Hello once more all! I hope you're buckled in; cause we're starting to get to the meat of what I got planned! I don't know how well I'm putting down what I have envisioned, but I hope you all enjoy nevertheless!
-marketvalueneps
"Any changes?" Uni asked, sighing as she rested her head in her palm, her and Nepgear talked frequently about the current outlook of the situation they found themselves thrust into, and yet, despite how frequently they would discuss…
"No… how about on your end?" Nepgear sadly responded, hoping, perhaps praying, with a sort of desperation that something would change for the positive, and yet…
"No. Noire refuses to even discuss the topic… it gets pretty tense around here. Miss Blanc was over the other day… I'm shocked another console war didn't break out…" The answers never changed. Uni spoke, as she shook her head. Blanc, like practically everyone, else had noticed the change in Neptune, and while, Blanc wasn't exactly what one would call a people person, even she could reasonably deduce who was responsible for the usually peppy goddess seemingly losing a step. When she confronted Noire about it… Uni shuddered at the memory.
Despite how the days had now blended into a few weeks. There seemed to be no sign of any change, any reason to believe Neptune would simply get over it, and go back to who she is, or was, the way she was supposed to be. There seemed to be no indication that Noire had any intention of trying to make any sort of amends for her actions as if she truly could not understand why what she had done was wrong, or how much she had hurt the goddess.
This new Neptune made Nepgear sick to her stomach. She spent her days the same, she would wake up at an early hour to begin her work, and upon finishing, she would return to her room, only leaving for the occasional meal, which Nepgear noted, never included a pudding. She only interacted with people when necessary and would otherwise keep to herself. When she would talk with people, she was soft spoken, careful with her words, and apologized frequently, often for things that were not even her fault.
This particular day had passed like many of the previous, and as Nepgear ended the call with her friend, she shook her head as she went back to the main room, where she was greeted by the sight of Histoire discussing something with IF and Compa, who both looked as at their wit's end as poor Nepgear. No matter what the old friends said to her, it didn't seem to get through to her. Most confusing to the pair was Neptune's insistence on apologizing for how much she troubled them over the years, things the duo had long since forgotten about.
IF had half the mind to smack her… something she had already tried in fairness… not that that had worked, Neptune simply rubbed the wound with softly wetted eyes. Making IF feel even worse. But even still… didn't that blockhead see how worried everyone was? Didn't she see how Compa cried? Didn't she see how worried even Histoire was? Did she even look at herself? How sad her eyes looked? Didn't she know how that made everyone else feel? Didn't she know how important she was to them…?
"Hey" Nepgear announced herself as she made her way into the group, who nodded to acknowledge the candidate, who continued, "I just got off the phone with Uni… nothing new to report…" she dejectedly explained. Nepgear didn't know where she would be if she didn't have Uni, she was maybe the only thing keeping her together at this point. But as much as that was true, Nepgear suspected she could perhaps be a little more persuasive in trying to get something, anything, even just a damn 'I'm sorry' out of her sister? Although, really, Nepgear held no right to complain, Uni had done more for her than she could have ever asked for.
"That damn hardass! I swear I might just go over there and bust her ass and make her apologize!" IF snarled as she thought about it. IF has always held a certain degree of respect for the hard working goddess, with all the time she had known her, how the goddess went about her business, and her usually level head. Not anymore, any shred of respect for her was evaporated in the mind of the veteran guild agent, as the words left her mouth, she felt someone put their hands on her shoulder, letting out a sigh, she tried to calm herself,
"Iffy… you know you can't fight a goddess…" Compa softly explained, she understood where her childhood best friend was coming from. And she knew just how much IF cared about her friend, even if she'd never tell the purple haired goddess. But Compa also knew… even if IF was possibly the strongest human, she still stood no chance against a goddess, it's just how the world worked.
"I… know. But we can't just sit here and do nothing! She should have to pay for what she did damn it! Look at Nep! She broke her damn heart! Why does she just get off scot-free!?" IF yelled, her frustrations reaching their limits. IF hadn't been this angry in possibly her whole life. Angry at the goddess, or perhaps, more so, her own inability to help her friend. Her friend who had helped her on so many occasions, who would bend over backward to help her friends. And yet? Here she was. In need of help, and IF couldn't do a damn thing to help her for a change.
