No one is immune to surprise. The very human desire to reach ever higher is well known; the long line of grand heroes, from brave Marakh who drew the blade on Prisme herself, to Isabelle and her unbreakable will, I am not surprised to see.

Yet this? A culmination of improbable odds that became wholesome where most of its parts were volatile? This has even me stumped.

-A§"o!§e

High up in Planeptower, a deity sat in wide-eyed stupor.

Much to little Nepgear's confusion, her big sister had not so much as moved a single muscle for several minutes; she may have done so for even longer, as this was only how long the one-year-old had been standing in the door. Histoire hovered right behind her big sister's shoulder, her avatar's eyes directed on the screen in front of them as well.

Finally, Neptune spoke: "I still don't believe what I'm seeing."

"Neither am I," Histoire agreed. Neither deity nor chronicle appeared to have noticed the Candidate yet, though she appeared content with merely watching them for now. Trying to create a viable hypothesis for her sister's moods had become a favourite of little Nepgear's, especially because she could hardly ever tell what was going on in her head.

"Are you sure you're not doing any illusion-stuff with my head? I won't blame you if it's a prank."

Histoire chuckled, though there may have been more seriousness in Neptune's tone of voice than normal. "No, I can assure you this is indeed real. Pranks of such magnitude are unbecoming of... us, I would say, but you may very well be pranking me right now."

"Nope, next prank is next month." The admission came absent-mindedly; Nepgear still wondered just what this was about, unable to find anything of suitable absurdness to prompt such an exchange.

She took a few seconds to run through a few dozen more scenarios, then strolled forward to take her sister's hand. "What's going on?"

Neptune blinked and looked down at her, then smiled and rolled back her chair so Nepgear could climb up; once the Candidate sat in her lap, she wrapped her arms around her and nodded at the screen. "Well, this."

Curiously, it only depicted a human girl; six, perhaps seven years old. Not the wedding ceremony between Black Heart and White Heart she had theorised. The child held some kind of snake in her arms and was looking around curiously.

Nepgear found her short red hair and the pink sundress cute, but figured that was not what her sister was so confused about. Nobody else was in the room, so she figured it must be about this girl. Or perhaps the snake, as she noted that nary a known species grew as big as an adult's arm in width. And she could not recall any of them being golden.

Or having arms, for that matter; she only noticed when the creature shifted slightly; and with the arms, Nepgear found a quite un-snake-like head as well. She had never seen anything like this before. "What is it?"

"An Ancient Dragon," Histoire supplied immediately. "Deformations in monsters are rare but not completely unheard of, yet this is the first which acts this tame."

"Huh." Now the young Candidate understood what was so unusual, though the matter became less clear to her at the same time. "Why was it not killed yet?" Neptune grimaced, having uttered the same question a few minutes earlier; dealing with monsters was a straightforward affair after all.

"It's because of her," the older CPU ultimately told her sister while pointing at the girl; just this moment, she picked up the Ancient Dragon and began to stroke its snout. "We gathered that her name is Louise, and she refuses to let go of this thing; by what she and her parents told us, she found it in one of the parks."

Nepgear nodded as she watched the human child play; she wondered whether her sister would let her play with them, but discarded the thought quickly. Not only was it less of a concern for her with Uni's birth, but this also appeared like a delicate situation.

Histoire offered the Candidate more insight into what transpired: "I scoured the records, but they tell me the same as what she and her parents told us; she found the creature just lying around and began to pet it, gathering no reaction. Then she picked it up and began talking to it."

Nepgear nodded and put a finger on her lip. "How did it get in the city?" The Tome sighed, all eyes remaining on the docile monster.

"According to the defenders on the walls, a small, insect-like monster was sighted an hour before dawn. According to doctrine, the low-level weaponry was used to intercept its path and it had disappeared after a single salvo. The crews noted the lack of death particles, but nobody expected this monster to be as fast as it apparently was. Nobody could anticipate it being an Ancient Dragon, either." Needless to say, nobody blamed the men and women guarding the wall; they did good work.

"Anyway," Neptune took over thoughtfully, "this one didn't act hostile... or at all, really. So Louise went back to her family's picknick and took some food to give it."

"And then?" Nepgear had become curious at this point, but her sister merely stroked her head.

"Nothing, really. She took it back to show her parents, who called the police. But she didn't want to let go, which is a teeny tiny problem in the way of exterminating it." Neptune sighed and lifted her sibling off herself.

