Me: "Hello once more, my good readers. I bid you a good day as we unveil another chapter to this wildly unpredictable… and sometimes, non-nonsensical story."
Heero and Neptune: (Enters IC) "What're you talking about? This story makes tons of sense! It's got action and adventure and laughs… and the totally amazing romance between Heero and me."
Heero: "I am under the impression your answer carries an element of bias."
Noire: (Enters IC from Lounge) "There's no 'totally amazing' romance between you and Heero. It's mediocre at best. I'm sure the readers want him paired up with a girl that is not only more popular than you, but is actually a good match, too."
Neptune: "Yeah, right! Who's a better match for Heero than me, the main character of main characters?"
Noire: (Blushes while looking away) "W-Well… I'm willing to put aside my personal feelings for the sake of this story..."
Neptune: "There's no way a tsundere like you can be with MY Heero!"
Lady White Heart: (Enters IC from Break Room) "...What are you asstards talking about?"
Me: "Their just arguing over who would be a better fit for Heero as a lover."
Noire: "I-I never said I was going to be his lover! I'm just saying that people would pay more attention to this story if Heero and I were the main pairing."
Neptune: "You go to hell, Noire! Heero's my lover! I ain't giving him up to anybody!"
Lady White Heart: "You both can go to hell! Heero would rather be with someone that isn't either of you."
Me: "As fun as this conversation is, we've gotta get this chapter underway. We take any longer, and the readers are gonna leave. So, without further ado..." (Points to the cast) "From the top, peeps."
Heero, Neptune, Noire, and Lady White Heart: "HeeroUzuki does not own Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or any work pertaining to any of the franchises."
Me: "We hope you enjoy this chapter. Now, we've got some more work to do, and if the work we've been doing, consider stopping by my twitch channel… maybe. Alright, let's get outta here."
Me, Heero, Neptune, Noire, and Lady White Heart: (Leave IC)
Ch. 44 Recruiting an Ill-Tempered Goddess
It was a normal morning in Lastation's capital city for the most part, at least as far as the citizenry was concerned. For the party, it was the kind of morning that they were happy to get up early for. Having successfully convinced Noire, aka Lady Black Heart to join them, the group had gotten back some of the morale they had lost when first trying to enlist the aid of the goddesses.
The girls had gathered in the kitchen and while the girls were busy talking amongst themselves, Noire was standing in front of the stove with three pans situated on top of it, cooking a small selection of breakfast items she was sure would appeal to the party's lone male member, "I'm sure Heero will want this over whatever Neptune feeds him…" As she moved the bacon, eggs and pancakes onto the plate next to the stove, the goddess started grinning to herself as she contemplated the possibility of being able to feed the Gundam pilot. "(Maybe I can ask Heero to let me feed him. After all what better way to start off the morning?)"
After realizing what she was thinking Noire quickly dismissed the idea, not wanting to give the others a reason to dislike her, "(Don't think like that, Black Heart. You're trying to make friends, not enemies. Besides, why would I want to feed Heero anyway? That's something only couples do, and we're NOT a couple!)"
While the CPU of Lastation was mentally shutting down her own idea, Neptune popped up right next to to the goddess with her attention fixed solely on the plate of food, "Aww, are you trying to score points with your good buddy, Neptune? You're pretty thoughtful, Noire."
As the goddess of Planeptune reached for a strip of bacon, Noire slapped her hand away while scolding the purplenette. "That food isn't for you! I made it for Heero!"
Once she heard who the plate of food was intended for, Neptune was immediately upset with Noire. "Y'know, as soon as you joined our party, you've been all over my lover. Fess up! What are you playing at?!"
Noire was quite embarrassed with the way Neptune had described her interactions with Heero, and was understandably angry with the CPU of Planeptune, "You know everything that happened yesterday was your fault, Neptune! You just want me to take the blame so you won't get in trouble."
After a few seconds of arguing, the conversation between the two goddess devolved into a slap fight. IF stopped to watch the pitiful slap-fest going on in the kitchen before pondering whether or not this was the norm among the goddesses of Gamindustri, "...Is this how the goddesses act when no one is around? It's… not what I was expecting."
In truth, none of the other members of the party had expected the two CPUs to interact in such a way... not to say they had a preconceived idea how they expected the goddesses of Gamindustri to act, they just expected the interactions between the CPUs to be more… goddess-like.
Compa didn't want Neptune and Noire to continue physically abusing one another, but she also didn't want to get between them for fear that they might decide to transform and start destroying portions of the safe house over their argument regarding Heero, "Nep-Nep! Lady Black Heart! Please stop fighting. We can't afford to pay for the damages if you start destroying the house!"
The two goddesses abruptly jumped away from one another, still casting angry looks at one another. Their fight was now shifting from a simple slap battle to one of greater physical violence. Neptune was already reaching for one of her discs as she prepared to transform, "We're settling this right now, pigtails! Nobody hits on my Heero and gets away with it!"
Noire was also preparing to activate HDD, having thrown reason out the window in favor of brutalizing the CPU in front of her, "Bring it! This time you won't cheat me out of my win!"
Gust was crying over the sight in front of her… though not because the two goddesses were fighting, "Gust can already see damage bill. Party will not be able to afford."
The girls could do nothing but watch the two CPUs with fear for their collective wallets. Just as the two were about to undergo their transformation into their goddess forms, Neptune and Noire's HDD was halted by them suddenly being lifted off the ground.
Both CPUs were momentarily surprised by the sudden sense of weightlessness and started flailing their arms and legs before they realized just what, or rather 'who' was causing it… and he didn't look happy, "Would one of you care to explain what the hell is going on?"
Neptune looked at Heero for a moment before pointing at the CPU of Lastation, "She started it!"
As soon as the goddess of Planeptune started blaming her, Noire became livid at Neptune attempt to paint her as the instigator, "Me?! You're the one that started this by trying to eat the food I cooked for Heero!"
Heero was quite certain that if he were to let go of the two goddesses they would started throwing punches at one another. Still holding them up by the collars of their outfits, the Gundam pilot chastised the two for getting into an argument in the first place, "I don't care who started it, I want it to stop."
The CPU of Planeptune started throwing punches in the air at Noire, willing to oblige the Perfect Soldier in her own way, "I'll stop it once I beat Noire black and blue!"
Like her rival, Noire was following a violent train of thought, "I'll be the one to finish this, you chubby little…!"
Lyrica watched as the two goddesses continued to threaten each other while oblivious to Heero's growing irritation, "Heero looks like he's gonna blow… are we gonna be okay?"
Without warning, Heero dropped both goddessesto the floor and finally put his foot down. He was not going to put up with this, not just because of how early in the morning it was, but because they were supposed to be fighting Arfoire, "...That's enough!"
Neptune and Noire flinched once the Gundam pilot raised his voice. As they turned their attention to the boy, the CPUs found themselves wilting under Heero's gaze as he gave them a stern look. "As CPUs, the two of you are responsible for protecting and governing Gamindustri, yet here you are acting like children. We're supposed to be fighting a common enemy not each other, and I have no intention of playing babysitter."
As Heero continued to lecture the two goddesses, IF was left awe-struck at the sight before her, "Heero has to be the only person brave enough to get between two CPUs and actually lecture them. I just hope we don't have the same problem with the other goddesses..."
Even after Heero had finished chewing them out, Neptune and Noire continued to hang their heads. They weren't sure what was worse; the fact that Heero was having to tell them how they were failing as goddesses in that moment, or that he was mad at them.
Seeing how sorry the two girls looked, Heero ultimately softened on his tone while trying to get both goddesses to put their argument aside. "Neptune, it's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do. The fact that you care about my well-being is... flattering, but right now you're going overboard."
Neptune couldn't understand why the boy wouldn't want her to get worked up when someone was trying to make a pass at him, "But if I don't do something, every girl in Gamindustri is gonna want a piece of you!"
"Neptune, if you allow every such case to get under your skin then you will inevitably burn yourself out. You need to learn when to act and when to let some things go." Heero then turned his attention to Noire. "Noire, you've known Neptune longer than the rest of us, so you should have known this was going to happen. If you're going to cook for me, at least offer to cook for Neptune as well."
Neither of the two goddess were keen on accepting what Heero was suggesting, but deep down knew he was right. As much as Neptune wanted to just stave off any and all attempts of someone else trying to make a pass at Heero, she had to accept the reality that she would wear herself out if she let every little thing get to her. As for Noire, it wasn't that she didn't know Neptune would want breakfast, she just didn't want to cook for the purplenette at that moment.
Both goddesses relented after allowing Heero's words to sink in. Neptune and Noire looked away from one another out of shame while still offering their apologies, "Sorry for getting mad at you for cooking food for Heero..."
It was embarrassing for Lastation's CPU to have to apologize to her rival, but she swallowed her pride and went through with it, "I'm sorry… for not asking if you wanted me to cook breakfast for you."
Histoire had been upstairs when she heard the commotion brought about by the two CPUs and arrived in time to see Heero resolve the matter. The tome of the goddesses was impressed that the Gundam pilot was able to rein the girls in before things got out of hand, "Considering how violent the CPUs can be, I'm amazed Heero was able to handle them so easily."
The idea that the goddesses of Gamindustri were violent was both surprising and unsettling. So much so that the girls began to question just what happened when their guardian goddesses were left in the same room unsupervised.
Putting aside the idea that the goddesses were possibly excessively violent behind closed doors, Compa took it upon herself to cook for the party's leader, "Don't worry, Nep-Nep. I'll make some pancakes for you. I know how much you love pancakes covered in unhealthy amounts of syrup."
Neptune was salivating at the thought of stuffing her face with pancakes soaked in syrup, "Ooh, you know me so well. Make sure to cook up a lot of pancakes, Compa."
It never ceased to amaze Noire how quickly the goddess of Planeptune could forget about something because of food, their argument being no exception, "(...There's no way a simpleton like Neptune is Heero's lover. There's just no way he could be into someone like her!)"
As Lastation's CPU belittled her rival, Heero took the plate of food Noire had cooked for him and took his seat at the kitchen table. Compa looked over at the Gundam pilot as he prepared to partake of Noire's cooking, "You can give that to Nep-Nep, Heero. I'll make you some pancakes, too."
Noire was slightly offended by the nurse-in-training's suggestion until the Perfect Soldier declined to do so, "I have tried Noire's cooking before and found it to be quite... refined. In all honesty, I would have been upset had Neptune eaten it."
Neptune had only just sat down when Heero admitted he would have been upset with her for eating it, causing her to fall out of her chair. The purplenette propped herself onto the table while looking over at the party's newest member, "What? There's no way Noire's cooking is that good."
The CPU of Lastation huffed as she spoken in her usual haughty tone of voice, "Shows what you know. As Lastation's CPU I can only do everything. Something as simple as cooking is nothing for me."
Despite Noire's claim, Neptune remained unconvinced. "I dunno… I've tried your cooking once, and it tasted pretty bad. How do you mess up a pie?"
Before the two goddesses could start arguing again, Compa began to accuse the goddess of Lastation of being romantically interested in the party's lone male member, "Lady Black Heart wants Heero to be her lover, too? Surely she could find someone else!"
Noire's face turned bright red at the charge before she tried desperately to undermine the idea, "Wh-Whoa! Hold on a second, where did you get that idea?! I just cooked breakfast for Heero as a sign of goodwill. It's not like I want him to be my lover or anything! Because I don't!"
