She didn't know when exactly she lost faith in everything. There wasn't any point to really pinpoint the day where Purple couldn't rely on anyone else but herself.

Well, that wasn't entirely true.

There was someone should could rely on when hope had been lost, the stubborn little light in the darkness. A snowy rabbit had caught her darkened gaze as children, an instant of that naive interest having changed it all.

What happened was an accident, none of which should have happened normally, but it did and Purple was thankful for that. A while after the four's first few meetings, Neptune was traipsing around the mountainous borders of her nation's and Lastation. And it was there that she found the most curious pair. Half of a pair that is. Someone with an uncanny resemblance to…

No. It wasn't mere similarity. It had to be her with that messy mop of silvery-white and eyes like jewels. Her expression wasn't prickly and bored like her, but Neptune just knew it was Black.

She was different, though. Happier, lighter and much less grumpy with the mortal she was playing with. Then again, nobody came here, did they?

Around the nearly empty borderline between Planeptune and Lastation, very few people ever ventured for the sake of safety and adventure. Heck, it was her second time poking the place for anything interesting to do. What luck to find this.

But the baby deity didn't do anything.

All she did was watch from the sidelines as Black played with her blue-haired friend.

Neptune was happy to see her so overjoyed and bouncing with this friend of hers, it meant Black had a friend. Talks between the nations weren't very nice, but she wanted her half, her partner to be a tiny bit happy at the least.

Seeing this side of her was a treasure in itself.

Why wouldn't it be with Black being so stubborn and tired and just not into the stuff in Celestia at all? This side of the bunny had to be cherished and properly taken care of, Purple knew she would return the favor too. So, it was a win-win. Honor did have its perks and they were both dedicated practitioners in those ways.

Life was generally a bore. The things she use to do in the beginning that sparked her interest were dwindling, nothing exciting happened on the Console Continent. That didn't mean she wanted war, though, something like that was a wish she didn't want fulfilled.

That meant fighting against her fellow goddesses.

Which hasn't happened ever. And she was pretty sure she didn't want it to. They would be against each other than.

That wasn't right. She wanted everybody to get along, not fight.

It was lonely being a goddess, immortality caused the gap between her and others to widen even more. Friends would be nice and making Black her friend would be even better! Locks of lavender shake as Neptune nods to herself, it was the perfect plan.

The two of them would be friends and take on this crazy world of theirs. First things first was making her counterpart smile.

Which was a lot harder when you were trying to be friendly and not just tease the stuffing out of her. Still, seeing Black so happy meant it wasn't impossible, just tough.

And she was content with that. Watching and waiting for the lone rabbit to hop her way. In that metaphor, Neptune was the wolf and what a wonderful wolf she would be. Playing with a mortal or not, it only fed her want to succeed and have that light all to herself. Not that sharing was bad, though. The violet deity could do that and she could do a lot more along with that.

"Black, Black, Black, Black!"

Black flinched as she pounces onto her back, nearly falling flat on her face were it not for her balance skills. She basically bent forward and jerked backwards to straighten. Like a slingshot, almost.

What a resilient little rabbit. And why did Purple come to associate her with a small, furry lil' bouncer? She had the hair, which was pure as snowy and silky to touch, and occasionally the eyes when the darker deity got angry. There was also the need to actually have mortal buddies, which wasn't proven, but she did see it as a necessity.

And if it was a need, then why not make the burden a bit easier on her? She was a nice person, willing to help her people and fellows after all. This couldn't be that bad.

There's a bit of grumbling beneath her since she was on Black's back. "What is it, mongrel? I don't like surprises."

"Let's go explore Celestia!" It was close by because they were already there. There were only a few monsters, most of which she hasn't even gotten to hustle with and this was a good place to bond either way. Learning about this place was something mortals couldn't do.

"Excuse me? Why would you wanna go exploring with me? If you want to drag someone into your crazy ideas, ask one of the other two. They'll at least humor you." She waves her hand in the direction White and Green may have gone.

