Chapter 5: Rivals reunited.

"If humanity was left alone, they would surely bring about their own destruction. Therefore, is our method really so cruel?"-?

Noire POV

When I saw the light enter the room, I was scared. When the door opened, it usually meant more tests. More pain. But weirdly this time was different. The one who walked through the door wasn't the usual scientist, he lacked glasses and there was no lab coat on him. As he got closer, I managed to get a better look at him. He had brown hair with a patch of orange and blueish-grey eyes. The young man in front of me was definitely not one of Avenir's scientists. Being curious I asked who he was.

He smiled at me, a smile that was filled with care, before answering. "I'm here to save you" I couldn't hear the rest of his sentence. Those first five words were enough for me to understand. I didn't feel curious anymore, instead a cold feeling flowed through my body. "Don't...don't give me hope." it hurt to speak, not only because of the state of my body, but also because his words were said many times before.

This young man was a stranger to me, but that didn't mean I was going to lead him to his death. Even if it hurt to do so, I needed to warn him. "Others have tried... all of them... failed" I hoped he would understand what I meant, that he would leave me be, and hopefully save himself.

But he didn't. Instead, something completely unexpected happened. A wing made of a brilliant golden-orange light formed behind him as he spoke. "The others weren't like me." it was a simple statement, something anyone with confidence might say. But the words coming from him specifically, as well as the comforting warmth his wing gave off. Was enough to give me hope. I had never seen anyone, human or otherwise create anything like the majestic wing the man in front of me produced. To do something like that required power.

Though I had a bit of hope, I wasn't blind. Even if he was strong, I wasn't. Avenir had purposely been underfeeding me to keep me weak. That coupled with the lack of faith, and therefore a lack of shares. Meant that even if he did free me, he would have to deal with me being deadweight. It didn't matter how strong he was, if he had to carry me out of here, we would both be vulnerable.

Being as weak as I was, I was powerless to stop what he did next. He summoned a blade of light that shared the colour and majesty of his wing and cut me down from my prison, slicing through the hollow tubes that pierced my skin and drained my blood. I flopped downwards and into his arms. Once I was in his arms he seemed to pause for a moment, as if in thought, before walking over to the storage draws and picking out the vials of the nutrient-rich fluid I was fed daily. He asked me what they were, and I told him. (Even if I don't escape, at least I get to have a more fulfilling meal.)

He then opened one of the vials and took a sip. (Maybe he's testing for drugs?) after a moment he gave me all of the vials he held, and I gladly began to drink them. Once I finished, he once again did something I didn't expect and began to chant. His words were soothing and warm, and as he spoke feathers detached from his wing and floated towards me. When they touched my skin, I felt my body be revitalised, my weak body returning to a much stronger and healthier state. Somehow this strange boy had healed me completely!

"What the-" thankfully I had managed to catch myself before I accidently cursed. After thanking him, he 'gave' me a sword (more like threw!). The blade was the perfect size and fit well into my hands.

I was no longer a burden; I was an asset.

I could fight.

We could make it!

Before we began to leave, my savoir asked me a question. "Do you happen to have another name you could use? Apart from 'Lady Black Heart' of course. No offence but that's a bit too many syllables." he knew who I was? That was odd, the others didn't, they just thought I was just another subject about to be experimented on.

I told him my name, my true name. He deserved that much at least. Though when he complimented me on it, I defaulted to my usual reaction. "i-its not like I was looking for your approval or anything!" I couldn't help it! I hadn't been complimented in years (wait, that sounds worse!). Before I could think about my cringe-worthy response any more than I already had, the mysterious young man before me spoke. "Regardless, how about we get going? I've had quite enough of this place." I couldn't have agreed more.

Our escape was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. While there were a lot of guards, they were no match for us. After a relatively short amount of time, we were finally out.

Then something strange-but not bad- happened. The young man next to me turned to face the building we just escaped from, and after a second, began to chant. My first thought was that he was going to use magic, but that was quickly proven wrong the second he started to speak. A massive, elegant bow made of radiant golden-orange light appeared, string pulling back and summoning equally-as-luminescent arrows. Within a second the arrows were launched, piercing the outside of the facility.

Then he snapped his fingers. And the cursed building exploded in a flash of brilliant light. "w-what are you?" I couldn't help the stutter in my voice. The show of power he just performed was unlike anything I had ever seen from a human. "a stranger far away from home." to make things worse, he didn't even give me a straight answer!