Not wanting to risk upsetting the goddess of Lastation, IF shifted the discussion toward the more pressing matter they had yet to discuss; how they were going to recruit Lady White Heart, "Lowee is going to pass by Lastation soon, so it's pretty obvious who we're going to speak to next. My question is, do we know how we're going to convince Lady White Heart to join us? Lady Bl- sorry, Noire, do you know anything about her that might help us?"
As soon as she started thinking about the CPU of Lowee, Noire's face contorted in revolt. "You mean other than the fact that she's the most reserved, rude, stubborn, ill-mannered, and difficult of the four of us CPUs? Nothing that will actually help."
That description of Lowee's CPU didn't inspire much confidence. Sure, the party knew that Lady White Heart had a bit of a temper and she was rather foul-mouthed, but the way Noire described her it sounded as though the goddess of Lowee was worse than they had previously thought.
Even though she knew what really lay behind the CPU's facade, Neptune was determined to enlist her help, "It doesn't matter, we still need Lady White Heart to join us… even if she's really a super bitch."
Heero had started eating when the girls had started discussing their plan to recruit Lady White Heart. After swallowing a forkful of pancake, the Gundam pilot voiced his own opinion on the party's objective, "Lady White Heart may be inclined to take the current situation more seriously if Neptune were to meet with her alone. Should we need to send someone with her, Histoire is the safest option."
It was a sound suggestion, though it begged the question of why Lady Black Heart couldn't go to meet with Lowee's CPU? A question that Nisa herself asked before the party's nurse in training could, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to have Lady Black Heart go with them? Surely meeting two goddess would make us sound more believable, wouldn't it?"
While that may have been true, Noire really didn't want to meet with the goddess of Lowee, "Sorry, but things wouldn't play out the way you would hope if I was there. If I'm honest, she's said and done a lot of things that get on my nerves. We wouldn't get anywhere conversation-wise if I went to speak with her."
With it becoming more and more apparent that the goddesses really couldn't stand one another, it once again fell solely on Neptune to recruit the next prospective member of the party. There was still some uncertainty regarding how the goddess of Planeptune would handle the process, but the fact that Lady Black Heart was now a member of the party was enough to assure the group that somehow things would work out.
Remembering that she didn't have her equipment with her, Noire removed the apron she was wearing and headed for the front door. Neptune watched her rival, believing the CPU to be planning a runaway, "Where you off to, Noirey? You're not planning to ditch us, are you?"
Noire look over her shoulder at the purplenette with a frown, irritated that her rival actually believed she was trying to get away from the party already, "I'm not that desperate to get away from you, Neptune… yet. I need to go to the Basilicom and get my stuff. After all, I need my sword to fight, and once this quest of yours is over, I'll be returning to Celestia."
The CPU exited the safe house, leaving a skeptical Neptune to stew over the possibility that the newest member of the party might be trying to weasel out of helping them stop Arfoire. Planeptune's goddess looked over at her bodyguard who had just finished eating the breakfast carefully constructed for him by her so called destined rival. "Heero, I need you to follow after the pair of pigtails that just left the house. I don't trust Noire to come back. She'll either get lost, or try to run away so she won't have to help us."
Histoire couldn't understand why Neptune was being so suspicious of Noire when she had already agreed to help the party, with 'Heero asking her' being the reason. Rather than risk another long winded argument, the tome of the goddesses thought it best to just let Neptune have her way for now and send the Perfect Soldier to retrieve Noire, "There's really no dissuading Neptune right now. By the time you find Noire, we should be on our way to the Sky Harbor."
It was unusual to hear Neptune tell the boy to go after another girl when it didn't have to do with catching and interrogating the person in question. Still, the Gundam pilot obliged the purplenette's request, getting up from the table and heading out the door after Lastation's CPU.
Xxx
It was a short walk to the Basilicom and once Noire was behind the closed door of the audience chamber the goddess began to skip around the room as she gathered her weapon and personal effects she would be taking with her, humming as she went about the task, "I've joined a party, made new friends, and even though I'm stuck with Neptune, I'll have a chance to get to know Heero better! This might actually be fun."
The goddess of Lastation stopped to voice her disgust over having to work with Neptune. "I still can't believe I actually have to help her. Sure, Heero asked me to… but do I really have to help Neptune? There's only so much of her annoying habits I can take."
As Noire lamented the fact she had to help her rival, the door to the audience chamber opened and Uni walked into the room. The Noire look-alike wore a sullen expression on her face until she saw the goddess of Lastation, "Sis?"
Hearing a voice other than her own momentarily startled the CPU, until she turned to see just who was speaking to her. "Uni? What are you doing here? I thought you were in Celestia."
Truth be told, Uni had come down from the holy land of the goddesses long ago. The Noire look-alike had just been mindful of Noire's space since she had to protect Lastation, "I got bored, so I came to the human world. Anyway, what are you doing, Black Heart? You look like your going off somewhere."
Noire hadn't planned on running into anyone, so she wasn't sure how she was going to explain to Uni why she had gotten her belongings together. The goddess decided it was better to tell her sibling the truth... to a degree anyway, "Well… I've kinda joined a party. So I'm helping them out for a little while."
It took a moment for the younger girl to process what she had just heard. Her sister was in a party… which implied they were her friends to some extent. The idea that her sibling had friends was somewhat foreign to the younger sibling. "...I was beginning to wonder if you even had friends."
Lastation's goddess was slightly offended by her younger sister's seemingly off-handed comment, "E-Excuse me?! I have lot's of friends! Y-You're just never around when they're here. And besides, with the way you act, I don't see you making any friends. As your older sister, I find this very concerning."
Uni was trying to figure out how exactly the conversation had shifted to her social status when the real concern was whether her elder sibling one; actually had friends, and two; whether or not she was talking to herself and potentially going crazy, "I've already made a friend recently. Though, I haven't gotten to spend much time with him because he's an adventurer."
Hearing Uni say she had a friend was a bit disconcerting to Noire. On one hand, she was inwardly happy that her sister had someone she could get along with. On the other hand, Uni had said 'he,' meaning that her new friend was a boy. Noire didn't know if this 'friend' wasn't just philanderer and wouldn't stand by and watch her younger sister get used or hurt, "And just what kind of person is this friend of yours? I'll bet he's a playboy looking for a girl he can manipulate."
The younger sister of Lastation's CPU was confused as to how Noire could draw such a conclusion when it came to Heero. "I don't think Heero is that kinda guy..."
Noire stopped her ranting at the mention of the Gundam pilot. She hadn't expected Uni's friend to be someone she knew, let alone the boy she had been wanting to get closer to. "Your friend is Heero?"
A look of surprise made it's way onto Uni's face before it was replaced with a more jovial expression, "You know Heero, too? He's pretty cool, huh? I had a feeling you would like him."
Being told that she would like Heero turned the goddess a stuttering mess, "Wh-What are you getting at? Heero may be a good guy, but there's no way I would l-love him!"
Once more Uni found herself staring at her older sister. She had only said that she would 'like' Heero, and that was as far as friends go, "I only said you'd like him. Where did you get love out of that?"
Lastation's goddess paused when she realized that her sister really hadn't brought up the word 'love' and that she had put herself in this position. In an attempt to move the conversation away from her mishap, Noire inquired as to how Uni came to meet the Perfect Soldier, "Never mind that. So… how did you meet Heero anyway?"
"Well, I was in the park doing some target practice the day we met. I was having trouble hitting the targets when Heero showed up. He showed me what I was doing wrong and now I can hit the bulls-eye on the targets more often."
It was alarming to hear that Uni was firing a weapon in public, but the fact that Heero had been looking after her soothed Noire's conscience. "(Heero's pretty responsible, so I guess Uni can have her little target practice… Assuming Heero is there to keep an eye on her.) Is that so? You made sure to thank him for helping you, right?"
Now Uni was the one who was feeling somewhat offended. Sure, her initial meeting with Heero could have been better, but at least their relationship now was solid, "Who do you think I am? I'm always thankful when Heero helps me out."
As much as she wanted to know about the relationship between her sister and Heero, Noire noticed the clock on the wall behind Uni. The goddess of Lastation had spent more time in the Basilicom than she had planned, "Is it that time already? I need to get going. Uni, can you look after Lastation while I'm gone?"
It was certainly a tall order, but Uni was feeling up to the job. "You bet! How long do you think you'll be gone, Black Heart?"
Noire didn't know the answer to that question herself. She had only told Uni that she was joining a party for some time. What she didn't tell her younger sibling was that she was to aid her rival, Neptune; the CPU of Planeptune. And she was supposed to help said rival unite the other goddesses against the former goddess, Arfoire.
The idea of two goddesses joining forces was unheard of in Gamindustri, so the idea that all four of them were supposed to come together would undoubtedly sound absurd. Not wanting to drag her younger sister into a problem that was over her head, Noire did her best to assure Uni that she wouldn't be gone for too long. "I don't really know, but it's not like I'm going on some grand adventure. I'm just returning a favor I owe someone. Once we've accomplished our goal I'll come back to Lastation. It shouldn't take too long."
As she finished packing her things, the goddess took a moment to address an unrelated topic, "And before I forget, I want you to start calling me Noire from now on. It's my name while I'm in my human form."
Uni silently looked at her sister for a moment until she finally spoke her mind, "So you finally have a second name now?"
Lastation's CPU was going by a second name and that was her sibling's response? Noire couldn't help but think that Uni was speaking to her with an air of condescending. "And just what's that supposed to mean? You make it sound as though me not having an actual human name was a bad thing."
Once more the younger sibling of Lastation's CPU was trying to figure out where her sister was getting these ideas from, since the defensiveness on display before her was somewhat out character for the goddess. "I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that I've had two names for a while now… so I was wondering when or if you were gonna have a human name, too."
It was Noire's turn to stop and stare at her sibling in silence. Uni did have two names; one for her goddess form, and Uni was, of course, the name she went by in her human form. Noire had only just gotten her new name by which to differentiate her human and goddess forms, going by the name Black Heart the entire time prior.
As soon as she saw how childish she was being over such an unimportant topic, the goddess of Lastation tried desperately to forget the subject, "W-Well, my name while I'm in my human form in Noire, so let's just leave it at that."
Grabbing her belongings, the goddess of Lastation headed for the door. Just as she was about to shut the audience chamber door behind her, Uni offered up some words of encouragement, "Do your best big sis! Try to have fun while your out!"
Noire wasn't sure how much 'fun' she would have, considering she was having to help Neptune. With her weapon and personal items in hand, the CPU headed for the Basilicom doors. Once outside, Noire leaned back against the doors she had just passed through while trying to reassure herself that her current situation wasn't all bad,"(Just… try to look on the bright side. I'll get to know more about Heero because of this.)"
"I assume you have everything you need?"
A surprised yelped escaped from the raven haired girl. Turning to her left, the goddess began to scold the source of the voice, "Heero! Don't just suddenly pop up right next to me! You're lucky I didn't decide to swing my sword at you." Noire glanced at the Gundam pilot for a moment, curious as to why he was there. "...Why are you here, anyway? I said it wouldn't take long to get my stuff."
Heero didn't seem fazed by Noire's threat of violence for startling her, in fact he had expected it. Instead of asking what had kept her there for so long the boy focused on addressing Noire's question, "Neptune asked that I come and retrieve you. She said, and I quote, 'I don't trust Noire to come back. She'll either get lost, or try to run away so she won't have to help us.'"
A look of irritation flashed across Noire's face. It was insulting to think that Neptune believed her to be as irresponsible as she was, "What the hell?! I may not like the idea of helping Neptune, but I never go back on my word."
