Chapter 59

Meanwhile, back at the Nep-Sisters apartment.

"…What do we do now?..." Blanc, like everyone else couldn't think of anything. Everyone was far too depressed and guilty to do anything about what just transpired.

In truth, all of them felt some level of guilt for their deception, but no one felt worse than Nepgear did. At first she had to remind herself that it was all for the good of her home. Then she actually developed feelings for the fabled hero.

They formed a relationship together, and she had started to realize that she wasn't entirely comfortable keeping secrets from him.

However, they became closer. They could tell each other that they loved the other. They could sleep in the same bed. And more importantly, Nepgear was willing to give up her virginity to him.

Not only she had developed these feelings though. Her friend Uni also felt the same way about him. Her desire was so strong, it led her to betray her best friend and test her luck.

This same desire was the reason that a Bound Deity was able to control her. By tapping into her innermost desires of her heart, she was manipulated like a puppet.

Uni felt terrible too as Nepgear did. The deception of him was heavier than Neptune's pudding cravings, it did not bode well for anyone in the room.

"Did we… do something bad?" Rom knew the answer all too well. But she had to make sure since saving her world was the primary goal of all this.

When Histoire told them about a boy with the blood of both worlds, they were told that no matter what Gamindustri was more important. His feelings were second, all that mattered was that Gamindustri lived another day.

That's what she was supposed to think, but Jack was her friend after all. Whenever he was sad, she was sad. Rom felt warm whenever Jack was compassionate for her.

The way he read to her. How he reassured her through her fears and gave her a warm embrace through the night. And how he made her feel tingly with a kiss to the forehead.

Rom didn't want to see her friend go away because of their selfishness. She wanted to keep her bond with him preserved.

"Yes… I fear that we've committed a grave crime." Vert felt like dying on the spot.

She didn't have the same feelings for Jack as some of the others did. Hers were a bit different than Nepgear's or Uni's.

Rather than having feelings of love, she felt more like a motherly figure to Jack. She was like a mentor to him at times. But like a drinking buddy every other time.

Like the others, she didn't want to see Jack leave them because of their horrible actions. She'd rather die than see someone suffer the way he's suffering. Death to her seemed like a plausible option now.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing though! Our friend needs us!" Ram responded with depressed enthusiasm. Ironic isn't it?

Ram didn't feel like Rom when it came to Jack. Instead of someone who would hold her and be kind to her. She saw him as a playmate and someone who would let her get away with everything her sister approved of.

She hated not being able to help her friends. But she was absolutely appalled by her having hurt one of them. It made her sick to her stomach just thinking about it. She had to do something and fast.

"What can we do? If we try to talk to him now it might make things worse." Noire was the next to respond. Like Vert, she didn't have those feelings for Jack, hers were also different.

Jack to her was a boy who would praise her for her efforts and congratulate her for all of her achievements. She even thought that she did like him for a while, until another person saved her.

Martin was the apple of her eye. But he's not the one that they need to worry about now. Then again, he is an innocent bystander who shouldn't have been involved with any of this.

It just went to show that they trusted him just as much as they trusted Jack. But still, she couldn't see the first person to have actually admitted to being her friend go down like that.

Her pride simply wouldn't allow it.

"It's still worth a shot. What kind of friends would we be if we just sat and nothing?" Neptune was really serious about this. Serious enough that she didn't say anything insane.

Neptune and Jack weren't exactly on the best of terms. Considering how Neptune tarnished his reputation by making him out to be a pervert.

But regardless of that, he was the only guy she knew that she could trust her little sister with. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her, but now they hurt him. And that just wasn't cool by Neptune's standards.

"I love him too much to let him go… but I don't know if I can face him anymore…" Nepgear took this more heavily than the rest of them.

It was the person she loved at stake here. And she flat out lied to him for months just because she was made to believe that his feelings weren't important.

Only a short time before the battle though, they had contacted Histoire and made it apparent that they weren't comfortable with this anymore.

Histoire agreed, but only if he could defeat it with them. Then she would have no doubt that he was ready to learn the truth.

"If you're this worried then go to him. I'll remain here for now and await the results." Martin finally spoke up from his silence.

Nepgear and the gang saw nothing else to lose from this situation. They were already at rock bottom, they couldn't get any lower than this.

It was then that they came to a consensus, they had to confront Jack again and fight for the bond they had formed with him. At this moment, Gamindustri didn't matter to them. All that was on their minds was getting their friend back.

Before they left though Vert had to ask one question to Martin. "Hold on, won't you be joining us in the endeavor?"

"I don't believe this is my battle to fight. While I don't agree with what you did, I believe that all sins can be atoned eventually."

A verbal response wasn't needed to respond to him. All they had to do was nod and go on their way. They knew that there was great risk in talking to him. But if there still was a chance of getting him back and atoning, they'd take it.

Power… power was all that I can feel right now. The amount of energy I obtained from the contract I made was enormous.

Dare I say that there's enough power coursing through my veins to overwrite myself and change history? I could erase myself from ever meeting those harlots and escape the sadness of betrayal.

"Do you enjoy this feeling?" The voice of Arfoire still sticks in my head.

