The brightest star had finally fallen asleep and allowed its pure white lunar counterpart to take its place. The planet's light switch had flipped from 'ON' to 'OFF' making the world dark with the only source of illumination coming from the resplendent the ivory celestial orb in the sky and its smaller innumerable friends. Neptune and Casshern had been following the same train tracks for some time and Neptune had finally gotten tired.
"I'm tired, Cashy. Can we get some rest now?" she released a cacophony yawn, walking with her back hunched over and arms dangling in a zombielike way. Casshern came to immediate halt after she said this and nodded his head once. "Yes. You need your rest."He said which made her literally leap for joy. "YAY! Time to bust out the PCHU!"
She swiftly reached her hand into the left pocket of her jersey dress and pulled out her handy-dandy N-Gear. After turning it on, Neptune began searching through her inventory for the capsule. "Where is it…" she murmured to herself as Casshern stood and watched in silence. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched.
"Maaan… I got so much stuff in here. This is gonna take a little number." She informed him, scanning through her inventory while wearing an annoyed expression. Soon after she said this, the ground beneath them began to shake. "Nepu?" the lavender haired lass blinked and looked down at the ground. "Hm…?" Casshern's face mask and battle helmet appeared in reaction to this sudden phenomenon, standing close to Neptune in case anything happened.
The shaking had eventually ceased, leaving the two of them standing there in reticence for a moment. Without warning mechanical hand shot up from beneath the CPU, taking a hold of her ankle and yanking her through the sand and underneath the ground. "NEPUU!" she cried out, her voice quickly fading out into nothing more than an echo. "Neptune!" The man in white called out, not realizing another hand grabbing him as well and dragging him down under.
"…" Neptune slowly opened her eyes and stared at the rock ceiling above her. The girl quickly lifted up from her laying position began to scan the new area in search of her male companion. "Cashy?" she called out only to get no response. She eventually rose to her feet, dusting her clothes off before rubbing the back of her head. "That fall really hurt…" the goddess sighed and looked around the scene for a second time.
It didn't take her long to realize that she was in an underground cavern. The only questions now were what dragged her into the cavern and above all where Casshern was. Was he still on the surface or was he down here as well but only in a different part. Since there was no possible way of answering these questions she decided to simply walk around and hope to find something or someone.
Elsewhere, Casshern wandered the cavern in search of his purple haired friend, saying her name every now and again in the hopes of having her hear him. Where could she possibly be? Since they were dragged under there together she had to be somewhere; the only challenge was finding her. Whatever forced them into this place must have had a reason for doing so, and considering how most of the beings on this planet were the reason was most likely not a very good one. It was imperative that Casshern find Neptune as soon as possible. While he knew she was capable of defending herself, he couldn't help but feel worried about her.
"Caaaashy!" Neptune yelled as loud as she could, walking around the cavern with no idea of where she was even headed. She had walked around for about an hour and she hadn't found even a trace of what she was searching for. A soft sigh escaped past her lips as she placed both of her hands on her hips and came to a complete halt. "I hope Cashy is okay…" she whispered, leaning her back against the cavern wall and closing her eyes.
A faint clicking noise sounded as if something had be pressed and the wall she had rested on suddenly moved to the side. This resulted in Neptune falling backwards and hitting her head on the ground. "Nepuuuu…." She said, lifting up as she rubbed the back of her head. Neptune slowly turned her head around and saw that she was now in front of a flight steps leading up.
Her eyes lit up at this new discovery and she quickly made her way back to her feet. She wasn't sure where these steps would take her but she was most certainly going to find out. The CPU wasted no time in running over to the stairs and gliding up them swiftly. She hoped that climbing these steps would bring her one step closer to her lost party member.
Meanwhile, Casshern continued to walk around aimlessly like he had been for the past hour. "I hope Neptune is okay…" he said to himself, advancing forward with his head down in thought. He had yet to come into contact with any enemies or anything out of the ordinary and he was also starting to think that he was walking around in circles. What if he never found Neptune or his way out?
Casshern eventually found himself standing in front of the same flight of steps Neptune had recently discovered. "Maybe Neptune is up there…" Naturally he began to climb them as well. Little did he know he had barely missed the excitable girl. Perhaps after making his way to the top he would be reunited with her; that is, if she hadn't gotten too far away already.