The goddess was resolute in her decision to assist the party, even if that meant helping someone she had been fighting for years. Heero could respect such determination from Lastation's CPU. "Well, that was Neptune's reason for sending me here. As for me, I just don't like the idea of you being alone."
Noire felt her heart skip a beat over what sounded like Heero voicing his concern over the goddess being by herself. The raven haired CPU's cheek turned bright red as she averted her gaze from the Perfect Soldier while trying to play off his concern as an attempt at flirting with her, "Wh-What was that? A pick up line? Are you trying to sweep me off my feet? You'll have to try a lot harder than that if you wanna win my heart!"
Heero wasn't sure what Noire was talking about, but he decided to just let the topic end there. As the Gundam pilot was about to turn and start walking in the direction of the Sky Harbor, Noire began to tug on her skirt while looking at the ground. Something was weighing on the CPU's mind.
After a few seconds Noire finally broke the silence between them. "Hey, so… I wanted to... apologize for earlier." The goddess of Lastation shifted her gaze slightly to see Heero's face, and the look he was giving her suggested he didn't know what she was apologizing for, "Earlier, when you guys were looking for that Key Fragment item… you asked me if I was Lady Black Heart when I was in my goddess form. I lied and told you no. I just wanted to say… I'm sorry for not telling you the truth."
The Perfect Soldier wasn't sure why it had been bothering her that she lied to him. Under normal circumstances he might have been upset, but Noire had a compelling reason for not telling the truth before, "You don't need to apologize."
Despite Heero's assurance that an apology for her lying was unnecessary, the CPU of Lastation was still bothered by that fact. "How can you stand there and say that? If I were you, I would be a lot more upset!"
There was her problem. She was using her way of thinking, how she would feel as the basis for how Heero was supposed to feel in that moment. Noire failed to see the obvious difference between herself and Heero that allowed him to brush off the lie as nothing. "If you were me, you would understand that I'm not the one who has to worry about protecting a landmass."
Before Noire could rant any further over how the boy should have been more upset with her, the CPU stopped to think about Heero's response. She had been so worried that she hurt Heero's feelings that she forgot to take into account her own position. Noire still had to take into consideration the safety and well-being of Lastation and it's people, "Yeah, but still..."
Heero suddenly gripped Noire's shoulders, causing the CPU to jump slightly as she looked him in the eyes. He was intent on putting the CPU's worries to rest, "Noire, I may not understand what it's like to govern or protect an entire landmass, but I do know what it's like to make difficult decisions. You can't worry about the thoughts and feelings of one person when the people of this land count on you to make the best decision for their sakes. I hold no ill-will towards you for that."
It was the kind of answer one would expect from a realist. Noire knew the Perfect Soldier was very measured in how he approached conversation... or anything in general. The fact that Heero was being so understanding of her position was rather heart warming to the goddess.
After a moment of the two silently gazing into one another's eyes, Noire finally snapped out of her daze. The raven haired girl pretended to clear her throat to get the conversation moving again. "It's nice to know you're so understanding… Now, do you wanna maybe let go of me?"
Noticing that he was still holding the goddess by her shoulders, Heero released his grip on CPU of Lastation felt her cheeks warm up as she thought about how she had been staring into the boy's deep blue eyes for what she felt was an extended period of time, "If you're really not upset over me lying to you, then… thanks."
Even though he had just resolved the problem regarding Noire's conscience, the Perfect Soldier wanted to know if there was any other problem she had before they headed for the Sky Harbor to meet with the rest of the party, "Was there anything else on your mind?"
There was something else Noire had been thinking about, though it wasn't really a problem, "Well, I happened to hear that you met my little sister."
Heero could only think of one person that could possibly be Noire's sister and that he had met. "...You mean Uni?"
While Uni had said that Heero was her friend, the CPU wanted to hear it from the Gundam pilot himself whether or not the feeling was mutual, "She told me you two were friends… I was wondering if it was true. As I'm sure you know, Uni is a bit of a tomboy, so I worry that she has trouble making friends."
Truthfully, Heero hadn't viewed his relationship with Uni as that of friends. He hadn't spent enough time with the gun-toting sibling to form that kind of connection. Hell, he had only recently arrive at the verge of forming such relationships with the party.
At first the Perfect Soldier was going to tell the CPU that he wasn't exactly friends with Uni, but hearing Noire state her concern and seeing the worry in her eyes made Heero reconsider that thought, "Uni was somewhat... belligerent at first. Despite that, we've developed a working relationship, and I have been assisting Uni with her target practice since."
Lastation's goddess retreated into her thoughts for a minute, noting that Heero's side of the story was similar to Uni's… with one detail she was certain her younger sister intentionally excluded. "(So Uni was a bit of a jerk at first… That's about what I would expect from her.)"
"Is there anything else?"
Noire, shook her head in response. Between Heero's assurance that he didn't hold her in contempt for lying to him and hearing that he was Uni's friend, the goddess was no longer feeling ambivalent regarding where she and her sister stood with the Gundam pilot, "No, that was it. I guess I don't have to worry about her too much. And… thanks for looking after Uni."
Heero couldn't understand the goddess why was thanking him so much when all he did was assure her that he did hold a grudge and was 'friends' with said goddess's sister, "I just happened to befriend Uni, and concerning your situation at the time, I really can't hold it against you for not telling me the truth before. Do you really need to thank me?"
It certainly wasn't something she would normally do, but Noire was quite grateful to Heero. Of course, the goddess was unable to express said gratitude without feeling somewhat flustered and looking slightly angry. "Well, this means a lot to me so… J-Just shut up and accept my gratitude!"
The Gundam pilot wasn't sure why, but the goddess of Lastation looked rather cute when she was angry. Putting aside such thoughts, Heero returned his focus towards escorting Lastation's CPU back to the party. "If you're finished here, then we should get going. I would imagine Neptune is getting impatient."
With their meeting location already determined, Heero and Noire began the walk toward the Sky Harbor. As the two walked down the streets of Lastation, Noire grabbed the hem of her skirt as she tried to ignore the concerned and pleading looks she was getting from the passersby. The citizenry were worried about what would become of Lastation if their goddess left and never returned.
Noire could feel the eyes of every person on the street on her... and it was suffocating. After what happened with Avenir, couldn't they understand that she wasn't retiring because she wanted to, but because they were better off without her? "(Stop looking at me like that… Don't you people get it?! I'm not doing this because I want to. I made a mistake, and all of you almost paid for it. Lastation is better off without me...)"
Heero had could see the various looks they were garnering and knew right off that they were directed at the CPU right behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, the Gundam pilot could see that the CPU was more than a little uncomfortable.
The Perfect Soldier grabbed Noire by the wrist and increased his pace in order to lead her away from the citizens. Surprise momentarily registered on the goddess's face as she found herself having to move faster to keep pace with Heero.
After a minute of fast walking the duo eventually made it to the city limits where their wasn't a soul in sight. Heero let go of the CPU so as to assess her condition, and she was clearly bothered by the experience.
It was at this point that Heero suspected Noire's conscience was getting to her. If she was really resolute over her decision to retire, then she shouldn't have been bothered by all of the looks she had received that were practically begging her not to leave, "Do you believe that you made the right choice?"
Noire couldn't understand why the boy was asking her this. Surely he didn't think that she was resigning just for kicks, "I made a mistake, and Lastation suffered because of it. Everyone will be better off without me..."
While it was good to know that the goddess took her responsibilities seriously, Heero felt that Noire was expecting too much of herself. How was she supposed to handle Avenir when it was Arfoire that orchestrated the plot to begin with. "It's one thing to take responsibility for your own mistakes. It's another matter entirely to try and take responsibility for something caused by someone else."
Despite the boy's assertions that had done nothing wrong, Noire still felt as though she could have done something to stop the tech corporation from nearly plunging Lastation into chaos. "But I'm Lastation's CPU! I'm supposed to be able to do everything. I should've been able to stop this from happening!"
No amount of assurance from Heero… or anyone for that matter would be enough to convince Lastation's goddess that she wasn't at fault. Noire was going to have to decide whether or not that was true for herself, "...Noire, you're an idiot."
The CPU was taken aback by Heero's comment. He had called her an idiot. Lady Black Heart, guardian goddess of Lastation was called an idiot. If any of the civilians had heard the boy say that, they would have immediately called it heresy and organized a mob to go after him.
Noire wasn't so petty as to inform the citizens what he had just said, but she made sure the Gundam pilot knew she was angry, "I-Idiot?! Me?! If anything, you're the idiot here for calling me an id-"
Before the goddess could get another syllable out, she was found herself getting flicked on the forehead, causing her to stop in mid-sentence. As Noire rubbed her forehead, the Gundam pilot expressed his opinion on the matter of the CPU's retirement. "If you truly believe that this is what's best for Lastation and it's people, I won't stop you. I do think you're making this decision rather prematurely, though."
If leaving the Land of Black Regality wasn't the right course of action, what was, then? Noire wanted to know, and was unable to figure it out herself, "If retiring isn't the right choice, then what is? Tell me, what am I supposed to do?"
Heero knew the answer to the question, but knew better than to actually give the answer to Noire. Asking someone else for the answer to such a life altering question was never a good idea, especially when that question affected the future of an entire land and it's people. No, the most the Gundam pilot could do was explain why Noire should take time to reconsider her decision, "That's not for me to tell you. As I said, if you truly believe what you're doing is for the best, then no one has the right to change your mind. But I want you to think about all the people we passed on our way here. Those people believe in you. They need you. I'm certain if you were to ask them where they stand regarding the conspiracy involving Avenir, they wouldn't blame you for it."
It wasn't because she made a mistake. No, Noire's problem was that sheexpected too much of herself, to the point of being unreasonable. "Setting high expectations is fine. Its when you start asking the impossible of yourself that you need to stop and reexamine what you're capable of."
Noire fell silent as she thought about the various looks she had received that made this talk necessary. After what had happened with Avenir, the raven haired girl had come to the conclusion that Lastation wouldn't have been in placed in such a precarious situation if she hadn't descended to the human world. But what if she was wrong? What if she really was just expecting too much of herself, and was allowing this one problem, this one failure to cloud her judgment?
Heero could see it in her eyes that the goddess was putting serious thought into the question. Noire just needed some time to think things through, "There is no need to come up with an answer immediately. You said you would return to Celestia once we have dealt with Arfoire. Obviously, that has not happened at this time. You have time to think on the matter."
It was strange… for some reason, the goddess of Lastation actually found it refreshing to have the Gundam pilot scold her. Perhaps she just needed an outside perspective on what she was doing wrong, and how she could improve, "You have a point… Alright, I'll think on it for a while."
There was one other matter that Noire needed to address, but just as she opened her mouth, Heero lifted an open palm up to the girl to silence her. He knew exactly what she was going to ask him. "There is no need to worry about the others finding out about this. What happened here stays between us."
Having the Perfect Soldier's word that he would maintain secrecy over her little episode was a relief to Noire. Maybe she didn't need to retire as Lastation's CPU, but rather get away from the land she called home for a little while to clear her head. "Just you watch, I won't lose to Neptune. I'll prove I'm the best CPU in Gamindustri!"
With Noire's declaration that she wouldn't settle for being number two came a sense of relief for Heero. After the misdeeds committed by Arfoire and the disastrous consequences that nearly came about as a result, the goddess of Lastation had almost given up. Almost. While there was no guarantee that Noire would rescind her orders to restructure the Sanctuary and Parliament, and effectively remove the position or need for a goddess, she was at least willing to consider another option. The goddess wasn't defeated yet.
