Chapter 1 – Zenith to Nadir
After the incident, the two girls began to talk to one another and discussed some things whilst the Reaper was having a not-so-subtle breakdown outside. Their talk didn't get far as Compa realised that their other guest was not there and asked for Nep-Nep to stay put. It took some convincing as the energetic girl wanted to keep the pace going but soon relented.
She begrudgingly agreed, muttering how "The story can't progress without the other protagonist."
Though they got along together quite quickly, Nep's humour was one that was lost to Compa. She didn't mind but she couldn't make heads of half the things she said, so she just nodded along so she didn't get more confused than she already was.
She searched around her house looking for the half-naked man, grabbing the newly washed black shirt he wore with her from the washroom across the corridor. She went down the stairs and noticed him outside her kitchen window, staring at one of the Planeptune floating archipelagos.
It was an understandable reaction she thought. Considering that even having grown up with such wonderous sights for the landmass, it was a marvelling work of science.
Whilst she may not know the entire science behind it, she knew that each landmass was held up by the respective Goddess' blessings and Shares, the former working in tandem with the science side of Gamindustri. Supposedly, the landmasses that people walked upon used to originate down below.
Having not been the greatest history student at her school, she didn't know much about Gamindustri's origins and creation. But she knew enough to know that their Goddess did a lot for them. That was enough for her to believe in Lady Purple Heart.
Compa smiled and headed towards the bedazzled man, pushing the back door open and stepping outside. There was a breeze passing by, surprising her how it didn't seem to bother him as it was quite cold. She could feel it through her sweater!
The nurse poked the man's back, forcing him out of his daze and turn towards her. No words were exchanged in that moment, but she held out the neatly folded shirt towards him, motioning him to take it.
Ragna chuckled at this, giving her a nod as he rubbed the back of his. He took the shirt and slipped it on as best he could, before giving up, asking her to help him put it on. His bandaged arm making it more of a hassle than he'd like.
She laughed at his disgruntled look. "Sure thing Mr. Ragna. Though, um." At first Ragna was confused before taking a second to realise what she was referring to. Right, their height difference. "Could you kneel down a bit? It's a bit hard to reach that high since you're so tall..." It was safe to say that he towered over her, which he was used to even back home.
It made sense, he only really noticed this now since he was sitting down for the most part in her home before heading outside. The thoughts and concerns he had taking the forefront of his mind.
Nodding, he knelt down for her and let her pass the limp arm through the black sleeve and helping him zip the front up.
He thanked her for the gesture of help and stood up once more. He turned back to the floating island, giving it a once over before looking at her with a neutral expression.
Having succeeded in helping Ragna, with vigour Compa quickly grabbed the Reaper's wrist before pulling him towards the house. Saying that Neptune was now 'in a decent state'. Whatever she meant by that, it wasn't helped by the excited gleam in her eyes.
Having come to terms with his situation for now, he allowed himself to be pulled back into the house. It was time for some answers.
…
The party of three gathered once more in Compa's bedroom, the girls sitting around the kotatsu whilst Ragna chose to sit on the sofa. On top of the table lay three cups of pudding. Something that Neptune seemed to have close eyes on, in this case literally as she leant forward to inspect the jiggly substance.
Despite this, there was a heaviness in the air. Though Ragna didn't know what had transpired during his revelation outside, it was clear to him that something embarrassing occurred. What that entailed and to what extent, he didn't want to know for the sake of his sanity.
"Sooo… Compa." Started Neptune, hoping to break the awkward silence from the 'Bondage incident'. A term Neptune seemed to be fixated on saying as it was the first thing Ragna heard upon re-entering the room.
"It's b-bandages Nep-Nep, please stop with the misunderstanding!" Compa said, shaken out of her stupor with a blush on her face.
"No! That's not what I was talking about… I was wondering, what is this jiggly item before me? Some kind of, like, I don't know. Captured enemy or something they drop upon defeating them in battle as a loot item?" Neptune pondered at it, getting even closer to the pudding as she poked it cautiously.
