[8-13]

Chapter 15 - Neptune's POV

I walk inside holding the door for Ram. Abby's agent that was trying to stick to Blanc was just plain weird. "Did Becky and them treat you right?" I ask her.

Ram giggled. "Becky gave me ice cream a lot whenever I gave her the puppy eyes. Though she often went hunting for more food in the blizzard but she came home once bloodied. Me and her mom had to put her in an ice bath so she could heal."

"Well you know not to get snack food whenever. Also it's good that you helped her when she needed it." I say rubbing her hair.

Ram smiles and leans into the touch. "Thank you mom. But she came back in her CPU form. You said if something did that it must be really bad right?"

"I wouldn't say really bad but it isn't good. How about you go to Rom. She misses her dear twin sister you know."

"Okay mom I'll go see her now!" Ram said before running off with a smile.

Then I see Nepgear out of the corner of looking sad about something. "So we know who's going to die now Sis."

"I know." I saw. I know her ass can come back from the dead though. Shouldn't be too big of a problem. "Today was fun wasn't it?"

Nepgear shrugs. "I guess I got to hang out with Abby and rest. Still Abby is one of my best friends I don't want to see her die. She said she wanted to show me something but I guess she forgot to before she left."

"Sadly I can't say hi to a few more of them assholes' bases or outpost. Taking out two of them was fun."

Nepgear sweats a bit. "Yeah you were something else back there. So what are your plans now Sis just relax for a bit with the kids?"

"I guess I shall unless I get word of another sighting of that group. Then I guess I can have a little more fun in the process." I say sitting at the table and grabbing a cookie.

Nepgear sighs and comes sitting besides me as Lucy and Selene come into the dining room wonder what's on their minds now?

"Hello you two. How are you feeling?" I ask.

"Oh I'm just fine Selene had to call her Oracle and tell her she needs her to fill in for her. Other than that the craving are starting hit now." Lucy said while plucking the cookie out of my hand and eating it in one bite.

"Hey!" I say as I grabbed another cookie. "I know how they are but my cravings didn't start for awhile though."

Selene groans as Lucy smirks at my annoyance. "Lucky they are a pain in the ass to deal with. Though I guess you were lucky that Rom was so docile. Can hardly picture her hurting a fly without crying. So how do you feel about the meeting being moved to tomorrow?"

"It was? I don't remember it being mentioned. But yeah I was going to stay here with you two and the kids."

"Ah that's so sweet a real knight in shining armor. I'm letting Alex go with Abby for now. It's funny seeing her sticking so close to my granddaughter like some lost duckling." Lucy said while smiling brightly leaning back in her chair.

"Ugg. Doesn't she fall under the category of my granddaughter also. If so this is going to mess my head up." I say leaning my head back.

Lucy smirks as she grabs another cookie from the plate. "Well technically yes she does and that also means Plutia is your daughter now with S-Sha being your daughter in law. Hmm oh right that would make my dad your father in law along with my mom. Oh right something I forgot to mention you'll instinctively recognize a child from another dimension as yours if one of the parents is another dimensions version of you. It's weird but I saw it lead to a lot of funny encounters." Yeah right how many other versions of me are there… Damit she has a point that's how I got so attached to Minigear.

I groan and rest my head on the table. I then look at Nepgear. "Don't you find anything weird with this?"

Nepgear blushes and shakes her head. "Not really Uni mentioned something about feeling a connection with Astolfo earlier. It just miffed me a bit that someone else was with her as I didn't feel anything."

"Well that was a portion I ment. But now that I think of it. Isn't it irony that you used to take care of me and now I'm taking care of a version of you and three other children?"

Nepgear giggles at that. "It is ironic now that I think about. It must have drove you crazy at first. It's odd that the only two of the originals here Plutia and Vert."

"Well." I say scratching at my head. "That's because one ran off and the other two died."

Nepgear looks sad after hearing that. "Oh sorry I forgot about that. Oh right 5pb said something about the sharecites here will auto select a new CPU from the Candidates if left without one for a long time."

"Then there will be another one soon then? One of em hasn't been connected for about five years." I say. The last person to connect was me and I was just messing with it.

Nepgear smiles. "Then one of the candidates may become a CPU! We should keep an eye out doesn't that mean a new candidate as well?" Nepgear asked me curiously.

"Yes. Either by being born within the next week afterwards or being a child of a former goddess and their powers manifesting." I explain.

"Hmm so it could be this dimensions IF or some infant born within the week." Nepgear said and the part of IF makes sense since she is Verts kid.