"Yes… I like it very much."

"Stay at my side, and I'll make sure you're never alone or betrayed again." Arfoire understood me. She knows what it means to feel alone and betrayed.

As long as I have her with me, I won't have to fear anything else that this life has to offer. No more pain, no more sickness, and no more putting up with everyone's bullshit.

I curse the way I was in the past. So weak and frail, now I'm strong. Stronger than anyone else on the face of the earth.

"Be cautious, I sense the presence of CPU's coming this way." Arfoire alerts me with telepathy.

"I feel it too. I think I'll give them a taste of what I've become." My smirk radiates with malevolence. I'm going to give them payback for what they did.

Arfoire's presence vanishes leaving me to deal with the CPU's alone. I don't mind, I'll be sure to give my master a good show and bring their powers to her as a gift.

*Knock!* *Knock!* "Jack… we need to speak to you!" I hear my former lover's voice. It sickens me to even here the slightest decibel of it. However… it was to be expected that she'd show her face around here tonight.

Flinging my and upwards, my locked door opens, revealing the eight of my enemies, minus the boy.

"Jack… what happened to you?" Nepgear asks with her voice trembling. She noticed the aura surrounding me this early? I guess it saves the whole I'm sorry speech.

"Oh, you noticed. How should I put this? I took a deal with another goddess, plain and simple. Her name is Arfoire. I know you've heard of her."

"You what?" Noire is surprised by this. That scared look of hers brings me pleasure.

"How could you accept a deal with her?" Blanc is scared/angry. A combination that I adore so much.

"Isn't it obvious? She offered me something that none of you ever could. Love, true love. Not just saying you love me so I'll be your puppet. She loves me in a way that I'll never be alone again."

"Jack, you dumbass! Start making sense you piece of shit or you're going to be sorry! Maybe I should rip your limbs off one by one, or maybe I should throw you off a cliff! Look, I get it alright! You have every right to be pissed at us, hell it was practically retarded of us to keep you in the dark like that, but how could a guy like you be hypnotized into being Arfoire's little bitch, huh? 'Oh, Arfoire, I love you. Come over here and give this asshole a big sloppy kiss.' Look, if you want to cry, bitch and moan, fine! But if you really don't want to be alone anymore, then pull your head out of your goddamn ass and cut the crap already!"

"An impressive speech, but I'm not hypnotized at all by her at all. If anything, I'm enlightened by her."

The look of hopelessness on each of their faces is just priceless. Not even on a good day could I get this much entertainment out of such pathetic creatures.

"You're not the Jack we know! Just who are you?" Ram yells out at me. This child really needs to learn her place.

"I assure you that I am Jack. An enlightened form of him if you could call it that. Let's just say the Jack you once knew is gone."

"That cannot be, one does not simply change like this in a matter of minutes." You couldn't be more wrong Vert. I guess she is all tits for brains.

"Face the truth, my lady made me realize just who I was inside. That pathetic shell of a man wasn't worthy to know the gift of life."

"Stop spouting nonsense! This has to be Arfoire's dark and twisted magic." Oh Uni… My master is not dark or twisted. She is kind and angelic.

No matter what they say, I won't fall for their lies again. I have everything that I could possibly want right now. And once all of their powers are mine, my lady will be pleased. All they have to do is see the light.

"Can't you see that everyone is getting more depressed because of this? Sure we may have caused it but you're only worsening it." Noire tries to insult me… big mistake.

"Just like how you're always depressed? Is that the reason why you cry over your desk so much?"

"H-how did you…" She's extremely shocked at this. Her face of embarrassment is the only drug I'd ever need.

"When I walked past your room once, I could see parts of the wood on your desk were warped. Hints that you cry over it a lot."

"…" Noire is silent after that.

"Always trying to be your best. Trying to surpass your own limits. And yet you get noticed by no one at all."

"Stop it!" She yells back to me.

"Just who are you buster? Cause we know that you're not Jack. He's not this big of a meanie." Neptune speaks for the first time.

"Oh very well, you all don't have very long left anyway. I might as well tell just what I am."

I'm not even joking about them not having long. After I'm done with this story, I'll make them feel the same despair that I felt only moments ago. This time it'll be tenfold.

"Have you ever noticed that when he gets into fights or when things get really bad that Jack changes a little? He gets more violent and enjoys the pain of others? That would be me coming out."

"What… do you mean?" The always adorable Rom asks such a foolish question.

"I am almost a separate entity inside him. Born from the guilt he felt as he found out that his best friend died at an early age. He suppresses me constantly, but in his moments of rage or immense pain, I break free of my mental prison and take control."

"You forcefully control him? That's insane and cruel!" Nepgear yells at me.

"And tricking him into thinking that you love him isn't? Face it, you're just as guilty of it as I am. Manipulating him that is."

"That's not true… I always loved him with everything I had. And if I could tell him it one more time I would."

"Too bad that Arfoire gave me the power to push him into the recesses of the subconscious. Him feeling betrayed was the catalyst I needed to break free. And for that I thank you."

There's no way that they'll bring that pathetic runt back. I'm in control and it's going to remain that way for the rest of eternity. Need I remind you that I have Arfoire on my side, I can't lose.