She knew damn well if she actually tried to fight the goddess, it would go exceedingly poorly for her… but that didn't help the feeling in her heart! As IF took deep breaths, trying to calm herself, she noticed that her eyes felt like they were leaking. Was she… crying? "Damnit Nep…" She gritted her teeth as she tried to force down the emotion, soon feeling the woman next to her wrap her arms around her,
"I know Iffy… I'm worried about Nep-Nep too…" Compa tried her best to soothe her friend, even if she felt tears falling down her own face. She didn't remember the last time she saw her crying, and she had known her for practically her whole life. It was remarkable, perhaps they never considered how much of a steadying force Neptune had become in their lives.
After a few moments passed, and the group resumed their conversation, they eventually heard another voice announce herself,
"Hey… anything new?" The soft voice asked, as she made her way to join the quartet,
"Sorry, B-sha. We are still trying to come up with ways to improve Neptune's mood." Histoire explained as B-sha felt an indifferent look form on her face. The former Gold Third had shown up the day after the incident to once more ask her to join her in playing the game she had bought, only to find that her friend was in the state that she was in, and ever since, she couldn't shake the dread in her heart seeing her had left.
When she had seen her, it tore B-sha up inside, the way she looked, the way she seemed so scared. She looked like… B-sha herself. Back when she was a scared girl. Back when she played hero to make herself feel better, masking how much of a coward she actually was. When she couldn't even look at a monster.
Back before Neptune had saved her, freed her of her shackles.
B-sha had always looked up to Neptune. The brave, gallant Purple Heart. Protecting her country, the people, and the children. Standing up to any foe with valor. As a Planepunian born and raised, it only came as natural that B-sha idolized the goddess, it was one of the reasons she became presto mask, to protect the nation's children. But now that she had met Neptune, and become close to her, it was different. Now she knew all the things that made Neptune Neptune. All the wonderful quirks that made Planeptune's goddess herself, and yet…
They were all seemingly gone. No more was she the goofy, outgoing, hilarious, honest, kind wonderful person she was. The person who had thanked her for taking care of her country in her stead, even when B-sha had blamed herself. The person who showed her the true meaning of the word bravery, even when B-sha was a coward. The person who no one else on the planet was better to build Mecha models with. The person B-sha could spend hours talking to and not get bored...
B-sha's favorite person… She was gone.
"Well, we need to think of something!" B-sha declared,
"Gee what brilliant insight! It's so great it wraps right back around to being stupid! If we could think of something, don't you think we would have done it already!?" IF lectured, as B-sha nervously scratched her neck.
"Now IF, let's keep our heads." Nepgear put her hands up as she calmed down the brunette, who scoffed, "Let's see. Is there anything or anyone we want to try?" Nepgear asked, as everyone seemed to pool their thoughts together,
"Hmmm… there's that little girl that Nep-Nep really likes, right? She's almost like her daughter." B-sha presented, as everyone seemed to share a look of recognition.
Peashy. There might lie their best ticket to returning Neptune to herself! The eternally young CPU of the Ultra Dimension. It was as B-sha had said, she was as close to a daughter as Neptune had, and the two were extraordinarily close, and the buzzing bee child made it a habit to visit very frequently to spend time with her.
"That's an excellent suggestion, B-sha. I will contact my other self and inform her to have the child visit us tomorrow" Histoire smiled as she looked at the worked with for an ever brief amount of time. Even if the time they had spent together was brief, Histoire still found she had developed a soft spot for the blonde. In another life, surely B-sha had all the right qualifications to be a goddess, at least, Histoire genuinely believed such.
"You really think that'll work?" IF asked, as skeptical as ever,
"It's worth a shot… sis really is close with Peashy. Maybe Peashy can drag her out of this…" Nepgear pointed out, as IF simply shrugged. As the arrangements were made, the rest of the group winded down for the night, silently sharing a prayer, and placing their faith in the small girl who suddenly found herself as the one beacon of hope they had.
If this didn't work, what would?