A barely noticeable smile graced the Gundam pilot's face as he turned in the direction of the Sky Harbor, "I have no doubt about that. You're a strong and capable girl, Noire."
The goddess of Lastation caught a brief glimpse of the boy's smile, and her face began to heat up as a result. Between the rare display of emotion and words of encouragement, Noire felt her heart beating a million times a minute. With half laden eyes and the look of a lovestruck school girl, Noire couldn't help but swoon over Heero, "(Wow… Heero really knows how to motivate people, huh? I was so sure that I was going to quit being the goddess of Lastation, but now… I just want to be number one in his eyes. Is this... love?)"
Before Lastation's CPU was completely absorbed in her own little world, the shouting (or in Noire's case, shrill shrieking), of the party's leader got the attention of the duo, "Hey, what're you guys doing over here?"
Noire snapped out of her stupor, while Heero turned back around to face Neptune. The purplenette was supposed to have been waiting with the rest of the party at the Sky Harbor, so the Gundam pilot hadn't expected to run into her quite so soon. "Weren't you supposed to wait with Histoire and the others?"
Neptune cast a sidelong glance at Noire, the main reason why she had gone in search of the two, "You guys were taking a while gettin' back, and I thought Noirey ran away." Planeptune's CPU focused her attention on the goddess that she didn't trust to be alone with Heero, "You weren't trying to have a total sweetheart moment with Heero, were you?"
Having just come out of a romantic daze, the goddess of Lastation was understandably embarrassed by the accusation… mostly because she felt that if Neptune hadn't shown up, such a scene could have played out, "Wh-What?! No! We we're just having chat, that's all!"
Suffice it to say, Neptune didn't believe Noire. The CPU of Planeptune latched onto Heero's arm while leading him toward their destination where the rest of the group awaited them. "I don't believe you. C'mon, Heero. We should hurry and get back to the others so we can see about getting Whitypoo to party up with us."
The two didn't make it three steps before Heero suddenly felt himself shift to the left. Looking to his left, the Perfect Soldier found Noire clasped to his arm while shooting a heated glare at her rival. "You keep treating Heero like he's some object that belongs to you. It's really starting to piss me off."
Neptune glowered back at the tsundere goddess that had attached herself to her bodyguard, seeing her sudden physical contact with Heero as an attempt to steal the boy away from her, "So you are trying to steal Heero from me! I knew it!"
Seeing as the purplenette wasn't going to believe anything she said, Noire had given up on trying to explain to Neptune that nothing had been going on between Heero and herself prior to her arrival, "It's apparent that you won't believe anything I say regardless. Right now I'm doing this just to spite you!"
Both girls continued to growl and send malicious looks at one another as they walked toward the Sky Harbor with Heero, and the Gundam pilot was left to ponder his situation, "(This isn't going to be a repeat of last night, is it?)"
Xxx
After arriving in the Land of White Serenity, the group promptly dropped off their items at their safe house before heading to the main Basilicom Entremets. Even though she had been there before when the party tried to convince Lady White Heart to join them the first time, Histoire still acted like a child seeing something new, "This is Lowee's Basilicom? It is so great to finally see it in person. I have only read of most things from the human world."
Perhaps Histoire had been so caught up with trying to convince Lady White Heart to join them the last time that she seemingly forgot that the party had been to Entremets before. Regardless, they weren't there to take in the sights or be impressed by the architecture. IF had to steer the tome's attention back toward their immediate task, "We're not here to sightsee, Histy. Nep and you have to somehow convince the bitchy Lady White Heart to help us."
As much as she wanted to be there to support Neptune, Compa knew that it was better to wait with the rest of the party, "The rest of us will wait outside. We don't want to make Lady White Heart nervous."
IF could understand why Lowee's highest figure might not want to deal with them. Then again, it seemed as though just about anything could set Lady White Heart off if she was in a bad mood. "We're outsiders to her. She was even upset when Nep didn't remember her past."
Noire still couldn't believe that Neptune was actually going to go through with trying to recruit Lady White Heart, "She's stubborn beyond believe, has a notoriously short fuse, and a very foul mouth. If you really want to convince her to join us, you've got your work cut out for you."
The leader of the party didn't want to think about the tongue-lashing she had received before, or how trying to convince Lowee's CPU would be "I dunno about that! It's okay. I'll do my best to pester her, even if you guys are there!"
There was no conceivable reason for Neptune to actually pester the goddess of Lowee as far as IF could see, "You don't have to pester her. Just go. Arfoire isn't going to wait for you while you waste your time here."
It was depressing, but that was the reality of their situation. Each second that passed was time they didn't have, so the party… or rather, Neptune needed to convince the remaining CPUs to join them so they would have the power to defeat Arfoire.
Compa took a more positive approach in spurring the party leader into going into the Basilicom, "Lady White Heart was stubborn, but I bet she'll understand if you're honest with her. Go, Nep-Nep and Histy!"
Taking a moment to think on the matter, Neptune remembered that she had a fallback in case she failed to persuade Lady White Heart to help them, "Well, if all else fails, I could always tell her that we need her help cuz Heero got injured."
Noire couldn't help but frown at the purplenette's decision to essentially use Heero as her means of winning over Lowee's CPU, "You're going to use Heero as an excuse if you can't convince her yourself? That's irresponsible! And I doubt it would actually work on her."
Unlike her Destined Rival, Neptune was convinced that it would work, with Noire being a prime example for her argument. "Well, it worked on you didn't it, Noire? You joined our party after hearing about how Heero got injured."
It was irritating to admit it, but Lastation's CPU really couldn't argue. While it wasn't what persuaded her to 'join' the party, hearing about the Gundam pilot's injury was what spurred her into challenging Neptune to a match, which in turn led to her joining the party. "Still… you can't just use him as your excuse to get your way all the time."
Heero didn't care one way or another how she did it, all that mattered was getting Lady White Heart's help, "I don't care either way, just don't take any unnecessary risks. If past experience and Noire's description are anything to go by, Lady White Heart has a short, volatile fuse that could result in a… less than ideal situation."
Having regained her memories, Planeptune's CPU knew just what Lady White Heart was capable of when angered. Despite knowing the risk, Neptune was determined to do whatever was needed to get Lowee's goddess on their side, "I'll get Whitey to join us. Just wait and see! After all, I'm doing this for my Destined Lover. How can I fail?"
It was a naive way of thinking, but their was no denying that some in the group were optimistic about Neptune's chances of success. The goddess of Planeptune began to head towards the Basilicom door while calling for Histoire to follow along. "C'mon, Histy. If you're a good girl, I'll buy you a treat later."
The tome of the goddesses followed after Planeptune's CPU while lamenting how she was suddenly being treating like a pet, "Please don't treat me like a dog. I am a person like the rest of you."
As the two girls disappeared into the religious structure, Lyrica found herself voicing the concerns that she was no longer able to keep at bay, "Am I the only one that still thinks this is a bad idea? Sure, Noire joined our party, but..."
IF shared in the singer's concerns, but knew they didn't really have a choice, "There's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope Nep doesn't screw up."
Unlike the two girls that were beginning to show concern over whether Neptune would succeed, Gust saw an opportunity… and opportunity to make money, "Will Neptune succeed or fail? Gust is taking bets."
The rest of the group turned to look at the young alchemist, some looking on with surprise. The world was facing the possibility of complete annihilation, and Gust was betting on whether Neptune would succeed in recruiting Lowee's goddess.
Nisa couldn't believe the otherwise innocent little girl was gambling, and on the fate of the world, no less, "Gust… you're not really betting on our survival… are you?"
Any hope the Keeper of Justice had that Gust was kidding was dashed to pieces when she saw the greed in the young girl's eyes. "Even if leader should fail, Gust will win. Gust sees no problem."
No one was sure if they should humor the business savvy alchemist, or admonish her for betting on their only hope. While the other girls were worried about Gust gambling on their futures, Red was only concerned about her prospective wifey that was inside the Basilicom, "I don't care about any of that, Nep just needs to come out with our new party member. The more girls there are in the party, the closer I'll be to having one hundred wifeys."
Heero himself was worried, but not for the same reason as his fellow party member, "(I'm concerned that this will play out the same as it did with Noire… Lady White Heart will have to be persuaded through violence.)"
Xxx
Within the confines of the Basilicom audience chamber, Lady White Heart was lying across her bed while skimming througha few of the books from the stack that was piled up right next to her. Looking through the written work, the goddess couldn't help but feel she could easily write something superior to what she was looking at, "These are good… but I could easily write something better."
Before long, the goddess of Lowee found her thoughts shifting toward a certain Gundam pilot and his taste in books. "...I wonder what type of books Heero likes?"
"(Heero tends to read books on philosophy, mystery, political intrigue, war… generally anything that requires him to think.)"
Lady White Heart was startled by the voice that seemed to be right next to her. Looking around the room, the goddess found that she was the only one there. Realizing that it was the voice of Zero, Lady White Heart settled back into her book while talking back to the disembodied voice, "…I don't have many books on those genres. I might need to go to the bookstore later." The goddess then segued on to the topic of why Zero was 'there' in the first place. "While I appreciate the answer, I'm curious… why are you here? Shouldn't you be watching Neptune so she doesn't screw over the rest of Gamindustri?"
It wasn't as if Zero had any special reason for being there. She just happened to have some time on her hands and heard the CPU asking a question to herself about Heero, "(Well, one of Heero's potential suitors was asking questions about him, so I thought I would provide some answers.)"
Being referred to as Heero's 'suitor' was rather embarrassing to the goddess. Lady White Heart tried to refocus on the page she was reading in her book, "Do you really need to call me his suitor? It's embarrassing… Besides, that implies we're in a romantic relationship, which we're not."
Zero had found another person she could tease on being in a relationship with Heero. "(So you say, but you can't deny that you feel some attraction to him. In fact, you two would make for an interesting couple.)"
Once more the CPU found her concentration slipping. Having the opinion of the one person who knew the Gundam pilot better than anyone certainly gave her reason to be hopeful. Even as her face began to heat up, Lady White Heart continued in vain to bury her face into the book in her hands. "...I-Interesting can mean a number of things. And even if what you're saying is true, Heero is following Neptune around on some other landmass."
"(Actually, the group is here on Lowee. Heero included)"
With the revelation that Heero was there in her land, the CPU felt her heart skip a beat. Lady White Heart was unable to focus on her book, what with her thoughts now focusing on Heero, "H-Heero is… h-here? As in right now?"
The ZERO System knew that the stubborn goddess would soften her mood once she knew that the Perfect Soldier was on Lowee, hopefully making Neptune's attempt at persuading her go more smoothly than it would otherwise, "(If you really want to know more about Heero, you should try asking him. If things should work out between you two, you have my blessings to pursuing a more… intimate relationship. Now, if you will excuse me...)"
Before Lowee's goddess could defuse the idea, Zero was already gone. Lady White Heart sat in silence as she dwelled on Zero's words. "...Who does she think she is? Saying stuff like that. Still..."
Try as she might, the goddess was unable to push thoughts of a marital status with Heero out of her mind. It took five minutes for Lady White Heart to pull herself out of the romantic daze she was in and return to her reading, "...I suppose I could see Heero later."
As the CPU attempted to indulge herself in her literature once more,the audience room door opened and Financier entered the goddess's chamber… and she was accompanied by Neptune and Histoire, "Excuse me."
Lowee's CPU looked up from the book in her hands and noticed the CPU of Planeptune and tome of the goddesses behind the chamberlain. Despite knowing full well that wherever Heero was, Neptune was sure to be there, she was still somewhat annoyed that Financier had not consulted her before bringing the two before her. "...You brought them in without my consent?"
