Spellpower (SP) is the unit of magical energy. Having SP is the sole requirement for being able to cast magic, though higher amounts allow for more powerful or further prolonged usages. There is no known way to obtain SP when born without, neither can it be increased in life. Contrary to the progression seen in video games with a magic system, one's SP are set at birth.
-Excerpt from "Arcane Theory Vol.1"
Four years ago, it would have bothered her. Nine days ago, before the dragon, she would not have minded it. In this very moment, IF had returned to being bothered, if for different reasons than in the past.
Little more than a week had passed since that eventful day; with being excused from work until June, a reward issued by Histoire herself, IF was drowning in free time at the moment. She also suddenly found herself with money to spend, seeing that all other agents had forfeited the bounty and Nepgear outright refused it. Five thousand Credits for an Ancient Dragon, which was a lot of money.
What was more, she had been awarded the Planeptunian Cross for outstanding valour and ability; the medal was currently sitting in her pocket until she finally decided what to do with it. At least Neptune was kind enough not to make that one a public matter.
Granted, it was not the free time or the money that bothered IF this day. After completing her morning exercises, she had gone to have breakfast with everyone else. Like every morning, she was swamped in younger children before she even found a place to sit, being asked about the dragon at length.
It had been cute the first day, but she was decidedly annoyed about it by this point. Though she rather bore it stoically instead of telling them off; being curious was not a sin after all. At least for the children.
As it turned out, the scouting drones already nearby had recorded the entire fight. Almost from the dragon's appearance, up until its death. Neptune had already admitted to be the one who leaked parts of it to the general public; it spread everywhere within hours, from Chirper to Wahoo. The purplette had cheerfully admitted it without much prompting, noting that IF deserved the recognition especially after she turned down the ceremony for her medal.
At this point, the brunette had given three interviews on the matter and people greeted her with smiles wherever she went. After so many years of trying not to stand out too much, this constant surge of attention made her feel decidedly weird. IF did note to herself that it was not a bad feeling, though. Looking at herself, she found that this may have been another step to fulfill her dream.
After indulging the children for a bit, she finally got to eat; or she would have, had her phone not rung the moment she took the first bite out of her bread. IF's nostril's flared a little as she fished for the device, flipping it open to reveal a caller ID, but she finished chewing before taking the call. "Hey, Compa. What's up?" Keeping the annoyance about yet another interruption out of her voice was a difficult task. Mari threw her a knowing smile, though; IF just grimaced back at her, which made the pinkette chuckle.
On the other hand, Compa might not even have noticed. "Hello, Iffy! I was thinking we could do something today? Most of my plans just got nixed because the others got sick recently, so I have time and I know you do, too." IF just rolled her eyes, though she did not disagree. Knowing that this would at least give her something to do, the brunette did not mind. "Sure. You said 'most'?"
"Yup," the other girl confirmed cheerfully. "I'm attending a sermon in a few minutes and need to run an errand after that, so how about around noon?" Her mentioning religion brought IF's mind back to the two deities she was acquainted with, a thought she quickly banished to elsewhere. Getting used to this remained difficult, though she had not heard from Nepgear for the last few days. "Sounds good, do we meet at the usual place?"
. .
. .
It was past noon when they finally met, though not by much. The sun stood high, if partly covered by dark clouds; heavy rain had been mentioned in the weather forecast.
As the two girls entered the mall however, the bustling stream of people parted before IF; she was given appreciative nods, smiles and waves as everyone offered her some more space. Compa giggled the whole way toward the first store, clearly amused about her friend's misery mixed with embarassment.
"Heh, you're a hero now," she noted as they left the main crowd behind. IF just rolled her eyes and looked over the various summer clothes on display, wondering if being away from the people was really worth it. "It's nothing that fancy. Everyone will have forgotten about it in a bit." She did not particularly want this to go on for much longer anyway, even though some part of her already suspected that it would be the same if... when she became a Maker.
