Hello all, and welcome to chapter 2 of this lil thing I'm writing, hope you're buckled up, cause this is a bit of a toughie here. Honestly hurt to write at some points, I don't like the characters being sad, but, sometimes, in order to be happy, you have to go through sadness, right? Regardless, I hope you all enjoy, and stay tuned for what I have cooking!
-marketvalueneps
Uni let out a deep sigh, pushing her hand through her hair, as she tried her best to manage whatever was happening tonight. When Noire had come back from her date, to say she looked upset would be the understatement of the century, Uni had never seen her sister like that. It was a bitter sort of malice written all over her face.
"Noire? What happened?" She gently asked, as Noire simply stormed past her, only offering a brief response,
"I don't ever want to see that arrogant self-entitled broad ever again. Never once in her life has she ever even thought of anything!" She spat out, as she immediately went to the office, making a great deal of effort to slam the large door shut as Uni flinched. After a few minutes, Uni slowly walked up to the door, gently knocking, before she heard a yell ring out from inside,
"I can do it all!" Noire yelled, as Uni felt her face droop, with a sag, she turned, walking down the hall, sitting against the wall as she brought her knees to her chest. What on Earth happened? She said she was going on a date, that meant she was with…
Neptune.
What did she do? Uni felt a snarl form on her face, what did that incompetent sorry excuse of a goddess do to her sister? As Uni tried her best to think of possibilities, she seemed to miss the passing of time, only looking up when she heard the door to the office open once more, eagerly, Uni shot her eyes over to the door, to see Noire exiting, her face, while certainly not what it usually looked like, was far calmer than it was when she had first arrived,
"Noire?" Uni gently asked, as Noire let out a sigh, eventually speaking with a cold tone,
"Uni. I don't want you going to Planeptune. At least for the foreseeable future." She pointedly spoke, as she looked her sister in the eyes, who was more than a little taken aback,
"W-what?" She asked, dumbfounded. She couldn't remember anything even close to this ever happening before,
"I don't know exactly how Neptune is going to react to what happened tonight, I don't want her trying anything to you, I know you're close to Nepgear, but who even knows what Neptune plans on telling her." Noire explained, as Uni seemed more and more taken aback. Neptune might… hurt her? Was this real?
"Noire. What happened?" Uni asked desperately trying to get any answers, Noire tilted her head for a moment, before continuing, explaining as much as she thought was necessary
"I told her what was on my mind. Not that she ever even listened before." She simply explained, before turning on her heel and heading back into the office, without another word. And there Uni was left once more, only slightly closer to figuring out what had happened between the goddesses, eventually, Uni felt a vibration in her pocket, withdrawing her phone, her eyes widened as she saw the caller ID
Incoming call: Nepgear
Taking a deep breath, Uni answered the call, "N-Nepgea-"
"What did she do." Nepgear wasted no time with pleasantries as she immediately drilled her fellow goddess in training, her tone icy, and demanding immediate answers. "Uni. Answer me"
"W-what?" Uni was more and more lost,
"I said. What. Did. She. Do. To. My. Sister?" Nepgear asked once more, as Uni gulped. She had never heard her best friend take a tone like this; it was… scary. First Noire now this… what was going on!? Uni didn't know what to do… she didn't know what she would do, especially if Nepgear kept talking to her like this.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on!? First Noire shows up looking like she's ready to fight the final boss, and now you're doing this. Nepgear! What is happening!?" Uni yelled out in desperation, and for a moment, there was a pause on the other end of the line, before a long deep breath,
"I'm sorry…" Nepgear apologized, as Uni let a small smile creep onto her face, this sounded much more like her friend, "It's not you I'm mad at… I shouldn't take it out on you" Nepgear sounded apologetic enough, but even over the call, Uni could tell she was holding back on some venomous words,
"It's ok I suppose, now mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Uni asked once more, as Nepgear seemed to consider it,
"Well… All I know is when sis came back from her date, she was crying, and locked herself in her room, she won't talk to anyone or let anyone in… Uni… I've never seen her cry like that…" Nepgear now sounded like she was on the verge of tears as Uni's eyes widened once more. What on earth happened between those two?
"Oh my god… what did sis do…" Was all she could say, shakily looking over to the closed office door, remembering her earlier words, Uni eventually spoke once more, "She told me… not to go over to Planeptune, because she didn't know if Miss Neptune would do something to me" She explained, and once more, there was silence. "Nepgear?"
