but never anything so absurd, "Does Nisa know what she is asking for? Please do not ask Gust to do the impossible."
Planeptune didn't have any shuttles that were designed to go to Celestia, and none of the exorbitant ideas tossed out by some of the party members to reach the holy land would pan out. That said, it wasn't as if there was no way to get to Celestia, a fact that Histoire was aware of, "Unfortunately, there is no shuttle running to Celestia. That would be weird. However, there is still one way. Follow me!"
Histoire was about to lead the group to whatever this 'one way' to Celestia was, but stopped to address her uncertainty regarding the mostly female party. "Most importantly, we must be certain you adorable ladies are capable of defeating her."
Neptune failed to see why the tome was concerned. The group had defeated Arfoire at every turn, surely they had proven themselves capable enough of defeating this sinister foe, "No problemo! We've blasted her alter egos a buncha times before!"
Despite the purplenette's boasting on the matter, Histoire wasn't exactly convinced. "Remember, Arfoire herself is still a complete goddess."
Even though the tome was uneasy about their chances, Neptune remained unfazed as she linked arms with Heero, "There's nothin' to worry about. As long as I've got my Destined Lover, there's no way we can lose!"
Heero brought a hand to his face as he muttered to himself, "Not again..."
Histoire stared at Neptune as she processed what the amnesiac had just said, "Destined… Lover?"
Neptune puffed out her chest pridefully as she explained the relationship between herself and Heero to the fairy-like girl, who was ignorant of the matter, "Yup! Heero and I were made for each other. The power of our love makes us invincible! There's no way we're gonna lose to some wacko that wants to destroy the world! And once we win, Heero and I are gonna have a really hot M Rated scene."
The purplenette's declaration of how the two were going to have an 'M Rated scene' caused Histoire's cheeks to turn red as she questioned Neptune on the matter, "'M Rated scene?' What exactly has been going on between you two?"
Before Neptune could answer, Compa grabbed onto Heero's free arm and a familiar spat ensued, "You're not the only one that wants an M Rated scene with Heero, Nep-Nep. Why do you have to hog him all the time?"
Seeing one of her rivals clinging to Heero gave Neptune reason to tighten her hold on the boy, "Because Destined Lovers are supposed to spend all their time together. If you were really one of my rivals you'd know that, Compa."
IF called the party leader out on her claim for monopolizing Heero's time, "Do you even hear yourself? The real reason you keep taking up his time is because you don't want any of us to have time with him."
Histoire watched the exchanged between the girls. It was clear that Heero was quite popular among the party. Heero couldn't understand why they were choosing now of all times to argue when they had something more important going on, "I ask that you all focus. We need to know just how we're going to reach Celestia so we can deal with Arfoire."
The Gundam pilot's reminder of what the group was discussing before it devolved into another one of their Heero related arguments served to put the discussion back on track. While Heero had proven himself a capable individual, Histoire wasn't sure that the Perfect Soldier's strength alone would be enough to help the party stand against the former goddess, "Neptune, Heero may be strong, but even he isn't strong enough to face Arfoire. It would be best if we could gather all four goddesses to our side..."
Neptune didn't want to waste time trying to recruit any of the CPUs, not when there were monsters rampaging all over Gamindustri, "We don't got time for that! Monsters are all 'rawr' and attacking people. We know where she is, so lemme go get her!"
IF could understand Neptune's insistence to immediately go after the former goddesses, but felt the amnesiac was getting ahead of herself, "I know how you feel, but don't be so rash. I'm sure Histy needs time to prepare out trip to Celestia anyway."
Compa nodded her in approval as she conveyed words of wisdom from her grandfather, "She's right! 'Haste makes waste.' My grandpa's words ring true again. We should be cautious and rashunable."
Heero had a feeling that if he asked Compa to spell the word rationable she would misspell it. Rather than point it out, the Perfect Soldier focused on Neptune and how he could get her to see reason, "I understand that you want to go after the one responsible for all that has happened, but right now we need a plan. Simply rushing in will only get someone hurt, possibly even killed."
Histoire supported the groups wish to hold off on going after the former goddess, "Neptune, please listen to your friends. We still need a little time."