By the time Casshern had found the steps, Neptune was already long gone from them. The flight of steps had led her to the inside of an old temple which seemed to have decayed severely due to the ruin. It was safe to assume that she had made her way back to the surface and now she had to search around this new place in the hopes of possibly getting back to Casshern. "Let's see…This place is huge…I dunno where to start searching…" she strolled through the building, sighing loudly with a slightly agitated expression. "UGH! I'M NEVER GONNA FIND CASHY!" She yelled, expecting no one to hear her due to her believing the building was entirely empty.
Much to Neptune's surprise, several mammoth robots had jumped out of absolutely nowhere and began to attack her. "HOLY MAMUH-JAMUHS!" She quickly spawned her Excalibur broadsword and slashed the first one that came to close to her in half with little to no effort at all. While she was distracted with the enemy in front of her, one of the robots picked her up from behind using its claw hand and lifted her up from the ground. "No fairsies. Lemme go!" she demanded, trying to wiggle free from the machine's grasp but to no avail. "Hey…This isn't Casshern." One of the robots said, taking note of her appearance. "huh?" the machine holding Neptune said before looking her over himself. "You're right. It's just some fucking kid." He responded.
An anime sweat drop appeared beside Neptune's head. "I'll have you know that I am a respectable, hardworking adult! Also, of course I'm not Cashy! Do I look like a grown man with a perfectly toned body wearing a white suit with a C on it?!" she retorted, sticking her tongue out at the robot in front of her. Respectable, hardworking adult? That was a lie. The robots had mentioned Casshern. That meant they were looking for him. Then again, who wasn't looking for him?
"What a waste of time. Piss of brat!" the robot holding her said, tossing her into a wall. Neptune forcefully collided with the wall and hit the floor headfirst with a loud thud. "Owie…" she mumbled, looking up at the looming figures above her. Blood began to trickle down the side of her forehead and down her cheek as she managed to stand once more.
"What should we do with her?" one of them asked, looking down at her with its glowing red eyes. "Kill her and keep going." The robot who appeared to be the leader answered. Out of the five robots that were there, only one of them approached the girl. He rose up his metal claw and proceeded to attempt to cut her head off.
"You just made me mad…." Neptune said as a white pillar of light surrounded her which immediately made the machine stop out of surprise. She wanted to finish this with as much ease as possible and so she simply activated HDD. In goddess form, she was an unstoppable force even when she wasn't at full health. Once the pillar of light had vanished, a new figure stood in the girls place.
"I will end this in an instant…" the voice of the woman said calmly with her samurai sword in hand. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?!" The leader of the robots shouted at the sight of what he believed to be new person before him. "I've heard about this woman…" said one of the robots, scanning over her appearance a few times just to be sure. "Yeah… That's Casshern's mistress!" he explained.
This made Neptune blink in surprise. Was he serious with that comment? How had anyone found out about her so soon and where did this mistress thing come from? They had fought enemies before them; it was always a possibility that one of the escaped and then started to spread this ridiculous rumor about them. "Casshern's mistress?!" Neptune and all the other robots said in unison.
"Mistress, huh? In that case! CAPTURE HER! If Casshern finds out we have his mistress he'll come trying to save her! HAHAHAHA!" The leader of the robots ordered his lackeys, laughing maniacally as if it was the most foolproof plan ever. The blue-eyed goddess smacked her hand against her face and began to shake her head as all the robots started to charge at her. "Are you serious…?" Neptune lifted her sword using only one hand instead of two and swung it only once. An algid wave of energy shot out from the sword and completely froze all the robots except for the leader himself.
The leader, not sure about what to do next, backed away in fear and attempted to flee away from the area. "I don't think so…"she said, jumping up over the machine and landing directly in front of the robot, pointing the tip of her blade at him. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked, a small smirk playing across her lips as she started to inch closer.
"P-Please don't kill me." The robot pleaded. If it was physically possible for him to do so, he would have gotten done on his knees and begged her. "Just answer a few questions and I'll consider it." The tables had been turned considerably and she was going to use this leverage to get as much information as she could. "A-Anything! Just…please don't kill me!" he had pleaded once more, his robotic voice filled with terror.