Neptune didn't like how the goddess of Lowee was speaking to one of her own Basilicom staff, especially when it was Financier, who had helped the party more than once, "Hey, now! You shouldn't be so mean to someone who buys your groceries and stuff!"
Not wanting Neptune to anger the CPU of Lowee so soon, Histoire took over the conversation, "Hello. We have returned to persuade you again. We absolutely need your strength. Please, lend us your aid!"
Lady White Heart had already guessed that the two were there in an attempt to convince her, but she refused to budge an inch. She stood by her earlier statement if not helping them, "...No matter how many times you come to annoy me, my answer's the same. I won't team up with weak, chubby idiots."
Planeptune's goddess couldn't believe Lady White Heart was referring to her as 'chubby' or that she was still refusing to help them despite the fact that monster attacks were growing more and more frequent across all four landmasses, "Ch-Chubby?! Tell me why! Lowee is being attacked by monsters too, right?!"
Lowee's goddess couldn't deny the attacks were beginning to be a problem, but she failed to see how they were the result of one persons actions… even if that person happened to be a goddess. "...The monsters are an issue, sure, but how do you even know that's due to Arfoire?"
Even though Neptune wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, she saw the 'how do you even know' card coming. It helped her case that Histoire, the tome of the goddesses, quite literally knew everything in Gamindustri. "Cuz Histy said so. Our war in Celestia, manipulation of the Guild, the Evangelist… it's all because of her!"
The fact that the purplenette knew about the Console War was enough of an indication to Lady White Heart that Neptune had regained her memories, "...Neptune. Your memory is all back, huh? Then you must understand." Lowee's CPU didn't want to join the party because the Console War taught her that she couldn't trust anyone. Not Green Heart, not Black Heart, she sure as hell didn't trust Neptune… even after the conversation she had with Zero just moments ago, the goddess of Lowee questioned whether or not she really could trust Heero. "...I trust no one. The Console War that started this mess… Who knows what anyone's thinking?"
Neptune couldn't accept such a depressing answer. The idea that the CPU before her couldn't trust anyone was absurd, "You can't trust anyone? Didn't ya see it yourself? Arfoire, the monsters?!"
There were only two things in Gamindustri the small girl could trust; Lowee and herself, "...I only trust my Basilicom and nobody other than myself. I am here to protect my people and this land... I can't possibly leave them because of some flat, pantless girl… a tome… or our former goddess."
At first glance Lady White Heart seemed impassive, but Histoire could see the passionate, caring girl underneath the facade that cared deeply for her land and its people, "Your outward appearance makes you seem indifferent, but you actually care for your people more than any other goddess. Do you not think stopping Arfoire is something you must do for the sake of your land and its people?"
From Lady White Heart's perspective it sounded as though the tome of the goddesses was grasping at straws. Moreover, the CPU of Lowee still saw no reason to believe that helping them fight Arfoire would really protect Lowee. "...Not really."
Neptune tried her hand at persuading the stone faced goddess, "Don'tcha think this is our, the goddesses', responsibility to stop a maverick goddess?"
Unfortunately for the goddess of Planeptune, Lady White Heart's answer was the same as when Histoire asked for her aid, "...Not really."
Once more Histoire tried to convince the goddess, though it was beginning to seem more and more as though she couldn't be bothered to help them… that or she just didn't give a damn, "The world is in danger! I know it is hard to believe, but do you not think it would be too late if her plan is left unchecked?"
The tome of the goddesses had been hoping that perhaps the third time was the charm, however, she was sorely disappointed by the answer she received from the stone faced goddess. "...I'd rather not think like that." Lady White Heart shifted her attention back to the book in her hands. She didn't want to hear anymore of this conversation and just wanted the two girls to go away, "Nope. Don't wanna think about it. Leave. To me, you are all the villains here."
Histoire couldn't help but seem some of Arfoire in Lowee's CPU, just as she had seen in Neptune. "I see a little bit of Arfoire in you, too. You are stubborn and will not listen to reason."
Neptune was shocked that the fairy-like girl was comparing Lady White Heart to Arfoire, seeing as such a comparison could be seen as a savage insult, then pondered how the tome handle Arfoire during situations such as this, "…! Wh-What'd you do with Arfoire in this kinda situation?"
Given that their efforts to persuade the CPU of Lowee weren't yielding the result they were hoping for, Histoire decided that the best chance they had of getting anywhere was to do what Neptune was good at; pestering the individual involved, "You just have to keep pestering her. Of course, I ended up beating her a bit."
Lowee's CPU was curious as to who the tome meant by 'beat her', having already assumed that she was referring to Arfoire, "...Beat her?"
Histoire recalled a moment from the past in which she, petite and dainty as she was, had to get physically violent with Arfoire. "My true form is a tome. I cracked her head with my corners and she gave up easily. She can be rather girly and fragile."
Planeptune's goddess began to deliberate over how she could use force to advance their agenda, "Beat her, huh? Survival of the fittest… It's the universe's golden rule."
Tossing her book onto the audience chamber bed, Lady White Heart found herself willing to oblige. After all, having to put up with Neptune for an extended period of time was proving to be both stressful and irritating, so what better way to deal with that stress than to beat it at the source both metaphorically and literally? "...Go ahead. If you want. You're right. I should've used force from the very start!"
An all too familiar disk appeared before Lady White Heart that was accompanied by a flash of light that filled the entire room. When the light dissipated, the blue haired axe wielding girl the party had run into time and again was standing in place of Lady White Heart.
After regaining her memory Neptune had an inkling that Lady White Heart and the girl in front of her were the same person, she just couldn't quite put it together until now. "I knew that tomboy Newtype was you. I wasn't sure even when my memory came back, but I was right after all!"
There was a reason the CPU of Lowee was in her human form more often than not, "...I'm popular in my human form here. Kids and seniors citizens, mostly. We haven't settled anything between us." It was surprising that Lady White Heart had been able to keep a lid on her heightened aggression for as long as she did, however she was beginning to give into the temptation of beating Neptune into a bloody pulp. "Hopefully there will be no interruptions. You've been an eyesore for thousands of years… This will settle it."
Neptune had a feeling their conversation would ultimately turn out like this, if the recruitment of Noire was anything to go off of, "There's no way I'm gonna lose! Not only cuz I'm tryin' to save the world, but because I'm fighting for Heero, too!"
Lowee's goddess raised a questioning eyebrow, wondering why the girl she vehemently expressed disdain for was bringing up the Gundam pilot, "...What does Heero have to do with this? You expecting him to save you when I start kicking your ass?"
As nice as the idea sounded, Neptune knew better than to expect Heero to swoop in and save her if she was in trouble. "No! It's cuz Heero is injured!"
The room that had been filled with the back and fourth shouting between Neptune, Histoire and Lady White Heart was now eerily silent. Zero, who had 'left' shortly before Neptune and Histoire had entered the audience chamber, returned… only to find that Neptune had played the 'Heero is injured' card, "(Please tell me she didn't...)"
Unfortunately for the ZERO System, Histoire confirmed their fears, "Unfortunately, she did."
The two had already guessed that Neptune would use her fall back of informing the goddess of the Gundam pilot's injury. Despite knowing that it was almost guaranteed, Zero and Histoire still hoped in the face of extraordinarily long odds that Neptune wouldn't bring up Heero's injury during conversation, which was now going to make the situation worse.
Having been silent from the moment she learned of Heero's injury, White Heart immediately began interrogating the CPU of Planeptune for answers, believing Neptune to be responsible, "...What did you do?"
Although it was supposed to be a question, the goddess of Lowee made it sound more like a demand. Neptune rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she summarized what had happened, "Well, I kinda made an oopsie… and Heero got injured because of it. He was bleeding pretty bad cuz of it. Which is why we need your help!"
Neptune watched the goddess for her response, hoping she would suddenly give up and decide to help the party. Instead Lady White Heart began muttering to herself, which led Neptune to think that something was wrong. "Uh, you okay?"
Lowee's CPU found it amazing that Neptune found a way to upset her even more than she already had. White Heart continued to repeat four words as she thought of how best to murder the CPU of Planeptune, "...got Heero injured… you got Heero injured… you got Heero injured..."
After a minute of muttering to herself and allowing very dark thoughts to swirl around in her mind, the angry goddess returned her scornful gaze to Neptune. "You're gonna die slowly."
White Heart readied her axe to take a swing at Neptune, who retrieved her sword in preparation for a fight. As enraged as she was, the goddess of Lowee was able to put her axe down while pinching the bridge of her nose, "...Get ahold of yourself. Last thing you need is a fucking hole in the wall."
Once more the goddess was engulfed in a bright light that filled the room, and Lady White Heart had returned to her human form. The CPU marched past Neptune toward the audience chamber door. "...We're taking this outside."
Neptune was grateful for the reprieve from the goddess's anger, but wasn't sure why White Heart suddenly wanted to move their fight out into the snow, "What'cha got in mind? We gonna have a snowball fight instead? That sounds way more fun, and a lot less painful!"
Ignoring the foolish idea proposed by Neptune, the CPU of Lowee gave her reasoning for the change in venue, "I'm just so unbelievably pissed at you right now, I'm genuinely concerned I might destroy the Basilicom while I try to kill you."
For all her knowledge, Histoire saw no way of alleviating the volatile situation they found themselves in. Neptune and the tome followed Lowee's CPU out of the room, through the Basilicom and outside into the perpetually snowing land.
As soon as the three were outside they were greeted by the sight of the party waiting for them. Compa ran up to the trio, hoping to hear good news regarding the recruitment process, "How did it go? Is Lady White Heart going to help us?"
Given how unmoving the smaller CPU was during the initial inquiry, and how underneath the facade she was putting up was a ticking time-bomb of rage, Neptune failed to see any progress on that front, "We're kinda dealing with some… issues at the moment. But I think we're making progress."
Frankly, it was a miracle Lady White Heart was even willing to speak to Neptune, let alone come out of the Basilicom of her own volition. IF still held some skepticism over whether Neptune's attempts at persuasion were really going as well as she said, "That doesn't give me much confidence. Just don't give her a reason not to help us."
Histoire tried to reassure the girls that everything would work out in the end, "Please rest assured, I will do everything I can to ensure that White Heart sees reason. We cannot face Arfoire without her."
While the quartet of Neptune, Compa, IF and Histoire were talking amongst themselves, Lowee's CPU had her sights set on Heero... and the girl standing next to him. Seeing the Perfect Soldier relieved some of White Heart's anger, but seeing Lastation's goddess right next to him brought it right back, "(Why the hell is that bitch here?! And what is she doing next to Heero?!)"
As soon as Noire met White Heart's gaze similar feelings of animosity began to brew in her mind, "(Oh great… the brat came out of her room. I was hoping I wouldn't have to look at her for at least one more day.)"
Resisting the sudden urge to spout profanity, Lowee's CPU approached Heero and Noire, focusing her attention on Lastation's goddess. "...So, you're here. That's rather surprising."
Noire kept her arms folded over her chest, her hands squeezing her upper arms as she fought to restrain herself, "You think so? The fact that you actually came out of your room is quite surprising to me."
Although they maintained a convincing front, the two goddesses were practically seething with contempt as they mentally insulted one another under their facades. "(Stupid pig-tailed bitch!)"
"(Detestable damn brat!)"
White Heart shifted her attention toward Heero before her bottled up anger could spill out, "...Neptune mentioned that you were injured. I found it rather hard to believe, so I thought I would ask if it was true."