With the rest of herparty in agreement that they should wait before dealing with Arfoire, Neptune had no choice but to relent. The purplenette stuffed her hands in her pockets as grumbled over the majority decision to wait, "Pssshaw..."
Zero made her voice heard after giving the party time to talk with Histoire, "I know you're upset, Neptune. But I can assure you that you won't have to wait long."
Histoire nodded her head in agreement. "Zero is right. You won't have to wait long, Neptune."
The amnesiac was surprised that Histoire could hear Zero, "Wait, you can hear Z? I thought Heero and I were the only one's in that exclusive club!"
"I guess I should have mentioned this earlier. Zero and I have been in constant communication during your travels. It has been quite nice having someone to talk to when I was unable to contact you. We have a few things we need to discuss right now."
If Histoire was talking with Zero, Heero imagined that they had to be discussing something pertaining to the next course of action the group was to take. That being the case, the Perfect Soldier thought it best to give the two time to discuss the matter on their own, "We've checked out two rooms. We'll leave the two of you to plan out our next course of action."
The party filed out of the room, only to walk the short distance across the hall outside to the second room. As soon as both doors were closed, Zero began speaking to the tome once more, "...Don't you think you should tell her the truth? About who she is?"
Histoire knew the ZERO System was referring to Neptune. The matter of who Neptune really was was a delicate topic, one Histoire wasn't sure how to approach, "It is not that I don't want to tell her. It's just..."
The room grew quiet as Histoire trailed off. Zero pushed to have her disclose the information to Neptune. "Because Neptune loves the person she is now? While it is understandable, she has the right to know. Some part of her wants to know who she really is. And not just for her sake, but Heero's. Her friends have a right to know as well."
Neptune did need to know who and what she was, but with no way of knowing how she would react, Histoire was hesitant to say anything to her. Seconds passed with no words exchanged between the two for a time.
Finally, the fairy-like entity spoke again. Her voice tinged with uncertainty. "I worry how Neptune will take the news. I don't want to cause her any confusion. Nor do I want her to become distant from her friends."
Once the truth about Neptune was out, the party may not view Neptune the same as they did now. Zero let out a sigh before deciding to close the discussion, "I'll leave the decision of whether or not to tell her up to you. I only ask that you bear in mind that Neptune has to know this sooner or later. Not just because it will be one less thing weighing on you, but because it is something pivotal to her existence."
With that, Histoire was left alone with her thoughts. She had to make a decision. Tell Neptune the truth about who she was; or keep her in the dark. The more she thought about it, the more Histoire felt as though she were being pushed down on by some unknown weight.
This wasn't something she could or should keep from Neptune. As Zero had said, it was something important to her existence, "I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell her."
Only a few minutes had passed since the party had left Histoireto talk to Zero, when the door to their second hotel room suddenly opened. "...Neptune!"
Neptune turned to face the fairy-like girl, who seemed rather wound up, "Sup, Histy? …You seem tense."
Histoire was tense, but also nervous. She was still trying to decide whether or not to go through with what she was about to say. After a few seconds of deliberation, Histoire decided that it may have been best to tell the amnesiac the truth about who she really was, "I have been trying to decide whether or not to tell you this, because you seem to love how you are now so much..."
Whatever it was that Histoire wanted to tell the purplenette, it was clearly a personal matter. Seeing the tension in the air, IF offered to leave the two in private while the group waited outside, "Um… should we give you two some privacy?"
The young looking girl gently shook her head. "No, please stay. I think that all of you should be aware of this, as well..."
Compa was perplexed as to what the tome wanted to tell Neptune. She then remembered that there was nothing that Histoire didn't know about Gamindustri, and that surely included Neptune, "Does it have to do with Nep-Nep's past? That's right… there's nothing Histy can't tell us!"
"Yes. There is something she has forgotten which is very, very important…!"
Red could feel chills running down her spine from the suspense, "I'm getting all tingly. Somebody do or say something!"
Ignoring the red headed girl, the party waited to hear just what it was that Histoire had to tell them about Neptune that was so important, "Neptune… you are, in actuality, the CPU of Planeptune!"