"Buuuut, they don't like me! You're the only one who doesn't get all growly at what I say. Pretty please with pudding on top?"

Teal stares her, incredulous. "Isn't it cherry on top?"

Purple blinks at that, mentally repeating what she said if only to understand. "Is it? I put pudding in because pudding is great and cherries can taste so weird. Fruit's not supposed to be all icky and bitter and stuff, it should be sweet and addictive and yummy~!" She declares.

"You're going to be the death of me. The literal death of me." The regality's young leader sighs, stopping her futile attempts at getting the practical piggyback ride to stop.

"No, I won't. Friends don't kill friends, that just isn't right!" And even if war did break out with the four nations, this cutie right here wouldn't strike Black down. Never.

At that, she stares at her even harder, like trying decipher her hard. "We're… we're friends?" As if she never heard of the word friendship or considered it with the three of them. Now that was crazy, of course, they were friends or were going to be friends. Nothing in Nep's way remained!

If so, she'd have to fix that idea. They were going to be friends and they would take on the world together. Mainly 'cause she didn't know Lowee and Leanbox's people very well and really wasn't interested them the way she was with her half. Maybe that was just a thing, being curious 'bout your counterpart and responding to that feeling.

"Yup, yup. Friends we are, at least I hope. Come on, please? I just wanna see what's out there and I wanna have someone with me to enjoy the adventuring!" It would be nice to get her to smile the way she did with that human.

A tiny bit selfish, but it was for the sake of good. Who wouldn't want such a pretty girl not to smile, that should be a crime.

Besides, a smile a day keeps the sadness away and obviously, the cloudy-haired immortal needed every bit of that to keep her bounce. It was the right thing to do along with wanting to have her. She didn't need to know that last part just yet.

Eventually, maybe. First was getting her to agree, there was no way that flag would happen if this one didn't work. The order operations or something like that. But there really wasn't anything to worry about, Black was actually thinkin' about them being friends and that might as well act as some acceptance if it meant what it did.

Neptune didn't have to fret over a thing.

"Fine, fine. It's solely because I'm curious about these floating i–islands." She says, making a face after stumbling over the mention of the last word.

"Haha, words are annoying, aren't they?" At the continued pout, the violet deity furthers on. "And don't worry about those things, I like your lil' accent when you talk, you should really talk more often." Purple nods, arms folded to look professional.

How she went without talking with an accent most of the time was a mystery. Probably because of her image and stuff. Besides, trippin' over her words and just being her fluffy self was just a regular thing, why not take some pride in the moment and bask? Victory was still victory and she was definitely feeling victorious.

"..Are you going to get off of me now?" There wasn't desperation in her now, so it couldn't do with the whole carrying someone else thing — but how much upper body strength did she have?

"Nah. I'm comfy up here, how'd you have so much strength?"

"Huh?"

"You aren't even sweating. How are you so strong?"

"I… just am strong?" Black makes a face, "I just lift weights and train and eat my vegetables."

Waving her arms around, Purple refuses to accept that. "That's not what I mean!" Ugh, why is wording stuff so hard? She was a goddess, a CPU, a soon-to-be true ruler of her nation. It shouldn't be so tough to do and yet it is. "I mean you don't even struggle! And you're lifting me!"

What was so hard to see about it?

"Oh… dunno. I just train a bunch and then train some more." Cloud-colored strands bounce with each forced step, she was walking towards somewhere. "I'm kinda struggling to carry you right now, though. You probably don't notice is all."

Ahhh. "So, where are we headed?" That was the next order of business, wasn't it? This was nice too. Peaceful and fun, Purple's never been carried by someone smaller than her. But she wasn't gonna say that.

"Not a clue. You were the one who wanted to explore this place, I just picked a direction." Black grunts, keeping her pace while avoiding anything that could get her to trip.