Histoire was still eyeing the monster and child. "If this one goes on a rampage within the city, casualties will be disastrous."

Nepgear nodded thoughtfully as she was deposited in her big sister's chair, the older CPU quickly weaving purple staff robes around herself. "Yup. I'm gonna go take a look myself, you two hold down the fort. If the gals call, just make some cute faces to distract them." She threw Nepgear a mock serious look, who straightened in her seat and saluted.

"Yes, ma'am." Both broke into giggles afterward and even Histoire had to smile, then Neptune was out of the door. Her distraction had worked, the younger CPU no longer thinking of the very real threat currently within their main Basilicom.

. .

. .

They told her to wait, so she did. Though Louise did want to take the chance and explore Planeptower, she knew this was important. Her new friend still remained in her lap, heavy as he was, but she did not mind that; they said he was a monster, but she really did not see anything monstrous.

Granted, his claws and teeth were sharp, but that was true of a cat as well.

Louise had to admit that her neighbour's puppy was less nice to cuddle than this little one; his scales were warm and soft to the touch, but firm and durable at the same time. She really did not understand why everyone said he was dangerous. Her parents shouted at her for it, but she stood her ground; she found him and she wanted to keep him.

Nobody tried to take him from her yet, but she was worried what the people from the Basilicom would say about the matter. Her parents were brought elsewhere for some reason.

She was not scared, though. With her Lady so close, nothing bad could happen.

As if on cue, a pretty girl entered the room; a few strands of purple hair poked out from below her hood, almost unnoticeable due to the similar colour of her garments. The robes were customary for all attendants of a Basilicom; were Louise older, she would have noticed the insignia of an evangelist. The special rank meant to provide day-to-day counseling and hold sermons, especially for followers living in other nations.

As it were, the child was mesmerised by her visitor's kind smile; moments later however, she protectively pulled her scaly friend against herself. He was heavy, but she managed to drag him around before just fine.

"C-Can I go home now?" Much to her dismay, the purplette shook her head. Louise did not stay down for long, though; her visitor sat by her side and offered a curious look.

"Not yet, sweetie. I already heard what happened, and we're all curious about your little friend." Louise's protective embrace loosened a little, though what came next baffled her: "You understand you're holding a monster, yes?" If even the people here said it...

Louise's gaze fell onto the smooth golden scales she only thought of as pretty, as well as the piercing red eyes. She could not see anything scary about it, and Dogoos were the only cute monsters she knew about. "But he's nice." Her eyes wandered back up to the woman, who nodded understandingly.

"I believe you, sweetie. That's what we all find so weird about it; he is a nice monster."

"Monsters aren't nice," the child countered immediately. Everyone knew this and there was no arguing the point. For some reason however, her response prompted a chuckle from the woman.

"That's the point. He shouldn't be, but he is. Do you mind if I talk to him a little?" Louise shook her head and let go of her new friend, the creature sliding back over her shoulder as it was draped before. The purplette smiled at her. "I'm Neptune, by the way."

"Oh. I'm Louise."

"Nice to meet you."

Neptune dropped the conversation at this point and went face to face with the alleged monster; his head was lying on Louise's shoulder, the creature carefully observing her. Their impromptu staring contest ended inconclusive, seeing that neither of them blinked even once.

Then Neptune raised a single finger and poked his scaly snout, to no effect. A few soft pats elicited no response, either. "Hmmm." The purplette put the same finger on her lip as she thought, but then her eyes narrowed the slightest bit. "I wonder..."

She reached out to poke Louise's forehead. A moment before her finger touched the child, the monster moved; Neptune could have easily reacted to it, but decided not to. Needle-like teeth attempted to maul her arm, but merely managed to pierce the CPU's skin.

Louise's eyes widened and she jumped up. "No, don't!" Her attempts to pull the monster off of Neptune did little aside from rattling it a little. "You can't just bite people!" Meanwhile, the one under attack studied her assailant's ferocious if futile assault; she could tell that all the strength hidden in that tiny body was brought to bear, yet the small twinge of pain barely even registered.

Like any other Ancient Dragon, this one was unable to actually injure a deity beyond inconveniencing them.

"Stop! Let go!" Louise was still busy trying to call her friend off; much to Neptune's surprise, the last, desperately uttered command was followed. The dragon let go and slid back into a resting position to eye her carefully; a few droplets of sizzling blood rolled down her arm. The sleeve of her robe was torn easily though, much different to her skin.

Unaware or uncaring of the fact Neptune acted far too aloof for the situation, Louise pulled at her to move. "You're bleeding, you need a doctor!"