Silence dominated the air after Histoire revealed who Neptune was. Compa, Lyrica and Nisa looked on in disbelief, unsure if they heard her right. Gust and Red weren't too sure how to respond as they looked around the room at the others, while IF just stood with her arms dangling at her sides and a nervous smile on her nervous smile on her face.
Heero stood against the wall with his arms folded and his eyes closed. Unlike the rest of the group, Heero already knew that the purplenette was, in fact, the highest figure in the Land of Purple Progress, "(My only concern is how Neptune will take this.)"
The boy looked over at Neptune, who was as quiet as the others. Neptune seemed more confused than anything. Histoire took a quick look around the room and the continued silence wasn't a good sign to her. "I apologize. I know it is hard to process and you are speechless, but it is the truth. Do you believe me?"
After a few more seconds of silence, IF was the first to respond… and contrary to what most of the other members thought, she didn't have too much trouble believing Histoire, "I do. I kind of had an idea. This is just the confirmation." The brunette turned her attention to the others. "What about you guys?"
Compa was still having trouble processing what she had just learned. Neptune, the mostly cute and innocent girl she had been traveling with was a goddess. The nurse in training could not contain her disbelief anymore, "Wh-Whahhhhhhhhhhh?! N-Nep-Nep is a goddess?! Of what?! Norse? Greek? Food? Babylonian?!"
Lyrica looked at Neptune for a moment before looking at IF, "You really believe her? This is too much to take in at once!"
While Compa and Lyrica were stunned by the news, Nisa was reacting differently. The heroine's face turned pale as she remembered how she had kicked Neptune in the face before, "I-I kicked a goddess… I'm gonna go to hell now, aren't I?! I-I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean to!"
Red took the news a bit more positively, her eyes gleaming at the knowledge that one of the girls she was trying to woo was a goddess, "One of my potential wifeys is a goddess? I've really hit the jackpot!"
Gust was indifferent on the matter. It didn't matter to her either way if the purplenette was a goddess or not, she really just wanted them to still be friends, "As long as party remains friends, Gust is happy."
The response from the other girls in the group were pretty much what IF had expected, "...Thanks for the expected reactions." The Guild member directed her gaze toward Heero, who was being unusually calm given what they had just learned. "What about you, Heero? You seem to be taking this pretty well."
Of course he was taking the news well. Unlike the rest of the group, Heero already knew beforehand that Neptune was Planeptune's goddess, "Histoire had already informed me that Neptune was a goddess when she asked me to take on the task of being her bodyguard."
Lyrica looked at the boy scandalously, surprised that the boy had already know Neptune was a CPU, "If you knew, why didn't you tell us sooner?"
Heero had suspected that such a question would pop up when it came to light that Neptune was one of the four CPUs of Gamindustri. And it wasn't as if he wanted to keep the information to himself, the soldier in him just refuse to disclose such sensitive information, "I have had to operate under the suspicion that none of you could keep a secret. If more people knew who Neptune was, the more likely she was to be attacked. In order to keep Neptune safe, I kept that information to myself."
IF then turned her attention to the girl who the conversation and revelation were centered around; Neptune, "Nep, are you feeling like the others?"
Neptune wasn't reacting at all like the others. She wasn't shocked or surprised. Rather, she seemed uncertain about it, "No, but, like… more of a… like, are you… sure I deserve this?"
Even as Neptune question whether or not she deserved to be Planeptune's CPU, Compa trying to piece together how the purplenette could be a goddess, "How is this happening?! Nep-Nep just fell… from… from the sky!"
Seeing the pink haired girl starting to make sense of how it was possible, IF attempted to help her put things together, "Are you putting it together? Surviving a fall from the sky and stabbing headfirst into the ground… She's not normal. Granted, Heero was there to catch her… sort of."
Yes… sort of. Heero remembered how he had first met Neptune. He had only just arrived in the world of Gamindustri, and the goddess rammed into with almost no warning, rendering him unconscious for a time as well.
IF continued to put together the facts about how it wasn't hard to believe that Neptune really was a goddess. "Each land was making a big deal over their goddess descending except for Planeptune. I didn't wanna believe myself for thinking it, but I suppose I was right this entire time."
