Hey, what's up? Sorry for the wait. I'm currently searching for ideas here and there. But it's finished now. Oh, and I'm totally scrapping off the idea of a sneak-peek-preview-sort-of thing and the narrator to sound like DBZ's narrator. Just imagine the narrator in this fanfic to be anyone you like. And now it's time to reply the reviews from the previous chapters that I recieved.
To Prinny Overlord's review : Thank you for the suggestions. I really appreciate that. Since I've also given you tips on your fanfic, that makes us even. And thanks for the help.
To Vision Rebirth's review : Thanks. I appreciate it. As for your question... Well, I was planning to include other characters from other media unrelated to both series just for the heck of it. And I was planning to take in a few Xiilia and Xillia 2 characters. But I won't tell you who. I'll see what I can do with the upcoming chapters.
Oh, and expect a rather slow update for next chapter. I will be a bit busy from here on. And for my use of words, language, grammar, etc., please bear with me. I'm just a student who just finished middle school. And English is not my mother language. So, yeah... I'm not that great. Thanks for bearing with me. Oh, and expect a few cameos to appear in the next chapter. Anyways, chapter start!
Prologue 3 : A Newcomer from Planeptune.
"Neptune! Hey, Neptune! Where are you?" a voice called out.
"Neptune, please! This is no time for games, Neptune! We've made your favorite food back at the Basilicom. Please, come out now!" another voice called out.
It was dark at night, in the forest. A group of girls seems to be looking for Neptune. Let's see. There's a pink-haired one in a pink dress and a short pink skirt, a brunette who wears an over-sized blue jacket with the sleeves long enough to cover her arms and a purple-haired dressed in a sailor-type outfit with a short purple skirt. Ah... I remember them. They are IF, Compa and Nepgear. They must have been sent out by Hustoire to search for Neptune.
"Neptune, sis. Come out now. You're making me worry about you. Histoire is going to be mad if we return late." Nepgear called out for her sister, Neptune. Currently, she's in another world, but they didn't know about that.
They've been searching for her for a good hour now. After then, IF suggested splitting up so that they can cover more areas and thus, making the searching faster. So IF suggested that Compa should search south, Nepgear search west and IF search north.
And it just so happened to be a Fenrir walking nearby after preying over a few monkeys with one monkey still in its mouth. And the Fenrir just so happened to be at the spot where Neptune's belongings and clothing are. The Fenrir walked over them, spilling the blood of the monkeys that spills out of its mouth on Neptune's clothing. And as it walked on Neptune's clothing, it also tear them apart while trying to get its paws from sticking to the clothing. As it shaked vigorously to set itself free form the clothing, one of the monkey that has been in its mouth's arms fell off on top of her now-torn clothing. AND it just so happened that IF was passing nearby and spotted the Fenrir. She went to hide in the bushes nearby, not wanting to be spotted by the Fenrir.. As she spied on the Fenrir, she spotted something that seems to be Neptune's N-gear. Well, that's because it is. And she saw blood on Neptune's torn clothing and when she saw the monkey's arm, she began assuming that it was Neptune's and that Neptune has been eaten by that Fenrir.
Tears began filling her eyes as she watched the Fenrir continuing tearing Neptune's clothing apart with its paws. She began imagining the possibles scenes of Neptune's death to the Fenrir. She imagined a scene where Neptune lost to the Fenrir in a fight and the Fenrir killed her and began devouring her, another scene where Neptune got ambushed by the Fenrir on her way home, and many more scenes about the possibilities of her death. Her teeth began gritting as she shuts her eyes while blaming herself for Neptune's "death". She remembered her last words to Neptune before she left the Basilicom and she thought about that argument would actually be the last time she'll see Neptune again. And now she knows she can never see her again. Or she thought.
While her eyes are crying tears of rage, she drew her Qatars and recklessly charged towards the Fenrir, attacking the Fenrir. The Fenrir was caught off surprise and was brutally and mercilessly killed by IF. After killing the Fenrir, she threw herself to the ground, let out a loud scream to the skies and cried herself out while banging her fists to the ground. It was later then until Compa arrived a while later when she heard the scream, only to see IF hitting her head as hard as she can to a rock nearby on the ground. The rock was already covered with blood that comes from IF's head. Compa immediately stopped IF from doing that, though it took some time before she managed to calm IF down. And yet, she was still crying. Never in Compa's life did she ever see IF cry.
So she went to ask her what's wrong. IF, unable to hold her sadness any longer, hugged Compa hard and began crying again. Compa calmed her down again and repeated her question. Without a word, IF pointed towards the dead Fenrir and Neptune's torn clothing near the Fenrir. Compa, after seeing Neptune's clothing torn and covered in blood and managed to see an arm which she assumed to be Neptune's, she immediately let out a really loud scream of "NO!". She, too, began crying along with IF. They cried for a few minutes before calming down.
"So, *sob* Iffy. How are we *sob* gonna tell Ge-Ge about *sob* this? She will be traumatized if *sob* she knows about this." A word finally escaped Compa's mouth.
"I don't *sob* know. She won't be able *sob* to receive the news well if we *sob* tell her about it. That's not to say that we're not traumatized about this." IF too finally speaks.
"If we do tell her, then *sob* oh noes. I can't imagine her reactions afterwards."
IF then confessed something. "And you know what's worse. I really can't stop thinking about the last words I said to her. *sob* Now, I feel that this is all my fault. I'm the reason *sob* she disappeared." IF started crying again.
"No. Don't you say that, Iffy. It's not your fault. Nobody knows that this is going to happen. So stop blaming yourself."