Even though the Gundam pilot said he didn't care how Neptune convinced Lowee's CPU to join them, he still couldn't figure out why Planeptune's goddess thought she could guilt trip White Heart into helping the party by telling her about his injury, "I made a mistake while carrying out my mission, though it's a minor inconvenience. Hardly worth mentioning."
The goddess of Lowee was still under the believe that Neptune was directly responsible for the boy's injury, she just couldn't quite prove it. "(...I'll bet Neptune told you to say that to cover ass. She's as good as dead.)"
Continuing to play along with thestory given by the party's leader, Histoire tried to move the conversation along so as to relocate both Neptune and White Heart somewhere away from the party and any civilians, "We still need to go over some details. Hopefully we can settle this matter on a positive note."
Neptune, Histoire and Lady White Heart walked away from the group with the intent of settling their dispute. With the exception of Heero and Noire, none of the other party members suspected anything to be out of the ordinary.
Lyrica watched as the trio disappeared from view before directing her attention to the rest of the party, "So, we're just waiting around again? What do we do to pass the time?"
Red latched onto IF's arm with the clear intent of spending her 'free day' with the Guild Moderatist, "I don't care what I do, as long as I get to be with my number one wifey."
Knowing that the party's leader was going to fight Lowee's guardian goddess, Heero decided it was best to keep the others in the dark about what was really going on, "I expect that talks will take awhile. All of you are free to use your time as you see fit. I need to make good on a request Noire asked of me."
Lastation's CPU was about to expose the fact that she never made any request to Heero, but stopped herself when she saw what was going on, "Umm… right! I asked Heero to go shopping with me! I had to leave a few things in Lastation, so I thought I'd buy them here when I had the chance."
Although she was a goddess and the newest member of their group, Compa still couldn't help but feel jealous of Noire, "Noire gets to have Heero to herself… It's a little unfair."
Noire was rather embarrassed with how the nurse in training framed the false outing between herself and Heero. "W-We're just going shopping. Don't make it sound like we're doing something scandalous."
None of the others second guessed the shopping tripthat Heero and Noire were supposedly going on. As the girls walked away, the Perfect Soldier shifted his gaze toward the goddess next to him, "I appreciate your willingness to play along."
After the brief discussion over what was going on with Neptune and Histoire's talk with Lady White Heart, it wasn't as though Noire had any trouble deciphering the Gundam pilot's ruse, "Well, if I was going to ask you to go shopping with me I wouldn't have waited until we came here. I take it you want to go after them?"
Considering how things had played out with Noire's recruitment, Heero was positive that Neptune had to fighting Lowee's goddess before they could enlist her aid. "As much as I want to believe that Histoire has a handle on this, I have reason to believe that Neptune and Lady White Heart are going to fight."
The goddess of Lastation wasn't surprised by how difficult White Heart was being. Hell, she could tell that the CPU of Lowee wasn't going to make it easy for them just from the thinly veiled hostility behind her remarks. "Wouldn't it be better to let them fight it out? If we get involved, the brat might not agree to join this merry little party."
Heero had thought about the consequences, however, he was more concerned with what might happen if they weren't there to intervene, "I have considered that. That being said, if Neptune and Lady White Heart are left unchecked, we could have a problem on our hands." The Gundam pilot then directed his full attention to Noire. "That's why I need you right now. If Neptune and White Heart get out of hand, you will be the only one here that can stop them."
Hearing the boy say he 'needed' her threw Noire's thought process off for a moment, forcing her to look away from Heero momentarily. "(Does he know what he's saying? I can't really refuse him when he says it like that...)" After getting her thoughts back in order the goddess took a moment to dwell on the heavy responsibility Heero was giving her should the worst come to pass, but the CPU wasn't about to show any weakness in front him. "Sheesh… no pressure, right? But I do get it. As much as I detest the little brat, we won't gain anything if they kill each other."
It didn't sit well with Heero having to ask Noire to handle the matter of separating the two CPUs if they became too violent, but after the display of power he had witnessed between Purple Heart and Black Heart the previous day the Gundam pilot wasn't so sure he could handle two rampaging goddesses on his own, "Sorry. I know I'm asking a lot, but there's no one else I can count on."
Noire waved off Heero's apology, not wanting him to make a big deal over it, "It's fine. Compared to how violent our fighting was in Celestia, this isn't a problem. Besides, I joined this party because YOU asked for my help. If didn't do this, what would be the point in me joining you guys in the first place."
The Gundam pilot was appreciative of Noire's willingness to handle the two goddesses should the need arise. Both Heero and Noire followed after the trio of Neptune, Histoire and Lady White Heart into the forest, expecting a tense situation when they finally arrived at their destination.
Xxx
Neptune, Histoire and Lady White Heart moved into the forest outside of the Basilicom for the inevitable battle. Once she felt they were far enough away from prying eyes, Lady White Heart turned to face Neptune and transformed into her goddess form once again, "...Hope you've said your prayers. If not, too bad."
Going off her memories, Neptune knew that White Heart was a very angry girl, but once she heard of Heero's injury the perpetually angry goddess seemed to be… well, even angrier than she already was, "So what's your deal, anyway? I know you're mad and stuff, but you got even more salty when you heard my Destined Lover got hurt."
It was infuriating to hear the CPU of Planeptune claim to be Heero's lover when White Heart knew what kind of person she was, and considering she had been leading the boy around on a whim. "Will you shut the hell up about that Destined Lover crap?! There's no way you're his lover!"
Planeptune's goddess seemed genuinely offended by White Heart's claim, "Yes I am! Just yesterday we finally kissed and became real lovers."
Just when it seemed like she couldn't get any angrier, Neptune just had to prove White Heart wrong. It was then that the goddess decided to cut the conversation now, rather than risk popping a blood vessel out of overwhelming rage.
White Heart charged at Neptune with the singular thought of planting Planeptune's goddess in the ground with her axe. The purple haired girl barely avoided the attack aimed at her and watched as the goddess's axe struck the ground, creating a cloud of snow blanket where she had just been standing.
The blue haired girl stepped out of the snow cloud, preparing to charge at the CPU of Planeptune once more. "...Before I forget. If by some miracle you survive the ass kicking I give you… You have to break up with Heero."
This was the second time Neptune had been told she must break up with Heero if she were to be defeated. Naturally, the goddess of Planeptune was upset with White Heart for telling her to break off her relationship with Heero should she be defeated, "Whoa, hold on a sec! Noire tried the same thing when I asked her for help! Why do I gotta break up with Heero if I lose?"
White Heart charged at Neptune once more, intent on separating her from Heero one way or another, "Because it's the only way I'm saving him from your sorry ass!"
At the last possible second before White Heart's axe found its mark, Neptune transformed into Purple Heart and intercepted the attack with her sword. The swordmaidenwas not the least bit amused with Lowee's CPU, as was apparent by the glare she was casting at her, "Well, you have succeeded in angering me. I hope you're proud of yourself."
There was only one thing that would make White Heart 'proud of herself' in that moment, and that was to make Purple Heart disappear from her sight. "Not until I've gotten rid of you!"
A fierce melee ensued between the two goddesses that tore apart the nearby trees and bushes. After five minutes of fighting, Histoire grew concerned that the two CPUs were getting a bit too violent with how much vegetation was being destroyed by their battle, "I do hope they end the fighting soon. I'm worried someone might notice."
As the tome focused her attention on the battle, a voice beyond her inquired as to how long the two CPUs had been at it, "How long have the battle been going on?"
"A few minutes. Though I'm worried someone will find out about-"
Histoire stopped when she realized she was having to explain what was going on when she was supposed to be the only person watching. Turning around, the fairy-like girl found Heero and Black Heart behind her, though their attention was focused on Purple Heart and White Heart.
From Heero's perspective, the feuding goddesses were still fighting within permissible limits, though there was no telling how long that would last. Casting a brief glance at the snow haired girl next to him, the Gundam pilot continued to watch the fight before him. "I would like to think they won't get out of hand, but given how they have interacted in the past, I asked Noire to intervene should the need arise."
Shifting his attention slightly, the Perfect Soldier saw movement in the forest just beyond where the two goddesses were fighting. Obviously, this far into the forest there were bound to be monsters, "(Of course, that's not the only reason...)"
Black Heart couldn't help but be amused by the sight in front of her. There was no doubt in her mind that Purple Heart and White Heart were arguing over Heero, and the thought of letting the two beat each other senseless was appealing, "(You two are so stupid… Don't you get it? I'm the only one for Heero. If he hadn't asked me for help, I would just let you two kill each other. Only someone like me can appreciate him.)"
After another brief exchange of clashing metal, Purple Heart and White Heart found themselves standing a few yards apart from each other. Planeptune's goddess had been attempting to figure out White Heart's motive for her unreasonable demand, but was coming up empty. Finally, Purple Heart addressed the source of her problem, "Why do you want me to break up with Heero? How does that benefit you?"
The goddess of Lowee couldn't believe her opponent was stopping to ask that question now when they were in the middle of fighting. Nevertheless, White Heart answered the question, believing that by the battle's end she would be the victor, "Why the hell do you think? It's so he doesn't have to follow you around anymore."
That wasn't enough for Purple Heart. She needed to know what it was that compelled Lowee's CPU to try and separate her from Heero. "Surely there's more to it than that. Why else would you be trying so hard to defeat me?"
Almost immediately following the goddess's questioning, White Heart moved in on her. The blue haired girl swung her axe with such speed that any one else might not have been able to avoid it. Purple Heart maneuvered out the way of the attack while her opponent angrily commented on her relationship. "...I can't stand you! You're arrogant, self-centered, unappreciative, and a spoil princess on top of all that… and you have the nerve to claim that you're Heero's lover?!"
Both CPUs traded blows once more before coming to another stalemate. At first they appeared to be evenly matched, but White Heart's rage slowly began to overpower Purple Heart. The goddess of Planeptune couldn't believe she was losing in a contest of strength, to White Heart no less.
Lowee's axe wielding goddess had deemed Purple Heart unfit to be in a romantic relationship with Heero, and was more than willing to kill if it meant protecting the boy from her, "You've been using Heero since you went on this overblown adventure of yours to suit your own needs. What about him?! Have you even once stopped to think about what Heero wants?! Or have you just been focusing on yourself the whole damn time?!"
As she was about to retort, Purple Heart's mind began to draw a blank. Sure, he may not have said anything, but surely the Gundam pilot wanted something out of all this. And yet not once had she stopped to ask Heero about his wants or needs.
Just by reading her expression, White Heart could tell that Planeptune's CPU hadn't given any consideration towards Heero, which only fueled her rage even more. "Someone like you is just going to hurt him… I'll kill you before that happens!"
In one fluid motion, White Heart knocked Purple Heart's sword out of the way and then slammed her axe into the swordmaiden's abdomen. The force of the attack sent the goddess of Planeptune flying through a few trees before coming to a stop against a snow covered boulder.
Purple Heart fell from the boulder and collapsed onto her knees. Blood trickled down the corner of her mouth, staining the snow beneath her. Despite the pain in her abdomen, the goddess of Planeptune was still focused on Heero.
From the party's inception to their search for the Key Fragment and the Quartet Arms, the Gundam pilot had been fighting for her. Not once had the CPU offered Heero anything for helping her, and it made the goddess angry. Angry with herself for not taking the boy's feelings into consideration.
Only now that she was being faced with the real possibility of losing this battle, of losing Heero did Purple Heart realize how selfish she must have seemed, "(Heero, tell me… why are you still here? Why did you stay to protect me? What do you want…? ...What can I possibly give you for all you've done for me?)"