"I guess they might... but I won't." The only hint as to Compa's mood was in the absence of her usual smile; she appeared more serious, though she continued to go through an assortment of simple sundresses. "I thought I'd never see you again, both of you."
IF cringed at the audible hurt in her friend's voice. "...sorry." She did remember a hundred and thirty pounds of relieved Compa impacting her chest once they returned, and how happy the girl had been to see her. While it was touching, what confused IF a little about this was how Compa seemed to care more about this than the girl herself did: even after a few days, once the shock should have definitely worn off, there was no terrified shuddering, flashbacks, or even just an uncomfortable feeling when talking about it.
Not knowing better, IF had excused this peculiarity with the following shock of Nepgear's apotheosis, it having somehow overridden the reaction to her near-death.
"It's fine, I guess, just, I don't have any other friends going for the Guild, so I never really had to think about it before. It's hard to imagine that you might just be... not there someday." Compa mumbled quietly with her hands resting on a dark yellow dress, but looked up when IF clapped a hand on her shoulder.
The brunette gave her a level look before shaking her head. "Don't think about it like this. In fact, you shouldn't think about it at all. I'm not planning to die anytime soon, so you shouldn't start expecting I do. That's probably not healthy in the first place."
The smaller girl blinked at her, the puzzlement quickly draining from her expression. When Compa smiled, so did IF. An elderly woman nearby who heard their exchange nodded sagely before wandering off, leaving the girls to their conversation.
After a moment, IF decided to make sure her friend stopped that train of thought and pointed at one of the dresses. "Mind giving me that one? I might as well..." She paused over seeing the gleeful twinkle in Compa's eyes, how her lips curled further up, and realised this would be a long day. Then again, it beat having to comfort her friend over something out of their hands.
So as she was stuffed into dress after dress, the brunette bore with it and decided to just make conversation. "In hindsight, I feel stupid for having kept quiet about my magic. Lady Histoire was not even surprised when I told her, so she probably knew it already. Then she made me take an SP-check."
Compa, who had been fussing with the navy blue dress to hand her next, blinked at IF. "Oh, right. I completely forgot; Nep-Nep said something like that. Uh, did they really force you to do it?"
The brunette shrugged with a grimace as she looked herself over in the mirror. "Kind of? Of course she didn't actually say it, but she was all polite and said it 'would be helpful'. You know, this, uh, Mom-tone that Mrs. Bonnaire had when someone misbehaved?"
"Oooh." Compa nodded in understanding at the memory of the old teacher before handing over the next dress. IF sighed and returned into the changing booth, though her mind remained with the subject. She was still glad there were no actual repercussions for keeping her magic to herself, though Neptune mentioned it was only because no one else got hurt by it in the past.
"So you made an appointment, right?" IF was glad for the curtain separating them, seeing that it hid her embarassment. Not that Compa seemed to mind, seeing that she continued to chatter while the brunette changed. "What's your SP like? I'm sure it must be a lot. My own is pretty normal, short of three fifty, so maybe you are up in four digits?" She faintly recalled having a similar conversation before, but did not respond for now. After working herself into the blue one, she left the safety of her changing booth with a mumbled response.
"Oh, that one looks good on you!" Compa marveled for a moment, then blinked and rolled her eyes to the side in thought. "Um, could you repeat that? I didn't hear it properly." IF suppressed a sigh over that, having hoped she would get around the matter somehow. Only her superior force of will allowed the girl not to fidget like sixteen-year-old Nepgear would have.
She still averted her gaze. "Three five oh one." And her voice remained a whisper.
Compa's eyes bulged at the number. 3,501. They both knew this amount was already beyond prodigious; even Lowee's Nishizawa-family, the renowned bloodline of powerful mages, rarely reached 3,000. It was not unmatched, but certainly up there.
Now that IF knew, she wondered how her life might have turned out if she embraced being a mage instead of the path she chose. She rarely examined this train of thought further, though; what was done was done.
"Three... really?" At IF's nod, Compa took a deep breath. "Wow. That's insane."