After listening to the collection of girls voice their awe and disbelief, Histoire began speaking once again, "Yes. I do not know how she fell to the world beneath, but you could hear my voice only because you are a goddess."
Neptune was experiencing a rare moment of thoughtfulness. She was somewhat conflicted over the idea of being a goddess, "Are you sure it's okay for me to be a goddess?"
Histoire was unsure why Neptune sounded so uncertain about being a CPU. It almost sounded like she didn't want to be a goddess. "Whether it is fine or not, you are born a goddess. Please, accept your destiny."
Planeptune's CPU tried to remember something… anything about her time as a goddess, but her amnesia prevented her from recalling any tangible memories, a fact that was bothering the purplenette, mainly because one of the major responsibilities of a CPU was providing protection for the people of her landmass. Neptune wasn't sure how she was supposed to do that without her memories, "I don't remember being a goddess at all… This is gonna be a problem for the folks on Planeptune..."
"Do not worry. Even if you did nothing, your protective powers work on their own. (^-^)b It seems the power weakened a little due to your lack of awareness, but now that you remember, all should be well."
While she may have had to hold off on going after Arfoire, Neptune was happy with the results of the party's journey so far. "Well, I guess today isn't all bad. We got all the Key Fragments, saved Histy, and now we're gonna-"
The amnesiac CPU stopped in mid-sentence as she processed her words. When she didn't finish what she was saying, the group began to suspect that something might be wrong… and indeed there was something wrong.
Neptune turned her attention over to Heero. Compa and IF followed the gaze of their party leader before realizing why she stopped. Clearly she was still worried about whether or not the Gundam pilot was going to leave now that they had found Histoire.
Histoire was curious as to why the energetic girl had stopped so suddenly. Of course, once she realize the goddess had her attention fixed on Heero, she understood the cause of her abrupt silence, "I'm sorry, but could I ask you girls to leave? I need to speak with Heero in private."
Neptune turned back to Histoire, pouting over the tome asking to speak to the boy in private, "What do you mean 'in private?' I thought I could trust you, Histy!"
The small girl's cheeks began to heat up over Neptune's accusation. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what she was thinking. "N-Neptune, I simply wish to talk with him. I have no ulterior motives. (^-^)""
Before Neptune could protest, Compa and IF each grabbed one of Neptune's arms and began leading her out of the room along with the rest of the party, "Come on, Nep-Nep. We should give them their privacy."
Try as she might, the CPU couldn't break free of the two girls, "I can't leave Histy alone with Heero! She might try something!"
Compa and IF released their leader only after the girls had exited the room. Neptune immediately had her ear against the door, listening for anything that wasn't an exchange of words between Heero and Histoire. IF questioned just what the goddess was doing, "Nep, what are you doing?"
Neptune kept the side of her head pressed against the door while addressing IF's question ,"If Histy tries something with Heero, I gotta be here to stop it. Now, shush!"
Obviously, Neptune had no intention of moving from where she was until Heero came out. The rest of the party, having nothing better to do, decided to go back into the city to find some way to pass the time.
Back in the party's second hotel room, Heero waited to hear what Histoire had to ask him. The young girl bowed her head before speaking, "First, I would like to thank you for your help. Words cannot express my gratitude for what you have done."
The boy wasn't really concerned with Histoire's words of gratitude, but rather if he was going to have to leave now that he had finished his mission of helping Neptune find the Key Fragments, "You have no need to thank me. I was just carrying out my mission. All I need to know is whether or not you still require my services."
Histoire watched the boy for a moment. He maintained his usual stoic facade that was virtually unreadable. Zero had told her Heero had a tough exterior, but this was the first time she had experienced it in person, "Right, to the matter at hand. I must apologize, but I find that I must impose on you once more."
It seemed that the tome of the goddesses was still in need of assistance. Not that the Gundam pilot minded, he didn't want to have leave Gamindustri… not that he would be forthcoming with that information. "Because all of you seem exhausted, I wanted to wait until tomorrow to go over our plan to travel to Celestia. What I have in mind will require some effort from everyone, and I am concerned that Neptune won't be able to handle it on her own."
Heero didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it sounded as though Histoire was giving him another mission. "...What is the mission?"