The pink nurse couldn't help but giggle at Neptune's reaction towards the pudding, comparing her to something akin to a child seeing something new for the first time. That comparison was surprisingly close.
The pudgy thing jiggled as Neptune awed at it. Surely she must've have seen pudding or some kinds of confectionary foods before. Though Ragna wasn't an expert in what stores sold, seeing as most of his life he was scrounging and hunting for food to cook in the wild, he was sure something as basic as pudding was available to buy.
Maybe before her fall, Neptune was a recluse that didn't go out much? But that didn't really align with the personality she displayed from the time the group were together. Maybe she'd crash and burn soon as a result of the time she had resting from her time under the klutz nurse. Somehow, Ragna severely doubted that was the case. Call it a hunch but something else felt like it was out of play. It was that or he was just being paranoid and overanalysing her reaction to pudding.
"It's pudding Nep-Nep. It's a type of dessert and I made some in preparation for you two since I thought you'd enjoy some food when you felt better." Replied Compa. She took a spoon from the tray before pushing it towards Neptune. "Here, why don't you try it?"
"Hmm, alright!" Neptune said. She moved her head towards the spoon before engulfing the head of pudding. Her eyes twinkled in delight.
"It any good?" Ragna asked. His head being held up by his hand as he stared at the eating girl.
"Good? It's amazing! Never before have I tried such a delicacy as… What was its name again Compa?"
"Pudding, Nep-Nep." Compa said. Her hand already going for another serving of the dessert to feed the Nep.
"Yeah that's it, pudding! Food of the Gods!"
Bit of an over-exaggeration just from one taste test.
"That so?" Ragna couldn't help but stare at the two girls. Their personalities stark contrasts to the types he is commonly used to. He was more accustomed to people looking out for themselves or doing acts of kindness with malicious intent.
At the very least, they'd ask for a favour to be done and that was it. Compa was similar to Celica's personality, seemingly trying to find the best in a person and help them with no strings attached. Neptune was more carefree and jovial, kidlike, naïve to the world, evident by her reaction to pudding, the same one she was being spoon-fed by said pinkette. Almost like Tao if he had to give another comparison to someone he knew.
It was nice if he was honest. Though he also hoped Neptune's stomach wasn't an endless blackhole. His non-existent wallet couldn't handle another freeloader to steal his also non-existent Platinum Dollars.
By instinct, Ragna's face turned into his signature scowl. The thought of being a meal-ticket triggering his annoyance subconsciously.
"Mr. Ragna? Do you not like pudding?" Ragna snapped out of his thoughts and turned to the pinkette. Her face looking concerned at his scowl.
He tried to hide his expression, his face looking more forced than what he'd like. "No, that ain't it, really."
"Are you sure? You haven't touched it yet. Oh, do you need me to feed you too? Your other arm doesn't seem to respond so maybe I can help."
"No!" Cried the Reaper. "I can feed myself thank you very much." An offer like that made his head spin. He can look after himself damnit!
Ragna reached over towards the tray and picked up his own spoon before digging into the soft texture of the pudding. It jiggled on top of the spoon, dancing happily.
During this, Neptune peered over at Ragna, eyeing him intently with her almost finished cup of pudding. He looked back at her inquisitively, eyes narrowing. "The hell you want now?"
She didn't respond, only taking more glances at the pudding he had. Seeing how she seemed stubborn all of a sudden, he went back to the pudding, trying to ignore the increasing intensity he felt from her.
With a sigh, the pudding went down the hatchet. 'It tastes all right,' thought the Reaper. He didn't think that the pudding was all that special, though it could use some work. Personally it could do with some more vanilla extract to enhance the flavour or let it sit in the fridge longer.
That being said, dessert as the first meal he woke up to? Now that wasn't good for his diet. Nodding to himself, he returned the spoon and rest beside the cup.