The brunette just snorted as she picked up a pair of shorts and a shirt. "Tell me about it, I had to come back the day after to verify the number, with another machine, then they had Histoire scan me to triple-check. And then everyone flipped because what are the odds?" She had already vanished into the changing booth by the time she finished; Compa had begun to giggle at the end.
"You're always full of surprises, you know?" IF let that stand; she did not really have a good answer anyway.
After slipping into the next set, she lightly stepped out of the booth to look at herself. "I actually looked up some SP-rankings." Seeing Compa become attentive in her peripheral vision, the brunette played with her ponytail for a moment. "I know it's just the people that made their scores public, but still... there were two I do not recognise at all around that level. Aside from them, Lowee's last oracle, Nishizawa Keiko, is actually close to four thousand. And Lady Broccoli is right behind her."
"What about MAGES.?" Compa's question made her snort; IF had had the same thought. "Not quite at three thousand, with Lowee's current Oracle Mina just a bit beyond that mark. Half of that list was Nishizawas anyway." They shared a laugh over that.
Then Compa perked up with a gleeful expression. "Oh, I just realised we can play spellball together!" She wilted immediately at the sour look IF threw her way. "Or... not?"
The brunette sighed and went back to change into her own clothes. "My fine control is laughable. I would be more likely to set you on fire, so no. No magic from me except for killing monsters." The light edge in her voice told Compa to drop the matter.
. .
. .
After both of them went through an assortment of different outfits, one of which IF actually purchased, they were out in the mall again and looking for something else to do. As their conversation stalled, she decided to approach another topic. "Have you heard from Nepgear the last few days?"
Her friend actually took a moment to think, then shook her head. "Not really, no. Did something happen?" Now IF had to shake hers in return; the last time she saw Nepgear was the few minutes after meeting up with Compa back on that day, then both CPUs went off for some kind of errand that she suspected was an excuse.
Nonetheless, not hearing from her for that long was worrying in a way, especially with the trouble Nepgear had in addressing the matter of her divinity before. After a moment of thought, IF sighed and motioned Compa forward. "You know what? I'm going to call her, so you go ahead and get us some seats in the cafe over there."
She did as asked without question, leaving IF to lean on a cold metal wall; people still threw glances and smiles her way, but she put those out of her mind for the time being. A few quick taps on her phone and she got to Nepgear's number, one of the few she had in total. IF had thought of doing this before, but put it off under the assumption that her lilac-haired friend was just busy.
The phone rang once, twice, and her call was picked up. "Hello? IF?" Her voice was unmistakable, though weaker than the human girl had ever heard before.
"Yeah, it's me. I was wondering what you were up to." She wanted to ask about what was going on, but that sounded a little pushy in her own mind. So IF hoped that her intention was picked up on.
Nepgear groaned and there was a little static, then a sigh. "Nothing, I feel awful. I got sick the night after the dragon and have been at home ever since. Sis wouldn't let me leave even if I wanted to and trust me, I don't."
For a moment, IF wondered what kind of sickness could strike down a CPU like that, then the question was replaced by sympathy. "Ouch. Sorry to hear that. It's nothing serious, right?"
There was a momentary pause before she got her response: "Oh, no. It is not serious, just, mmh, time-consuming."
The girl gasped, then IF could only hear static for a second. When it stopped and Nepgear returned, she sounded a bit healthier. "Sorry, I dropped the phone." By now, IF really wondered what kind of sickness could lead to such a situation. Before she managed to make up her mind however, the phone was snatched from Nepgear's hands and another familiar voice cheered into her ear. "Hey Iffy!"
She picked it up from there without any problems. "Hey, Nep. I didn't know you're at home, too." The CPU was supposed to be really busy after all. That aside, IF had things like these happen to her far too often to let them faze her.
"Of course I am," the smaller woman replied with mock hurt. "I'm not gonna leave my cute sister all alone and helpless; some deviant might show up to take advantage and pamper her while I'm not looking!"