"I can finally sense a strong aura in his heart. That must be Arfoire's taint on him. If only we could purify it." Blanc gives her observation on me.

"It's not a taint, it's my master's boon."

"I have to get him back… no matter what!" Nepgear takes off towards me and tackles me to the ground.

"What do you think you're doing you bitch?"

"Getting my boyfriend back!"

Nepgear repeatedly hits my head until everything goes black. I guess her feeling for him gave her the strength to knock me out.

"What exactly are you planning to do?" Vert questions Nepgear's antics.

"The only thing I can do… clear his vision."

Nepgear places a hand on the forehead of the knocked out Jack. Her hand glows and she enters the mind of her former lover.

Cold… all I feel is cold. All around me is dark, there's nowhere to go. And to top it all off, every dark emotion washes over me in this sea know as my mind.

I do feel betrayed by all of them. I do resent them for it. But this isn't what I was expecting to gain from leaving them.

My other self escaped and now I'm corrupted by a dark goddess. And all I can do is sit here and watch what's happening. I have no power… I am nothing…

As much as I hate to say it… I miss Nepgear. I miss the way she smiles. Damn it! Why can't I stop thinking about her?

"*Sniff* *Sniff* Who cares? I'm never going to see her again. This is all my fault. If I had just tried to understand their situation and not be selfish I wouldn't be here right now…"

Tears a flowing down my face in a stream. The chill I already feel is amplified as I empty away my sadness. But I still can't get rid of it.

"I was just a pawn to them… And now that I've lost them, I can never get back the feelings I thought I had this whole time… forget it… even now I'm not even good enough to be a pawn anymore…"

"Don't such ridiculous things." A familiar voice is heard.

When I look up I see Nepgear walking before me. She's naked like I am, but clothed in light. But how did she reach this deep into my mind?

"Nepgear…please, leave me be… after what I pulled, I hurt you more than you hurt me."

"Jack… what I did was unforgivable. At first, I didn't have a choice I did what I had to do. I made a sacrifice but forced a bigger sacrifice on you."

"Yeah, you did… But I did the same thing back to you. I'm no better than any of you. So… it's fitting that I just lie here and wait for death to take me."

Well we are in my mind, I don't know how long it'll be before that happens.

"I could never forgive myself if you die! Take my hand and let's leave this place!"

"I can't… the others won't forgive me for what I did… I sided with your enemy out of rage…"

"We know that it was the other… well you doing that. You'd never do something like. We love you Jack… just please come home with me."

Nepgear looks like she's on the verge of tears. She's really dead set on me coming home with her. I don't know why, but I just want to leave this place and move on with my life.

"Alright… let's go together." I grasp Nepgear's hand and the light surrounding her surrounds me. She helps me up and embraces me tightly.

She's really warm… I feel so much better now. Arfoire could never offer me warmth like this. My other self was a fool to think that she could. Although now I'll have to suppress him again.

"I love you Jack." Those were the last words I heard before being put back in control of my body.

My eyes slowly open to the sight of Nepgear on top of me. She's smiling ear to ear and has tears of joy forming in her eyes.

"Jack! I'm glad you're alright!" She falls on me and grips me as tightly as she can. I feel more warm inside than I would from any other hug… did something change? I feel like Arfoire's taint has been lifted.

"Hey wait… won't Arfoire's taint still affect me?"

She turns her head back and forth signaling no. "I put a piece of sharacite that I created into your heart. It'll suppress her influence on you. We're connected now Jack, so each of us can feel what the others feeling, mentally that is."

It's a good concept, and I'm glad that she saved me and all. But I don't know if I can trust her or any of the others for that matter.

"Jack… I'm sorry that this happened." Blanc says to me.

"It's fine Blanc… it was partially my fault anyways."

*Sniff* *Sniff* "Jack!" Rom and Ram run at me when Nepgear gets off and hold me while crying into me.

"We were so worried about you!"

"Don't… leave me… I… l-love you…"

I smile and place a hand on each of their heads. "Don't worry, I won't be leaving anytime soon. But… there's still a few things we have to work out."

"I'm just glad you're alright." Vert says to me.

"Yeah… I think I need a shower to clear my head of all this…" The twins get off me and I walk past the rest of them to head to the bathroom for a mind clearing shower.

"Nepgear, he needs you for guidance. Now more than ever." Noire says to Nepgear.

"Go to him, and show him how much you love him. Unless he knows just how strong your feelings are, we may never fully get him back." Vert speaks to Nepgear as well.

"Alright Nep Jr., We'll give you some space to work with him. Come on ladies, let's tell Martin everything that's happened."

As Neptune spoke, the rest of them left the apartment. Nepgear knew that there were more troubles down the road. But all she could think about was Jack, and just how much she loved him.

A/N: I got a sudden burst of creativity and decided to write this chapter in around three hours. It might seem a little rushed but my intentions were pure and heartfelt.

If you think that this chapter sucks, feel free to tell me. To be fair I think I could do better, but I'm happy and content with the work I publish.

You know the drill, review, favorite, follow, repeat. Until then, see you in the next update.