Just as Compa said that, her N-Gear rang. She received a call from Nepgear. She looked at IF and asked her whether to tell her about the sad news or not. IF, just shrugging her shoulders, did not say anything. But Compa, fearing that keeping the news a secret any longer will prove dangerous, decided to go on telling her the news anyways. But as soon as she answered her N-Gear, it wasn't something she'd expected to hear.
|"Compa, IF. Are you there? Please, you gotta help me! I'm being chased by something. I don't know what it is, but it's chasing me." *slam* "Ow! My knee. Oh my goodness, I've tripped. And it's getting closer! Back! Back off, I said! Come and save me! Please, hur- AHHHH!" *buzz*| It was all they could hear before the line was cut off.
"Ge-Ge!/Gear!" both IF and Compa shouted after the line got cut off.
"Oh noes. Ge-Ge's in danger. Hurry, Iffy! We have to save her." The nurse hurriedly stood up to her feet and waited for IF to get up.
"Let's use our tracker to find her." And sure enough, they've obtained Nepgear's position on the radar. "So she's north-west from where we're at now. Come on, this way." said IF as she led the way to Nepgear's position. It doesn't seem like she moving at all according to her radar. They knew something was wrong. It could be either she accidentally dropped her N-Gear when she tripped or she was attacked there. Just as they were closing in to her position, the dot where Nepgear's location is, disappeared. But since they're close to that point, they managed to get to the location. But what lies in front of their eyes was something bad. Really bad.
What lies in front of them are the remains of Nepgear. Or rather, Nepgear's belongings. Her clothes, her weapons and her N-Gear.. IF and Compa were surprised at the sight in front of them. It was just like what happened to Neptune, only there are no blood stains on them. Compa, began digging the remains to look for Nepgear, hoping to find her under those remains, but in vain. She began crying.
IF, in the other hand, began to think. Now who in their right minds would do this to Nepgear. I mean like, possibly stripping everything off of her before kidnapping her. She then thought that Neptune couldn't have been eaten up even by something like a Fenrir. She knows that Neptune is stronger than that. But what could have made her to disappear all of a sudden? That's when a thought struck her. Neptune might not have been eaten by the Fenrir that she had killed earlier, mistaking it for eating Neptune. She said it must have been some kind of... creature that is capable of stripping everything off of her before taking her away. Now that would be pedophilic, now wouldn't it?
While IF was so deep in her thoughts, a voice puts her out of her thoughts. Compa called her out to see Nepgear's N-Gear. What she saw at the N-Gear was, there was an unopened "video recording" file left in there. Without any further ado, they opened up that file. And then a video screen was projected and the video starts playing.
The video seems to play in the style of first-person view. So we can assume we are seeing things from Nepgear's perspective. |"Neptune! Neptune, come on out already. Don't keep Histoire waiting. You know she doesn't like that! Please come out!" After that, Nepgear walked around for a little more until she heard a faint scream not far from where she's currently at. "Oh my goodness, i-is that IF? Did something happened to her?" she muttered as she heard the scream.| Pausing the video, IF claimed that it was her scream. Compa also realized that she had heard the scream just like the one in the video. and she was relieved to hear that it was IF's and not some ghost or something. Clicking the resume button, they continued to watch.
|Just after the scream, the sound of wind is heard and her long, purple hair is seen flying forward to her right. "What was that?" Nepgear looked around, trying to spot the thing that just passed by her. It was until she looked back and saw something... so bright she had to cover her eyes, but barely give the N-Gear enough space to record what was happening. It looks to be an orb of light. After looking at it for a good while, that orb of light darted towards Nepgear. Nepgear, surprised by the sudden movement, began to run away from the light. As she ran, she contacted Compa's N-Gear. "Compa, IF. Are you there? Please, you gotta help me!| IF and Compa are focusing so much on the recording to see what actually happened to her. |I'm being chased by something. I don't know what it is, but it's chasing me." *slam* She tripped over the root of a nearby tree. "Ow! My knee." She looked at her knee which was bleeding. Upon seeing that orb of light closing in on her, she backed away. "Oh my goodness, I've tripped. And it's getting closer! Back! Back off, I said!" she warned the light and swing her sword left and right, hoping to get the light to back away. But it didn't. It came closer instead. "Come and save me! Please, hur- AHHHH!" she said as she was consumed by the light. After the light disappeared, what was showed at the screen is the remains of Nepgear's belongings. And then the video is cut when a rock fell on it, followed by a *buzz*.|
Upon seeing this, the two girls gasped in shock of what they've witnessed just now. Now that they know what happen to Nepgear, could they assume that this could be what happened to Neptune though?
"Well, there's a possibility of that. I mean, really. Why would every piece of Neptune's belongings be stripped off by a Fenrir before eating her. I mean, it could've just eaten her along with some of her stuff, right? So there's a possibility that she got consumed by that light too." said IF, explaining to Compa of her own thoughts.
Compa seems to agree with IF that Neptune might not have been eaten. But instead, got consumed by the light. Compa also thought that Neptune and Nepgear are probably still alive somewhere, if not in Gamindustri, probably in another world or something. IF agrees to that thought. But first things first. They need to bring back all of their belongings back to the Basilicom and discuss this matter with Histoire and also show her the recording. They just can't imagine what would Histoire's reaction be when she finds out. But then again, maybe they could...
*scene break*
"...! Nep...! ...! Neptune! ... up!"
"... Ughh... Ughh..."
"Neptune! Wake up! Please! Just at least flinch or something!" A voice breaks out, apperently trying to wake the said person up.
A pink-haired girl is seen trying to wake her purple-haired friend up, who is currently unconscious. She shook her friend vigorously, but still no response. And while she is trying to wake her up, her friend is having a dream.
*dream sequence*
From afar, a purple-haired girl dressed in a white suit with a short purple skirt attached to it was floating in the depths of nothingness of white. It was Neptune. She, apparently, was still unconscious. Oh wait, she is waking up now. And she began to move around...
"Hello. Is anybody there? Hello?" the girl shouted, hoping that someone would hear her. Hearing no replies, she shouted louder.