White Heart suddenly emerged from behind one of the fallen trees and once she caught sight of Purple Heart, the goddess of Lowee charged at the swordstress, "Just die already!"
Instead of driving Planeptune's CPU into the ground like she had wanted, Purple Heart had blocked White Heart's attack. The purple haired woman's eyes burned with defiance as she fought off the axe wielder, "You're right… I have been self-centered. I've taken Heero for granted, and never really given any thoughts to his needs or desires."
Slowly, the goddess of Planeptune got back on her feet before she started pushing White Heart back. It wasn't long before Purple Heart was the one in control, overcoming White Heart's anger fueled strength with her own. "But I want to know… I want to know what Heero wants. What he desires. And I will NOT lose him to a shut-in who would rather let the world be destroyed than come out of her room!"
Purple Heart forced White Heart's axe out of the way before delivering two strikes to the goddess of Lowee, which sent her flying back toward the clearing where they had first began their battle. The CPU of Lowee slammed into a tree before plowing into the snow, building a small hill in the process.
Shortly after her crash landing, White Heart emerged from the pile of snow. The goddess of Lowee rubbed her cheek as she prepared engage her foe yet again, "That hurt…! You're gonna pay for that, bitch!"
Planeptune's goddess flew through the air toward White Heart at incredible speed, and White Heart in turn sped towards her. When their weapons collided with one another, the ensuing shockwave blew vast quantities of snow in every direction.
Histoire would have been blown away by the gust of wind had Heero not grabbed her, while Black Heart lifted a hand to her face to keep the flurry of snow flakes out of her eyes. Histoire was concerned that the two goddesses battle had reached it's climax, and their level of violence was about to result in a less than desirable outcome, "Now might be the time to stop them. If they continue like this..."
Heero's attention was on something just past the two goddesses, and it was the more immediate problem. Using his own HDD, the Nu Gundam took the Gundam pilot's place as it prepared to deal with the threat, the six funnels on it's back detaching from the suit, "...First things first."
Purple Heart and White Heart had been so caught up with their battle that they failed to notice the Gyuki charging in their direction until it was right on top of them. Both goddesses were still locked in a stalemate, and didn't have time to stop the incoming monster… fortunately for them, they didn't have to.
Before the bipedal monster could land a hit with it's axe, the collection of funnels from the Nu Gundam produced an I-Field barrier that deflected the attack. After the attack was neutralized, the funnels surrounded the creature with three on each side. The psy-commu weapons produced two more I-Field barriers, only they were restraining the Gyuki's hands.
As the monster struggled to free itself, Black Heart appeared behind it and bisected the creature starting from it's head. It was only after the monster was dealt with that White Heart finally responded, shaking off her initial surprise and responding to Black Heart's arrival with outrage, "What the hell are you doing here?!"
The goddess of Lastation could have responded to White Heart's lack lack of appreciation with disapproval, but instead responded with a sharp wisecrack, "Me? I was just watching a new show. It's about these two who idiots who were beating each other senseless. It was quite hilarious, actually."
Realizing she was talking about them, White Heart became mildly annoyed with Black Heart. Purple Heart's attention was focused on the other attendee of their battle. After the funnels had returned to it, the Nu Gundam disappeared and left Heero in it's place. Planeptune's goddess had not intended for anyone else to be there out of concern that they may get caught in the middle of the battle, "Are you here to stop us? She's made it quite clear that she won't stop until one of us has lost."
Looking over the two beaten goddesses, Heero could tell they really weren't going to stop until a victor had been decided on. Common sense told him to stop the fight now before one of them suffered a serious or even life threatening injury, but the Perfect Soldier wanted to believe that Purple Heart would pull through in the end, "...That was the idea, at first. It is clear to me that the only way to resolve this situation is to allow the battle to reach its conclusion."
Heero didn't want to reveal that Black Heart would stop the two of them if they got any more violent then they had been, but Purple Heart could tell that was her reason for being there. Taking a deep breath, the goddess of Planeptune collected herself. This was the second time she had lost her composure and let her emotions get the better of her.
The battle between the two CPUs had dragged on for too long. In their current state, Black Heart wouldn't have much trouble restraining them. Hell, the very fact that Heero and Black Heart were there was proof enough for that to be true.
Purple Heart returned her attention to her opponent, believing it time to end their battle, "This has dragged on long enough. I say we let our next attack determine the winner."
It wasn't a proposal she had expected from the goddess of Planeptune, but White Heart wasn't going to refuse, "...Fine. The sooner we settle this, the better."
One attack was really all the two CPUs had left in them. After the fierce back and forth that had gone on for five minutes, they no longer had the strength or stamina to keep going beyond that. Who ever remained standing after this last strike would be the victor.
Even after they had prepared themselves, the two Hearts were just staring each other down, daring the other to make the first and last move. As they silently goaded one another into attacking, a nearby tree damaged by the fighting began to fall over. The moment it hit the ground both goddess dashed toward each other to deliver the final blow.
To the untrained eye, the two girls simply passed by one another without landing a single attack. After a few seconds, Purple Heart winced as a small cut formed on her cheek, while White Heart lost her grip on her axe and fell to her hands and knees.
The CPU of Planeptune turned around in time to see White Heart revert to her human form. A look of disbelief flashed across her face as she stared at the ground. "I… lost?"
Black Heart reverted to her human form, once it was apparent that she wouldn't have to subdue either of the two goddesses anymore, "I'll admit… I'm kind of surprised Neptune actually won. But only a little. I would have defeat her no problem."
Once it was clear that White Heart was no longer able to battle, Neptune reverted to her human form while proclaiming her victory over Lowee's CPU, "I AM A WINNER!" In an effort to show humility, and so White Heart wouldn't feel compelled to up and leave, the goddess of Planeptune walked back her declaration. "...Just kidding. Let's go fight Arfoire together."
Even though she had just been defeat, Lady White Heart maintained a stone faced look as she looked at Neptune, "...No."
The CPU of Planeptune couldn't believe that even after there battle in which she won, the goddess of Lowee still refused to help them, "Ohmigosh, enough already! Histy and I aren't gonna be able to force you to come…?"
It really was baffling to Histoire that despite all the evidence proofing their case and the fact that Neptune had just beaten her in a one-on-one fight, Lady White Heart still wouldn't join them, "Is this really about your people and land? What else is on your mind? Will you tell us?"
Noire really didn't see any reason for the CPU of Lowee to keep refusing, other than a desire to remain locked in her room at the Basilicom and read books, "It probably involves more books. I can understand wanting to read, but when it comes to you it seems more like an obsession."
There wasn't some grand reason Lady White Heart was refusing to join the party. No, her reason was much simpler, and was standing in front of her, "...I just don't wanna be around Neptune." It was then the small goddess began to vent her anger and frustration, going into the specifics of why she wanted nothing to do with the purple haired CPU. "I frickin' hate you! Everything you do! I hate it all! Your boobs are bigger than mine! UGH! I'll never help you, scum!"
White Heart then shifted her gaze over to Noire, her animosity not dying down in the slightest, "While I may not hate you as much as I hate Neptune, I still hate you, stupid pigtailed bitch."
Noire was trying not to flip her lid in front of Heero, but the small girl that was flinging insults around was really beginning to aggravate her, "I'm trying very hard not to strangle her, but she's make it really difficult for me..."
While he knew Lowee's CPU was going to be difficult, Heero hadn't expected her to be THIS difficult, "I can't say I've ever met anyone who had quite the capacity for anger as her."
Neptune hadn't expected such a brutal and candid reason to be Lady White Heart's answer, "Whoa! That's so blunt. Why d'you get all butch like that sometimes, anyway?"
It seemed as though Lady White Heart would not accept Neptune in any capacity. She wanted the CPU of Planeptune out of her Basilicom and her life, "Where are your slutty girlfriends? ...Whatever, I'm over it. I'm out! I hated you from the first time I saw you. Your stupid face, your personality… I hate idiots like you. There's my reason!"
The barbed answers the CPU of Lowee was giving didn't inspire confidence that she would change her mind. Unlike the others present, Histoire found the situation rather amusing, "...Heh."
Lady White Heart directed her venom filled gaze at the tome. "What's that snooty chuckle?! What's up with you? Think you're better than me?!"
It wasn't that she was making fun of White Heart, it was that Histoire recalled yet another moment in her life involving Arfoire. "...No. I was around Arfoire for a very long time. I remember when she used to act like you. She was saying the opposite of what she truly felt..."
Lowee's CPU was trying to figure out how Histoire had come to the idea that she was saying the opposite of what she really felt. "Wha-?! You make it sound like I'm a liar! Why would I say the opposite of what I mean?!"
After taking some time to gauge the sharp, biting remarks, the tome of the goddesses discerned that Lady White Heart didn't really hate Neptune at all. Histoire turned her attention to the goddess of Planeptune, "Neptune, I think she is envious of your personality, smile, breasts, and loves you despite such envy."
Neptune was touched by the idea that Lady White Heart actually cared about her, "Really? For really reals? Awesome! So you were being a meanie because you like me?"
The goddess of Lowee recoiled at the notion that she liked Neptune, "You! Hell no! I hate that gullibility, too!"
It wasn't as if Neptune could deny that she was gullible, seeing as it hadn't gotten her into trouble before. However, it was that same naivety that had spurred on the party during their travels. "Mm-hmm! I think it's like my weakness and my strength."
Despite her attempt at verbal abuse, Lady White Heart's words didn't faze Neptune, and it was bothering Lowee's CPU. "Wh-What the hell's wrong with you? I'm insulting you, ya bitch! Why don't you cry and whine about it like the outsider?!"
Once Lady White Heart brought up Compa, Neptune made the assumption that she was interested in overly sensitive girls, "Okay, so you've got a thing for sensitive girls like Compa. I see..."
It wasn't just Neptune that was beginning to find Lowee's CPU to be lacking in the intimidation department. If what Histoire had said was to be believed, then Noire couldn't take White Heart seriously anymore, "I used to hate the brat. But if this is what she's really like… I guess I really can't hate her now."
Feeling that she was finally making some progressive with the stubborn goddess, Neptune turned her attention to Histoire. "I feel like I understand her a lot more thanks to you, Histy."
With a new understanding of the Lowee's CPU, Histoire felt as though they really did have a chance of persuading White Heart to join them, "I am glad. Then, how about we try one more time and ask her to come with us?"
Having learned that the goddess of Lowee tended to say the opposite of what she really meant, Neptune decided the best way to get her to come along was to employ some reverse psychology. If asking her to help wouldn't work, then perhaps telling White Heart they were better off without her would yield the result the party was hoping for, "Okay! Well, um… We don't need no useless goddess wannabe like you! We'll go fight Arfoire by ourselves, you big jerk!"
The party's leader nudged Noire with her elbow, expecting her to chime in as well. Lastation's CPU took a moment to come up with something convincing before joining in, "We don't need a selfish brat to beat Arfoire. I could beat her myself no problem. She would just get in the way."
White Heart became very irate after hearing the two goddesses stated that she was useless and she would be no help against Arfoire. Glaring at the two CPUs before her, White Heart refuted their claims, going so far as saying she could defeat Arfoire on her own, "What'd you bitches say?! I ain't backin' off! Take me there and I'll kill her by myself!"
Neptune looked back at the tome of the goddesses. The party leader was hoping that Histoire could provide affirmation that they really had gotten White Heart on their side, "Histy, did I do it?"
It may have been through shaming her, but Histoire did hear the goddess of Lowee tell them to take her with them, "Yes, I think so. She agreed to come with us, after all."