She sounded actually scandalised about the idea, which made IF chuckle despite herself. "I see. What's up with her?"
Neptune paused for an instant, then she chirped back a little more subdued. "Y'know, that's the kind of thing you got to see for yourself. How about you drop by? Compa too, if she wants to."
Her words came unexpected; she had just offered an invitation to the place CPUs lived, which IF had not expected to ever see just two weeks ago. It was both a humble and silly thought, considering that neither of those sisters seemed to mind. "Okay, I guess?"
"Great!" Neptune was back to full-on cheerful immediately. "Just come by Planeptower a little later; send me a text once you're there and I'll come get you. See you soon~" IF huffed and said her own goodbyes, then she hung up and put the phone away with a thoughtful expression. She could not deny being intrigued about seeing how deities lived.
That was another important point to her recent musings; despite the fact she now knew the people behind the faces, her faith had not wavered. For all the goofy behaviour Neptune displayed normally, she did good work as Purple Heart and that was enough for IF.
That did not mean the difference between those two was not jarring; it would take a while for her to get used to this.
. .
. .
An hour later, IF slowly closed in on Planeptower by herself. After explaining the situation to Compa, her friend had insisted she go first; "If someone is sick, they shouldn't have too many people at once," was what she said. She then excused herself with the fact she had planned to do some housework anyway.
It remained somewhat amusing to IF that her friend likely would have reacted much differently, had she known that their mutual friend was Planeptune's CPU Candidate.
The young warrior soon reached the tower proper, no longer being able to see its top from where she stood in front of it. She recalled that this was Gamindustri's tallest building, reaching a full kilometre into the sky. The metal canopy that billowed out to cover most of the inner city and protect it from rain connected to the main tower just a few dozen metres above; though she could not see it, IF knew that its top was packed with solar panels.
It had started to rain as she closed, the drops producing a constant drumming on the metal up above; as the canopy caught them, they gushed down into transparent pipes leading into the ground. This water was flowing right into Nicos' geothermal power plants, deep below the city proper.
"Hey Iffy!" Neptune's cheerful call pushed the girl out of her marveling; she rarely came this close to the Basilicom, mostly because she just had no business here. She was not the type to go to sermons and all the other things she could do at this place felt like a waste of time normally.
This time, she was visiting a friend. IF turned to return Neptune's wave, catching the ballistic purplette in a thwarted tacklehug. "Hey, Nep. Good to see you, too."
The small CPU pouted for a moment, then she returned to being all smiles and hopped to the ground. "Yup, let's get going!" Following those words, a slightly amused IF was pulled past sliding doors and into the large main area. Hundreds of clerks were at work, most of the counters manned and in use by citizens of all ages and genders. IF got a few glances as people recognised her, but this was it. No one batted an eye when they marched straight past that and toward the elevator shafts.
Dozens of elevators led up and down the central axis of Planeptower, many of them transporting tourists, faithful, or citizens between the main area and any given part that was open to the public. Of the Basilicom's four hundred floors, there were dozens where anyone could go. Sermons were held here and observation decks allowed to look out over the city. The upper floors were mainly locked to the public, and the three floors above four hundred were not even on the panels.
Neptune pushed her into a smaller elevator made for up to four people. No one else entered with them and once the doors closed, IF was given a mischievous smirk. "Now I'll show you my great secret, Iffy. Behold, the path toward my sanctum!" Then she pressed the 400 and held it, before also pressing 3 with her other hand. The doors immediately locked and 403 was displayed as their target floor.
IF blinked at the strange scene for a moment, then she sighed and put a hand on her face. "Of course, why am I even surprised." It made perfect sense that Neptune would hide the way to her own home behind something like that. "How many children found out about this by playing around?"
Her friend giggled over the question, but waved her hand in a so-so motion as she did. "A few?"
Their conversation stalled a little as the numbers ticked by; IF felt a little dizzy from their rapid ascend, but shook that off quickly.
Once the elevator dinged and its doors opened, they were released into a brightly coloured living room. They were in a small indentation in the wall, looking over everything.