He turned back to Neptune, her face almost asking him 'How was it?'. "It tasted about how I expected it." He spoke. The look of disbelief she had was quite funny if he was honest. "Whilst pudding isn't my first choice when it comes to a meal when waking up after resting, I can't really complain about its taste."
"Nepu?! What blasphemous words are you speaking you heathen?!" Nep yelled, pointing her spoon at Ragna's face. "You just can't seem to grasp the greatness of such a dish!"
"It's okay Nep-Nep…" Compa said trying to placate the purplette.
"If you want, you can just take my helping. Say what you will, but the food is quite filling so just take it if my honest review ticked you off that much." Ragna replied, pushing the cup towards Neptune. That'll hopefully get her of his case.
Neptune blinked at the offer before bouncing back in delight. "Really? I can have your share? Yippee! Score one for the protagonist of protagonists!" With newfound hunger, she grabbed the cup from Ragna and dug in greedily.
It seemed quite easy to quell the energetic girl with the promise of more pudding. Perhaps he should use it as a bargaining tool whenever she starts to run amok? He made sure to make note of that and consult Compa about making more pudding to control the Nep.
Mid mouthful, Neptune looked up from her pudding devouring session and spoke. "Sho, I wuz won'erin if-"
"Nep-Nep, please don't speak with your mouth full of food." Compa said. She held a handkerchief in hand and wiped Neptune's cheek, removing a bit of pudding leftover. Neptune pouted. "Much better!"
Putting down the empty cup of pudding, she spoke again. "Anyway, like I was saying. I was wondering if it were possible if we could visit the place you found us?"
That question prompted Ragna to stir from his seat, now more interested in the conversation as he leaned in. Finally, they were going somewhere with all this. As pleasant as this all has been, he'd rather start finding out the reason as to how and why he ended up in this place.
"Maybe if we went there, some kind of event might trigger something to happen! Like maybe a dream sequence, or like a plot progressing flashback. That sorta thing!" Neptune continued as she spouted out more random nonsense.
Having accepted his fate prior to his awakening, it deeply confused him as to why he was here. He wouldn't say it out loud, but the darkness that engulfed him after his actions was something he couldn't forget. Maybe something intervened with his timely demise and thought it would be funny to drop him somewhere foreign. The idea someone did so to torment him further despite all that he went through was comforting, as asinine as that sounds.
Normally he would just butt into the conversation and be up front with his questions. However, he chose not to. Whilst he didn't care much for people's thoughts about him and ignored them all together, being an ass about it didn't really do him any good most of the time. So biding his time seemed like the best option, despite it grating on his nerves from the small talk and lack of direction.
"Ohhh, sure thing Nep-Nep! I can take you and Mr. Ragna there!" Compa smiled. "We'll need to stop by the city for other supplies such as gear and equipment for the party."
That response got both guests to perk up, one in happiness and the other with a sigh of relief. Finally, progress.
Seeing as everyone was onboard to setting things in motion, the group got up and prepared for the start of their journey.
The group walked down the path from Compa's house with Compa leading as the other two followed closely behind. Though everything seemed green with life and safe, the nurse had warned the two to stick close by and not to trail too far from the track.
Of course, such a warning made Ragna arch his brow. On first impression of this place, he assumed that it was safe to travel from her place to the city. But having that told to him, it made him question as to what had her concerned for the group. Neptune however seemed to become even more curious and began to nag at Compa, trying to obtain as much information as possible from her. This of course annoyed the Reaper, a tick mark slowly appearing on his head as the purplette rambled.
The antics amongst the party carried on through their walk. It didn't take long for them to end as past the last line of trees, a giant dome with steel doors stood in front of them. It towered over treelines, the architecture similar to the one tower on the floating island Ragna saw outside at Compa's home. Before them stood two guards with spears positioned at the edges of the entrance.