The tome remembered the boy saying those same four words when she first tasked him with looking after Neptune as they searched for the Key Fragments. She took it as a sign that he was willing to continue helping them, "I ask that you continue to look after Neptune. She will need all the help she can get with the next task I have for all of you. Not only that, but it is clear to me that she is very attached to you. Neptune would be heartbroken if you suddenly left."
Would the energetic girl really be that upset if he left? Just thinking about how Neptune would react to his departure made Heero feel bad. The boy quickly dismissed such thoughts for the time being. Histoire did just give him his next mission, meaning that he didn't have to leave yet, "Mission… understood."
Histoire could tell that the boy had been thinking about Neptune. She could also see that the Perfect Soldier was somewhat tired and probably wanted to relax before starting his next assignment. "Zero and I still need to go over the plan. I expect that it will take us the rest of the day to go over everything."
If the two were going to need the day to work out the plan to get up to Celestia, then Heero was free to do what he wanted until tomorrow. With their conversation over Heero made his way over to the door, and upon opening it, found Neptune kneeling in front of it.
The purplenette looked up when she realized the door was now open. An awkward smile spread across her face as she met eyes with the boy, "Hey… what's up?"
Judging by how close she was to the door, Heero guessed that she had been listening in on their conversation, "You were listening?"
Neptune stood up and explained her reason for eavesdropping on the two. "W-Well, yeah! A girl asked to talk to my lover in private. I had stay here in case she tried something!" The amnesia stricken CPU then latched onto the Gundam pilot's arm with a broad smile on her face, as was the norm for her, "But I guess I shouldn't have been worried. You and me are gonna be together forever, Heero."
Heero could feel a strange warmth in his chest as he looked at Neptune's smiling face. There was a time when he would have tried to get away from this girl when she would cling to him, now he didn't mind it.
The goddess of Planeptune heard her stomach growl before her face contorted. "I need some food… I know! I'll go see if they have any pudding on sale! If I'm lucky, they might have some limited edition puddings!"
Neptune let go of the boy had began to head for the exit. Before she stepped out the door of the hotel, the CPU stopped to turn around and shout to her Destined Lover, "Don't go doin' the thing with anyone, Heero! You gotta save yourself for me!"
Even though their were civilians in the lobby that were giving her strange looks for her comment to the boy, Neptune didn't seem to notice them and left the building in search of her pudding.
Heero wasn't sure yet just what it was that the boy was feeling, but he did feel something toward Neptune. With the rest of the day to do as he pleased, the Gundam pilot decided to take a walk before heading back to the party's safe house.
Xxx
The Gundam pilot walked down the streets of Planeptune's capital city. After receiving a new mission from Histoire, Heero felt as though a weight had been lifted off of him… at least for now.
As he walked along the sidewalk, Heero caught sight of someone standing behind the support pillar of a nearby building while looking over at a tool shop across the street.
The individual was a girl with fair skin with long lilac-purple hair that was almost waist length and a few loose strands curling down. Her bangs appeared to be neatly brushed, and her eyes were a slightly darker shade of purple than Neptune's.
Her hair and eyes weren't the only thing that resembled Neptune, but her outfit as well, granted it was more reserved in styling, almost resembling a school uniform. She wore a white jacket-dress with purple lining that consisted of thin double white stripes, the chest area had small pink markings, and the pockets and buttons were purple as well. A white choker was situated around her neck with a pale yellow ribbon/ascot wrapped around the collar of her jacket with an N in the center of it. A white belt was wrapped around her right leg, which was attached to a purse of matching color and she wore striped socks similar in length to Neptune's, only they were pink and white in color. Also similar to Neptune's attire was the girl's shoes, which were white and purple. To round out her attire that mirrored Neptune's in many ways was her choice of hair clip, which was the same shape, design, size and color as Neptune's, but where Neptune wore two of said hair clip, the girl wore only one and it was locate on the left side of her head.
The mystery girl alternated between looking at the shop and something she held in her hands. Her odd behavior made Heero question just what she was doing, and so he decided to question her once he was behind her, "What are you doing?"
A shriek passed through the girl's lips upon hearing the Gundam pilot's voice behind her. She quickly turned to face the boy, bowing and apologizing for no apparent reason, "I-I'm sorry! Really and truly! I-I promise I haven't been doing anything!"
