Chapter 11: New Heights
It had been a rough few days since the daughter of the CPU parents of Nepstation had gotten her growth spurt. Many things had changed throughout those few days, like new clothes, toys more appropriate for a toddler, and rapid change of behavior on how they treated their daughter.
None of this changed the basic core of their love in their heart, it just meant that change was in the air.
In the living room of the Basilicom housing unit, the now toddler Euri was playing with her new blocks. She wore a new outfit that consisted of pink shorts and a yellow shirt with a bee on it. Her hair had been styled with pigtails, an idea that Neptune had brought up. The joy on her little face, while she stacked blocks on top of each other, was pure cuteness. Her papa- or mama if you asked the black-haired CPU- had been silently watching her daughter from the kitchen doorway.
A warm smile filled with happiness and maybe a little sadness could be seen on her face. She sighed with no ounce of sorrow, and mostly from the fact that she had no choice but to think positively and accept the outcome. The wish she desired in her heart was that she would be able to have enough time with her daughter in her earlier years. That didn't say that she didn't want to witness that day where she could talk with her daughter like equals. She walked toward her daughter and crouched down on the floor next to her. "So, Euri. Croire had told me that you're going to be growing into a big girl. She also said that your retention of what you hear, and the share energy that you get from the people will also grant you basic knowledge on how things work as you get older. Which explains your new favorite pastime." She held up a wooden block to observe it with a smile.
The little one cluelessly tilted her head at what her papa was telling her as it all went over her head. "Papa!" She cried with her hands stretched out toward Noire.
Noire flinched with a sweatdrop. Her frown could be seen clear as day, and she wondered if her daughter understood what she was saying. "Papa? No, no. Ugh, I blame Neptune for constantly spewing that word toward me whenever she got the chance. And it's not your fault for associating me with that term, but please… call me mama."
Euri did not take that too kindly since it made her confused. "Papa!" She proclaimed angrily, and her little arms moved higher toward Noire.
The tired begrudgingly appointed father sighed. She picked up her daughter from the ground, which was exactly what the pink-haired girl wanted. The room soon filled with approved giggles.
"I'm not going to stop with this, Euri. You may call me papa for now, but when you get older, you need to address me as mama or mama Noire. I mean, do I look like a dad to you? I don't even make dad jokes." She snorted with a combined nervous laugh as she feared a response to her question.
"Papa!" The joy that instilled in the baby felt like a rushing wave that Noire had trouble standing against it. She masked her frustrations with a genuine hug that she desperately tried to use to overpower her other emotions. "You're still my little girl. Even if you say silly things like those. Damn Neptune."
The timer in the kitchen then sounded that caught both CPUs' ears. "Ah, it looks like the macaroni is done. How about I get you a delicious bowl for my number one girl?" The response she got from her daughter was a resounding giggling nod.
"You are so smart, thanks for replying," said the CPU.
With Noire in the kitchen, Euri went back to playing with her blocks. Unaware to Noire, her daughter had used the letters etched on the blocks to spell out the word 'papa'. A simple word for the little one, but an achievement for her, nevertheless. She celebrated with a couple of childishly claps.
Soon after that, a lively chirping sound grabbed her attention. She cluelessly scanned the room until her eyes landed on the balcony. Outside, a gorgeous bluebird walked across the metal railing of the balcony.
Euri made it her mission to find out more about this blue creature, she dropped her hands on the ground, and began to crawl. It started slow and clunky, but then she found her rhythm. Her unused leg power helped her traverse the floor that was all new to her.
When she reached the glass doorway of the balcony, her curious face pressed itself against the glass. Her cheeks and forehead flattening against the glass. Like any other toddler, all she could do was fog up the glass, while she desired to play with the creature that was out of her reach. However, like no other toddler, she quickly remembered how her papa and mama used these weird obstructions that they had all over the house. The doorknob was then in her sights. Sadly, it was too high up for her to reach.
Her little brows furrowed and a drive to never give up entered her mind. She gripped on the glass to help her keep her balance, then she worked her little legs until she was in a standing position. She whimpered slightly, noticing how high up she was now from the ground. It was only the sounds of the chirping bird that helped her suppress that fear as her desire to play with the creature was too great.
Her hand tried to reach for the doorknob, but she was still too vertically challenged for it. Her attempts did not cease, and she continued to reach for the knob with the same passion and desire that an aspiring astronaut would reach for the stars.
She broke out a smile as she felt her hand closing the distance to the doorknob, and eventually, her feet no longer welcomed the floor.
A minute later, Noire emerged from the kitchen with a steaming bowl of macaroni in one hand. "Euri! Who's hungry for some cheesy goodness?" She blinked worriedly when she didn't receive a response from her daughter. Her eyes landed on the discarded blocks, and then to the open balcony door.
The bowl then dropped to the floor with not a lingering thought as Noire's rapid footsteps charged toward the balcony. "Euri!" She shouted; fear painted all over her face.
When she got there, her daughter was nowhere to be seen. Her heart wanted to jump out of her chest when she looked over the balcony edge. Nothing graphic assaulted her on initial glance- only a huddle group of Basilicom workers that were outside on ground level.