However, the girl calmed down a little when all she received was a pat on the head and a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it looks worse than it is." Neptune focussed some of her mediocre healing power to close the superficial wound and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe off her blood. It took twelve seconds until her revealed skin was pristine again. "See? All good."

Then she turned her attention back to the dragon, who continued to look at her without any discernible expression. "Your friend is awfully protective, isn't he?"

Louise followed her gaze, a little stumped and with tears in her eyes after all the excitement. Seeing that, Neptune quickly leaned down and produced another handkerchief to wipe them off. "Hey now, it's alright." The child sniffled once, but nodded; she received a soft smile for it. Neptune ruffled her hair. "You still want to keep him?"

While Ancient Dragons had no concept of gender, like all monsters, both of them decided to treat this one as a boy independent of each other.

Louise thoughtfully looked at the dragon, unsure of herself now. She did not want him to attack people, not at all. Though he did seem to understand her earlier, as he left Neptune alone when she poked him again; even when the purplette slung him around her shoulders and wore him as a scarf, he merely balanced his own weight to not fall off. While the sight made Louise giggle, it also told her that he would behave. So she decided. "Yeah, I wanna."

"Heh, figured." Neptune grinned and disentangled the dragon before handing him back over; he did not even bother doing anything, acting much like dead weight when Louise took him back. "But he is still an Ancient Dragon and could be dangerous, so we have to make sure he can't hurt anyone if he tries. You're okay with that, right?"

Louise nodded. She understood that everyone had to be safe; if precautions were needed, she would accept them. Seeing her acquiesce, Neptune began to explain.

. .

. .

Eight years passed before they met again. Louise had turned fifteen by this point and never truly regretted keeping the dragon that she named Ryuki.

Her parents were not happy about the matter, but neither of them told her no after Purple Heart herself gave her permission. Ryuki received a specially crafted collar of Sharicite in case he fell out of line, and someone came to check up on them every few weeks for the first year. With no incidents occuring at all, those visits lessened in frequency and stopped completely by the time Louise turned ten. Even her classmates had become interested in her friend, giving her a free in with most existing groups.

A lot of people fed him scraps of their lunch to this day, many of them for the spectacle of seeing the lazy dragon actually move.

Now that she was fifteen and Ryuki had done nothing malicious in such a long time, it was decided to take the collar off. Louise faintly recognised the same cozy room she had been waiting in so long ago, though it felt smaller now; still quite sizable, but smaller.

Then again, most anything felt small in comparison to a deity's radiance. With Purple Heart sitting on the couch opposite to her, Louise had little attention for anything but her ruler. She watched as deft fingers carefully undid half a dozen locks in about as many seconds, freeing Ryuki of the thin band right behind his head. The goddess carefully placed the item in a small box and closed it off before picking him up and handing him back; Ryuki ignored her. "There you go."

The teenager, having had some time to get used to her Lady's presence, took him back with only slightly shaky fingers and a soft "Thank you".

"Is he always this unresponsive?" The curious question made Louise shrug while her friend slid around her and came to rest on her shoulder. His tail end wound around her waist as usual.

"Mostly, yeah. He is a lazy butt and only moves for food."

The deity's eyebrows rose slightly. "Is that so?" She leaned in to observe Ryuki a little more closely, but the dragon did not react. The way Louise averted her eyes from the CPU's bust coaxed a smile out of her, though. At her age, the redhead took notice of it even though it was mostly hidden by purple robes.

"Um, my dancing lessons start soon," the teen mumbled and shifted in her seat, unwilling to ogle her ruler and afraid she might do it anyway. "Was there anything else you needed, my Lady?"

Purple Heart leaned back in thought, her eyes on the girl sitting in front of her. Then she smiled and stood, motioning for Louise to get up as well; her magic easily moved the furniture aside. "I believe your teacher will forgive you on this one occasion; I am curious, though. Would you care to dance with me for a bit?"

While Louise blinked in surprise, Purple Heart offered her hand to her with a benevolent smile. One that was soon returned, and her hand taken. "Of course, i-it's an honour!"

"Very well. You lead, then." Much to the deity's amusement, her demand produced wide eyes; Louise had not expected to be the one leading a CPU's steps even then. She gently squeezed the girl's hand. "No need to worry about me, I will follow whichever dance you feel like." Needless to say, Purple Heart knew and memorised the steps of basically every dance known around the world, both in the lead and when being led.