"She said what?" Nepgear asked, her tone once more taking its icy state, as Uni gulped, "I need to go," Was all she said, as she hung up the call. Leaving Uni once more alone, in silence. Looking around, she couldn't help but notice how ethereal everything felt, like she wasn't even there at the moment, the whole world feeling like it was far beyond her at this point, like she was playing a game she had no choice in the ending she would get,
"What the hell is happening?" was all she could say, as she slumped herself against the wall once more, curling herself into a ball, before eventually lugging herself to her bed, in silence.
Across the continent, the lilac-haired goddess in training could only feel herself sigh as well. Trying her best to keep calm, even if she found the task nearly impossible. Not only did Noire do whatever the hell it was she did to Neptune, but she also had the gall to imply Neptune would do something to Uni? Nepgear couldn't help but furl her nose at the idea, before shaking her head. Someone had to be the one to keep their head here.
Really, she did feel bad about yelling at Uni like that, Uni was one of the most important people in her whole life, and it should go without saying that she was not responsible for what her sister did. But, at the same time, Nepgear had never seen Neptune like this… it broke her heart,
Her big, strong, perfect older sister. She had looked up to her for her whole life. Even if people found her adoration silly, and often mocked her for it, she cared not. Neptune was her idol. Fearless, when Nepgear was often scared. Strong, when Nepgear was weak. She kept everyone together, even when Nepgear had no clue what to say. Neptune… wasn't allowed to look like that… she just wasn't.
Shaking her head once more, Nepgear put her hands on her knees, as she forced her body up, gently walking over to the still closed door, she looked at the frame with sad indifference, plucking a piece of paper off it, she analyzed the drawing with a pained heart. It was a drawing of Neptune and Noire that Peashy had done. Neptune was so proud of the drawing that she immediately hung it on her door. It was crude, sure, but so was everything the young artist did, not that Neptune particularly cared. She loved it nevertheless, and she even eagerly photocopied it, and sent it all the way to Lastation… Nepgear didn't know what to do… about anything,
It was as if the world had fallen apart.
Gulping, Nepgear shakily reached out her hand, knocking on the door ever so gently, expecting much of the same she had gotten throughout the night. Cold, indifferent silence. As if she was talking to a ghost. A shell, something that barely resembled her sister.
Yet, to her surprise,
"...who's there?" A quiet voice resonated from inside, as Nepgear felt something surge in her, her eyes springing to life,
"It's me, sis" Nepgear responded, hopeful, praying, that this was a sign of something, anything, any sort of life in her sister, yet,
"..." Once more the silence had returned. Deafening, stealing all the life from Nepgear's world.
"Sis. Please" Nepgear pleaded, and after a short moment that felt like it lasted an eternity in of itself, the door flung itself open, and Neptune, still clad in the dress she had put so much effort into picking out, stood there. Her face was an empty void, long since had she run out of tears to cry. Crumbling to her knees as she looked at Nepgear, she slowly crawled over to her younger sister, as she desperately clutched herself around her, almost in an attempt to keep her where she was,
"Nepgear…" The girl could only feel her stomach churn. Two things were already very wrong. 1. Neptune's voice, it was barely there, desperate in tone. It didn't sound like she was really even there. And 2. Neptune called her… by her first name. She never did that. Nepgear was Nep Jr. For as long as she had ever lived, as long as her memory served, Neptune had never called her 'Nepgear'. Yet, none of those hurt Nepgear as much as the next words out of her sister's mouth,
"Nepgear… please don't hate me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… I'm…" She said as her hands shook, clutching her sister with as much strength as she could manage, as Nepgear felt tears of her own fall down her cheeks,
"Sis… why… why would I ever hate you?" Nepgear asked, reassuring her broken sister as much as she could, wrapping her arms tightly around her,
"I'm terrible… after all the things I've… done to you…" Neptune spoke in broken fragments as Nepgear could feel her whole body shaking, "When… we were… with Plutie…" Nepgear felt her eyes widen, as she backed away from their embrace for a moment, in order to look her sister in the eyes,
"Neptune, that was a long time ago. You've already apologized for that more than enough. It's not your fault people didn't like me after Mk2…" She tried her best to explain, her voice as soothing as she could make it, yet it served to do nothing to help the state of the goddess, as she vehemently shook her head, her dry eyes attempting to produce more tears,
"No, it's not… Your selfish older sister just hogged everything for herself again… Nepgear-" Nepgear felt her heart tearing itself to shreds. It hurt more than any wound she had ever received,
"Stop! Stop… stop calling me that…" She cried out. How? How did her own name hurt so bad?
"...how selfish would one woman have to be to not even dignify her own sister with her own name?" Neptune squeaked out, as Nepgear gritted her teeth, bringing Neptune even closer,
"Neptune… Neptune… I love the name you gave me. Because you gave it to me! Plutia calls me Neppy Jr… Uzume calls me Gearsy! You… you're supposed to call me Nep Jr…" Nepgear desperately yelled, before feeling her voice fade into a sob.