"Hello! Somebody, please answer me! Hello! Anyone?" There was still no replies. She began to feel worried. "Hey, I'm sorry if I trespass your territory or something. It's alright. I'm harmless. I come in peace." After trying to convince anyone who she thinks is hiding from her that she means no harm, she waited for a little while longer, hoping that someone would come out and greet her.
But, after a while, she got bored. "Oh, come on! How long are you gonna keep me waiting? I'm so bored!" And she waited, and waited, and waited...
"Geez, I wonder if this is some kind of a special event or something? Maybe I was supposed to do something to trigger the event? Should I wait for more text boxes to come out? Geez, I don't know. But still, where am I?"
But, after waiting for so long, she started to become rather angry and shouted even louder than before.
"HEY! CAN ANYONE OF WHOEVER HERE JUST PLEASE ANSWER ME GODDAMMIT!" There, she shouted. Luckily she managed to resist herself to not swear curses. At the very least, not yet.
"My, my. Now that's rude for someone like you." A male, almost-robotic voice booms out in the nothingness, killing the silence that fills in that place. "You could have at least wait a little longer..."
"Woah, who said that? Wh-Who's there?" shouted Neptune, surprised by the booming voice.
"Calm down. I don't mean any harm. I'm merely here to talk to you about something." the voice said.
"Oh, is that so? Okay then, let's talk. I'm starting to feel bored and lonely here."
"O...K..." Even though we can only hear its voice, I could feel it sweatdropped. Well, it would if it had a face.
"So, what are we gonna be talking about, Mr. Mysterious Voice, sir?" Neptune asked.
"Well... first things first. You are certainly not from around here, are you?" asked the voice. "Where are you from? Are you a Descender from another world, sent here to protect this world in the absence of this world's Descender?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy there, boy. Not too fast." said Neptune as she held her head which is getting dizzy with the array of questions. Of course, the cliched spiraly-eyes are on her face too. "I can't process that many things at the same time. Okay, just one at a time, okay?"
"Very well, then. My bad. As I said, where do you come from? You are not from here, I can tell. And what's your name?" asked the voice.
"My name's Neptune. Nice to meetchu. I hail from the world of Gamindustri. Although, I fear that you might never heard of that world anyways."
"Never heard of it."
"I knew it. You too never heard of it. But it's okay. I'm only staying here for a while until I find a way home. Say, I haven't caught your name yet. What's your name, buddy? And how come I can't see you anywhere? Oh, oh. Are you invisible?"
"I am Niata, the servant of the Descender of this world. There is a reason to why you can't see me, though that information is to be kept a secret until then. Anyways, the reason I called out to you is you seem to have a different energy signature than the ones from my world. What I'm sure is it's not mana," said Niata. "Do you happen to be a Descender, young lady?"
"I don't know what's a Descender is, but nope. Not me. You might have mistaken me fro someone else. I'm a Goddess by the way." claimed Neptune.
"A... Goddess, you say? Well, in any case, you're not a Descender, right? That's a disappointment. It appears that you are not the Descender that we requested the other day."
"Well, I'm sorry, Niata. But today might not be your lucky day. I wish I could help, but I can't sorry about that. And I don't think ordering Descenders online will help too."
Just as they were about to finish talking, a recognizable, female voice booms out out of nowhere. And it was calling out to Neptune, in a sad, worried and crying tone. Well, it sounded like she was crying.
"Neptune! Come on, don't leave me here. *sob* Neptune!" the voice called out.
"Huh? Wha-"
"It seems that your friend is calling out to you. If you can hear it, it means you are close to waking up now."
"Wait, so this whole time, I've been talking to you in my sleep?! I wonder if I was sleep-talking or something? Kanonno might find it weird if she heard me talking in my sleep," said Neptune with a worried look on her face.
"That is not to worry, Neptune. For I have anticipated this event. So, I brought along your subconscious along with your mind and soul, leaving your actual body in a dormant state. Which means, your body there will not move whatsoever until this event is finished," explained Niata. "Farewell, Neptune. I'll look forward to our next meeting."
"Well, goodbye then, Niatey. It's been nice talking to ya."
"Oh, and one more thing," Niata advised. "When you wake up, why don't you check your back. I mean, the back of your waist. You will find something that will be useful on your journey. Now, take care."
"Thanks for the advisey, Niatey. Well then, see ya!"
*end of dream sequence*
"Nep...! Wake ...! Neptune? Neptune! Wake up!"
Kanonno, who have been trying to wake up Neptune for the past, I dunno, like 15 minutes or so, was now crying, fearing that her new friend might just leave her. She had been trying to wake her up non-stop. That is, until Neptune twitched her eye a little bit. And that assured her that Neptune is still alive. And now, she is just about to wake up.
"Ugh... Ow, my back. My... cheeks... Ouch!" was the first words that came out of her mouth upon waking up.
Unable to hold back her happiness any longer, Kanonno embraced Neptune tightly while spinning round and round, and jumping for joy to see that Neptune is still alive and breathing. Well, she might have hugged her a little too tightly because Neptune's face is becoming red due to the lack of oxygen.
"Kan- Kanonno! Stop! You're suf- Can't breathe! Ah!" And then her body went limp. Kanonno, whom was hugging Neptune, realized that Neptune was no longer moving. She take a look at Neptune and...
"OH MY GOD! NEPTUNE!" shuoted Kanonno in terror and fear. "Oh no, Neptune. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- I didn't- Oh no! I killed her! No! That can't be! I've smothered her to death! No! That just can't be! She just woke up and all! I'm sorry, Neptune! I never wanted to kill you! But I just did! WAAAAHHHH!"