"Yes. You're right." I say eating one of the last cookies.

Lucy rolls her eyes. "So what's else on today's list other than me spending some more time with my little Plutie."

"With how late it is. I doubt anything. Nothing's on my list anyways." I say reaching for the last cookie.

Then a small hand grabs the cookie before I could and quickly scarfs it down. I look down and see Emerald giving me a shy look as she has cookie crumbs on the corns of her mouth.

"Hey there kiddo. I thought Noire took you home."

"Oh mommy said I should stay here and bond with you some more since she is busy." Emerald told me before crawling onto my lap.

"That woman was always busy. Also don't tell anyone else I am Neptune alright." I say to her softly. I want to put this guise up as long as possible.

"Oh okay mommy. Mommy is always busy but she tries her best to make time for others." Emerald says as she snuggles into my chest.

"She does now. I wonder when she started doing that." I mutter to myself.

"She said it was after she came back with me. Are you going to help me with my fencing practice?" Emerald asked me and wait Noire is teaching her fencing at this age?

"I guess so but not tonight alright. It is getting late and we need to do it outside. Even though I won't drill you as hard as I have to people in the past." I say looking at Selene. I basically beat the new CPUs into shape.

Selene shrugs and pats Emerald's head. "She's right but we could handle it. Besides we aren't arguing with the results."

"I was just making sure you guys could survive most threats. Heck I still am. Which reminds me. We need to set up another training session for all the. Non-pregnant participates."

Lucy giggles. "In that case you can borrow Alex to help out. She really good at getting people into shape. How about next week?"

"That's fine. Last time I think we did a training session was earlier this week. Also is Isabel still here? If she is I'm surprised she hasn't drilled me yet about how I'm Neptune."

"Um sis she left with Abby I think she was planning on possibly getting lucky with Abby though Alex may have other plans." Nepgear tells me and it sounds like their both trying to make their moves now.

"Well they are going after the same person. I'm glad Isabel cooked dinner before she left though. That would've been a pain to do."

"I hope it works out for them. But if they get into a fight and Abby gets hurt me, Plutia and Belial are going to have a little talk with them." Lucy says while cracking her knuckles for extra effect she must be really protective of her family.

"With what I know about you and your family. I wouldn't even dare to date anyone from your line." I say to her. "But here I am dating you."

Lucy giggles as she hugs my right arm. "Well yeah you'd have to be a bit crazy. Oh dad said he's coming over to visit soon. He's going to want to grill you for a bit."

"Grill me for what? You're the one that jumped me." I say pointing a finger at her.

"Well you're still the other mom of our kid. And your a CPU of this dimension so he'll want to test you as well and see how strong you are." Lucy said with another giggle and what does she mean by test me could it be related to what Astolfo said?

"He'll kick my as- butt." I say flattly.

Lucy giggles again. "With little effort but he may be nice and go down to your level if he thinks you'll be a good challenge but that's still a maybe. He can still one shot you though with a punch if he really wanted to."

"With his teleporting as.. You're kidding right?"

Lucy gives me a cheeky grin "Nope! Heck I could still knock you on your ass if I wanted to."

"Hey I would get a few lucky hits in."

"Yeah among all the teleporting around and what not. Though I did teach Abby a few things on how to counter us. She's at least decent at predicting where we'll pop up now. Though she still resorts to a whirlwind ever now and then. Come to think about it I'm like her second teacher in a way." Lucy tells us while doing a mock thinking pose.

"Sounds wonderful. I can still kick her ass though."

Lucy shrugs. "She's still young and can get stronger. Also since Croire told me your close to becoming an Elder like Abby is let me tell you something most have a special ability or something along that line. Abby has really used her's since its more sinister, Something to not be used against an ally. But that begs the question what will yours be?"

"Your making my feel old here but I don't know what mine would be."

"Well is there something that sticks out in combat or your life? Usually its a defining characteristic like that." Lucy tells me before Nepgear opens her mouth. "Sis is good at getting beaten up but always getting back up."

"She's right about that. Heck I got poisoned once but once the antidote was given I was up and moving moments later."

Lucy hums tapping her fingertips against my arm. "Well then you may get a healing ability then. Given your knack for getting hurt but getting back up."

"Guess that'll make it harder to take me down then eh." I say stretching. Making sure to not topple Emerald off.

"It should though don't get cocky still lots of dangers in the world to be careful of. There is always someone stronger than you out there. Makes me wonder what happened to the second Arfoire here? Haven't seen her in a while." Lucy says while rubbing her head against my shoulder.