Heero looked at the girl as she continued to apologize, though why she was doing it was beyond him, "You haven't done anything to me. Now, what are you doing?"
Once she had stopped apologizing, Heero was able to get a good look at the girl and she bore a very striking resemblance to Neptune. If he didn't know any better, he would say that she was her sister. Of course, that wasn't to say it was impossible, but with Neptune's current state of amnesia, there was no way of telling whether or not this was true.
The purple haired girl was fidgeting under the Perfect Soldier's gaze, "W-Well… I, umm..."
The Gundam pilot then noticed what looked to be a voucher on the ground next to the girl. He picked it up and saw that the voucher was to be used at the shop across the street, and was to be redeemed for a set of tools offered by said shop. The expiration date on the voucher stated that it expired at the end of the day, "Shouldn't you redeem this? If you don't use it today, it will expire."
With her attention shifting over to the tool shop, the girl tried to explain her predicament. "I-I was going to take over there and redeem it for my tools, but… I don't really know anyone over there."
It was easy to see why she hadn't gone. Between her lack of knowledge of anyone in shop and shy personality, she hadn't really come close to getting her set of tools.
Heero would have ignored the girls plight, but just looking at her reminded the boy of Neptune. Spearing his bangs with his fingers the boy slid the voucher into his pocket as he prepared to cross the street. "Wait here."
The girl remained behind the pillar of the building she had been hiding behind as she watched the boy cross the street and enter the establishment with her voucher. After five minutes of waiting, Heero came back out of the store with a toolbox full of tools in hand.
Heero held the box of tools out to the purple haired girl, "This is what you wanted, right?"
She had not intended to burden someone else with her problem, yet Heero had gone and brought her the set of tools she had been wanting without being asked. The girl grabbed the handle of the toolbox and bowed to the boy once more… and apologized again, "I'm sorry you had to do that for me. A-And thank you very much for getting this toolbox for me."
It was strange having someone apologize to you when they did nothing wrong, and that's how Heero felt right then and there. The girl was about to turn around and run off, when she realized that she didn't get the boy's name, nor did she give her own. "I-I didn't introduce myself… my name is Nepgear."
So not only did she look and dress similarly to Neptune, but the first three letters of her name were the same, too? Heero began to suspect that maybe she was related to Neptune in some way, and not just as a resident of Planeptune. The boy wasn't so caught up in his analysis of Nepgear that he forgot to give his name. "...Heero Yuy."
Nepgear spelled out the Gundam pilot's name in her head, then made the same discovery that every other girl he had come across had made, "If you take off one of the Es… it spells hero. Are you supposed to be some kind of hero?"
That seemed to be a thing lately. People would hear his name, spell it out, and found that his name spelled hero if one of the Es was removed, "I am no hero. I am nothing more than a soldier."
And just like everyone before her, Nepgear came to the conclusion that the boy was some kind of tragic hero. "Wow… a tragic hero… I hear those are really rare."
What was it with the people he met in Gamindustri that made them think he was a tragic hero? It was something Heero was still have trouble trying to figure out. "(This isn't going to become a thing, is it?)"
Nepgear turned around to run off, looking over her shoulder at the Perfect Soldier before taking off, "W-Well, I better go. See you later!"
Heero watched as the girl took off, finding that she was more like Neptune than he thought, "I may need to ask Neptune about this. When she gets her memories back, of course."
The Gundam pilot had grown weary, and decided that he needed a shower and a nap. Heero took the shortest route he could back to the party's safe house to cut down on the amount of foot traffic he had to deal with.
When he arrived at the group's place of residents on Planeptune, Heero could hear the sounds of a sword swinging through the air. The Gundam pilot pressed himself up against the side of the house to hide himself as he slowly inched himself closer to the edge to see who or what it was making the noise.
The source of the noise was Neptune, who had transformed and was apparently practicing with her sword. As he watched her, Heero noticed that all of her movements were graceful and fluid, each one naturally flowing into the next with no wasted movement, and the movements of her body made it quite difficult to determine what she was going to do next. Even Heero was having slight trouble determining what her next move was going to be.