"Nepgear… I tried to kill you. How can you possibly say you don't hate me?" Neptune asked, voice dwindled to a husk of its normal peppiness. Nepgear could only feel her hollow mind numb even more… Did she really mean?
"Neptune that wasn't you… Kurome, Kurome made you do that. I don't blame you for what happened there" She tried to reason, even if she felt it in her mind, her ability to reason, shattered, like the rest of everything.
"I still did it. I felt like I wanted to do it. How selfish did I have to be to believe that dream she showed me? To believe that killing my only sister was the way I'd achieve my dream…" Neptune painfully responded as her head drooped,
"Sis, it's not your fault… Everyone else fell for it too, Kurome lied to us all" Nepgear added, as Neptune's face twinged,
"But-"
"Neptune! But nothing! Stop trying to find reasons for me to hate you! I… I love you! You're my older sister!" But… no matter what Nepgear yelled… no matter what she said. Nothing got that look off of Neptune's face. Nothing returned her to the way she was supposed to look. Neptune was supposed to smile, a fearless smile as she embraced the world. But as the two lay like that till, they both fatigued themselves to the point of exhaustion. Nepgear hadn't gotten any closer than where she began.
As Nepgear felt herself stirring from her sleep, and the events of the last night came flooding back, she shot up, looking around to see someone had dragged her to her room. Immediately getting to her feet, and rushing down the hall, Nepgear soon found herself in the kitchen, spotting Histoire thereafter,
"Histoire!" She yelled as she couldn't help but notice the distant look on the usually stoic oracle's face,
"Neptune… is in the office." Was all she said, before feeling something of a disgusted look form on her face, "I always said I wanted a CPU who diligently worked for the betterment of her nation… but I never actually considered how it would make me feel. How embarrassing" It was a tone Nepgear never heard the oracle take before, indifferent, with a sense of regret.
Nepgear gritted her teeth as she heard the words, silently thanking the woman she had known her whole life, she made her way further down the hall, as she looked painstakingly at the door to the oft-forgotten office. When was the last time Neptune willingly stepped foot in here? When was the last time Histoire didn't have to lasso her into it? Gulping, Nepgear made her way in, as she took in what awaited her.
Something about it made her want to hurl.
Neptune was sitting at her desk, diligently sorting through the documents, dressed in a fitting office shirt Nepgear didn't even know she had, her hair neatly combed, a neutral look on her face.
"S-sis?" Nepgear asked, not sure she was even experiencing reality anymore,
"Yes? Nepgear?" Neptune's quiet voice churned Nepgear's stomach more and more. She felt like she was going to break.
"This- this isn't right…" Nepgear held back tears as she nearly stumbled backward, how badly had Noire broken her sister?
"...a goddess has to work for her country. How selfish would a goddess have to be to ignore her duties?" Neptune responded, almost emptily. As if a robot.
Nepgear felt something snap as she rushed forward, tears streaming down her face as she grabbed Neptune by her shoulders, shaking her as she yelled,
"Sis! I don't care whatever Noire told you! We… I… I need you. Neptune…" She cried as she felt her numb arms fall to her side. But she could only see a shadow cover her eyes, nearly as soon as she mentioned the goddess of Lastation's name.
"Nepgear… I can't keep going on like this… I can't keep being… so selfish" her words were gutted, from a woman broken to her very core. Trying to attain a desperate form of redemption she somehow knew was impossible. To make things 'right' again, as if she even knew what that meant.
Nepgear couldn't hear bear to hear any more, as she ran out of the room, ran down the hall locking herself in her room, hugging her knees to her chest as she cried. Desperately she did the only thing she could think of, dialing a familiar string of digits on her phone, hearing the ringing before the person picked up,
"Nepgear?" At least the sound in her best friend's voice was normal, yet it did nothing to stop her sobbing, "Nepgear!? What's going on!?" Uni worriedly asked, already hearing Nepgear's sobbing,
"Uni… make her apologize… please. Please…. please…" She cried out, hiccups interrupting her sobs, her desperate pleas breaking the heart of Lastation's second in command,
"..." Uni had nothing to even say, having no idea what to even think anymore, what had happened to the casual boring everydays she had grown accustomed to? She'd trade whatever this was for those without a second thought…
"Make her take it back… make her apologize… Give me my sister back… Give… me… Neptune… back… Uni? Please?" Nepgear's pleas grew harder and harder to listen to. The strong, dependable, kind as anyone on the earth Nepgear, devolved to sobbing…
Uni had never heard Nepgear like this. It was retching. It was desperate, from someone who knew they were powerless. From a young adolescent who stayed up all night, and still, nothing she had tried had worked. Uni could only think one thing.