Kanonno now started crying. Kanonno thought she had killed Neptune. But what she didn't know is that while Neptune can still hold her breath for a little while longer, she chose to pretend to be dead, just to play a trick on her. So, her "death" is just a prank. And it seems to work perfectly. Well, a little too perfectly because when she opened her eyes a little bit to spy her surroundings, she can see Kanonno already beginning to dig a grave for her with beside her, a tombstone with the words "R.I.P Neptune." at the top and "My newest friend whom I accidentally killed by hugging her. I'm really sorry, Neptune!" at the bottom of the tombstone. Neptune was utterly shocked to see that. So "shocked" that she sweatdropped a few times already. (Where did she get the shovel and tombstone anyways?) she thought.
Now, let's not get over-dramatic now, Kanonno. Uh, Kanonno? Can you hear me? Hello? I guess she must be too deep in her thoughts she can't hear anything else around her. Poor girl. Oh, of course. I forgot to plug in the mic. Okay then. *plugs in mic, connects mic terminal to Neptune, set terminal to thoughts* Hey, Neptune. You can hear me, can't you?
"Heard you loud and clear. What is it, Mr. Narrator, O' sir?" said Neptune in her thoughts. (And yes, I can talk to them either in their minds or directly altogether. Now let's just focus on the story.)
You know, I think it's time you stop playing dead. She's gonna bury you if you don't wake up now.
"I know, Narry. But I just want to wait for the right time to put my plan into action. Besides, it's fun teasing her this way. You don't know how much fun I was having right now. Oh, she's walking towards me now. Now, watch as I put my plan into action, Narry."
Whatever. And please don't call me "Narry", will ya? I don't like it. Call me "Narrator" or... You know what? Start calling me "Nate" next time. But right now, let's see the results of your plan.
"Just watch, Natey. It'll go pancake perfect."
*sigh* Well, whatever. Back to narrating. *unplugs mic* And now, watch as Neptune puts her plan into action. (Man, Kanonno's expression's gonna be SO priceless. I better record this. Hehehe...)
As Kanonno walks towards Neptune to pick her up and bury her, Neptune moves her body a little bit and starts to get up slowly. Kanonno falls on her bottom and backs away from Neptune upon seeing this. She thought that Neptune has become one of those mythical "zombies". Neptune slowly makes her way towards Kanonno. And Kanonno backs herself away from Neptune until her back hit a big rock. She stopped and started to cower and cry. She was apparently apologizing about accidentally killing her.
"Please, I'm sorry Neptune! I didn't know I hugged you too hard. Why didn't you tell me I was hugging you too hard? I'm sorry!"
Neptune, now pretending to be a zombie, walks up to her and makes those zombie sounds. She walks up to her and slowly approaches her. Closer, and closer. She is now standing a couple of feet away in front of Kanonno. But as she approaches Kanonno, she fell. Due to the very few energy that she currently have, she couldn't walk any further. My, my. It seems she has forgotten about it.
As her face hit the ground, she continued with an "Ouch!". Kanonno, now surprised at the turn of events, starts to approach Neptune. But as she approaches her, Neptune suddenly gets up and pounces on Kanonno, which startled her.
"RRRAAARRRRGGHHHHH!"
"AAAAHHHH! Neptune! STOP!"
"Hahahaha! Got you, Kanonno. Man, you should've seen your face there. Man, that was SUPER AWESOMESAUCE. Priceless, I might say. Man, I can't believe you totally fell for that. Hahahahaha!"
And here we can see a miniature ghost-like thing escape from Kanonno's mouth as she passes out.
*plugs in mic, connects terminal to Neptune* Hey, Neptune. Guess what? I got it all recorded. All of it. Like you said, it worked perfectly. Man, her face is priceless!
"What did I tell you, Narrator? And plus with all these exertion I'm feeling right now, it makes the prank totally worth it. The exertion creates more thrill, you know."
Uh, Neptune. I think you night want to speak to Kanonno.
"Why is that?" She then turned her head towards Kanonno, who is now burying her head on the ground, crying like there's no tomorrow. "Oh, wow. I never thought I've left such an impact on her. Don't worry, Nate. I'll calm her down."
Okay, Neptune. Good luck! *unplugs mic* All right, where were we. Oh yeah.
*clears throat* And so, Neptune approaches Kanonno to calm her down. But it doesn't look easy, so let's see where this is going.
"Hey, Kanonno. What's wrong?" asked Neptune. "Is there anything wrong? Care to tell me about it?"
"What do you mean, "What's wrong"?" Yep, she was definitely crying. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" And suddenly, Kanonno burst into more tears that it looks like two waterfalls formed at her eyes. "You- I really thought you were dead! And you can still joke, even at a time like this! Had I not moved us here, we'd be food to the Beak Axes."
Upon hearing that, Neptune started to feel regret over her prank just now. (Uh, seriously? I thought she was just a carefree girl who cares about nothing but food.)
"And-And I've been waiting by your side, waiting for you to wake up for a good 15 minutes. You- *sob* You don't know how I feel. I- *sob* I thought you were a friend. How could you, Neptune? How could-"
Kanonno's words are stopped as she receives a hug from Neptune. Neptune too, even after trying so hard to block away her tears, one tear was shed.
"Okay, Kanonno. I'm sorry. I was just joking for the fun of it. I didn't know something like this would happen. I'm sorry." Neptune apologized. "I won't do it again, okay? I promise. I won't do it again."
Gee, is it just me or is this girl really Neptune or is she somebody else. The Neptune I know is never as serious as this. But really, this isn't like Nep-
"Haha! Got you, Neptune!" shouted Kanonno all of a sudden.
"Wha? Ho- What's happening?"
"Heh. You thought you could trick me? Well, I too tricked you. Take that!"
"So, all these crying are fake?"
"Yeah! Well, except the first one. But, you totally fell for it, Neptune. I just can't believe you actually DID fell for it! Haha!"
"Yeah, you got me big time there, Kanonno. But seriously. Don't you ever do that again."