After a nudge from Neptune, IF reluctantly stepped out on the wooden floor covering the indentation and left her shoes at the rack helpfully placed there. Her guide simply made her shoes vanish and ran around on striped socks, opening her arms wide to encompass the room. "So, what do you think?"
A wide, black couch took the room's center, with a large TV in front of it and several gaming consoles neatly arrayed on the deep green carpet. Back toward the silvery white walls stood a table made of dark wood, with four matching chairs standing around it. "Honestly, I'm mostly surprised there is no pink or purple here."
While Neptune chortled over the admission, IF looked some more and found three doors leading to other rooms, plus one behind her next to the elevator shaft that probably led downward. She also found two large windows that allowed to look out and over Nicos, far beyond the city border.
"Where do the doors lead to?" Her question made Neptune snap out of her mirth, the purplette following IF's gaze before answering: "oh, that's the kitchen, the restroom, and our bedroom. We technically don't need the first two, but I rather have them for my guests. The one over there," at which she pointed behind herself with a thumb, "goes down to the guest rooms and our offices. And Histy's bedroom, of course." It took the brunette a moment longer than she would have liked to figure out who 'Histy' was supposed to be.
Neptune quickly ushered her through the door left of the elevator's niche, into a spacious bedroom. This was where the pink and purple had been applied, and in great quantities at that. A few tinges of beige could be found among the furniture as well, but that was about it. The wooden floor was almost entirely covered by a wide, pinkish white carpet with a large heart in its center.
Much to IF's surprise, she did not find two queen-sized beds like she imagined; instead, the sisters were apparently sleeping in bunk beds. In hindsight, she realised she should have known.
Nepgear was present as well, tucked into the lower bunk and with a purple quilt pulled up to her nose. The visible half of her face was somewhat pale, but her lilac eyes were on them the moment they entered. Light purple hair spilled down from her pillow, ruffled and in disorder but still silky. "Oh, hello. How have you been?" Her voice was not weak but tired, the girl slowly pulling back the quilt from her mouth.
Seeing that she made no attempt to get up, IF wandered over and sat down in the chair by her side. "Probably better than you." Not one but two pairs of eyes remained on her the entire time, though Neptune hid it well and sat down at Nepgear's bedside. At least IF's comment made the sick girl smile a little.
After taking a critical look over her friend, the brunette found no actual sign of what illness she caught. That was why she turned a questioning look to Neptune. "What is it? Last time I checked, CPUs don't get sick like humans do."
The purplette gave her a nod and pointed at her younger sister. "That's true. Nepgear's got transformation sickness. It's a one-time thing for all CPUs and comes up right after their apotheosis. Nepgear keeps transforming uncontrollably, which is ultimately harmless but tiring on her... and it'll take another two weeks or so until it's over."
IF hummed in response, taking another look at the slightly dark bags under Nepgear's eyes; her friend remained lying in bed, perfectly still in a way that was actually unsettling.
A moment later, she noticed the reason for that as well: Nepgear was not breathing. Her chest did not move in the slightest, and only the fact her eyes were still wandering between IF and Neptune indicated she was not actually dead.
"Huh... looks like that one was true." She only mumbled under her breath, but the fact both sisters returned their full attention to her made it clear she was heard. IF considered ignoring the beckoning looks, but gave in after a moment. "I read that you guys don't need to breathe."
In response, Nepgear blinked at her before her eyes widened and she quickly got back to breathing while Neptune giggled. "Yeah, we don't," the older CPU told her with a wink. "We still need the air to talk properly, though. And, y'know, it's kind of weird once someone notices the person they're talking to doesn't breathe. Histy doesn't need to, either."
"Quite."
The new voice made all eyes turn toward the door, where a familiar blonde was hovering in the air. Her eyes were closed and she smiled friendly at the room in its entirety. "As I am an existence made of Share Energy just like the CPUs, I, neither, require oxygen. It is a pleasure to meet you up here, Miss Fontaine. Or IF, if I may?"
