Ugh, there I actually wake up and you're watching children play? Doesn't anything interesting ever happen among the living?Oh, that human child over there is interesting, though. Over there, Mom; that Akari girl.
-Croire, the first Tome
K-Sha had split off from their group a while ago, having recuperated enough to go and unpack. Her things had been delivered by train, much to the Lastationite's relief and annoyance.
IF, on the other hand, knew she had to stay around. Nepgear had all but said so when she made an attempt to excuse herself, which meant that she spent an afternoon listening to CPUs talk. The three older ones were going through topics so fast that there was not a chance to join them; the Candidates had devolved into a weird kind of Q&A where Rom and Ram asked while Nepgear and Uni answered.
IF left them to their own devices, chiming in once in a while and otherwise closing her eyes to get some rest. She was getting a little tired after sitting around for so long.
A small finger poing her cheek made the young woman's eyes snap open and turn to Ram, who was suddenly sitting next to her; the young CPU displayed a little grin and poked her again. "No time to sleep, we're going somewhere!"
Apparently, IF had fallen asleep for a short while. She blinked and shook her head to clear it, to no avail. Sighing, she brought a hand up to her face and plucked some of her magic; it turned into ice under her attention, all but freezing her skin the moment it left her fingers. IF shivered, fully awake now.
Ram eyed her curiously, as did Rom from her other side; she had not even noticed the other twin there. The human shrugged and got up, ignoring how basically every adult CPU was grinning at her.
"Aww, is little Isa tired?" Neptune tried to pet her head, but IF rolled her eyes and stepped aside; she was not in the mood to play around and her friend took the hint. Nepgear, the only one not obviously amused by her current state, offered her an apologeptic smile.
Thankfully, attention went back to the two adult Candidates as they took the elevator downward. Blanc explained the upcoming duel to her sisters while Noire and Neptune grinned at each other without breaking eye contact. Much in difference to these two, Uni and Nepgear did not meet each other's eyes. They stood perfectly still and had not spoken much to each other before now either.
It was jarring, in a way. IF knew how they normally acted toward each other, and this amount of nervousness did not fit.
. .
. .
The journey into the depths of Planeptower took them a good fifteen minutes of awkward silence. As she already expected, Neptune's personal training chamber had been chosen for the duel; IF had been in there herself and knew that the vast hall perfectly suited combatants who could go airborne.
"Is it really okay for me to be here?" She could not help but ask; with K-Sha having departed, IF was the only human among almost every deity of the pantheon. She felt more than a little out of place, no matter how used she got to them.
Rom and Ram looked to Blanc, whose eyes went to the older Candidates. Neptune and Noire also cast their gazes that way, the unspoken statement clear: it was up to them.
Uni shrugged as turned back from where she was about to enter the next room and leave the spectators behind. "You're a dear friend, so I want you here to watch me win."
Nepgear nodded, standing next to her opponent with an understanding smile. "As she said. To be honest, I would rather throw miss Blanc and the twins out than tell you to leave." The twins' eyes grew wide at that, though their older sister did not appear surprised.
IF sighed and flopped onto one of the seats. "Alright." She really did not know what else to say; her friends chuckled and turned back to wander inside. Neptune closed the doors behind them and adjusted some screens right above that began to depict the inside. The purplette quickly hopped onto the seat to IF's right, with Ram taking the one to her left. Blanc sat in-between her sisters and everyone turned their attention to what was going on inside.
Nepgear and Uni were still staring at each other without saying anything. She suspected that it was both because they tried to read something out of the other's expression and to give the spectators some time to get set up.
Several seconds passed, then Uni began to grin and IF knew it was on. "So tell me, have you stopped fighting like a girl since last time?"
Nepgear tilted her head slightly, hands folded behind her back. "I am a girl, though."