Not wanting to interrupt the swordstress, Heero decided to head inside to get that shower he wanted. What the boy didn't know, was that he had been so caught up in observing her that enough of his body had become visible for Neptune to notice he was there.
There were no noises inside of the safe house, an indication that the rest of the party was still out. Heero made his way to the upstairs bathroom and turned the shower on, making sure that there were clean towels on the nearby towel rack before doing so.
Once the water coming out of the shower head was warm, Heero took off his clothes and stepped into the shower. The droplets of warm water that pelted his body soothed the Perfect Soldier to some degree.
Before the Gundam pilot could be absorbed in the hot shower, there was a knock at the bathroom door, "Heero? Are you in there?"
Neptune's voice drew Heero back to reality. The boy had just enough time to close the shower curtain before the door opened. The teenaged soldier addressed the sword maiden from behind the colorful shower curtain, "I just got in. Did you need something?"
"Nothing in particular, though this does work out for me. I just finished practicing and found myself in need of a shower myself. Why don't we shower together? I can wash your back for you."
The thought of seeing Neptune's unclothed bodied caused Heero's cheeks to turn a light shade of red, though he did have enough sense to decline her offer, "A woman has to maintain some level of privacy. It would be best if you showered by yourself."
One of Neptune's gloved hands slid through the opening in the shower curtain, clutching a set of swim trunks intended for Heero, "I thought you might say that. So I brought these. Don't worry, I brought something for myself as well."
As long as they were both covered to some degree, Heero wouldn't complain too much. The boy took the swim trunks from Neptune, slipping them on so that everything from his waist down to his knees were covered.
On the other side of the curtain, Heero could hear the sounds of Neptune undressing. Try as he might, he couldn't help but think about the girl on the other side… as well as thoughts he had never had before.
Once she was finished putting on her swimsuit, Neptune pulled back on the shower curtain and stepped into the shower behind Heero. From what little he allowed himself to see, Neptune was wearing a purple and black two piece swimsuit that, while suitable for covering her, left quite a bit of her skin exposed. The swordstress noticed that the boy in front of her was unusually tense, "...You seem tense. I hope it isn't because of me."
As Heero was trying to calm his erratic thought process, Neptune grabbed a nearby wash cloth, applied to some body wash to it, then proceeded to gently wash his back with the now damp cloth. "I didn't want to bring this up around the others since they seem so exhausted, but I thought I could talk to you about it. What are we going to do about her? Conversation? ...I mean Arfoire."
Heero could work with this. If they were discussing something related to their current objective, then it would help take his mind off the current situation. The Gundam pilot thought about the Evangelist that had plotted to bring civil war to Leanbox and dismantle the leadership of Lowee.
She was cunning and had made sure not to give away the fact that she was the Evangelist… at least not to any of the residents of Lowee. Heero had started turning around to face the sword maiden and address her question, when his leg was caught by Neptune's foot as she tried to give him room to move.
Before they knew it, the Gundam pilot fell on top of Neptune, and both of them fell to the floor of the bathtub. Heero began to pick himself up, but stopped when he felt something soft in his right hand. The boy's eyes widened when he saw that he had accidentally grabbed one of Neptune's breasts.
The sword maiden's face turned bright red as she looked down at where Heero's hand was, and after a few seconds let out a scream. Both Heero and Neptune quickly found themselves looking away from one another, sitting on their knees with their backs to one another in a moment of awkward silence.
Neither one of them was sure of how to respond to what had just happened. Heero was somewhat perplexed by Neptune's reaction to their… close physical encounter. She had let out a scream instead of making some comment about how he couldn't keep his hands off her. Her response was normal, which for Neptune was abnormal.
Heero wasn't sure how they ended up in the awkward position, but thought it best to apologize nonetheless, "I… apologize. I don't know how that happened..."
Neptune had been covering her chest when the boy responded, slowly lowering her arms as she calmed down, "N-No, I'm the one who should apologize. I shouldn't have been standing so close."
