Chapter 73

*Sip* "Aaah…" This morning tea really hits the spot you know.

I actually woke up before Nepgear today, a few hours earlier actually. I waited around for a little bit to see if she would wake up anytime around me, but she's still resting peacefully in my room as we speak.

So I decided to have a morning cup of tea from some of the tea bags Vert gave me for Christmas. It's really relaxing to say the least, it hardly needs any honey to sweeten it at up.

I'll need to remind myself to ask Vert where she got this tea. Martin will probably want to know to since he's a long time tea fan like me.

As I look out the window and see the snow falling from the heavens, I instantly am engulfed in a sensation of serenity.

Hot tea on a cold day where the snow doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. I love days like this, they're one of the most beautiful sights I could think of off the top of my head.

I remember some of the days when I was just a kid, before all of that shit went down and ruined a good portion of my life, where I would just sit by the window of our old home and watch the snow fall slowly.

As the snow slowly falls, it's as if time itself stops for a moment to capture in the purity and beauty of the white serenity. I can recall plenty of times when I'd just watch the snow fall. Whether I was happy or sad, I'd always take a pause to admire the beauty that nature bestowed upon us.

Pulling one of those memories forward, I start to lightly cry at the thought of it. Back when I still had a father that I knew where he was, and back when my mother wasn't consumed with alcoholism. Maurice used to be even more carefree, not having to worry about taking care of his brother as though he were a son.

More tears come to take the place of my previous ones. I take another sip of tea and the memories become more vivid, striking at me more.

'You're feeling a lot of stress right now, is everything alright?' I hear Histoire's voice in my head.

I jolt a little bit and almost spill my tea, I'm lucky however and that doesn't happen. 'I'm fine… Just remembering something that's…painful for me these days. Wait… since when can you feel my emotions?'

'Anyone connected to the same sharicite can feel base emotions of other people.'

'The why can't I feel Nepgear's or Neptune's emotions?'

'It is possible you can't because you are still new to the sharicite connection. It's also possible you lack this trait due to your… lack of divinity.' Way to remind me that I'm different from them.

'Ok… explain that to me if you would.'

'Since you are classified as a lesser being than a Goddess, they would be able to sense the feelings of a human more easily than if it were the other way around. It would become easier if you also offered your prayers to your connected sharicite.'

'I don't pray though, so how could that be?'

'Devotion, such as performing… less than desirable acts to the goddess count towards that…' It's no surprise that she knows about that.

'…' I remain silent.

'You're not surprised that I have this information?'

'At this point everyone knows, I'm not going to fight it.'

'I…see… well, just try to avoid acts like that in the future. It's… interesting to feel Nepgear's emotions like that…' She pauses for a moment. 'Please just avoid them. I'd consider it a personal favor if you did.'

I stop and consider her words for a few seconds. Histoire's basically telling me to not have that kind of fun with Nepgear. I don't know how it feels for anyone else by just experiencing base emotions and feelings, but normally I'd say it's none of her business.

I don't know what came over us that night. To be honest, a little piece of me regrets what we did, but another part of me feels a spiritual connection to Nepgear. Then the last part of me realizes that sex feels fucking fantastic. To tell me to not experience anything like that is to defy nature.

After thinking on these three thoughts, I'm ready to give her my answer. 'I won't make any promises, but, I'll try to make sure nothing else to severe happens. Kissing and body contact should be fine right?'

'As long as it doesn't become too intense then I won't be able to sense it, and neither should Neptune.' Well that's good to hear. It's like one of the many weights of the situation has been lifted.

"Like I said, I won't make any promises, but I'll try to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Do you want me to relay this information to Nepgear?'

'Yes, that would be much faster than manually connecting to her. It's also worth mentioning that it's becoming increasingly more difficult to make contact with them at a whim, but you have become easier to connect to.'

'So I'm going to be your messenger boy now?'

'I wouldn't label you as that. Instead you'd be the messenger to the gods.' Well that's a fancy way to say messenger boy.

'You're ever so kind to me.' I tell her sarcastically.

'I'm trying to accommodate you to the best of my abilities. I'd appreciate it if you'd lose your attitude.' Damn, Histoire knows how to get snippy with me.

'Sorry, I'm just trying to lighten the mood.'

'I didn't see anything wrong on my end with it.'

'On days like these, I'm reminded of both happy and sad memories. It's kind of like a civil war in my heart.'

'I…see. You are strange indeed. It's hard to believe that you'd be the one who carries the hero's blood.'

'I still don't know how I have the blood of a hero from your world.'

'The obvious answer is part of your lineage traces back to Gamindustri. I studied the records of the world beforehand and determined that your father is the one who traveled dimensions.'

'My dad's from your world? I find that hard to believe.' It doesn't sound right. Then again, I've been horribly wrong before.

'Dimension travel isn't unheard of even before the goddesses were forced to flee to your realm. Random cases to occur here and there.'

'Does that mean my dad's living in Gamindustri? That could explain where he disappeared to.'

'I can confirm that he is currently alive and living in Gamindustri. I cannot confirm where though. I would need three days to process the information, but I don't have time to spare on such trivial things these days.' I guess that makes sense considering the power system of your world has fallen into shambles.

I do want to ask him why he left though. Did he actually care about my brother or I? If he did, he wouldn't have suddenly vanished into thin air. And while I understand why Histoire can't research the information for me, it does piss me off that she'd dismiss it as trivial.

'If you find the time, could you please locate him… I want to talk to him.'

'It's very unlikely, but I will do what I can from my end. But what if doesn't wish to speak with you?'