And so the day came to be, and as had become normal, by the time Nepgear had woken up, Neptune had already been up for a few hours already. Yawning, and stretching her limbs, Nepgear made her way to the kitchen to make herself a light breakfast, soon spotting Histoire,
"Good morning, Nepgear, as I discussed last night, I got in contact with my other self, and informed her of the happenings around here. She told me she would send over Peashy on a visit today" The oracle ran through the plan for the day, as Nepgear nodded. A thought occurring to her,
"Hey… Histoire?" She asked gently, as Histoire directed her eyes to her candidate,
"What is it, Nepgear?" The always orderly oracle asked,
"Why are you helping? Why… why do you want sis like she was before? She's… working a lot harder than she ever did before…" Nepgear explained the worries in her heart, as Histoire looked at her with an indifferent gaze.
"This is… more important than that." Part of her didn't want to believe the words that left her own mouth. How long had she spent lecturing Neptune? How long had she spent trying to get her to act like a 'proper goddess'. Did even Histoire know what that meant? She had lived for the entire history of Planeptune. She knew CPUs of all dispositions, of all ethics. Why did it hurt so bad to see Neptune so pained? Wasn't she programmed to just do what was in the best interest of Planeptune?
"I just want Neptune to be happy."
Or was it that… somewhere along the lines it had changed for Histoire? She wasn't a machine… she was alive. She could feel. How illogical of her… to put her protege above the country… As Histoire gritted her teeth, an image flashed in her mind, a memory of a past partner of hers, crying her eyes out as she begged her to seal her up, and erase her from history. To eliminate her, and all she and Histoire had been through… as if it never happened at all. She couldn't let it happen again.
Nepgear could only subtly smile as she continued walking, "Thank you Histoire" and Histoire could only feel a smile form on her own face, as both of them made final preparations for today. Of course, everything they had talked about would be moot if the child didn't come through for them…
Eventually, Nepgear would hear the door to the CPU wing open up, as fast, forceful footsteps made their way inside, turning her head, she saw a blur of blonde hair rush up to her,
"Hello Peashy" Nepgear smiled, as Peashy flashed her a toothy grin,
"Where's Neptuna at? Histy told me she was being a big dummy, and I gotta cheer her up!" She yelled, as Nepgear nodded her head,
"I think she's in her room," She explained, as the young girl quickly ran past her, and down the hall to where she knew the CPUs room was, wasting no time with knocking as she simply barged in, Nepgear following after her a short while later, watching the whole event as it played out in front of her…
"Neptuna!" She yelled as Neptune seemed surprised to see her,
"P..eashy?" She tilted her head, "GAH!" Before being tackled to the ground, the small child planting her head squarely in the older woman's solar plexus,
"Hehehe Neptuna is so weak!" Peashy laughed as Neptune lay on the floor, but… "Neptuna?" Unlike every other time she had done it, Neptune didn't seem to be getting back up, only laying on the floor, "Hey, Neptuna…" She crouched down to her level, as the purplette curled herself into a ball.
"..." Neptune just stared at the girl,
"Neptuna you're acting weird" Weird. This was weird. Something about it.
"...I'm sorry"
"Nep…tuna?" Weirder and weirder. What was wrong with her? When was the last time she told her she was sorry?
"Peashy I'm so sorry" Weird. Weird. Weird.
"Neptuna you're weird! What happened to you!?" Peashy shook her, as Neptune just sat still and took it, eventually wrapping her arms around the girl,
"I let them do it to you…" She stared as Peashy's eyes widened, "It's my fault… I let them… I'm so sorry Peashy…"
"What are you talkin about?" Peashy was confused, sad, and angry. Why was Neptune doing this?
"I should have known… I should have stopped them, they turned my little girl into a weapon, how could I let it happen?" Neptune hugged her tight, as she went on, as Peashy seemed to get more and more disturbed by her.
Behind the scene Nepgear could only feel gutted. Not only did their plan not seem to be working… but poor Peashy didn't even seem to know what was happening. She seemed to not remember much, or really anything of the events during the time she was Eden's 'CPU'. She didn't remember how Annonydeth and Rei had used her, how they had pitted her against her friends and family for 10 years. She remembered none of it.