"Halt! Who goes there?" cried the guard on the left as he noticed the approaching group. "Ah, Ms. Compa. It is you again, I see that you've decided to form a party." The guard began to lax, recognising the nurse with the other still unnerved.
Compa smiled at the guard before approaching them. She turned to the group. "I'll be back real quicky! So stay just right there as I tell them our reason to getting into the city, it shouldn't take too long I hope!" With that said, Compa left the two to themselves. The guard unmoving from his position as she approached.
Something was off… Was it just him or did the two of those guards seem to be just moving silhouettes?
Rubbing his eye, Ragna took a moment to look at the two guards, this time with more scrutiny. All right, so he was right the first time. They appeared to be blacked out. None of their physical features seemed to be present or at least seemed to be defined the same way he, Neptune or Compa were. Looking over at the two girls, the two didn't seem phased by this weird phenomenon.
"Psst. Neptune…" beckoned Ragna, trying his best to look inconspicuous. Evidently, he was failing as the other guard not discussing with Compa as to their reason to entering the city did what he assumed was as close as to a squint. "Is it just me or are those guys a bit… Off to you?"
Neptune looked at Ragna and titled her head at the question. "Huh? What'cha mean by that? I mean the guy chit-chatting with Compa over there seems to be normal, though the second NPC seems to find you funny looking." Right. That didn't help with his question.
"No I mean, is it normal for them to be just silhouettes?"
Just as she was about to reply, the sound of pen to paper and paper being rumpled distracted the girl. The scribbling quite aggressive and sounding close to ripping apart the paper it was on.
Compa was nodding along to the guard's words. He was now holding a clipboard with some of the pages turned over as he noted things down. It seemed that they were coming to a close as Compa stepped back towards the group, the guard making the clipboard disappear behind his body.
The first guard looked over to his stationed friend, passing him a look before nodding which they gave in return. They both stomped their left foot in tandem, turning towards each other. Before long, they lifted the butt of their spears off the ground before slamming it down. A large whine erupted from the steel doors as they opened up, the two silhouettes not fazed by the spectacle.
Seems like his question will have to be put on hold for now. Neptune seems to have forgotten entirely and is focused on the event before her. His signature scowl made its way onto his face, earning a frown from the guards.
The show from the doors opening wasn't that spectacular to Ragna, having seen similar grandiose (admittedly useless and in his opinion, stupid) events from areas in the higher echelon parts of the Hierarchical Cities. Neptune however seemed to lap up the spectacle, her eyes shining brightly with an expression of pure awe.
"Look! Look! Did'ya see that? That's so cool!" Neptune said, her excitement rising. "How'd they do that? Wait, don't tell me. It's magic right? It has to be!"
Compa giggled at Neptune's reaction, pulling on her arm gently to coax the girl inside least they waste the guards' time.
Ragna let out a sigh but didn't dispel his annoyed look before tailing the two. Just as he was about to step into the dome, he felt someone tug at the back of his shirt causing him to turn his annoyed gaze. It was the guard that was talking to Compa.
Compa and Neptune were now a bit ahead, too busy to notice the exchange going on behind them.
"You better be on your best behaviour." The guard said with as close as a glare Ragna could make heads of from. "Those two look like normal residents of Planeptune, whereas you look more closer to that of a delinquent." Ragna rolled his eye to the jab directed at him. "If you decide to cause trouble, you can say goodbye to those two and enjoy your stay in the Basilicom dungeons. Goddess knows we don't need to add more trouble to our list of things we need to deal with."
Seeing as the guard was finished, Ragna pulled his shirt back and returned his own glare, forcing a sweat-drop to appear on both the guards faces. It's been a while since he had to deal with authorities of some kind, though they didn't brandish their weapons at him and scream about enacting justice over him, he was all too familiar with their scare tactic attempts.
This annoying song and dance of being confronted this way was getting old, surely the universe had to get tired of this sick joke. He would argue he looked fine, though from how the posters were drawn of him, others seemed to disagree. Damn shitty bounty posters…
Whilst he could understand their concerns with how rough he looks at times; it didn't excuse them to be an ass about it. He sighed before looking down on them, his figure seeming to grow bigger as an imposing aura surrounded him.