His lacklustre reply was quickly forgotten the second I looked I at the sky. It was far darker than it had ever been. (Has the pollution gotten that bad?) my mood had dropped yet again. If the sky had gotten that bad while I was gone, what else had happened? How much had my people suffered? "What have Avenir done while I was imprisoned." his answer didn't soothe my worries whatsoever. "a lot." before I could fall into full on panic however, he continued to speak. "But that can wait, you need time to recover." I replied immediately "I'm fine!" I wasn't, not in the slightest, but I had to know. I had to help my people. "Maybe physically, but not mentally." Unfortunately, I couldn't reject his logic, even if I was emotional, I could see he had a point. I could feel tears begin to well up in my eyes, deciding to only nod in agreement with his words.

He once again surprised me. I expected a look of pity, or a comforting hand on my shoulder. I did not expect however a hug. My lack of experience with physical affection and comfort lead to me once again saying something cringe-worthy. "W-what are you doing, pervert!" despite my words, his act of comfort was having a positive effect on me. He then went a step further and began to speak again. "don't worry about the past, don't get caught up on your mistakes, you're free now. That means we can fix this mess." his words were something I didn't know I needed to hear. The second his words reached my ears I felt my mind clear, and the guilt I felt weighing me down stopped, at least for the moment.

I took a moment to enjoy the comfort of the hug before I decided to separate from him. "Thank you... for everything." I meant every word. He had found me, healed me, gave me freedom, and burned that awful facility to the ground. I couldn't thank him enough for what he had done for me. "you're welcome. Now my dear goddess, let's get you somewhere safe." his words held more meaning than he probably thought they did. He called me as 'his goddess' that was enough for me to feel more strength come to my body. Surprisingly despite only being one person, the amount of power his faith alone gave me was more than what was normal from a single person.

That fact only deepened the mystery surrounding the one that saved me.

After a while of following him, my savoir lead me to a building. it was a place called 'Passe', and according to the one besides me, it was a safe zone from Avenir that operated as a factory, a restaurant and was where my savoir was staying. Therefore, my hopes were pretty high when entering the building.

Said hopes were immediately subverted When I went through the doors. I expected to see the owner, and maybe a customer or two. I didn't expect to meet my rival. "N-Neptune?" I tried to not stutter. Really, I did! But I couldn't help myself. To see one of my enemies on my very own landmass was not something I could've ever imagined. "Huh? You know me miss loner?" (LONER?) "I'll have you know I have plenty of friends!" I didn't mean to shout, really! But it seemed even after all these years Neptune knew how to push my buttons.

(Though now that I think about it.) "What are you doing here, shouldn't you be on Planeptune?" as the goddess of a rival Landmass, the fact that she was here was well beyond weird. And this was Neptune we're talking about here! "weeelll, I've already got its key fragment. Besides, backtracking is just bad game design!" as per usual, she used her tactic of inserting video game terminology when explaining things. That didn't stop me from having more questions I needed answers for...and being a little irritated.

As miffed as I was however, I was still able to understand, and be confused by Neptune's words. (Key fragment?) before I was able to ask about the foreign term, the young man next to me interrupted. "Don't be so rude Neptune, she's a guest." he walked right up to her and flicked her in the forehead, causing her to flinch. (HA, serves you right!) but the action did create more questions. Why would a human so casually flick the forehead of a goddess? Even if he didn't believe in Neptune, no normal human would ignore all possible consequence and just do it. (More questions for later I guess.)

"But look at her! She has a face that screams 'hey, I'm socially inept and desperate for friends'!" as annoyed as I was at her once again insulting my lack of friends (which isn't true at all!) I was more surprised at her use of language; Neptune normally never used such words as 'inept' before. "Neptune my dear, do I have to take away your pudding privileges?" the look on her face was priceless, who knew such a mundane threat could cause a goddess to look so frightened. "NO!" she screamed. "Well then, apologise to Noire." her response was instantaneous. "I'm sorry Noire!" her apology was surprisingly sincere. then again, I think the punishment was probably the reason why.

Since I was such a nice and benevolent goddess, I decided to forgive her. "Apology accepted Neptune. And for the record I do have a friend." I pointed at my savoir, considering all he had done for me, it would have been really rude to not consider him a friend. Neptune didn't look surprised at my statement, and instead asked a question. "Really? Then what's his name?" (Crap!) I didn't know his name, I never asked, and he never told me. Eventually I decided to just make a guess. "Er...Jared?" she gave me the smuggest look I had ever seen. "BZZT wrong! His name is Zeddy!" (Zeddy? What a strange name.) though I hated being proven wrong, especially by my rival, at least now I knew my Savoir's name.