Hahaha, what a thoughtful little bunny she would. Going ahead and starting their exploration while not forcing to have to smooth; yup, Neptune did have a good idea who makes friends with, after all. She keeps her gaze centered on the one carrying her first, though. The face of determination was burning its way into her memory minute by minute.

The way her eyes burned, her face blank and focused, the firm line her lips remained, how she keeps her passenger upright. Cute, cute, cute! It really was a good idea to sneak this teal-eyed immortal into her hands. What kind of lady would she become in the next few years?

A pretty lady better than the rest, of course!

"Do you want me to get off then? I don't ya to be too tired, exploring without my buddy wouldn't be fun after all." She offers after a couple minutes of forestry.

Her friend takes a while to respond. Stray monsters interrupt the peace are quickly skewered by a wave of swords, altercations Purple watches with widened eyes. They keep moving forward despite the few roadblocks and then, eventually, Black responds with a firm no. So she gets to stay on her back for a bit longer.

It's very calm. Celestia is, surprisingly, not that different from the land beneath it. Sure, the trees and plants and monsters come in different shapes in sizes — they passed by a portion completely made of crystals, Nep saved that as a locale immediately before her friend moved on — but nothing huge and awe inspiring, not like Black and herself.

What she did learn was that her partner had this cool thing called a 'gate' where she could shoot its contents out at the unfortunate obstacles. Purple sorta wanted one too, but this was her friend's special thingy. She would find an even better one later.

And that the changes in the forest and not-forest tended to happen with different floating islands. There was one made of sand, how did something like that work?

Black was more interested in the monsters, though, she did agree that was pretty weird. Nothing wrong with it, just off. How they managed to cross a large distance was interesting too. As far as Purple knew, the four flew everywhere.

Humans were the ones who walk. Buuuuut, flying with a passenger on your back did have to be tough and tiring, if she really thought about it. Amazing that the darker deity could do this for so long without faltering!

Well, until a mother of all rivers is discovered and her ride can't continue.

"You don't know how to swim?" She asks, kicking a couple pebbles into the water to see how deep it was. It didn't work.

As in, Purple could not see the bottom or the pebbles that were tossed in. Yeah, she was not gonna test how teaching swimming worked on the fly, 'cause her rabbit drowning was not happening, thank you. With that in mind, Purple goes over to pat her on the head.

Black's not even looking at her or the river, but she gets it. She does, really. "Sokay, sokay. I'll teach ya later than, you wanna rest here for a bit? We can try to catch a couple fish!"

She was a great distractor of issues if she could get the bunny to beam like that.

Neptune was a being of simple pleasures. Things like sweets, pudding, Black Heart, games and naps were her way of unwinding from this ring-a-ding world of theirs.

She'd love nothing more to spend the rest of her immortal life with her silly rabbit. That's how charmed Purple was by the contradictory existence of the snowy-haired deity. What wasn't there to like?

Yeah, yeah, Black was a bit rough around the edges. The lady-to-be of the eastern nation kept on refusing to spar with the rest of them and never seemed to have a proper weapon — the cool gate thingy didn't count, cause magic. And, to make matters worse, she didn't let her come visit at the Lastation Basilicom.

Which makes sense.

From the rumors floating about, the situation in the regality was tense. But it didn't stop Neptune from wanting to look around.

Black could be so serious too. Not like, adult super serious, but still too serious for her standards. She didn't have a stick up her bum like a lot of the mortals did, though. That was the bright side and there wasn't a lot of that there.

Planeptune was kicking a tiiiiiny fuss too, definitely nothing that would need her attention, but still. Change would come to Gamindustri as all storms did. They would make it out, though. The four of them, the legacies to the former goddess, would succeed in their reign.

And blegh, she was derailing herself.

Anyways, her partner was awesome and nobody would convince her otherwise of that fact. Nope, nope, nope. Her proof to those words? Simple, Neptune only had to do a lil' bit of sleuthing to find her on their off time from Celestia and boom.