"That goes the same for you, Neptune."
"Whatever. Let's just get out of this place. This place is infested by monsters."
"Yeah, I agree."
But even before they started walking for a few steps, Neptune's stomach growls again.
"Man, I forgot that I'm starving here."
Kanonno takes out something out of her pocket. "Here, have this."
"Wha- Ooh, a giant gummy! Gimmeh gimmeh gimmeh!" Neptune takes one from Kanonno's hand and eat it. "Hmm... Tastes like apples. It might not be the best thing in the world, but I feel... energetic again."
"That, my friend, is called an Apple Gel. It gives us temporary energy boost. Sorry I couldn't give it to you earlier. I completely forgot about it. Even if I want to, these are the last one." she said just as she eats the remaining one.
"You shouldn't have kept it hidden back then you know." Then something crossed her mind. "Wait a minute." She suddenly remembered what Niata had told her. He said that there was something at the back of her waist. And she began feeling throughout her waist until she found a pouch which is located just above her left bottom.
"Huh? A pouch? I didn't notice this was here before. Did Niata gave it to me or has this thing been here this whole time? I wonder what's in this thing?" She proceeds to slip her left hand into the pouch(although with a bit difficulty) and she grabbed out: A disk. A large, purple disk. (Man, why does everything about her is always purple?) Anywho, she grabbed it out and looked at it for a while. But she seems a bit depressed because her hair pretty much covered her eyes while a dark shade forms at where the eyes are supposed to be. That is until something snapped within her.
"WHAT THE HELL? It's been here this whole time!? Man, why didn't I noticed it before? This could've made our jobs easier and we won't be starving with this thing with us and-" shouted Neptune as she blames herself for not noticing it. Well, to be honest, I didn't notice it either. I mean, who would search their buttocks for items? Usually there are bags and sacks and stuff. Man, this has to be some joke or something. "AAARRRGGGHHH!"
"Neptune, now why are you being upset all of a sudden? What do you mean by "making our jobs easier"?" asked a curious Kanonno, seeing Neptune sudden outburst.
"Because this thing, is a life-savior. This thing is, like, the best thing anyone could have their hands on." explained Neptune.
"What do you mean? It's just a disk. I mean, what can it do?"
"Oh, it can do lots all right. Just watch." She then taps the disk. No sooner as she tapped the disk, a screen containing a few flat panels appeared, floating perpendicularly above the disk. There are five panels in total, four big ones and a small one. Neptune then proceeds to tap the third panel to reveal more panels connected to it. There are seven of them now. She then taps the fourth one which reveals more panels than before. So many panels that it was virtually uncountable. Kanonno just watched in awe and at the same time, confusion as Neptune appears to be scrolling down the panels until... she finally stopped at some point. She taps one of the panels and reveals a nig, square panel with in it. some buttons and a box containing some numbers in it which has arrows above and below the box. Neptune taps the "UP" arrow twice and taps a button below it which reveals... you guessed it, more panels. But only three of them now. She taps the middle one and a smaller square moves up towards one of the ten almost-translucent boxes at the bottom-left part of the screen. Neptune repeats the process with three more different items...
*a few minutes later*
...And finally she is done with that weird thing. As soon as she taps the big blue panel that appeared after she tapped another panel before, the screen disappears. And in front of them, eight objects(or four pairs of objects, to be exact), currently in the form of white silhouettes, appeared in front of them. Two big one and six cylindrical ones. And when the silhouettes began to take color, what lies in front of their eyes are: 2 pizzas, 2 soda can drinks labeled "Nep Bull", two green-colored bottles and two blue-colored bottles, one of each item for each of them.
Kanonno was left speechless by the turn of events. Neptune, after observing that Kanonno won't be speaking anytime soon, she boasted.
"So, what did I tell you? I told you this'll be super useful."
"Wow, just... Wow! What kind of magic is this? The technology in this... disk is far more advanced than this whole world's technology combined altogether."
"Haha. See? Even you are left speechless. You won't know the true potential of the RW-Disks until you own them yourselves. Haha."
"Yeah, about that... I'm sorry I mocked you about the disk. Man, I guess looks can be deceiving, I guess. But just how are these things stored in that thing anyways?"
"I... don't actually know. But it just did what it did. So... that's what matters I guess." Kanonno sweatdropped after hearing her comment. "But let's not waste anymore time and let's dig in." Neptune's mouth is already watering at the sight of the food in front of her, followed by her growling stomach which now growls at a lower amplitude.
"Right. Itadakima~su!"
Kanonno, feeling thirsty, picked up the "Nep Bull" drink, opened it and started taking a sip out of it. (Delicious!) she said in her thoughts. But somehow, she couldn't stop as she continues to chuck down the drink until, before she knew it, she finished the can already. Her face is a bit red after drinking the "Nep Bull", and she is smiling like she's high or something. Wait, she's really not high or something, right? Right?
"Man! Whatever this thing is made of, this is da bomb! Hey waiter, may I have another? Gimme seconds!" said Kanonno out loud in delight while lifting the now-empty can as if she is holding a beer mug. And some water vapor came out of her mouth as she spoke. But when she snapped out of her... uh... drooling, she realized she was at Mt. Rhubarb with Neptune and she made herself look stupid in front of Neptune who stops eating to look at Kanonno's weird behavior just now. Neptune was trying her best to hold back her laughter, but before she could laugh, Kanonno was already screaming in embarrassment while covering her face with her hands. But Neptune laughed anyways.
"Whoa, Kanonno. I never knew you could get drunk just by drinking an energy drink. Man, you're hilarious."
"I-I'm not drunk, I swear. It's just... I don't know, somehow I... drooled? But it was so delicious I couldn't help it, Neptune. Please, try to understand it."
"Hehe. Don't worry though. I was just about to tell you to drink it after meal, but oh well. Oh, and no refills, Kanonno."