They looked to be seeing something from above, but not glancing at her direction. Noire's phone alerted her of an incoming call. The screen flashed with the number of the Basilicom front desk. "Hello," she said.
"My Lady Noire! Other staff members are reporting that your daughter is hanging on top of the peak of the Basilicom building." Spoke the frantic female voice of a front desk Basilicom worker.
"Kyaa!" Noire turned around and looked upward to see her daughter on top of a metal platform beam at the very height of the building's peak. She threw herself off the edge and activated her HDD.
At the peak of the Basilicom, Euri had temporarily discarded her fear of heights. Her focus was more on the bluebird rather than anything else, and her being up there was proof of that feat.
A happy smile rested on her face as she inched closer to the unsuspecting bird. Her crawl eventually reached the bird that turned around when she was upon it.
The bird looked unfazed by her presence, probably already concluding that she wasn't a threat, oddly enough. It inched closer toward the CPU toddler who had rested her bottom on the metal platform beam.
The pink pig-tailed CPU stretched her right arm out and patted the head of the bird without any fears. While the little CPU danced in place at her victory, the bluebird also enjoyed the gentle and soft interactions from the odd friend that it encountered today.
Their friendly moment ended when a large gust of wind blasted from the other direction, causing the bird to take flight. Euri was forced downward by the violent wind putting her in a crawl stance. She reopened her eyes that directly made her see over the edge. After the violent windy assault, fear reignited in her eyes as she looked at the deep vastness from below. This was massive for her to comprehend, and to her, it looked like it would have gone on forever as she would spiral down without stop. Her glance had made her dizzy and she lost balanced as quick as her glance happened. "Papa!" She loudly cried for the protective figure that she knew in her world.
Another gust of wind hit her, knocking her small body.
Massive gasps from the Basilicom workers filled the air as they saw the CPU baby in free fall.
"Europa! I got you!"
Euri's crying settled when she heard that familiar voice, added with a deep and strong tone. All of this took two seconds. At the start of the point where she looked down to see teal wings coupled with its user with white hair and black outfit. To the endpoint, when she felt perfectly secured in those warm and nurturing arms.
"Sweetie, it's okay. I got you, I got you." The white-haired CPU appointed papa rocked and soothed the tense nerves that her little one had endured.
The pink-haired adventurer didn't stay despondent for long. As soon as she grew aware that her papa had saved her from the scary endless fall, she rewarded her with a joyful saliva-filled giggle.
Black Heart held her daughter by the waist and made a comically gloomed face at her little one's actions. "I see you don't stay emotionally shocked for long after dire situations. Hehe… Well, mama Neptune always does say to laugh at the face of danger when you can. Just don't go looking for danger, Euri. You're still too young to face the world with your own power, but I know that you can one day- you're my daughter after all," she said with an unavoidable boast to her words.
"Papa!" Cried the little girl, who felt like rocking her body to express her happiness.
Black Heart chuckled and held her daughter close. "I'll let it slide this time since you're so adorable, and your safety is what matters." It finally reached her on the 'how' her daughter had even reached this height. "Say… how did you get up here? Hmm, I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for a response. I'm going to keep my eyes on you every second, and… let's not tell mama Neptune about this trip upward." She enriched their mom and daughter moment when she blew a raspberry onto her daughter's tummy (using her mouth, combined with a mixture of air and vibrations onto her daughter's tummy to simulate flatulence.)
Her actions set her daughter over the moon with giggles that in turn, made Black Heart laugh. She didn't want to say it, but from the events that unfolded, it looked like her daughter flew up here. Her curiosity peaked because if that was the case, wouldn't she had gone HDD? The thought of her physically one-year-old daughter going HDD made her proud and laugh once more. The laughing part originating from how she would look like in HDD coupled with still being in diapers.
She descended to the bottom of the ground level where her staff had grouped around her. Large cheers assaulted Black Heart's ears as they all huddled close to her to express their faith and joy to the parent. Black Heart couldn't help but lightly blush, as she was taken aback. "Stop, stop, everyone. I don't deserve this, especially when I should have been watching my daughter very closely. Was anyone able to see how she got up there?" She asked.
One female staff member walked forward among her group. "Hi, Lady Black Heart. I don't think none of us saw how she got up there. I was one of the first to point out her being up there, but she was already sitting on the metal beam."
"Could she have possibly flown up there?" Cried out a male staff member across from the lady that had talked.
"It would look to be that way. Uh, I would like you all to keep this from my wife. I rather I talked to her about this myself before she finds it out randomly and freaks out. Can you all do that for me?" She said sternly.
They all agreed because the last thing they wanted was to get on their goddess's bad side. She would already be facing her wife later that day and hoping that she didn't get chewed out by her carelessness.
This is a little shorter than the other chapters I've been doing, but I wanted to bring something out as I've been writing out the current chapter of my other story that I'm working on. There will be a follow-up to Neptune finding out about her daughter's adventure, and the next one will go from there. After that, I'm going to do another Ultra chapter. Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you all later. Stay safe!