'Then I'll force him to speak to me, I'll track him down with my avatar and force him to give me a reason, a reason why he left!' Even my sudden burst of anger confuses me. I guess it's one of those things I didn't give much thought to unless the situation presented itself.

'Please calm down, I can understand your frustration, and I will help you if I can, but my priorities are to keeping the infrastructure of each nation holding on at least a little bit. Please understand.'

I take a few deep breaths and calm down. I know that she's got her hands tied with a bunch of bullshit, and I respect that. We're both in situations that can cause a lot of stress, so we need to work together to solve each of them.

'Shall I change the subject, or shall I leave?' Histoire asks me a simple question.

'Change the subject, I don't think either of us has much to do right now. So we might as well have a conversation.'

'Very well then, what would you like to discuss?'

I think I'll ask about something that's been troubling me since I found out their identities as Goddesses and their plot to save their world. Something that I think I should learn now to not be surprised later.

'What's going to happen when we beat the bound Deities and Arfoire?'

'You will not like the answer. I believe it is best for you to not know.'

'I think I have the right to know since I'm helping you reclaim your world. I'll ask one more time but if it's that bad I'll stop pressing on.' As they say, unending death awaits those who pry into the unknown.

'Very well, I shall tell you what awaits you upon victory. There will be a few days before I can open up the portal to your world, so you'll have at least three days to spend with them afterwards before they return home.'

I expected as much, of course they'd return home after all this. It'd be selfish if I wanted all of them to stay, it'd be as if their mission was for nothing. 'What else is there to it?'

'…' Histoire goes quiet for a moment. From this I can tell that I won't like the answer at all, but I still want to know.

'Just tell me, I'm prepared to hear the awful truth.'

'Once they return home, it is highly likely that your memories of them will be erased. It will be as though they never existed to you.'

My eyes open up in surprise. That outcome had been one thing I had thought of when she started to hesitate about telling me, but I didn't want it to be true.

'Why is that the case? From what Neptune's told me, she's been to plenty of dimensions and nobodies forgotten her or any of you.'

'The people from those dimensions bodies were built to house magic or memories of magical substances and creatures. It would seem the people from your dimension are…inefficient when it comes to this.'

'But how does that apply to this? How can memories be magic?'

'When I took a look at your kinds history, I saw many examples of people encountering creatures of myth and magic, only to forget it some time after the presence leaves. Faeries are one such creature that actually exists in your world, but as soon as it flies away from pulling a prank, the victim will forget it. Does that make sense to you?'

'Not really, but I don't really understand Magic so what do I know about any of this? All of this just sounds really complicated and thought up for no reason.'

'That is the essence and nature of most magic and magical beings. I am sorry to say, but from what I can figure, there's around a ninety percent chance of losing the memories of this adventure. Even after hearing that, will you still continue to aid us? It wouldn't surprise me if you didn't wish to anymore.'

'I'll stay with this whole plan.' I don't know why I'm doing this. Right now the prize at the end of the tunnel isn't really a prize.

'Your answer comes as a surprise. Would you care to explain your reasoning?'

'You want my honest answer? Because I'm in too deep to quit now, so I might as well see it through to the end right? And besides, there's the chance that it won't happen. After all, my body has a piece of sharicite in it.'

I really hate my reasoning for things sometimes. I really, really hate it but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm chaotic by nature, to the point where I surprise myself every now and again.

'I see…You are a strange individual indeed.' I hear her laugh a little from her end. 'But that strange individual is also working hard to ensure a free Gamindustri.'

I laugh with her, if only slightly. It's refreshing considering the news I just got hit with. I'm sure that anyone else in my situation would be angry beyond belief, or at least the old Jack anyway. It's the first time that I've been ready to throw away everything for a cause.

'Tell me, do the Goddesses know about this?' I bring the happy moment to a close with a serious question.

'I had hoped that both sides would be happy if they didn't know about this tragic end. I would like to ask that you please not reveal this to them, or the more… emotional members. It may cause wavering feelings for home since they have grown to like you quite a bit.'

'I understand, it's for the best right?'

'Correct, I'm sorry that this is the grim reality that was forced upon you. I would change it if I could.'

I stop to chuckle at myself for a few moments, earning a surprised tone from Histoire.

'Might I ask what's so funny?'

'I'm used to things going from bad to worse, and it looks like this is no different from any other time. So I'll just dance to fates tune and see what it has in store for me.'

'You really are a strange individual…'

Histoire and I laugh again, despite the situation for me being more dire in the end. It's ok though, as long as they never find out about it, it will be as good as me actually remembering them.

I start to retain my smile, as I look out the window at the falling snow, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. The world continues to be enveloped in white, but that only serves to calm me down.

We both know that this is the end for today's conversation, as I can feel Histoire's presence leave me just as quickly as it came. It was fun while it lasted, but it couldn't go on forever.

Shooting one last look to the world of white, I start to think to myself if I can really face this bleak ending. I know I say I can, but what'll happen when it finally comes time for them to come home?

A/N: Ah it feels good to be back and better than ever. It may be cold as hell where I am but I don't mind, it actually makes me feel more creative. So this is an idea I came up with at the beginning of writing this chapter, just a straight up full conversation with Histoire.

I can honestly say that I'm happy with the end result, happier than I would've been had I gone with my original idea. Still, what do you all think? I do value your opinions greatly, so feel free to share them. After all, this isn't my story, it's all of ours. Because even I'm excited to see what happens next, I even reread all of the previous chapters only to ask, "When's this guy going to update again?"

Only to realize that I was the writer. Silly moment aside, I do value each and every one of you. So you'll just have to stick around until the next update.