"EH!?"
"That's right. I won't give you mine since you've already finished yours."
"Aw, man! But it was so delicious."
Looking at Kanonno's untouched food, she said, "Hey, you gonna eat up or what? There's still room for my tummy here."
"Okay, okay. I'm eating." said Kanonno as she started to eat a slice of the pizza that came out of Neptune's disk. "Wow, this is good." Kanonno looked at Neptune and was surprised to see that she had already finished everything, including the green and blue bottles. She continued to stare for some reason.
"Uh, what?"
Looking away, Kanonno said "Nothing.".
"Uh-huh..."
*later*
Kanonno looked at her watch. It would just a few minutes until her pick-up time. She was worried because she and Neptune was still some distance away from the foot of the mountain. She 's afraid that she would not make it in time. So they will have to pick up their pace to not be late for the pick-up.
While they were walking down the mountain, Kanonno finally asked Neptune a question that's been bugging her during her trip down.
"Hey, Neptune? May I ask you something?"
"Sure thing. What's it about?"
"About that disk, will any food stored in it turn bad?"
"Well, as a matter of fact, no. I don't know how it works, but whoever invented this is a super-genius. Well, whatever food or item stored in it will never turn bad because for the stored items, it's like as if time has stopped itself."
"Whoa, if only we had one of these..."
"Well, that's not to say there are no downsides to this. You see, as I said, this disk made the time around the items as if stopped, right? So that means, if your were to store a timed bomb that's about to go off, let's say, 3 seconds until detonation, when it was taken out, it will still be three seconds until detonation."
"Now who in their right minds would do that actually?"
"No one, I guess."
"Heh, whatever. Oh wait, there's something else I wanted to ask you. But this one is more of a serious matter."
"Okay, whatever you say, miss. What is it?"
"Well, just now before you pass out, you used that really strong technique, right? From the looks of it, that attack is only suitable for high-leveled mages. How come you can cast it?"
"How, you ask? Well, it's my attack, so I can use it as much as I want. Usually. But because at that time I was starving, I don't have the energy required to cast it. So I passed out. I mean, it did use quite an amount of energy. I guess I WAS being reckless."
"Yeah, you could've been killed. But why did you use it anyways? I mean, you, yourself, know that it's dangerously risky."
"Well, that's because... Me being here, I considered it a punishment for me always being a scumbag to others back home. So I'm trying to make up for it, you know. I dunno. I just..."
"Hmm... In any case, it's really risky. Use it when you're stronger. And after seeing you pull off that attack, is there anything else that I don't know about you?"
"Plenty. You might want to see all of it."
"Yeah, can't wait." While it might sound sarcastic, it's not. It's just that she's concerned about Neptune's current well-being, is all.
*five minutes later*
"Whew! Finally we're at the bottom of this, gigantic mountain. Ow, my legs hurt..." complained Neptune. They had been walking non-stop for the past five minutes. Luckily they didn't encounter anything on their way down.
"Come on, Neptune. There's no time for rest. If we keep on going, we might make it in time."
"Oh, booey! You're mean, you know that? Would it hurt for you to let me take a rest for a little while? I promise this break won't be for long. Ow! My legs are killing me..." pouted Neptune. Her legs are shaking, tired from all the walking.
"Sorry, but right now we just need to get moving. Wait until we're at the Van Eltia. There you can rest all you want. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am..."
At the base, from the mountain there is a road that branches out to two different directions. One to the left not far from the mountain base and one that continues forward. Neptune, impatient to get some rest at this Van Eltia, she immediately ran along the front path.
"Hey Neptune, wait!"
"Oh, what is it? This is the exit, right? So why are you stopping me now?"
"Well... It is true that that way is the exit, but our pick-up point is over there, to the left path."
"Oh, really now? You could have said something sooner. Ow, my legs..." said Neptune as she massages her aching legs. "I don't care if you'd let me or not, but I'm taking a break here. And that's that." And with that, she sat down with a pouty face at where she was standing just now.
"Okay, fine. If you didn't arrive at the Van Eltia in time, you'll be left here all alone then."
"Threaten me all you want. But you will not make me move from here."
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" came a faint voice out of nowhere.
"What the- What is that?" asked a surprised Neptune.
"I don't know. But it doesn't seem to be a good thing." answered a scared Kanonno.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! GET AWAAAAAYYYYYY!" came the same mysterious voice again.
"Oh no, someone's in trouble. We need to help her."
"B-But... We didn't even know where this person is."
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" But this time the voice seems to be getting louder. So was this person being chased by something?
"Huh? I hear the voice really clearly. But where is-"
"ARGH!?/AAARRGGHHH!" *crash, boom, thump*
Upon hearing the loud crash, Neptune looked around until she saw floating dirt dust everywhere behind her. And that was where Kanonno was. So she assumed she was hit by a falling something.
"Kanonno? Hey, are you okay there, girl? Kan?" she called out. Hearing no responses, she went to check out in the dust to search for Kanonno. "Kanonno, where are you? If you can hear me, answer me!"
"I'm... right here..." out came a faint voice. Kanonno's voice.
"Kanonno? Don't worry, I'll get you out of there." And so, she began searching around for Kanonno until she found a body. Or rather, two bodies stacked on top of another. When the dust had cleared, she can see a girl lying on top of an unconscious Kanonno. The girl had long, lilac-colored hair with a D-pad accessory on the left part of the head, wears a white and purple colored outfit, similar to what Neptune wears now, but without the mini-skirt, lilac-colored gloves, a lilac-colored necklace, a pair of long, white and purple striped stockings and white shoes. Wait, isn't that-
"...Nepgear!?" thought Neptune. "But how?"
Yeah, your thoughts are exactly the same as mine, Neptune. Just how did she get here? Oh wait, of course. I remember now. But let's just continue with the story.