I minor headache then sets in. I place my hand on my head. "I don't know. I don't want to know." I was shocked when I found out that there was two Arfoires but only one of them was corrupted.

"Hey sis how about we play the new Nepsplosion party pack 3? It should be fun." Nepgear offers and it sounds so very tempting just to school them all.

"Sure why not. Been too long since I've had a gaming night."

Nepgears smiles and runs to the TV to set up her mobile device to the TV. "Okay just need one moment to set it up! Then we all can play!"

"Alright. Just don't mess with the TV too much. Took forever to get everything hooked up right." I say picking up Emerald and walking over.

"Got it. I'll just only do what I need to to set things up." Nepgear says as she hooks up some drives to the TV's open ports.

I worked hard to get everything here. I watch as Nepgear sets up the game. I look around. Where is everyone else? Usually they are buzzing around like flies till nine o'clock. "Alright. Due to I haven't been checking into the new games in hyperdimension. What's this new game about?"

"Okay it's a party game. We can use our phones to connect to the game or game screens for kids. It has series of games in it that you use touch screens to play or type your answers." Nepgear explained as the game began loading on the screen.

Alright. I take out my phone. "So. How do I connect it? I'm not as updated on this like I used to. It's been years since I've really messed with video games."

Nepgear smiles. "Its easy see that four number and letter code? Just go to the website and punch in the code and you should be connected to the game quickly though the game screens just need to have the code put in to make it easier on the kids. Like Emerald is doing." Sounds simple enough I then see Rom and Ram run down stairs quickly.

I do as she said while I say "So you two already charged each others batteries of twin time?" To the twins.

"BAD LADY TOOK BIG SISTERS! DRAGON LADY IS CHASING HER!" THe twins shout in unison instantly getting my attention and putting me on high alert.

I jump up. "Alright what bad lady? What did she look like and which way did she go?"

"The mean bad lady that took your arm. She was really pale and had a weird hat. She was heading north east." Rom quickly responds and my blood runs cold that sounds just like Arfoire but why didn't I sense her when she came? Normally I'm pretty okay at detecting threats.

I guess since there's so many different energies in the house I couldn't differentiate them. "I'll be going after them then." I say as I run up to the front door and grab Isabel's car keys. Kinda glad she left with Abby and I don't think she'll mind me borrowing her car.

As I leave I see someone flying over head before they quickly disappear as I get to Isabel's car. That was weird as I don't remember having a stalker like that.

"This just gets more and more wonderful." I mutter to myself before flooring it. "I wonder where this Arfoire look alike is heading. Don't tell me the other one was corrupted. If so. I should've taken care of her when I found out."

I had only a brief second to wonder before a big ass dragon likely Belial slams into the ground besides the mustang letting rocks damage the paint. Wonder what knocked her out of the sky? Most would have a hard time even hurting her.

I start swerving and dodging most of the boulders. Did she land on the damn house? I stop once most of the debris stops flying around.

After a bit I notice a crater with Belial in the center of it having reverted to her human form. I take a look and see that she missed the house completely. Well that's good at least. Maybe she knows where Arfoire was heading before she got shot down by something.

They so better at least try to fix this damn place later. I get out of the car and run up. I reach her and notice shes out. I roll her onto her back and shake her a little bit. When she didn't make a response I smack her. I don't have time for this.

Belial then groans as she begins to stir. "Stupid silver haired bitch. Argh who hit me!"

"I don't know but what way did she go!"

Belial groans and flicks my forehead. "To Hopes Death caverns from the looks of it. Can't miss it."

"Got it." I say running back to the car and hopping in before speeding off.

I'm sure I could hear Belial grumble as I made it to Hopes Death caverns. Seems they spruced the place up a bit since last time with more dead bodies as I drove up and fresh ones at that. Most dead by a single puncture to the heart.

"What the hell did this." I mutter to myself as I take my Heckler & Koch HK416 out. I aim it in front of me as I enter the cave system.

As I go deeper I hear screams and blades meeting flesh as I hear blood splattering on the caves walls. Great so I'm not the only one here. Hopefully that wasn't the kids.

I make haste but remember to keep up some caution. I make sure to not trip on the humanoid corpses. I wonder what group these guys belong to. I stop for a few seconds to inspect a corpse.

They have tough skin probably some kind of natural armor. Most of their internal organs look more like fluid sacks from what I can tell. Not the strangest thing I've seen but still weird.

I guess I'll see who they're from later. I make my way further into the cave system maneuvering around the bodies. "When the hell are there so many damn things here. I don't remember there being this much." I mutter rounding the corner to see the source of the problem.