"Don't touch my shit asshole or you'll learn to regret it, capiche?"
They tensed at his words; their stance changed to be ready to engage him at any point. Maybe he went too far with his own scare? They were just asking to start shit with him with how they decided to confront him. Surely no one would fault him for that.
Just as things seemed about to escalate to something worse, two loud voices cut them off, dispersing the tension and causing the Reaper to look towards the noise.
"Hey Ragsty-Rag? What's going on over there, you're falling behind ya slowpoke!"
"Mr. Ragna? Is everything okay over there?"
The two girls stood in the middle of the pathway; Neptune's hands coned around her mouth like a pseudo-megaphone as Compa stared back in concern.
Great, now they're looking his way totally confused. It certainly didn't look good on him from being stopped by the guards. Hopefully it doesn't cause them to become more wary of him and think of him as a problem. He'd probably have to talk to them and get things straight with them, a conversation he would prefer to not have at all.
With what seemed to be the twentieth sigh he had let out ever since arriving to this place, he walked away from the guards, giving them a sideways glance before ignoring them entirely.
As he walked away, the doors began to close behind him with the guards disappearing behind them and leaving the party to walk through alone.
He quickly caught up to them and began to walk beside them. It was obvious that they wanted to know what had occurred between him and the guards. Neptune's eyebrow being arched whilst Compa looked as if she was debating whether or not to ask him about it.
"Look, we've already had enough distractions. Let's just mosey on through and get things back on track. No need to dwell on what happened there, just had a question for them is all." Ragna said trying to redirect their questions from the situation prior.
Compa took his words at face value. "Oh, okay! Well if whatever you were asking those guards needs more explaining then I'll be happy to help the best I can!" She smiled at him, causing him to ease up more.
Neptune in contrast seemed to be suspicious but didn't say anything. She seemed to mutter something under her breath which he couldn't make out, but key words such as 'first flag' and 'protag pair' were repeated. Yeah, he'd rather not know.
Having cleared past the past exchange, the trio stepped out the new open steel doors and into the streets of the city.
The City of Planeptune.
According to the signs above them as they entered the city, they were in the downtown parts of Planeptune.
Above them stood many multi-story skyscrapers with different kinds of floating projections with advertisements, a purple motif that extended to the memorabilia and decorations. Each establishment containing their own connection to their Goddess by featuring the signature purple colour scheme. To say that this place's favourite colour was purple would be an understatement.
It was sort of impressive how consistent it all was if he were honest. For him, such a sight was definitely new as a lot of the Hierarchical Cities were of different heights and elevations due to the mountains they were built upon. Seeing something of this size on the same elevation further served to remind him how different this place was to his home.
As they walked down the streets of Planeptune and passing by other pedestrians going about their business, Neptune's eyes shone brightly at every small detail. It was kind of worrying with the amount of energy she had as Ragna and Compa had to try and pry her off some windows and light poles that she clung to. It was getting to the point where the people walking by started to steer clear of the enthusiastic girl and party members. The lack of embarrassment she had for her actions caused the headache the Reaper was developing to increase.
"Ooo, what's that shiny bodacious figurine over there in that back Compa?" Neptune said, her face pressed against the window of a toy store. Its owner startled by the young girl and looking antsy at her leering.
"Damnit Neptune, would you cut it out?" Ragna said as he pulled her by the hood, lifting her off her feet. "You're making a scene and I'd rather we find the stuff we need so we can go visit our drop zone. 'Progress the plot' or whatever the hell you would say." The store owner gave the Reaper a relieved look which Ragna just nodded towards before dragging Neptune back to Compa.
"To answer your question Nep-Nep, that's a figure of our Goddess, Lady Purple Heart. Or at least, one of our people's interpretations of her."