But seeing that even Nepgear has her outfit changed, she called out to wake her up.
"Hey, Neppy Jr.. Wakey wakey."
"Aw... Just five more minutes. I'm sleepy." said Nepgear. Was she talking in her sleep?
"Oh, come on now. You don't want to miss the "Anime-con Convention" now, would you? Noiwey and Uni are coming too."
"Argh... I said five more minutes..."
"Hmm... Ah-hah! You wanna know something? I heard that they've got some pretty cool machines on display there that might catch your attention, Neppy Jr.. And there's this Bandum robot on display too."
Hearing that, Nepgear suddenly wakes up, looking so cheerful her eyes have blinking stars in it. "Really? They've got that stuff too? That's great! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" She got up and sat on something. But looking around her, she got disappointed. "Aw, Neptune, sis. You always came up with a lie just to get me out of bed." pouted Nepgear. And then, looking back at Neptune, she blinked as if she realized something and suddenly remembered why she wanted to see her. "Oh my goodness, Neptune! Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you. Histoire's gonna be so mad at you, Neptune. Quick, we have to contact the others." Nepgear then proceeds to locate her N-Gear.
Neptune just stand there and counted, "One...two...three..."
"Oh no! Neptune, I've lost my N-Gear! Do you have yours?"
"Sorry, I've lost mine too, I guess. But come on, we just got here. It wouldn't hurt to go sightseeing for a while, right? Don't tell me you don't want to see the whole of Luminasia now that we're here, Jr. So how about we relax and enjoy the sights for now?"
"Luminasia? Just what are you..." Her words were cut off again.
"...*sigh* Four...five...six..."
"Gah! Where are we, Neptune? We-We're lost! We're must be in some alien world or something? Neptune, we gotta-"
"Oh, for the love of- Could you just calm down and stay quiet, Neppy Jr.? Gee, you worry too much."
"But how could I calm down? Aren't you afraid that we might be stranded here forever and no one knows where we are? Please get some senses into yo-" And suddenly, the "ground" beneath Nepgear began to move. "Uh... What's that? What's under me here?" asked Nepgear. And then the "ground" began moving again, as if it was a small-scale earthquake.
"Nepgear! Look under you! Try to feel anything under you."
And as Nepgear did as told, she began feeling her hand all the way down to her bottom and... She felt something round. And it's rather hard. That round thing must be a turtle or something. Or so she thought but when she felt something that's like an ear, she looked down and...
"WAH!" She jumped away, only to see she had been sitting on top of someone's face for the past couple of minutes. She wasn't moving. Nepgear feared that she had killed an innocent bystander without even knowing it. "Wah! Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! Let me get you out of there."
"Kanonno!" called out Neptune while she ran towards the silent Kanonno. She holds her up and saw her face with those almost-lifeless eyes, her mouth turns white while some saliva flowed down her mouth and of course, the cliched ghost that escapes from her mouth. She shakes her body back and forth, shakes her vigorously, but still doesn't wake up. "Come on, Kanonno. Wake up!"
And just as they thought she really is dead, she suddenly inhales lots of air into her body. She greedily sucks in the air outside into her lungs that are lacking oxygen. And we can see the life coming back to her eyes. Phew, thank goodness she's still alive.
Nepgear, feeling worried and guilty, apologizes to Kanonno. "Oh my goodness. Thank goodness you're alright. I'm really sorry for what happened just now. I didn't know I would land on you. But not just on your body, but your head. Please, forgive me."
"That... is not what you say when you almost KILLED SOMEONE BY SITTING ON HER FACE YOU KNOW! I could've died had Neptune not warn you to look down."
"WAAAH! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I really am! Pleaseforgiveme! Pleaseforgiveme! Pleaseforgiveme! Please! Forgive me!" she apologized while getting down on her knees and do the worshipping-thingy to Kanonno. Guess she is really mad right now.
Kanonno then lifts up one of her hands into the sky, changed it into a fist...
"Uh, what are you gonna-"
...and began swinging down her fist fast towards Nepgear...
"Don't hurt me! I said I'm sorry!"
...and suddenly stopped dead in front of Nepgear's face and opened her fist.
"Phew, I seriously thought you would-"
"[LIGHTNING]!"
"-hit me?" And she got struck by lightning. *kaboom* "Ow! I knew that would happen... *looks at Kanonno* Huh? What the-"
"Woah! Kanonno, you-"
Kanonno, now having her front part blackened and her hair all messy and spiky(and has a few sparks coming out of her hair) and having the "Huah huah huaaaaah" sound effect coming out in the background, answered, "Yes, Neptune. I got struck too. My bad for standing so close to her."
Neptune couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Hahahahaha! You wanted to [Lightning] someone and you got hit by it too. You shouldn't have used it too close you know! Hahaha!"
Kanonno, who couldn't stand Neptune's mockery, stands in front of her and *clears throat* give her a kick to da "schnoz"!(if you know what I mean) Which, sent her flying a few meters up into the sky. "Well, sorry about that lightning thing, girl. I guess it's just my adrenaline rush doing its thing. Hehe..."
"So... No hard feelings, then?" asked a scared Nepgear.
"Yeah, sure. But man, I can't believe I used [Lightning] up close to a target. How stupid can I be?"
"You... really got me there..." said a still-scared Nepgear.
"Waahhhhh!" *thump* "Ow! That hurts, you know! Geez, I thought you were a friend." Neptune said with a pouty face.
"Well, you deserved it."
"Hehe... Anyway, I'd like you to meet my lil sister, Neppy Jr."
"It's Nepgear actually. That's just her nickname for me."
"Okay, okay. Anyway, Kanonno, Nepgear. Nepgear, Kanonno."
"Nice to meet you, Kanonno. I hope my sister didn't cause you any trouble before."
"Actually, more like caused us some troubles. But, nice to meet you too, Nepgear." And they proceed to shake hands.