Instant new discovery on the darker goddess all for her. You could debate the legalities on doing that or whatever, but Purple couldn't find herself caring.

She's never seen Black training. Never in the couple of weeks they've been playing in Celestia. Never. So, just imagine just how giddy she was when she came upon the cloud-haired girl's katas.

The border was a prime place for rabbit watching, the sky filling to the brim with large puffy shapes of darkened cotton. It was so bad that Neptune couldn't even see what the color the endless expanse was. Very dreary, almost sad. Seeing her friend, however, always filled her chest up with joy.

Black was standing in a clearing, the trees having parted to make space for her small figure amongst the mass of verdant shades and subtle browns. Her bright white hair acting as a beacon for the sneaking Planeptune child.

It was a dance.

Quick and balanced steps followed by precise and merciless swings. She's good, that much Neptune can see from the practice stances, a furious opponent who's blows render through the tension with ease.

To sweeten the deal, the fun-sized goddess can't even recognize the particular style behind it. And Purple, for all her playfulness, knows her strands of sword fighting.

Because in Snowy's hands was a katana. The type escaped her — names weren't really necessary, anyways — but Nep could recognize a katana with her eyes closed. Knowing her buddy used one was the best news she's heard all week.

And she wants to test her metal.

It's just so nice to watch and learn, but exchanging blows is so much better.

Uh huh. Purple was definitely gonna spar against her now, no way that she couldn't do that. Going head to head with people was an art.

A way of life and she wanted to share that addicting and rushing experience with Black Heart; that's what friends did, right? They shared stuff with each other. Yeahhh, it took some convincing for her to return the favor, but she wasn't that picky a person. She was getting to her.

Eventually, they'd even exchange names! As in mortal names and not the godly names that just everybody knew, wouldn't that be nice?

But first, Nep was gonna keep watching the show play out. It wasn't like her tv shows or manga or video games, there were no words that were spoken. That didn't mean she didn't find it absolutely fascinating.

The teal-eyed immortal had experience, obviously; she doesn't quiver as she breathes forward, not like how Neptune was way back then.

Which made her a lil' bit bitter that she didn't know, but this was Black.

Purple shouldn't hog all the cool moves and stuff. She'd get better things, anyways, no need for her to get all jealous of Snowy. Not when her friend was so nice and generous and did whatever she asked without grumbling too much about it. A very good friendship in her opinion. And that was exactly what the doctor ordered.

There was just a tiny bit of convincing needed here and there. Secret keeping was fine and stuff, but Neptune wanted to play with her little bunny rabbit. Playing was always better than watching.

She had to be a good match for Purple too, Nep could feel it in her bones — their bouts together were gonna be a blast. It would be such a fun way to end the day too. Who wouldn't want to break a sweat together with their best friend experiencing one of life's greatest pleasures?

"Purple Heart?"

Oops. Eyes that reflected her very own namesake look up into the burning questions of her partner's very own. A burst of colors swirl in her gaze, pretty blue-greens of a tropical isle glinting with the metal of the blade pointed at her.

"Uhhhh. Hiya? That's a really nice katana you got there, Snowy."

Her face crinkles almost instantly, the coil of tension relaxing just as quickly with Nep's words. "Don't call me that, Purple and don't change the subject."

"Pffft. I wasn't changing the subject. I was greeting you and being polite!" She nods to herself, "You looked really cool."

Black reddens, her gaze pointing at the ground as she mumbles a blink or you'll miss it thank you. Aww, it was just so darn precious!

The protagonist tries to hardest not to coo at the reaction, quickly taking in what her friend was wearing, seeing as she wasn't wearing the usually processor unit. Its color matched her name to a T, a spiffy little long-sleeved eastern shirt thing paired with some pants. And what a particular sorta top it was.