It was still a rather awkward situation despite the exchange of apologies. Heero picked up the wash cloth Neptune had dropped before turning around and applying it to the sword maiden's back, garnering a small flinch from her in the process before she allowed the boy to continue. "Anyway, to answer your question, there really isn't much we can do about her at the moment. We don't have the evidence to prove she isn't performing her duties as an Evangelist. She could use her position against us. On the other hand, the same applies to her. She knows we're on to her, and she won't be able to move quite as freely as she did before."
Now that she had calmed down, Neptune was able to think straight and focus on the matter they were discussing, "That's a shame. I really wanted to pay her back for the trouble she caused us."
Heero was completely in agreement with the swordstress. They may not have been able to do anything now, but they would get their chance to deliver some much deserved payback eventually. "Your thoughtfulness towards the others in appreciated. Given everything they have gone through, they deserve some down time."
As the Gundam pilot stood up and put the wash cloth down where they had found it, he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around him and a soft, warm sensation pushing against his chest. After he had finished washing her back, Neptune had immediately stood up with the boy and wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder, "Thank you… for staying."
The teenaged soldier was about to ask Neptune what she was talking about when he remembered how she had been listening in on the conversation between him and Histoire. "You could have left if you wanted to. No one would have had a right to stop you. But you stayed… and for that… I'm very grateful."
Heero could feel Neptune's heart beating against him as they maintained their close contact. The boy had gently grabbed onto her arms and was about to wrap them around Neptune's waist when the bathroom door suddenly swung open, "Heero? Are you in-"
Compa walked into the room looking for the Gundam pilot, only to find Heero and Neptune in shower. Both of them found their attention going over to nurse in training, who was in a state of shock over seeing the two holding each other in the shower.
After a few seconds of painful silence, Compa ran out of the room screaming, "NEP-NEP IS CHEATING!"
Heero and Neptune could hear the muffled voices of the fellow party member's coming from downstairs, though that quickly changed as they heard IF start to shout, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
The sound of the people running up the stairs, three to be exact, echoed through the hallways of the safe house. IF, Lyrica and Nisa suddenly stood in the doorway of the bathroom and saw the very same sight that had drove Compa into a fit.
All three girls departed while muttering something along the lines of 'two can play that game' and 'if that's how it's going to be, then...' and so forth.
Neptune continued to stare at the now empty doorway. It was clear that the other girls were about to change into their own swimsuits and forcibly join them in the shower, "Something tells me it's about to get crowded in here..."
Heero heaved a heavy mental sigh over this new development. What was supposed to be a regular shower had turned into a very close physical encounter with Neptune, which was about to turn into an even more complicated mess. One thing was obvious to the Gundam pilot… if experience in this world had taught him anything, it was that after what the girl's had just seen, he wasn't going to be getting that nap any time soon.
Xxx
Me: "Chapter 37, done! I realize there's a lack of action in this one, but it couldn't be helped."
Heero and Neptune: (Enter ACCC) "I don't care. Heero and I got to be all lovey in this one. Especially at the end there. We're definitely close after a chapter like this."
Heero: "It would be best to cut down on the number of physical encounters between the two of us, if only so there are no misunderstandings."
Neptune: "No! We need more of those!"
Nepgear: (Enters ACCC from Lounge) "Um… are you sure it's alright for me to be here? I thought I didn't appear in the first game."
Me: "Don't sweat it so much. With this story, your appearance is actually kind of essential."
Neptune: (Looks at Nepgear) "Who's this? She looks a lot like me!"
Nepgear: "You mean you don't remem-"
Me: (Covers Nepgear's mouth) "(She can't know that yet!)"
Nepgear: "(Sorry!)"
Me: "That aside, where's Histy? She should be here by now."
Histoire: (Enters ACCC from Break Room) "Present."
Me: "So, Histy, how do you like our digs? Pretty cool, huh? Yep, you're gonna be showing up in here a lot more often now."
Histoire: "It is quite spacious. The accommodations are vast improvement over where I was for the majority of this story."
Me: "Good to hear. Since this is such a big point in the story for us… and you, why don't you wrap up the chapter for us, Histy?"
Histoire: "I don't mind." (Turns to readers) "Please read and review this chapter, and look forward to the next update."
Me: "Back to the work room, peeps!"
Me, Heero, Neptune, Histoire, and Nepgear: (Leave ACCC)