"A human girl." Uni's grin widened and Nepgear's mouth formed an O-shape as she understood. When the Planeptunian only smiled however, Uni frowned and continued to mock her: "Speaking of, how is that power enhancer going that you're building? Did you get it done in time for this, or do you have to try it on your own strength?"
Nepgear frowned as well over that one, though the expression quickly vanished and was replaced by a friendly smile. "Oh you, I don't make stuff like that. No need for it."
She fell silent again and Uni's frown deepened; much like her, the spectators wondered what was up with Nepgear. Blanc had already explained the first 'round' to the twins, who had been waiting and appeared a little disappointed now.
"You know," the Lastationite finally quipped, "this would work a lot better for you if you at least tried to insult me back."
It was now that Nepgear's smile turned mischievous. The Planeptunian adopted a calm and slow tone, as if she was explaining to a child: "but Uni, you know I am only supposed to insult people at least as strong as myself."
Uni stilled in surprise, as did the other CPUs. IF's eyebrows rose over the unexpected attack, especially with how vicious it was once she thought about it. Nepgear apparently forewent normal jabs to go for the kill in one stroke.
"You didn't just say that."
"I did."
And it worked. With how cheerfully the purplette responded, Uni actually clenched her fist. She then exploded in silver light and assumed Hard Drive Divinity, an ornate longsword forming in her hand; Nepgear followed immediately after, presenting her gunblade with a grin quite unlike her usual demeanor.
"However." Uni's words stopped the older Candidate from charging her; with how Neptune and Blanc frowned, IF understood it was unusual to keep talking at that point. Uni did not seem to care; she pointed her blade at Nepgear. "Once I defeated you, you will go out with me."
Nepgear's eyes widened to almost comically proportions, but her slack-jawed surprise was quickly replaced by one of the brightest smiles ever seen on her. "Okay! Once I won, you will go out with me."
Their smiles turned into grins, they readied their blades, and darted forward.
The first exchange went so quick that IF could not follow it; so instead, she eyed Neptune. The ruler of Planeptune still stared at the screen like a fish, much to Noire's amusement. She could not help but ask: "I take it that part was unusual?"
"It was," the black-haired CPU told her cheerfully. "Contrary to how those two make it look, we do not end our banter by hooking up most of the time." IF snorted quietly and turned her attention back to the duel, which had transitioned from near ground level to being fought close to the ceiling. It was fast even when she enhanced her mind with Awakening, but at least she could then see how Nepgear was pressing Uni; a barrage of stabs went down on the Lastationite, though she parried most and let the rest slide off her armour.
Offense quickly shifted into defense when Uni managed to put more force into a deflection and opened Nepgear's guard. The purple CPU fell back to dodge the first few strikes before her opponent pursued, then protected herself with a mix of quick parries and waves of flame emanating from her entire form. The heat made the air flicker, evidently strong enough to make even another CPU not want to be hit. Uni quickly formed a replenishing sphere of ice around herself before diving into the fire.
These exchanges continued for a few seconds, with IF noting to herself how difficult it must be to fight in three dimensions. The Candidates constantly changed their altitude to make parrying their attacks and targeting weak points more difficult.
Then one of Nepgear's strikes hit home, ripping open Uni's left arm and splattering the ground in hissing crimson; before it even left the wound however, the Lastationite unleashed a lightning strike that traveled through the gunblade and electrocuted Nepgear.
Both of them took distance to survey the damage; Uni kept bleeding in small trickles while Nepgear had a few scorch marks all over her arm. Both of them had aimed for center mass, though.
"Ah, I was wondering where the lightning was." Neptune grinned and threw a glance at Noire. "Did you give her some hints for that one?"
The other CPU shook her head. "She made this on her own. You know I don't give hints like that."
"Nah, I know you coddle everyone." The purplette ignored her colleague's glare and turned to IF with a grin. "For context, each of us has a knack for a specific element. Mine and Nepgear's are fire, Blanc's is ice, Vert in Leanbox has wind, and Noire and Uni have lightning. It's something like an Affinity, but still different. Our personal elements are simply stronger; planeptunian fire is the only one that can actually harm an armoured CPU, for example."