I then see Astolfo and some other woman with a blood red spear she held firmly in her hands fighting a hoard of the monsters both fighting in perfect unison. The woman with the spear one shot most of the beasts with a quick thrust to their hearts. The woman had dark magenta hair looking like some purple colored hair with a hint of red in it.

I am my rifle at them and yell. "Freeze!" With what has happened recently I don't know who's ally or foe and the other reason they are here.

Astolfo turns to look at me as she cuts another beast down that lunged at her. "Oh hi miss Purple Devil. Sorry but these guys we are fighting don't understand any language much less spoken ones."

I shoot down the remaining few that were standing. "So who is she and what are you two doing here?"

Astolfo smiles and pats the woman on the back. "Oh yeah this is my twin sister Scathach. We just came here on a guild quest to clear these things out."

Already? And when the hell did she find her sister. "Have you two seen a silvery-purple haired woman in a skimpy witch costume?"

"She went down that way with some kids. Would you like our assistance?" Scathach asked me calmly while pointing down a tunnel.

I don't know. "With how she was last time maybe but due to I don't know your fighting skills. I don't know. So follow at your own risk." I say before making my way down the tunnel to where she pointed.

The two nod and follow me down the tunnel where we can hear faint whimpering and the sound of a whip cracking. This causes my heart rate to increase as we move further down.

I put away my rifle and take out my swords Purity & Corruption. I rush to where they were. So I can get to them before Arfoire does something.

But right when I get close enough a hand grabs me by the throat and slams me against the cavern wall. "Fancy meeting you hear again Purple heart. But guess what I'm stronger than you now!" Spoke Arfoire the crazy witch and she looked mostly like the one I killed.

I transform and grin at her. "I'll have you know I've been training as well." I say before shooting forward and giving her a few slices before jumping back.

Afriore smirks as her wounds quickly close and as she was likely planning on this and thrusted her spear into my gut pinning my to the wall but it didn't take long for her to get kicked in the face by Astolfo before getting a slashed by Scathach's spear which leaves a wound that didn't quickly heal up it seemed to be struggling to close now.

I then shoot forward and start laying into her with both my swords. Not giving her a chance to do anything back.

But then she chanted something in weird language before I was blasted back by some unseen force but it seems like I did enough damage for Arfoire to double back in pain. "We will meet again but I have other thing to do." Arfoire began to disappear when Scathach screamed. "Gae Bolg!" And thrusted her now glowing red spear as Arfoire but she disappeared right as the tip touched her clothes. She sailed right pasted landing a pretty strong hit to the cavern I sure as hell not want to be hit by that.

"Damn it!" I say getting up. Where's the kids. I get up and put my swords away. "Help me look for the kids!" I call out as I untransform.

I see Scathach make some kind of sign with her hand and then she moved to some low lying crevice before reaching in and dragging both Minigear and Little U out. "Done task accomplished." I just blink that was anticlimactic but how did she do it?

I can figure it out later. I run up to the two and pick them up. "I'm so glad you two are safe."

The two hug me hard and cry. "We were so scared Mom!" They said in unison as they cried into my chest.

"Let's get going then." I say as I walk through and out of the cave systems. I muttered a quick thank you to the twins on the way out. When we get to the car I notice something. There was scratches all over it now. Fucking wonderful.

Minigear giggles and Little U speaks up. "Did you drive miss Isabel's car through a sandstorm or a gravel road?" Yeah Isabel is going to be pissed I know how much effort a paint job like that is.

"No I did not. Something hit Belial out of the sky and I had to dodge a lot of things in the process. If Isabel doesn't believe me. She can check her dashcam." I say walking up to the vehicle and open the driver door and helped them into the back.

The two quickly put their seatbelts on without me needing to tell them. This is going to be a long trip back. But maybe I can make it fun for the kids driving fast.

"You ready kiddos?" I say as I slam on the gas and do a quick one-eighty and gunning it back to the house.

Both girls giggle as the mustang speed down the road. And as a result it of the speed it didn't take too long to reach the house again though as I near the House I hear something scrap against the car and see I hit a jagged rock. That one was my fault no doubt about that.

I'll go and get it repainted in the morning. I'll also explain what happened when we get back. Which reminds me. "Hey girls. Do you know where Croire was?" She should've been able to sense Arfoire. We also need to up the defenses.

"Oh she got really sick with a fever and passed out don't know what but it looked painful." Minigear told me and that catches my attention it sounds like it could be sensory overload but then again the kids don't know what to look for.