The figure in question was quite gaudy if he were honest. Though he wouldn't disagree the Lady looked stunning, some of the choices in what to accentuate was clearly targeted for a more mature audience. A black latex suit with an 8-pack of abs? And she was posed to show of her chest more than the figure itself.
A certain perverted black knight came to mind, he seemed like the type of guy who the figure was targeted for. Something like this would be right up his alley and then some.
"Well if this place's Goddess looks like that then you could count me as a firm believer. Hehehe…" Neptune giggled lewdly despite being hung up like a piñata by Ragna. "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask Compa, but what is this city called?"
"This is Planeptune. It's a city that Lady Purple Heart presides over and protects." Compa said matter-of-factly. "Honestly, it sounds quite similar to your own name Nep-Nep!"
Neptune was gently lowered down by the annoyed Ragna, unbothered by his manhandling. She pondered. "Now that you mention it, it does doesn't it?"
"Well now that we're close to the equipment stores, what things did you want us to pick up Compa?" Ragna asked looking at Compa.
"Oh right! The main items we came here for are some rejuvenation and cure items." Compa replied. "Whilst I may have a good amount of healing items and skills to support our party as a field medic, I only have enough ailments to stop debuff effects for one person. I'll need to grab more as advised by the recommended guidelines for an expedition to Virtua Forest."
Ragna and Neptune nodded at her answer.
"Wait a minute, I thought that this place was relatively safe?" He said with confusion in his tone. "Aren't we just making a small trek to where we landed, or does this have to do with that warning you gave to us back at your place?"
Compa frowned, an act unlike her normal personality. It seemed to occur to her how severe their lack of knowledge was of the situation of Gamindustri.
"Yes it does Mr. Ragna." She confirmed. "It's because Gamindustri has been under attack by monsters for a while now."
This earned her a surprised look from the two. "Most of our nation's army and guild has been dealing with the sudden rise of monsters attacking us. Because of that, it's recommended that people who aren't fighters or have experience in fighting stay home and avoid the dungeons if possible."
At least that explained the lack of security at the entrance of the city. Nobody was inside the large dome they entered before getting inside the city, it was certainly big enough to house a lot more people. Maybe they were all busy trying to fend off the monsters somewhere else?
The prospect of fighting monsters that weren't Seithr creations was intriguing to the man to say the least.
"Then how come you always take that path home alone? Isn't it safer to have others there to protect you?" Neptune asked as she tilted her head. Ragna nodded his head in agreement; however he had a sneaking suspicion as to her answer.
Compa smiled at her reassured. "It's because I'm capable of looking after myself Nep-Nep. All nurses in training are provided with a means of self-defence!" To back up her words, she pulled out a comically large syringe out from behind her.
"Holy guacamole!" Neptune cried out loud, unnerved by the sloshing pink liquid inside the syringe.
Though Ragna saw it before in her room where they rested, it was still unsettling to see such a happy-go-lucky person wield such a weapon. And just how the hell did she hide such a large thing as that on her person?
Did it have to do with that 'N-Gear' thing she kept in her purse? It would make sense with how it acted like a Phenomena Intervention. More things to ask her whenever they had a chance.
She put away the large syringe behind her, the weapon vanishing as if it never existed. It was mind boggling to see happen, the pose she struck adding to the absurdity. She flexed her arm and put her other hand on top of her bicep as she stuck her tongue out.
Before they knew it, the group stood outside of a shop that boasted ailments for cheap according to the nurse.
"We're here. Just wait right there, I'll grab the stuff we need in just a jiffy!" Before they knew it, the two protagonists were left outside as the nurse disappeared into the confines of the store.
"Ah pooey. I wanted to see what they had and haggle for some blue herbs. Maybe if we were lucky, I could acquire some yellow herbs to increase my overall health pool to match yours big guy!"
Ragna was tired of the purple runt's antics. He wanted to get this done and over with…
"Hey what the hell do you think you're doing over there?" he said, looking at the girl now walking into a suspicious alley.