Nepgear knew that it ate at Neptune, but to this degree? Perhaps she should have been able to see that in her current state, Neptune might not be able to deal with the reminder of what she considered one of her greatest failures. To let those two turn her precious little girl into a human weapon. The atrocities they committed along the way. The lives they ruined, and how they robbed Peashy of the chance to grow up.
Nepgear could only grit her teeth as she looked back in on the two, Peashy having broken out of Neptune's vice grip, she pointed at her, tears rolling down her face,
"What happened to Neptuna!? She never acts like this! Here!" Peashy sprinted out of the room, returning a few moments later with a cup in her hand, the dessert clearly labeled with a 'NEP' on the lid, "Here's a Neptuna's pudding!" She placed the cup in front of the goddess, who seemed conflicted,
"Peashy…"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT! PEA IS P-KO!" Peashy yelled, as Neptune flinched. She didn't understand. For her whole life, Pea was P-ko. Why was she calling her by her name, and why did it hurt so bad? And why did Neptune look so hurt?
"P… P-ko. Please… I'm sorry" Neptune tried to explain, the way the girl in front of her yelled and cried hurt her in a different way than the numbing pain she had gripped at her heart, wrapped like a chain, ever since… that night. The pain that numbed her senses and dulled her heart. No matter what she did, the words kept replaying in her mind, like a broken record stuck on the same part of a track. She just wanted it to stop… Maybe… Maybe…
Maybe if she fixed herself… Noire would come back… tell her she's sorry… and then everything would be right again. Then she'd be happy again, she just had to fix herself. She just had to be better...
"Neptuna… who hurt you? I'll… I'll give them a Pea punch! I'll make the big fat meanie regret it!" Peashy declared as she gave her best attempt at a smile, yet, to her horror, Neptune only put her hand on her shoulder, a sad smile on her face,
"P-ko… I'm the only one to blame" Neptune sadly spoke, as Peashy looked on,
If something else happened after that. Nepgear didn't know it. She had seen enough. She had heard enough. Enough. Enough.. Enough…
She was done.
She didn't know what she wanted to do anymore. She wanted to cry. She wanted to leave. She wanted to give up. She wanted to find her friend and get a big hug. She wanted to look into a certain rumor about a sword that could banish evil she had heard long ago. But most of all she had had enough. She just wanted this nightmare to be over…
Somewhere across the city, as she continued her patrol, as she did every day. A masked crusader wiped her brow. Today had been a busy day. She stopped a purse snatcher, she lectured a bully, she gave a kid a lollipop… she also stopped a bank robbery and saved someone who had fallen into the river, but those weren't as important. Even then, B-sha could hardly keep her mind focused, her heart still aching, even as she put on her signature moves.
"I wonder if Nep-Nep is feeling any better…" She mused to no one in particular as she cracked her knuckles aimlessly, looking at the time, she considered if she should make her way down to the basilicom, "Well… I wanna be the first one to see Nep-Nep when she smiles again-"
Just as she was about to turn her path to the basilicom, she heard a shrill cry in the distance, "A kid?" She looked around, as she quickly made her way to the scene. She could visit later, even if her heart tore itself to shreds, Presto Mask always was there when a kid needed her… always.
As she ran across the city, quickly making her way to the scene she saw the kid who was bawling their eyes out, yet…
"Wait… you're!" This girl... "Peashy… right?" The girl dried her eyes upon hearing her name, turning to face the woman, who took off her mask to speak with her,
"You're! You gotta help! You gotta help!" Peashy eagerly tugged on her, dragging her down the sidewalk, completely overpowering the former gold third,
"Wait… wait… what happened?" B-sha tried to slow her down, how could she help if she didn't even know what she was doing? Besides if the child was here did that mean?
"..." slowing to a stop, Peashy pouted, as she stomped her foot, "Neptuna… is a big dummy. She's… she's…" The child tried to explain, not that she even fully understood it herself, the pains that Neptune was feeling, even if she was far too young to understand the depth of what she was feeling, she knew something was wrong. And everything she tried didn't work. But… perhaps this woman here could? After all, she had seen Neptuna and her together a bunch of times! And... and she was a hero.