The sleeves were very loose on her, it was the type where you could stuff your arms in the opposite sleeve. Good for movement, though. Plus, there was a cute golden trim around the collar and buttons…

She looked nice in it, very cute.

"Why're you here?" Black asks, face scrunching up in a frown that didn't make her any less adorable.

Here's where Neptune has to decide. Does she tell her friend that she's seen her here before and always tries to sneak a peek or does she lie to her? It wasn't as though Black would be any wiser to whichever excuse she used on her.

Neptune licks her lips, swinging the thought back and forth. "Mm, weeeell, I just wanted to see you today is all. Nothin' major."

Teal blinks at her. "But… how did you know I was—?" Confusion, so much confusion. Yet, not a speck of suspicion enters her gaze; what a silly little rabbit she had.

"Cause, I wanted to know where ya go?" Black was her partner after all. Wasn't it natural for Purple to be protective and wanting to keep a constant eye on her? Then again, it did sound kinda creepy… "Are you mad at me for sneaking peeks at you and not tellin'?"

It'd be reasonable, she wouldn't judge that.

Snowy was touchy in stuff for a reason, yeah, and respecting that was an important part of their relationship. Didn't help that she was being a tiny bit skeevy.

"Mmmh, no." What? What was that supposed to mean, she wasn't angry at her? "I'm not mad at you, Purple." Confused violet hesitantly look up to her partner, a soft smile already on her face, no anger in sight. "You weren't gonna do anything and I wasn't doing anything really private anyways. No harm done.. Just, don't go doing this again on me, yeah?"

What a peculiar friend of hers.

A gullible and yet sharp little half of hers, then again that was the joy in meeting her.

Buuut, she was selfish. "What if I wanna look at you then, Snowy?"

Blink, blink. "You…" Red is quick to overwhelm her smile, the telltale sign of embarrassment blooming brightly across pale skin. "O–Only if I can't spot you like this time, mongrel."

Ah, ha! Nep still has it. "Cool, cool!" She bobs her head, tension melting like an ice cream cone in the hot summer sun. "You want some NepBull and pudding, then?" A lil' check in her inventory and a couple bottles and cups were in her arms.

"...Fine, fine." With a sigh, Black's sword vanishes in a shower of particles back in her gate. "I want chocolate."

"Done and done." Neptune says, grinning as the white-haired girl takes a seat beside her. She scoots a bit closer to her, taking pride on how Black doesn't lean away.

All progress was good progress. Being able to snuggle with her without any struggling or complaining on her friend's part was a big, big change from the initial meeting. There was a lot less noise.

Perfect for a nap, but, she glances at the the twisting spiral of grey up above, the immortal decides otherwise. A nice time for a good snooze, just not a good time for outside sleeping.

"You looked really cool doing those katas, ya know that?"

"Really?"

She grins, nodding her head in a manner that definitely meant Nep knew what she was talking about. "Yup, yup. Maybe as cool as me." Which was obvious a spankin' compliment coming from her of all people as a Goddess.

Green-blue blink at her, Black rests her head on her knees. "Thanks, I guess." She looks up at the sky, lips forming a thin line before her eyes close.

"You're not gonna sleep on me, are you? I got you the pudding and everything," Purple pouts, waving the mocha-colored pudding cup in her friend's direction.

The mop of snow shakes slightly, "'m just resting my eyes is all, mongrel."

Ah. So, she was tired then, Neptune thinks, setting down the morsel of deliciousness on the ground. The violet deity pops open a NepBull and takes a quiet sip from the can, not-so subtly watching the light glint off of silvery-white strands.

How many times did Black do this sort of thing? Training alone for what had to be hours was tough work, not to mention all of those fancy-shmancy classes Purple just knew all the Basilicoms were requiring their future ladies to take. Plus, whatever personal training the other nations had in mind.

Her buddy was strong too, capable of carrying Nep around without complaining.. It makes a gal wonder what sort of stuff Lastation was even feeding her.