The young woman had to blink and take in the question for a moment before nodding in surprise. "I don't mind, Lady Histoire."
While she really did not mind her nickname being used by one more person, what sat on IF's thoughts was the fact she never really interacted casually with the Tome. This was the fifth time in total they met, and the first time outside of work or other official purposes.
For some reason, Histoire chuckled behind a tiny hand while the purple sisters tried to hide their mirth. Neither of them gave her any explanation, though; the Tome simply turned to Neptune with slightly narrowed eyes. "That aside, I believe you should get back to work, Neptune."
However, her nudge slash demand made the purplette recoil in mock indignation. "Now hold your horses, Histy! At least lemme make something to eat first!" And with those words, she rushed out of the room at a speed that IF could hardly follow. Histoire huffed, but smiled and shook her head.
The human in the room tried to make sense of everything in the meantime. "Um, I, I thought you don't actually need to eat?"
The remaining two turned their attention to her, nonplussed. "We actually don't," Nepgear noted with a faint shrug. "But it means the world if a CPU takes the time to make you food, even if you don't need it." Her smile became more radiant as she spoke, almost blinding IF and making her understand what this was about.
Histoire simply nodded in agreement. "That is quite true. In addition, while we do not require sustenance, it is a novel experience to eat once in a while. We do have tastebuds after all."
While the little blonde spoke, Nepgear began to glow and transformed, the force throwing her blanket away and leaving her pyjama-clad form on the bed. The young CPU sighed weakly and lay still while IF tried to swallow the sudden lump in her throat; keeping her composure while the presence of a goddess weighed on her mind remained almost as difficult the second time it happened. At least there was no second CPU to add to the effect this time, she reasoned.
"You know..." Nepgear trailed off for a moment, eyes darting through the room and following something. Then she slightly shook her head and quickly stilled when that much already made her bed creak. "The worst of it is that I need to learn control all over again. And it is even harder than the first time around. I can not touch anything without a good chance of breaking it."
IF winced over that, giving her friend a sympathetic look. Then she blinked as a question presented itself. "Then how did you hold the phone earlier?"
Nepgear's eyes were on her again, radiant, intimidating, and gentle all at the same time. "Magic. My fine control over my magic is still there, so I used that to keep the phone up. I still can not really move until I get a grip, or I break everything around. And Sis will not let me practice until I am through this sickness."
Her words struck a chord with IF, who knew very well how dangerous a lack of control could be. Her fingers twitched in phantom pain for a moment, the body still recalling what horrifying injuries she brought on herself just a few days ago. Then it was gone, buried by thoughts about other topics. Once IF considered to visit as often as she could, her mind brought up yet another problem.
"What about Compa?" While Neptune said it was okay for her to visit, IF figured that the decision for that should ultimately lie with Nepgear. Her as a coworker and good friend was one thing, but the aspiring nurse with them had spent considerably less time with the purplette. What was more, Compa was quite devout; IF knew from a few sleepovers that her friend prayed before bed every night.
However, Nepgear only smiled while her features returned to their civilian appearance, HDD canceling itself. "It's okay. I was so very worried about how you would react, but with how well it went, I would like to come clear now."
"I see." She did not say any more on the matter, simply accepting her friend's decision.
While Histoire excused herself, Nepgear slowly sat up in bed and offered her a weak smile. "I have to admit that I imagined having my first guest a bit differently, like not being near-catatonic. Well, my first guest not counting Uni."
The name brought back an image of raven hair and piercing red eyes, realisation making IF sigh. "She's Lady Black Sister, isn't she?" Nepgear actually snorted at her defeated tone, but did not refute it. It was so obvious in hindsight that the brunette really wondered how she missed it.
And then Neptune returned with a steaming pot of soup in hands and an assortment of plates, as well as a small table floating after her.
Yet, even over the food, IF could not stop wondering how Compa would take the news. Not necessarily about Nepgear, but about Neptune.