Usually she sends me a kind of warning but if it was too much for her to do so. I shake my head. "Alright. If you all don't mind all of you kids will be sleeping with me tonight okay?"

"We don't mind mom. But can the rest of the adults join us?" Little U asked me curiously I froze a bit when I remember one hand I have Lucy and Selene and one the more awkward hand I have Uni and Nepgear.

"Uh. I don't know if I'll have enough room in there. I already have you five kiddos, Lucy, and Selene." I'm so glad I had a custom bed made. It's a little bigger than what a king size bed would be.

"Oh can we check when we get home? It will be safe if we are all together." Minigear asked me with her puppy eyes.

"Fine I'll check. Anyways most of them are within the same floor and we have Belial right besides us also."

Both nod and then ask the infuriating question. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost okay. Just a little more and we'll be there." I say as we pass a familiar landmark.

They cheer at that likely wanting to get home soon. Oh wait we still have that party game going on I wonder how its going so far?

After a few minutes we reach the house. I see that most of the crater was gone and fixed. That's good they're fixing it. I pull into the driveway. I then remember I was given a car the other day. I shouldn't have parked it in the garage. I'd at least remember it was here if it was in the driveway. I get out and help the girls out. "How about you two go to aunt Compa and have her do a quick check up on you guys." I tell them.

"Okay!" They say in unison and runoff inside to find Compa. At least they are still in roughly high spirits.

I walk inside and see Selene and them still in the living room messing with the family game. I look down at myself and see my clothes had a few tears into it and a little blood. "Damn it." I mutter.

Uni err adult Uni turned to look at me. "You got into a fight with a clothes grinder again Emma?"

" just can't seem to stay away you know." I say giving her a look that we have to talk tomorrow.

Uni gives me a subtle nod. "I know especially when cameras are involved. By the way the twins tired themselves out and are ready for bed."

"Alright. By the way Lucy, Selene. Do you mind that the kiddos sleep with us tonight?"

Lucy shrugs and smiles. "Sure I don't mind as long as I'm sleeping on top of you." Selene crosses her arms and looks at the kids. "Do any of them hog the blankets all to themselves?"

"Unless they developed the habit within the last few months no. I don't know about Emerald though."

Emerald blushes and shyly hides behind Nepgear. "Why is everyone staring at me?"

"Do you know if you hog the blankets?" I ask her crouching down.

"I always wake up in a pile of blankets does that count?" Emerald replies shyly.

"Kind of." I look up at Selene. "With how big that blanket is I doubt it'll affect us much."

"Okay but if I wake up buried by kids I'm blaming you." Selene told me and I hope that doesn't happen to her if anything they should dogpile me.

"They'd most likely dogpile me." I say with a small yawn. "So when are we retiring to the bed tonight?"

Lucy cheers as she won that round of the game and I look to see that was because Rom had fallen asleep. "I win! Oh right we'll head in now if you want."

"That's fine." I say as I pick up Rom and Ram. "I wonder if Minigear and Uni is done with their checkup?"

"EEK!" I hear them scream and I figure that was the tail end of the check up usually is for me. Much to my embarrassment.

"That answers my question. Oh yeah is Plutia and them still here?" I ask wanting to know.

"They said they'd stay here for tomorrow before going back home they gave me their address and I gave them Abby's so they can visit more often. I so want to snuggle her some time." Lucy says with a small squeal afterwards guess she still has her motherly instincts for Plutia or its her pregnancy.

"Alright. Let's get to bed shall we." I say wanting to drop it. If she's going to be snuggling Plutia in the future. Count me out.

The rest nod and follow me to the room and I hear running going to my room likely those two finished their check ups and are running for dear life. Man I pity Isabel if she had to grow up with that.

I set the twins down on the bed. Gladly they were already in their Pjs. I take off my boots, pants, and t-shirt. I then go to my dresser and pull out an oversized tee to throw on. And without hesitation. I crawl into bed and bring the twins over to me.

They both snuggle into my chest sleepily and then Minigear and little U run in and dive into the bed and as their older counterparts stare in confusion.

I look at Lucy and Selene. "You two joining or what."

Lucy and Selene smile and crawl in hugging my sides giving me maximum comfort and warmth. Seems like I'm a harem protagonist now. Except my only power is to attract girls.

"Night girls." I say as I do my best to cover us up.

The girls nod saying good night while Little U and Minigear add. "And may we never have to see a rectal thermometer again!"

I chuckle before drifting off to sleep.

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Writer: Project Omega

Co-writer: Alternet RedSkys

Thank you all for reading. Review and tell us what you think of the story so far