"Good. I want to know where this place is and why you are here. Also, why do so many people want Casshern? I know he is the supposed cause of your being the way it is, however, you act as if there is more to it than just revenge." she asked, still pointing her sword at the machine in case of the event he tried anything.
"I can't give you a precise location because…well…you've seen the world for yourself haven't you? You should know why. This is just a temple in the middle of nowhere. We only came here because we heard that Luna is here. We want to receive her healing and be granted eternal life. We have no idea if the rumors of her being here are true or not. It is rumored that we can gain immortality by devouring Casshern. You're his mistress. You know what he looks like. Everyone else rusting away and dying off like flies while he continues to prance around sparkling new as if the ruin has no affect on him." The machine explained to the electric blue-eyed female.
"So, let me get this straight. You guys heard Luna was here and she can grant immortality, and Casshern, who just so happens to be immortal is rumored to be able to give immortality to whoever devours him? This all sounds so ridiciulous…" she said, finally placing her sword over her shoulder and sighing. "Yes, that is correct. Please forgive us… we're just desperate…" the robot said, his voice shaking as he began to do what sounded like crying. "You don't understand what it's like being a robot in the ruin…every second… every day that passed by….you rust away… steadily reaching death…" he began to say in a sad, trembling voice.
The sudden change of character shocked the goddess greatly. He was a robot, yet somehow he was genuinely sad. There was no way a machine could fake such an emotion so believable. What was going on here? These robots were unlike anything she had ever seen before. If it wasn't for his appearance she would have thought he was human based on how he was now acting.
"I don't want to die…not yet…. I'm sorry for attacking you…. I was just desperate…you must understand!" he cried as Neptune simply looked at him with a softened, more sympathetic expression on her face. She eventually turned her back to the robot and began to walk away. She had to keep moving, he had told her what she wanted to know and so she had no reason to stay around any further. "Thank you…" was all she said as she moved down the hall with her sword still firmly overly her shoulder. "I promised Casshern I would help him find Luna…if she really is here like the rumors say then I am one step closer to fulfilling my promise to him." She thought.
Casshern had been wandering around the temple for a while, still finding no trace or sign of the person of his search. The robot, who Neptune had before met, made his way down the hall towards Casshern, not yet noticing him. He was relived that the purple haired woman had allowed him to live and was going to try his best to make sure that her mercy did not go to waste. He eventually took notice of Casshern and called out his name. "C-Casshern!"
Out of caution, Casshern's face mask and battle helmet appeared and his eyes flashed a bright green. He was well ready to fight if he needed to and had no intention of letting his guard down so easily. After being pursued by so many robots for so often, who wouldn't think that everyone you met was out to get you? "W-Wait! I don't wish to fight!" he assured the man in white.
"You don't…?" Casshern said, somewhat shocked as his mask and helmet retracted back, revealing his brown locks once more. "Y-Your looking for your mistress right? Purple hair…blue eyes…?" he asked, feeling as though it was safe to talk to him now. "You mean Neptune? You've seen her?! Tell me where she is!" Casshern was excited at this news. It had turned out he was right about thinking Neptune was also in the temple.
"She went back that way not too long ago. If you hurry you may catch up to her." He informed the brunette, pointing behind himself. Casshern nodded his head in understanding. "Thank you very much." He said, running past him without a moment's delay. He had no time to waste. If Neptune really was not too far from his current location he couldn't let this opportunity to find her slip by. "Wait…Mistress?" he thought.
The robot watched Casshern run, sighing. "It took everything in me not to attack him…I feel like this is my way of saying thank you to the mistress…" he thought, turning his back to the running figure before proceeding down the hall as he was before.
Neptune had finally reached a large in the temple where water cascaded down the walls and flowed into the large fountains beside them. The moon's gleam pierced the glass in the very back of the room and illuminated the very center where a girl stood. The girls deep blue eyes and Neptune's electric blue eyes met and soon they were in a silent stare off.
There was no doubt in Neptune's mind about who this was in the center of the room. She seemed like d nothing more than child but the deity could feel a strange aura around her that led her to believe that this 'child' was more than she appeared to be. "Luna…." She said quietly.