"..." Yet B-sha was silent.
"Hey! Miss hero?" Peashy stubbornly asked, "We gotta get going!"
"...what would I even do?" She asked, surely if even Peashy couldn't do anything, then what was the point in even trying? There was no way anything B-sha could do would be even a drop in the ocean, right?
"Cmon!"
"Is there even a point?" B-sha eventually managed out, "Nothing I could do could even make a differe-"
"Pea punch!" Cutting off the woman was a flying fist that caught her straight in the jaw, sending her a few inches off the ground in a ridiculous display of strength from the small child, "Shut up! How do you know if you don't try!? Neptuna… is supposed to play with Pea… she's supposed to give her Nep's pudding! So, I'll drag you there if I have to! Neptuna always looks happy when she's with you… so make her happy again!" Peashy levied her complaints to the girl as she lay on the ground, despite the pain in her face, she felt the words resonate in her, lighting something in her.
She was right. She had to try something. All this time, she was just waiting for someone else. Someone else to fix everything. Someone else to make everything right. Someone else to give her back Neptune… but…
She had to at least try something. She had to make herself known. She'd be the one to make Neptune smile again! She'd show her, she'd show her just how worth she was to smile about. She had helped her smile back then... so she would do the same to her now! With a solidified resolve emanating in her look, B-sha put her gloved hand atop the small girl's head, giving her a thumbs up with her other, "Count on me!" She spoke in a determined tone, as she turned around, making her way to the basilicom,
"Where is everyone?" She asked as she made her way into the CPU wing, devoid of any life. Looking around, B-sha felt a solemn look grow on her face. How emblematic, she thought. Neptune… was the glue that held everything together. Without her, the very life got sucked out of everything.
She didn't know what she'd do… but B-sha couldn't let this go on anymore, right? Neptune was… her joy, her favorite person. She… wasn't allowed to be so devoid of life. She was supposed to be the life; how could B-sha just sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to rebuild her? B-sha would breathe life back into her, at any cost. Even if it cost her every single one of her credits.
Feeling even more resolve in her, she made her way down the hall, knocking on Neptune's door, she heard a quiet mumble from inside,
"Who is it?"
"Your wake-up call! Free of charge!" B-sha declared as she (very over dramatically) kicked open the door, triumphantly entering the scene with her hands on her sides,
"B…sha?" Neptune asked as she glanced over, looking to where the voice had emanated from, B-sha took in the scene with a mild amount of discomfort. Neptune, curled into a ball on her bed, looking at her, then back at where she had come from, she gently shut the door as she made her way over to where the CPU was, taking a seat at the edge of the bed,
"But really. Nep-Nep, what's happening with you? You have to see how worried I am... how worried all of us are about you. Nep-Nep... we care about you... talk to us" B-sha didn't even know where to begin. Sure, she had a… pretty good guess about what left her looking like this. But she still needed to start somewhere,
"...go away." But Neptune didn't want to. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to remember. She didn't want to believe it was even real.
"Noope. A certain amazing goddess taught me once that the best time to talk to someone is when they're at their lowest." B-sha gently spoke as she flashed Neptune a smile, "She also taught me sometimes you have to be a stubborn turd in order to get through to people important to you!"
"...you're wasting your time on me" Neptune felt a shadow cover her face, as she hugged her knees even closer to her chest, looking over when she felt a hand on her shoulder,
"Well then it's a good thing I got a loooong time. Cause I'm not leaving till I see a patented Nep-Nep smile!" B-sha proudly declared, a toothy grin on her own face, as Neptune just stared at her, a weird feeling evoking in her chest.
Get ready for it, it's all about to go down! Until then, I see I have some reviews to get to!
Bewaredemonic- Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
end5- Thank you as always. As for the second part... oh boy, wait till you see what it's gonna take...
Tony Anderson- Yea... poor Nep. Having your heart shattered to tiny pieces sure does hurt a lot... Don't worry, things will eventually go her way. In life sometimes we need to go through our lowest points to come out, in the end, a better person, and perhaps that's what Nep needs. We shall see, no?