Hopefully the good kind.

With all the crazy stuff happening in Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox, she hopes that Black was being treated right. This was her friend, she deserved the very best and no less.

She'd even sock a dragon in the face for her.

"...Hey, Snowy?" No response, but that wasn't something that deters Nep. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about me sneaking around to see you, you.. mean a lot to me, ya know? And, just between the two of us, you're worth a lot more to me than pudding."

It was actually sorta tough to admit that. Aloud, that is. Thinking how much Black meant to her was a lot easier than saying it. Hah, that's probably why she got so flustered with lil' ol her, if anything, Black had hard time telling the truth.

Not in the chronic liar sense, but just in general, really. The feeling of your heart pounding, the cold sweat forming on your palms and the tightening of your throat was tough to ignore. But doing that wasn't impossible or anything. Not for her.

Not for either of them, she smiles, they were two halves of a whole after all. The two of them would shake Gamindustri to its core.

Above them, the sky rumbles as the darkening clouds swirl menacingly, lightning crackles with it, playing a soft melody that only Nature itself was privy to.

Purple scoots over to the unresponsive form beside her, snuggling closer to what had to be the walking heater of the four goddesses. Warm, warm, warm. She has a hand in the fluffy cloud mane, carefully running her fingers through her partner's hair. "I think, I'm gonna," she yawns, "have a couple of Zs too. Good night, Black."

With one final boom, a heavy downfall settles in between the land of two nations.

.

.

Rain bursts from the greyed skies, shadowing the forestry in a haze of clear pearls that come down in torrents. The sounds of the birds and insects are nothing to thrum of near endless droplets.

How fortunate it was for a blanket to curl around the pair, shielding them from the worst of Nature's tears.

Neptune's head rests on Black's shoulders, both of them cocooned by the blanket as the heavens that far surpass Celestia's grace bleed with its sorrows. A wave of white noise, rippling across that patch of valley. The song of life even dims in its presence.

Birds and insects wait in silence, their voices drowned by the unstoppable cacophony. They watch and they listen as do the rest of those who have been swallowed by the burgeoning storm.

A curious set of eyes do the same. The owner to said pair absorbing what they can of what was simultaneous chaos and order wrapped up in a misty package. She says nothing, graciously accepting what's become of her once productive day. What even was there for her to comment on? This was fine, it would pass.

Unlike the body beside her.

What a stubborn limpet to have stuck to her side. But, it wasn't in her nature to fold easily to surprises, no matter how much they shake her.

Noire lets out a yawn, tugging the mongrel closer to her side; it was hard to remain awake with the symphony being played in front of her, add to that a dreary painting of greys and greens, well, she wasn't going to force herself not to nod off now.

It was quiet now. No wandering eyes watching her every move, no insistent caretakers demanding she perfect a particular move, no playdate offer from her friend, no annoying mortals in sight.

The darker deity was alone now and yet, not at all.

Purple snores softly beside her, a sound that's impossible to ignore with their close proximity, which was Noire's own darn fault. With her rival, and friend, napping on her collarbone, hearing and feeling just how deep asleep the idiot was a cakewalk. An unintentional one at that.

But it was nice, this new form of peace away from the crazy world as a whole — being with Purple was much better than dealing with the rising tensions in Lastation.

Political and economic strife was no place for her girl like her. But, she wasn't just a girl, now was she? Noire wasn't human, wasn't mortal and fading; she was a divinity, a member of the CPUs, someone who had to lead.

And there was no room was childishness. At least, that's what they told her. Her hands grip the thick fabric at the thought of her Basilicom.

She had no obligation to listen to them, not when Purple could be so happy and carefree at the same time. Annoying and undefeated Purple.. hah, was Noire being affected by her.

Perhaps, they were hanging out quite a bit, she smiles, looking down at the one that fed these rebellious thoughts of hers.

"Good night, Purple, and thank you for the pudding." Noire whispers.