That at least explained the ice Uni used to cool it down.
Meanwhile, Nepgear had apparently decided that an electrocuting defense was best answered by not triggering it; she took distance and began to shoot her opponent with purple laser bolts. Uni nimbly dodged, swimming through the air around each bolt; she made a heavy cannon of her own appear in the meantime, big enough to be held with two hands and about as wide as her own waist. What followed was a battle of wits more than brawn. The Candidates began to dodge each other's shots and predict where the other one would be next.
"Are you sure your Sharicite will hold?" IF could not help but ask, seeing that the walls actually began to deform under the continued bombardment. Nepgear only clipped one of Uni's silvery ringlets once and got the tip of her left foot melted off a little later, everything else splashed against the walls. Tremors ran through the earth even after most of the force was caught.
"Don't worry, it should be fine." Neptune grinned at her, one eye remaining on the screen. "Probably."
Noire's sigh was all the commentary one needed in response to this. IF rolled her eyes and thought back to what she heard about holding back and divine pride. Imagining the devastation those two would wreak if they let loose in the outside world, she could understand why not going all-out would be insulting to them. No human she could think of would be able to be nearly as destructive.
She winced when the flat side of Uni's cannon slammed into Nepgear's face with a surge of lightning flowing over the connection. She received a point-blank shot into her abdomen in turn; it burned through her black armour and left a nasty patch of blackened skin amidst molten steel.
When the two separated to try shooting the other into submission again, IF risked another glance to the other CPUs. She felt it was okay to ask, as they would simply refuse to answer if she overstepped her boundaries. "How did you keep collateral damage down during the war?"
Even with how well she knew Neptune at this point, IF almost missed the way her expression hardened; Noire took a slow breath somewhere out of her field of vision and Ram curiously looked from her to the older CPUs. "What war?"
"I will tell you later," Blanc explained to her sister with a sigh. She then actually answered IF's question: "We used to fight high up in the sky and far out onto the ocean. Calling the seabed a mess would be an understatement to end all understatements. You shouldn't ask about the details, though."
IF nodded. "I wasn't planning to. I already heard you don't like talking about it."
"Good." Blanc left it at that and ignored her sisters' attempts to poke her into telling them now.
The battle had turned from a shootout to a magic contest, as Nepgear filled half of the entire hall with fire and Uni countered with flames of her own; the pinkette's magic was obviously stronger with this particular element and she mercilessly pressed that advantage by engulfing Uni's position. The constant lightning strikes raining out were deftly evaded and she even managed to direct them elsewhere somehow.
Then a flaming orb closed around Uni and Nepgear fell further back before readying her blade. She charged at the exact moment the flames sputtered out under another constantly replenishing bubble of ice. Abusing the cover of the forming steam, Nepgear rammed into Uni's center blade-first. Her weapon was caught and deflected, but then she simply caught her opponent's shoulder and smashed her into the wall. It cracked under the impact and Uni gasped in pain.
That did not stop her from reaching out to ram her fingers into Nepgear's unprotected throat, though; lightning struck through the digits buried in her bloody flesh, so powerful that IF imagined smelling the ozone herself.
Nepgear, however, grinned as she bore the pain. One of her hands firmly wrapped around Uni's throat and the other dislodged her grasp; the fact she took a piece of flesh along went ignored.
IF actually had to look away when her friend started to slam her opponent's face into the wall. Neptune took her hand and softly stroked it, but that did little to return the colour to her face; the brutality displayed in this fight was frightening, especially when it came from two normally so gentle people.
Well, she amended, Nepgear was that gentle. Uni transitioned into being a devious woman with a sharp tongue since her apotheosis.