Despite his yell, Neptune began to rummage through the lined bins, her face filled with concentration. What was she? A trash panda? It was obvious she was trying to find something but what exactly. He doubted whatever she was looking for would be worth the stench she would smell of from her diving. She didn't seem to be in a hurry however and just rummaged through more bins.
Just as the reaper was about to try and call out to the purplette, Compa returned. "That was quick." He said, looking over at the nurse. "Ya got everythin' we need?"
"Yessie!" Smiled the nurse. "Where's Nep-Nep at? Did she need to go to the loo?"
He shook his head and pointed towards the alley. Compa followed the hand's direction before laying her eyes on the dumpster diver. A look of concern on her face. Perhaps she'd need to conduct a more thorough checkup on Nep-Nep. Just to see if the effects of her fall were more detrimental to her mentality than she thought they were.
Right as the Reaper was about to go collect their friend, she jumped off the big was in and ran towards the group with a spry jump. She presented them her findings with a big grin on her face. It was a wooden sword. One that was apparently in really good shape.
"Look! Isn't she a beaut!" She continued to show off the sword. "It's made out of wood, but hey, it's a sword!"
"We see that Nep-Nep, but what are you gonna use it for?" Compa asked staring at her.
"…LARPing?"
"…" An incredulous look made its way onto Ragna's face whereas Compa put on a strained smile. "Uhm… Okey-dokey Nep-Nep…"
The group set off after that exchange, an air of awkwardness dampening the mood as they ventured off to Virtua Forest.
Omake after the Author Notes.
Word Count: 5371
Started: 08/06/2023
Final Draft: 15/06/2023
AN:
Hey, it's me again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter; this one is a bit smaller than the previous one as I wanted to get it all done and sorted to build up for the next chapter's events as that's when we start to venture with the beginning of the interesting stuff.
Essentially this was more of a filler/exposition part that will serve to add more foundations for things I want to explore or develop for this story, so I hope this was helps with that.
Whilst this may not be my favourite work yet, I will admit so far I feel this chapter isn't as strong as it should be. Be sure to look out for potential new patch notes/updates in the future for prior or current chapters.
The best way to encourage me through these trying times would be to leave reviews as it helps me thrive from seeing criticism or people enjoying this. So please do so if you can!
Now on to the reviews.
ArmantusCumPinnae - Hmm. I'm more used to "..." to indicate speech. The single '...' usually indicates thought. Overall i hope this continues. There was another bb/nep fic before it went cold, i hope this doesn't share the same fate. So this is post CF ragna but he couldn't use his right arm and eye? Looking forward to how this is gonna play out. Also typical of ragna with his rizz. Ragna the pimpedge ftw.
The usage of single apostrophes instead of quotation marks is mainly due to the formatting I use for my own work as an author, as I use Traditional British Prose formatting for both prose fiction and scriptwriting.
Whilst I do understand that for international formatting, it is normally done in reverse where quotation marks are for speech whereas single apostrophes is thought, I defaulted to that prose formatting out of habit than to be different really. So to accommodate that I switched to international prose formatting for your convenience. Sorry for that!
And yes, I do plan to continue this little project of mine for as long as possible, so I do hope you stick around and enjoy the story I hope to tell in full.
I will have also updated the previous chapter to also fix that and make the formatting consistent for new readers as well as touch up some mistakes that haven't been corrected, so be sure to check that out too!
Guest (1) - Do you plan on having Ragna get a harem? He does have a nice figure so it's not unexpected for girls like Compa in this setting to get flustered from his body. The writing style could be improved if there was quote marks distinguishing speech or at least brackets.
Whilst the idea of Ragna having a harem sure is an interesting prospect I have juggled around, more, or less in the current point in time as I am writing this, so far there are no plans for him to have multiple lovers or form that kind of relationship.