Only once she heard the tome of the goddesses explain it did White Heart realize she had fallen for an obvious trap, "...Wait, what?! Agh, dammit all! I totally fell for it… Dammit!"
With a gleeful spring in her step, Neptune started skipping around White Heart while speaking in a sing-song manner, "That settles it. You're gonna help us now."
Even though she had been defeated and inadvertently said to take her with them, White Heart still didn't want to go with the party. "Fuck off! I'm not gonna help you!"
Noire was quickly growing fed up with White Heart and her refusal to help them, "Will you stop acting like a child already?! It's irritating!"
While he had hoped Neptune would be able to convince Lowee's goddess, Heero still expected her to resist. Even so, it wasn't going to take much to get through to White Heart now. The Gundam pilot approached the distraught CPU, who briefly looked up at him before looking down at the snow covered ground, "...What is it? You wanna laugh at me for losing to Neptune?"
Despite the hostile edge in White Heart's tone, Heero maintain a calm and composed state of mind as he addressed the goddess, "I wasn't planning on it. I do, however, want to make use of the favor you owe me."
Neptune had just defeated her, and now she was being asked to make good on the favor she owed him? Sure, it wasn't uncommon for the victors to ask the defeat to pay some kind of tribute, but to White Heart this was humiliating. "...Fine. What the hell do you want?"
"...You."
White Heart was forced to do a double take when the Gundam pilot stated what it was that he wanted from her. Blood rushed to the goddess's cheeks as she tried to make sense of what Heero had just said to her, "Wh-Wh-What do you mean you want me? I-Is this some kind of joke?"
This was no joke. If Arfoire was really as powerful as Histoire claimed, then they were going to need all four CPUs, and Heero would do what he had to in order to help convince them to help, "The situation we're dealing goes beyond the scope of anything you have had to deal with thus far. If we are to succeed, we're going to need your help."
The Perfect Soldier was essentially pitching the same thing that Neptune was, only he was using his favor to get White Heart to come around. The goddess couldn't figure out why Heero was using his one favor to get have her join the party, "...You could ask me for anything on Lowee, but you wanna use the favor I owe you to help this idiot? Why?"
Kneeling to the ground, Heero took a firm grip of White Heart's hand. He could understand how the goddess really felt about her land and it's people, "I've told you before that you have the smile of an angel. No one can smile like that without knowing how to love something. I can tell you love this land and the people that reside here. I just don't want to see you lose everything because someone decided to destroy the world for kicks. So when you ask what do I want, my answer is you. I want you. I want your help."
Lowee's goddess found herself unable to meet the boy's gaze. She was too embarrassed to look Heero in the eye. "(Shit… I really can't refuse him when he says it like that.) ...Fine. I'll help you."
Now that they had confirmation that Lowee's CPU really would help them, Neptune proclaimed her victory once more, "It wore me out, but I finally got Whitey to join us. And she's gonna do it for me, cuz that's what buddies do."
Lowee's CPU shot an irritated look at Neptune as she claimed that she was the reason White Heart was joining the party, "Cram it, dipshit. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Heero."
The party's leader really wasn't concerned with the specifics regarding her help. All that mattered was that White Heart was going to aid the party in their efforts to stop Arfoire. "Does it really matter, Blanc? The important thing is that you're helping us."
White Heart was caught off guard by the name Neptune used to refer to her, slightly annoyed that the purplenette was now naming her. "...The hell did you just call me?"
"Blanc. That's your new name from now on. I got to name Noire over here, so I thought it was a good idea to name you, too."
It was Noire's turn to look annoyed as directed her attention at Neptune, "What do you mean you got to name me? I never gave you permission for that. You just started calling me by that name."
Neptune couldn't understand why the goddess of Lastation was taking issue with her name now, "Well, it's not like your new name doesn't fit. Everybody in the party thinks it's good, and they can't call you by your goddess name the whole time. That's just stupid. Besides, it's not like you've got any better ideas for a name."
Putting aside the fact that Neptune was the one naming her, Heero though the name Blanc suited White Heart, just as Noire suited Black Heart, "The name does fit you. And Neptune's not going to give up on the idea. You might as well deal with it."
White Heart found it irritating that Neptune was the one who was getting to name her, but withheld her complaints since Heero thought it was a good name for her, "...Fine. I'll put up with you naming me."
Neptune suddenly began to stagger and almost fell over when Heero caught her. Her battle with Blanc had taken more out of her than she thought, "Phew… I'm super tired. Fighting Blanc really wore me out. Heero, you're lover is all beat up and tired. Carry me..."
It may have seemed as though Neptune was looking to get his attention, but Heero could see that the goddess of Planeptune really was tired. The Perfect Soldier gave in and started carrying the CPU on his back, "...Only because you worked for it."
A look of jealousy formed on Noire and Blanc's faces as they watched Neptune cozy up to the Gundam pilot, and Histoire was watching the reactions of all three goddesses, "(They really are quite taken with Heero. Especially Neptune. I don't think she's ever taken anything so seriously in her life.)"
While the tome of the goddesses was commenting on the CPU's interaction with Heero, Zero was focused on the Gundam pilot's reactions to them, "(I'd like to think that Heero is taken with them, too. Or at least with Neptune.)
Noire started rubbing her shoulders as the cold weather began to get to her, "If we're done here, can we leave? I'm starting to cold."
As the group began the walk back to the city, Blanc recalled the last chapter she read in the 'Writer's Guide to Writing a Best Seller' that she read, "('Attaining a better understanding of your source of inspiration can give you truly original ideas.' This might not be TOO bad…)"
Xxx
Shortly after returning to Guild City, the rest of the party congregated in the city center to get acquainted with their newest member. As with Noire, it took some time for them to refer to Lady White Heart by the new name given to her by their leader.
It would take a bit of time before Blanc would assimilate into the party, so she focused on getting to know them one at a time… starting with Heero. The two walked down the street with no set destination in mind, with Blanc trying to figure out how she could get closer to the boy.
Before long they came upon one of the many crepe shops that dotted the Land of White Serenity. The CPU's stomach began to growl as she thought about food, prompting Heero to look at her, "...Do I need to get you something?"
It was embarrassing for Blanc to have the Gundam pilot hear that, only providing a nod in response. Before she had a chance to tell Heero what she wanted, Heero spoke over his shoulder to inform her that he already knew, "Neptune already told me. Apple Cinnamon, right?"
As she watched the boy walk over to the crepe shop, Blanc felt two sets of eyes on her. Turning around, the goddess of Lowee saw Neptune and Noire angrily watching her from behind a row of bushes. The CPU had been hoping for some alone time with Heero so she could get to know him better, but that wasn't happening with them around, "...What do you bitches want?"
With their cover already blown, Neptune and Noire stepped out from behind the bushes to give Blanc a piece of their minds, "I don't trust you with my Heero. For all I know, you might be trying to put the moves on him."
Noire had a similar motive for suspecting Blanc, though she wouldn't come out and admit, instead using another line of reasoning, "Frankly, I just don't trust you. You've already tried to kill Heero once. Who's to say you aren't going to try again?"
Blanc couldn't believe Neptune was insinuating that she was going to hit on the Perfect Soldier, and that Noire was hung up on something that she had given up on some time ago, "I'm not trying to hit on Heero. And I'm not trying to kill him, either. I cut that shit out long ago. Why don't you assholes go bother someone else?"
Before the conversation could get any more heated, Heero came back with Blanc's crepe, oblivious of the argument between the three goddesses, "Did you need me to get anything else, or will this be it?"
Lowee's goddess took the crepe from the Gundam pilot, wanting to get away from the other two CPUs, "No, this will be all. We should sit down, while these two do… whatever."
Heero and Blanc sat down on a nearby bench, while Neptune and Noire stormed off. It wasn't long before the CPUs of Planeptune and Lastation came back, Neptune holding a chocolate crepe, and Noire holding a strawberry crepe, "Move over, shorty!"
Blanc's eye twitched at the insult that was lobbed at her by the purple haired girl. "The hell did you just call me?!"
To the goddess of Planeptune, Blanc was sitting in her spot… which was right next to wherever Heero was sitting. "You heard me. You're in my spot."
Noire had seated herself on the other side of Heero as they argued, meaning that Blanc wouldn't have anywhere to sit if she gave in to Neptune's demand. Taking a moment to apply some critical thinking, the CPU realized that there was one place she could sit even if the other two were seated next to Heero, "...Alright, fine."
Blanc stood up from the bench, allowing Neptune to sit next to Heero. Once she was content, the leader of the party started biting into her crepe, "Now that I have my spot, you can sit anywhere else you want. As long as it's not next to Heero."
"...Good to know."
Lowee's CPU sat down in the only spot left… Heero's lap. Neptune and Noire stopped eating their crepes the moment Blanc seated herself in the Gundam pilot's lap. "Hey what d'ya think you're doing?!"
Because of Neptune's lack of foresight, she overlooked the possibility that Blanc would just sit in Heero's lap, though the goddess failed to see the problem, "What do you want now? You said I could sit anywhere I want, as long as it's not next to Heero."
Noire couldn't stand the thought of letting the CPU of Lowee get away with using Heero as her seat because of a simple lack of specification, "You're just arguing semantics now! You can't just sit in Heero's lap!"
Now that she was comfortable, Blanc wasn't about to give up her spot. "You two can bitch all you want. It's your own damn fault for not being specific."
For his part, Heero really didn't care too much. But the arguing between the trio of goddesses only served to drive home the fact that they weren't going to get along overnight, "(...I can only hope things won't get anymore chaotic once we persuade Lady Green Heart to help us.)"
Xxx
Me: "Okay, so, the recruitment of Blanc into the party is finished. Just one before the party is complete."
Heero and Neptune: (Enter ACCC from Break Room) "Blanc didn't make it easy for me. I hope it's not the bad in the next chapter."
Heero: "You sound surprised. We already knew that the CPUs weren't going to simply agree to help us."
Blanc: (Enters ACCC from Lounge) "...I wasn't supposed to make it easy for you, idiot."
Me: "Anyway, sorry for the late update, but I decided to just wait until my birthday to post this and work on another chapter in the meantime. That, and I wanted to come up with some more original dialogue around Noire and her decision to 'resign' as Lastation's goddess."
Noire: (Enters ACCC from Break Room) "It's not like I've completely resigned just yet. I might change my mind. You never know."
Neptune: "If it's your birthday we should get a big cake and party and all that!"
Me: "In due time. For now, we should wrap up this segment of the ACCC. Blanc, as the newest addition to the party, I'll leave it to you to finish things up."
Blanc: "...Sure. But Heero has to help me."
Neptune: "What? Why? You can do it by yourself, can't you?"
Me: "Just let her have what she wants. You get to have Heero most of the time anyway. We still gotta work on the next chapter. Now come along."
Me, Neptune and Noire: (Leave ACCC through Left Entrance)
Heero and Blanc: "Please read and review this chapter, and look forward to the next update."
Blanc: (Pulls paper out of her pocket) "...Oh. And the author asks that you visit his… Twitch channel? Whatever the hell that is. He sounds desperate."
Me: (Pokes head back in through door) "I'm not desperate, just enthusiastic. Don't mistake one for the other." (Leaves ACCC again)
Blanc: "Whatever. Either look at his stuff or don't. It's not my problem."
Heero: "I'm guessing he's looking for support in some other endeavor. Though how that relates to us is anyone's guess. We should return to work as well."
Heero and Blanc: (Leave ACCC through Left Entrance)