She only listened to the final moments of the fight; they included the sizzling of fire and buzzes of lightning, as well as a few more crashes. At this point, Ram was comforting her as well and she was quite happy for it. Looking sideways revealed that even sweet Rom followed the situation with curiousity instead of horror, having easily accepted the fact CPUs would even maim each other in a proper duel.
"It's okay, it's over," Ram whispered softly and even went so far as to wrap her in a sidehug. IF offered her a pained smile and patted her head.
She almost did not dare look when the doors slid open, but forced herself to turn her head; there were Nepgear and Uni, both of them back to their civilian forms and at least appearing unharmed. The way Uni grimaced with every step however, even IF could tell the quick fixes Nepgear must have done were merely superficial; she suspected that had been for her own benefit. Both were limping, yet neither appeared in any way unhappy with the solution of their duel.
"About time," Neptune chirped while Rom was half out of her seat and considered actually running over. Both duelists blushed the tiniest bit, though neither appeared to be too bothered by the comment's intended meaning.
Rom shily interjected there: "Um, do you need help with fixing yourselves up?" The girl had one hand half-raised but was obviously unsure whether she should or they actually wanted her to help.
Nepgear shook her head with a kind smile that revealed a broken tooth she missed. "Not to worry, I still have enough power left to get us both back into good condition. It will just take a little while." Rom nodded and plopped back into her chair.
Blanc used the lull in the conversation to speak up: "Good work, both of you." She eyed both Candidates critically, though a weak smile played around her lips. "You should run away before those two start going through the details of where you messed up and what you could have done better." She got looks from Noire and Neptune, though no denials.
IF sighed to play over the moment. "Yeah, that was impressive to see. Just... I can't stomach fights like these, so please don't invite me again." She shook her head for emphasis and noted how her friends flinched.
"Sorry about that," Uni told her apologeptically. "I forgot you're such a delicate thing under that hard surface." It was a mix of apology and teasing, though IF did not rise to the bait. Her friend was not even wrong, in a way.
"I am sorry as well," Nepgear added quietly. "I never even considered that this may be too much for you. And right now, I am afraid I can not even be apologeptic or unhappy." Her eyes flicked to Uni as an explanation, her ducked shoulders and slight fidgeting doing the rest; IF rolled her eyes, then raised an eyebrow when Nepgear continued: "If you would excuse us?"
"Snogging already?" Neptune teased, though Nepgear did not react any further this time. Uni, however, did avert her gaze with a silly smile.
The planeptunian Candidate grinned at her sister unrepentantly. "Well, yes. But first I will patch us both back up to good health." And before anyone could so much as open their mouth, she had grabbed Uni by the arm and dragged her away at a speed that IF could barely follow.
Neptune giggled and even Noire wore a fond smile. Blanc's expression held no changes, though she already had her sisters pulled closer to herself. "I will tell you about the details later; suffice it to say, you might not see much of Nepgear during our stay either."
"Eh, don't worry." Neptune immediately leapt over and slid on her side behind the three, supporting her head with one arm and the elbow on the ground. "I'll make sure they don't elope until you leave, though I doubt you're going to catch either of them alone anytime soon. I'm sure they will understand."
"You underestimate their selfishness," Noire commented from the side. She left it at that even when the other two threw her curious looks, though. IF just rolled her eyes at first.
Then she had an idea.
"So," she started with a look at the twins, "out of curiousity, how tight is your schedule?"
Blanc saw her gaze and narrowed her eyes at first, though a glance to her colleagues made the suspicion fade as fast as it appeared. "We're flexible," she offered calmly. "But whatever you're planning, it only happens if the twins want it to."
"Obviously," IF countered with a roll of her eyes. Then she began to smile and addressed the two remaining Candidates. "So with Nepgear and Uni much rather being with each other at the moment, I was thinking I could get everyone out of their hair for a little while. Do you two think you can moderate yourself enough to play with some human children?"
Going by Neptune's grin, she caught her plan already; Blanc and Noire merely appeared curious about where this was going.