I will tell you though, I plan to write omakes to add more content to this story and I do want to have Ragna interact will at least a large portion of the Neptunia cast one-on-one with one another. So you can at least look forward to wacky hijinks between Ragna and the girls in the omakes.
Do note, some omakes may or may not be canon to the story. I will be sure to make it clear if they did happen or not.
And as stated with the previous review, I have changed the format to better accommodate the reader's experience. Sorry once again!
Guest (2) - Is the one who talk with Histoire Amane? Otherwise i can't think of anyone(but Amane is a guy though so I guess she is a OC then). And really like Ragna and girls's banters.
Now that would be spoiling the surprise wouldn't it? But here's a little hint, there will be no OCs that will have a significant role in the story. So it's up to you to work out who they are. Only OCs that will appear will be minor roles such as shopkeepers, guards and similar NPCs that have no impact into the overarching main story.
And thanks, interactions in both series are some of the most interesting characterisation I've seen for their pieces. So I'm trying my best to incorporate that level of characterisation and banter amongst the cast. It's a challenge to capture them all to a degree that is faithful to their media.
Now with that all out of the way, here's the first omake!
Omake – Is it Landmass or World?
The trio was looking over the edge of Planeptune, the sheer drop beneath masked by dark clouds below them.
It was quite the ominous view if Ragna was honest. Whilst the idea of high magical floating islands was interesting and a new experience, he wondered what they called the large bodies of land they inhabited.
"Hey Compa?"
"Yes Nep-Nep?"
"If the large floating islands we stand on are called Landmasses, why did I hear some people in Planeptune refer to them as worlds?"
So they were called Landmasses. 'That makes sense.' Ragna thought. A land of masses that floated. How novel…
Wait, worlds?
Both Compa and Ragna turned and stared at Neptune as if she grew a second head all of a sudden. Sure they were quite large in size, at least so far of what he experienced of Planeptune, but to call them worlds was a bit of a stretch. If anything, they seemed like they were about the size of a normal Hierarchical City. And those were littered all over Earth, there being well more than four cities.
"Yeah, there was this cute girl with a pig mask referring to the nation's as planets or something."
"Neptune that's just crazy talk. Don't listen to every person's words as if they were truthful." Ragna said, dissuading her from such things.
"But I have proof!" She yelled, waving her arms up and down. She seemed to be adamant about this.
Reaching behind her she rummaged through an invisible inventory she had before pulling items out.
A sign post. A sticker capsule. Fois gras remnants. A chicken bone. A large blow-up inflatable tube-doll. A receipt with the initials 'I.O.U' and a love heart and lipstick kiss on the corner.
Where the hell did she get these items and why does she have them on her person.
Compa clearly thought something similar along the lines of Ragna's as she seemed to be perturbed by Neptune's belongings. There was no conceivable way she got them from their trip in Planeptune since all they did was go window shopping until they picked up their ailments.
Though there was that moment where she went dumpster diving… Did she really pick up all this crap from that stuff…
He made a note to not let her go searching through trash anymore.
"There!"
After piling up a large amount of worthless items behind her, Neptune pulled out a game's manual before scrolling through its contents. The front cover striking a disturbing resemblance to her and Compa with a third girl.
She stopped at one page before turning it over to let the two read. Compa and Ragna both leaned in to see what she was making a fuss over.
A synopsis of Gamindustri. One where the writer of the manual referred to each nation as their own separate planet. Huh. It was official to, licensed by C.H and approved by Lady Purple Heart herself with a seal of approval.
"…"
"Pretty sure it was a translation error by the translator. Take it on the chin since they corrected it in mk.2."
"Oh so you can be meta Ragsy-Rag."
Ragna took his fist and collided it with the top of Neptune's head. She spun in a daze before crashing into the trash pile.
With that sorted, both Compa and Ragna departed, leaving a sleeping Neptune in her trash pile.
Next Chapter – A Crystallization of Virtua
Estimated release date: 22nd to 29th June 2023.