Neptune became angry at Kanonno for not giving her a handshake when they met. "What!? Hey, how come I didn't get a handshake? I mean, she suffocated you for Goddess' sake. And you're being nice to her?"
Kanonno's forehead suddenly became black while her eyes became four-edged stars when she gave a glare at Neptune while a dark aura emanated around her. "Hey, Neptune. Want me to give you another kick? It's on the house."
"*gulp* Then again... No handshakes required. Hehe..." said Neptune nervously as she backed away with her shaking legs from Kanonno while Nepgear sweatdropped.
"So, uh Nepgear? How did you get here?"
"Well, back in Planeptune, I was chased by a ghost. And then I tripped somewhere. The ghost then approached me and everything else went white around me."
"And then...?" asked a curious Kanonno.
"And then, before I even knew it, I started falling from the sky. Then a giant eagle snatched me in midair. I think it was going to bring me to its nest. I was so scared I don't care how I will escape from the eagle, for I want to get away from 'im. So I hit him, and he let me go that instant which sent me falling again."
"I see."
"...And I somehow landed on you, Kanonno."
"So, uh... Nepgear, Neptune. Since you two fell from the sky... Does falling from great heights run in your family or something, you two?"
"Huh?" they replied at the same time. "Uh..." Then they looked at each other, puzzled with question marks appearing above both heads, unsure what to answer.
"Anywho, we should get going. It's almost our pick-up ti-" Before she could finish her words, her watch alarm sets off. *be-be-be-beep be-be-be-beep* Kanonno looked at her watch to see that it was already her pick-up time, which is at 8.00 a.m.. "Oh no, we're gonna be late. Hurry! Uh...uh...this way!"
The Nep sisters followed Kanonno up the left path into a clearing. Well, so much for a clearing, it was a cliff. And a really high one too. Enough for a helicopter to fit. And in front of them, the sea stretches afar. But seeing that there's nothing there(which means no Van Eltia), Kanonno dropped to her knees and started crying. "Waaaaaah! We're late. How could they just leave me here. I'm still here, you know!"
"Kanonno, you need to learn to relax. You always get itsy-bitsy over everything."
"Um, Neptune?"
"What?"
"Shut up for a while." Turning her attention towards Kanonno, she continued. "Don't worry, Kanonno. They could have had trouble getting here. I mean, it's pretty windy here. So I guess they're taking their time to land here. Maybe you shouldn't get so worked up on all this."
"Heh, easy for you to say. I mean, ithis is not the first time I was late in a quest. A couple of weeks ago, I was late delivering some herbs to some old lady. I was only five minutes late, but the reward that I receive is only half of the promised one. It's so unfair. And I didn't get the special item that I always wanted. So finishing up early or on time really counts."
"Oh, so that's how your guild works. Okay, I get you. I won't be in your way in the future then." said Neptune while looking rather sad. Never has Nepgear ever seen Neptune being so serious. (Just how long has she been here exactly? She's definitely not like this before.), thought Nepgear.
And then, out of nowhere some loud noise is heard. Some loud engine noises, to be exact. And some sudden strong gusts of wind traveled past their direction. Everyone looked around to see where is the source of this, then Kanonno looked up and pointed upwards, indicating she had found something.
"I just can't believe it. It's the Van Eltia." She jumped in joy, "Woohoo! I'm not late!"
"Told you."
And when they look up, they saw a giant, oval-shaped floating ship that has some fan at the front, colored in gold and green and a few decorative arts painted everywhere on the ship's exterior.
"Wow, so this is the Van Eltia..." said Neptune while she was awestruck by the ship's appearance.
"Oh my goodness! This ship is so... beautiful. The design... The coloring... Wow!" said Nepgear while she stood there, awestruck by the ship's...well, everything.
Kanonno waved at the ship, indicating that she was here. And the ship lowered and lowered into its side and when the ship's elevation is just enough, the door at the side, the entrance, opened. And out came a platform, extending to where the three were standing.
"Well, let's go inside, people. Now that you have seen the outside, how about you two go see the inside?" asked Kanonno, who is now smiling knowing that she wasn't left behind.
Neptune and Nepgear was still distracted by the ship that they didn't even hear what Kanonno said to them.
"Um, you two? Are you still there?"
Neptune and Nepgear still hasn't moved a bit, with their mouths wide open and saliva were flowing out of their mouth.
"Hello? Earth to Neps! You coming or what?" shouted Kanonno at the other two.
Finally hearing Kanonno calling out to them, they both looked at Kanonno. "Oh? Uh...coming!" both replied simultaneously.
"Good! Now let's go!" said Kanonno as she walked in first.
Nepgear stopped a while to say something to her big sister. "You wanna know something, sis? Maybe staying here for a while isn't such a bad idea."
"Yeah. Let's try to make the best of our trip here, shall we?"
"Yeah. Oh, let's hurry inside. We don't wanna have them wait for us. I say we go inside this ship and travel the world with them."
"Well, okay. And I say I am already halfway there. Dahahahaha!" said Neptune as she was already running towards the entrance. "And the last one in is a rotten egg!"
"Aw, no fair! Wait for me!" said Nepgear as she tried to catch up to Neptune.
And so, that marks the beginning of a new adventure for our lovely Neps here. What kind of adventure will be waiting ahead of them? And how will the fellows back in Planeptune do in the absence of these two Goddesses? Find out in the next episode of Tales of Neptunia: Hyperdimensional Mythology. Man, that's a mouthful.
{Next time on Tales of Neptunia: Hyperdimensional Mythology. Chapter 1 : A New Adventure Awaits.}
Well, that's it for Prologue 3. Thanks for the help a few others, my fanfic is getting better(I think). But as always, if you found some mistakes or if you have any suggestions, please write a review or simply PM me. Thank you for your support.