Ram's eyes were sparkling, but her enthusiastic agreement was cut off before it could even begin; Rom had a hand on her shoulder, one brow scrunched in thought. The sight made her appear even more similar to Blanc than she already was.
The twins exchanged looks for several seconds, then turned their eyes to IF. "Not sure," Ram started. "Give us a day to make sure," Rom continued. "But we'd love to," Ram finished. They both smiled and IF felt a part of her melt.
. .
. .
"Well, talk of unexpected occurences." Despite her dry tone, Mari was smiling. IF had to agree with her. It was two days after the Candidates had their duel, a Sunday. The best time to visit her old home.
As of this moment, Rom had gained the attention of basically every child younger than six and was obviously thrilled by it, while Ram played with the older children; the latter case included a lot of running around while the former appeared to be more about reading or cuddling.
"I am not swamped in children for once," IF told the pinkette with a grin. "I call that a win." Mari chuckled, though her attention was also obviously on the CPUs that sat with them.
Blanc had her eyes on her sisters, mainly Ram; even boys a few years older than the lively twin looked had trouble keeping up with her, though nobody appeared to mind. Noire and Neptune were busy enjoying the pastries and tea prepared for the visitors.
Going by her lightly furrowed brow, Mari had noticed something being off about them; the human mind could justify and overlook many, many things if given no reason to be suspicious. Once something unusual was noted however, many more such facts quickly became obvious.
This woman, who had since suspected that IF's dear friend was Purple Sister and thus had an idea about Neptune's identity, was aware of the incredible beauty distributed all around herself. Where her mind would normally look for hints to confirm her theory, they were freely given by what was already there.
Yet Mari was smarter than to blindly plunge ahead on such a wild thought.
However, her final proof did not take long to appear. One of her boys poked Ram's forehead with a grin. "Bet you can't do this!" He followed this up by creating three gently shining orbs, their dark blue colour quickly changed as they turned to ice and began to orbit his hand in a nearly perfect circle.
Ram smirked and produced three spheres of her own from her hand. "I'll do you one better," she chirped back before turning one to flame, one to light, and the third to a ball of lightning that connected the other two harmoniously. Under everyone's dumbfounded looks, the young girl mashed all three together to create a small twister before snuffing them out.
The following cheer and further challenges prompted the younger children into asking Rom, who started doing little tricks with sparks and snowflakes for them.
Mari deflated a little and heaved a heavy sigh. "At least give me a warning next time, Isa."
IF, unsure why exactly the pinkette reacted as she did, received an unexpected nudge from Neptune; the CPU grinned at her. "Guess she figured it out all on her own. You wouldn't know, but that thing Ram just did was a technique she really couldn't have the fine control for if she was human and the age she looks."
The brunette made an understanding noise and returned her attention to Mari. "Well, sorry about that. It was all on short notice either way."
"I wonder why, though." The curious glance thrown at the whole group told of the woman's interest, though none of the deities she hosted appeared inclined to tell her.
IF grinned and motioned for Neptune. "Nepgear started dating a girl just the other day, so I'm keeping Nep and her idiot friends away from them for a few hours." She ignored the venomous looks from both Blanc and Noire, then rolled her eyes at how pale Mari had become. "I'm not apologising."
The annoyance in both deities quickly faded to a sense of amusement; Noire shook her head and Blanc gently placed a hand on Mari's shoulder. "It is alright. Having a few people who actually have enough of a spine to sass us is a nice change of pace. Broccoli does the same thing at home, and Keiko used to before she retired."
"Doesn't she still call to grumble at you about that from time to time?" Neptune asked while leaning a bit over the table. Blanc shrugged.
"She hasn't done that since I made sure all of her calls go right to Mina instead of me, even if she redirects them." Now both Neptune and Noire chuckled.
Mari appeared as lost as IF felt when she began to interact more with the goddesses. It was interesting how fast one could get used to such things, she mused.