After standing stock still for a few moments, both due to the sudden turn of events and because she had to consider which dance she wanted, Louise slowly untangled Ryuki and placed him on the couch; the dragon merely flopped on his side and watched them.

They began slowly, Louise leading the much taller woman carefully; many years of practice prevented her from misstepping even while nervous, though the fact she was only merely above eye-level with the deity's... assets did make her step on Purple Heart's foot rather quickly.

While Louise blushed however, her ruler merely smiled encouragingly. "I am not going to scold you for being in puberty. This does pose a problem if it impairs your concentration, though." The goddess glowed brighter and shrunk, suddenly standing a little bit smaller than the teenager. They did not even stop moving, continuing the motions of their dance as Neptune offered her charge a grin. "Be glad I'm not Green Heart; she would have teased you mercilessly... and let you snuggle them."

She openly laughed when her partner turned a shade of scarlet that resembled her hair colour, but Louise did not make any further missteps even then. With the pressure of a divine presence lifted, the girl actually became more energetic and quickly caught herself to smile back. "You're a tease too, my Lady."

The purplette did not deny it, though she took over the lead for a few steps to maneuver the both of them around the room. "Yup yup, but just call me Neptune like this." She had quickly taken a liking to this child.

Louise had already begun to relax in the new atmosphere, but this had her eyes widen once again. The first denial died on her lips before she even began, though; it was a request from her Lady, even though she felt it somewhat inappropriate to call her by name. The fact they were dancing together notwithstanding, she barely knew Purple Heart after all. Yet the CPU asked this of her.

In the end, she grinned. "I can't really call you by name like that, so I'll say 'Lady Nep' instead." And going by the matching grin she got in return, it had been a good decision.

"Works for me."

Their dance grew faster at that point, Louise having decided to show off everything she learned over the years; Neptune easily matched her pace and cheerfully moved wherever or however she was expected to. They greatly enjoyed their time, though the conversation soon picked up again.

"Say, do you have any plans for when you've graduated yet?" Though the question was unexpected, it did not throw Louise off again. The redhead softly shook her head.

"Not yet. I'm thinking about getting a teaching license and teach dancing, but I'm not sure I'm good enough. Or that I actually want to do it." She often heard that turning what she loved into her profession would be good, but felt she would lose her appreciation for the dance if she ever made it her job.

"Mhm, I get that." Neptune had seen many like her before. Moreover, she already had her own plans; with Louise admitting that she had no clear goal, the purplette decided to put them into motion: "Did you ever consider joining the Guild?"

Louise's brow furrowed in thought as she directed her partner away from the couch that had come dangerously close. "I did, but I'm not sure if I'm cut out for hunting monsters."

Her response prompted a chuckle from Neptune; the CPU gently squeezed her shoulder. "You're quite flexible and a quick learner. I think you could make it far with some practice." She ignored how Louise's eyes widened under the praise, instead nodding her head toward Ryuki. "Not to mention that you have a legendary pet."

The redhead mulled that over for a short while and soon their dance came to an end; the two let go of each other and dropped curtsies as was proper after a good dance, though one could easily read Louise's thoughtful state from her face. "I need some time to think about it, and to talk to my parents."

Needless to say, Neptune already knew she would get what she wanted.

. .

. .

The ruler of Planeptune gave it a few weeks before engineering a meeting with her girl of interest. Meaning, she went on a stroll in her civilian form after confirming Louise's position. Cheerful greetings were exchanged, a dragon was pet, and the two of them returned to the important matter after some small talk.

"I thought about it a lot, actually," the teenager admitted a little shily. She had taken a seat next to Neptune on one of the benches, with Ryuki curled up in her lap. "And I think I want to give it a try, but my parents aren't so sure about it. It's dangerous after all... and it's still a bit over two years, you know? I'm not sure I still want to then."

"Ah, that's no problem!" The purplette grinned cheerfully. "Just ask them to let you take the exam for a special license, so you can take a crack at it in one or two months if you pass. If you make it, they let you try your hand at Guild-stuff. If not, that's that."

"Huh, that's a good point." Louise leaned back. "But I heard the exam is brutal; do you really think I can do it?" Due to her decision to watch the sky in thought, Louise completely missed the way Neptune's shoulders shook in suppressed laughter. She could not know that the exam's results were set from the start and neither could her parents.

"Then get to studying, you won't regret it." A lithe hand squeezed her shoulder and Louise turned her head to smile at her Lady. By herself, Neptune was looking forward to how far this one would go.