What on earth did Noire do? What did she say? To leave the always confident Neptune in a state like that? To where even Nepgear couldn't help? Uni gritted her teeth, not wanting to accept it. Noire was her sister, the perfect idol she had always looked up to, the woman who showed her her dream, the perfect embodiment of what a goddess should be… yet…
"Uniiiii…" her best friend, perhaps the single most important person in her entire life was here, sobbing her eyes out. Uni didn't know if she could take it.
"Nepgear… I'll… I'll see what I can do, ok? So… please stop crying, ok? You're not supposed to cry, right? It's supposed to be me that always messes up and cries, and then you're the one there for me, right? Not the other way around." Uni tried her best to mend the situation, fighting back tears of her own, as she heard sniffling on the other end, as Nepgear fought back the sobs that wracked her body.
"Thank youu… Uniii, I…" Nepgear certainly said something after that, but perhaps through her hiccups and slobbering tone, or perhaps through interference on the call, or perhaps through sheer luck, if she had said something, Uni didn't hear it.
"Ok… ok… I'll see what I can do. But… no promises, ok? Ok? See what you can do on your end, try and relax a bit ok? Talk to you in a bit. I promise" Uni ended the call as she let out a deep sigh. Unaware of if she even could do anything. She wasn't even sure what happened at all between their two sisters, much less what Noire even said to begin with, but. She was sure of one thing,
Nepgear wasn't allowed to cry like that, it tore Uni's heart to shreds. Unlike anything she had experienced. Someone had to answer for this.
Summoning all her resolve, Uni made her way down the hall, gently knocking on the door to the office, as she waited for the woman inside to respond, eventually she called out one thing or the other, and Uni let herself in.
"Uni. What do you need?" The stoic woman asked, as Uni considered all her options, eventually electing to start from the ground up,
"Noire… what did you say to Miss Neptune? What happened between you two?" She gently asked as she saw Noire's face sour, an almost snarl forming on her lips,
"Why do you need to know? I just told her what she needed to hear, that she's an arrogant, selfish, self entitled sorry excuse of a goddess" Noire huffed as she crossed her arms, Uni feeling dread evoking in the pit of her stomach. How… how could she say that?
"Noire… you… you should apologize. That was too far. You really hurt her… she's supposed to be our friend…" Uni tried to gently explain, yet Noire seemed to scoff, not understanding what Uni was trying to imply,
"And who are you to give me advice on how I handle my relationships? Uni you don't need to worry about it. It's not your problem." Noire explained as Uni gritted her teeth, a strange feeling ripening in her gut,
Anger. She couldn't believe Noire! Never in her life had Uni ever felt like this towards Noire. Noire was always someone she looked up to. Modeled her life after, how could she be saying this?
"Well! If it's got Nepgear bawling her eyes out because her sister isn't acting like herself then you bet it's my issue now!" Uni glared at her sister who only mirrored the gesture, the two sisters engaging in their invisible warfare with their eyes,
"I told Neptune what she needed to hear. She needed to be told that. She can't keep acting like that. Leave yourself out of my personal affairs, Uni. That is all. If you have any work, then get to it" Noire defiantly ended the conversation. As she glared daggers at her younger sister.
Uni could only feel a snarl form on her face as she turned her back to her sister. Heading out without a word as she grabbed her work for the day. Making off to her office, as she restrained herself from slamming the door in frustration. Noire was known to be a hardass, but this was just absurd, how could she not see? How could she not see that what she had said had seriously damaged Neptune, and more importantly to Uni, how that affected Nepgear. Was she really that tone deaf?
Taking a seat on her chair she nervously eyed her phone. Uni didn't know what to do, or how to tell Nepgear. How to tell her just how badly her own sister had fucked up. That, Noire, stubborn as ever, didn't plan on fixing what she had so thoroughly damaged. At this moment, at a single moment in time…
"What do I do now?"
A thought seemingly telepathically shared between the CPU candidates of Lastation and Planeptune. As they began to think through all the ways to rebuild what was broken.
Hello all, and as per most of the stories on this page, I like to take a moment here to respond to all the reviews I get, I just think it's a fun little thing to do. Now, hopefully, I don't get too many mad Noire fans in my reviews lol. That'd be interesting too, but I see I have two familiar faces here, so, to get to it,
end5- Thank you as always for your support! Hope you'll stick around to see exactly what I've got planned.
Tony Anderson- Great to see you here. Glad to hear it, and I hope you enjoy!