"Now now Neptune, there is no need to spread incorrect information." 'Zeddy' looked at me "'Zeddy' is merely a nickname. My real name is Zed." the now correctly named 'Zed' finished his sentence with a gentle smile. "And for your information Neptune. Noire here is indeed my friend, just as you, Compa, and IF are." his response put a smile on my face, it had been so long since someone had called me that.

Neptune then did something completely out of left field, and hugged Zed from the side. "Well don't be gettin' any idea's lady, Zeddy here is mine!" (…. What?) she was sounding more like a possessive girlfriend rather than just a friend. "What idea? I've only just met him." before I could explain further, two others joined the conversation. Both were girls, one had long brown hair, the other had long peach-coloured hair. The latter spoke first.

"Nep-Nep, Zeddy belongs to all of us, don't be greedy!" she then latched onto Zed's opposite side. The brown-haired girl just sighed before speaking. "Don't mind them, Neptune has always been weird and Compa is just really affectionate. Besides Neptune's probably only acting like this because Zed spoils her with loads of pudding whenever she gets the chance to ask." Neptune was quick to defend herself. "N-no, that's totally not it!" for the first time ever, Neptune was the one embarrassed. (Serves you right!)

"Regardless of Neptune's dreadful pudding addiction, how were things for you three? Did you manage to acquire the mythril?" Zed spoke again, and the brown-haired one responded. "as well as we hoped, even better actually. We found the mythril, as well as a potential lead on where the next key fragment is." after she had spoken, Neptune started to talk. "Yup, we found this pedestal-thingy. When I put the key fragment into it, it fit perfectly. Just like pudding and chocolate!" Neptune had separated from Zed at this point and was flailing her arms as she spoke.

Once again, this mysterious 'key fragment' was mentioned. "Which leads me to believe that someone in Lastation has already taken its key fragment. All we need to do now is ask around." the brown-haired girl said. Afterwards Zed spoke again "Ah, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself and my beloved comrades. The brown-haired girl is IF, she's a veteran adventurer. The Peach-haired girl is Compa, she's a nurse in training. The purple-haired munchkin is Neptune, though I do believe you already knew that." he then summoned his angelic-looking wing. "And as I have stated before I am Zed. Similar to IF I am also an adventurer, though I am a fairly recent addition."

He took a second before continuing. "My group and I are searching for blue crystal-like items called 'key fragments.' we believe there to be 4 of them spread across the four landmasses." while his words revealed his motivations, they didn't answer the question of why they were searching for them in the first place. However, that bit of information was far less important than my own goal, so I decided not to ask. "How was your trip Zeddy? Did you find anything important? What about the goddess, did you find her?" Compa asked him. Zed thoughtfully looked at me for permission to speak on what happened. I shook my head.

Bringing up that facility made me suddenly feel lethargic. I wasn't ready to speak about it just yet, and I knew they would have questions. I was tired and wanted nothing more at that moment then to sleep. Thankfully Zed took my unwillingness to speak about it into consideration and shook his head. "i will inform you at a later date, todays' events have tired me out. Come to think of it why don't you all do the same? Surely you three could use some rest as well?" the three he mentioned all nodded their heads in agreement and went to the buildings' higher floors, presumably to go to their rooms to rest.

Zed stayed down, however. "You should go rest; I have no doubt that today was not easy for you." he handed me a key "this is the key to my room, take it and go rest. We can discuss a plan going forward tomorrow." I took the key from his hand, thanking him as I did so, before I walked up the stairs and into his room. (Is that... a dragon?) on Zed's bed there was a creature. It looked like a cross between a bird and a dragon. It turned its eyes on me and seemed to stare directly into my soul for what felt like forever, before eventually flying onto my shoulder and rubbing its head on my face. (Is it... trying to comfort me?)

If it was, it was working. As it was rubbing itself against me, I felt my mind clear, and all the thoughts of today including my worries about Avenir and my people, disappeared. My eyes felt heavy and my arms and legs, weak. I slowly walked towards the bed, and I laid down I fell asleep almost instantly.

Noire's dream

You failed as a goddess; your people are suffering.

The taunting voice that haunted my dreams spoke again, sounding exactly like mine.

All because you desired power.

As much as I would've liked to argue against it, the voice was right.

The once blue skies are now as black as your heart, oh-so-benevolent Goddess.

Every mocking word cut through me like razors.

'Stop...please... I can fix this!'

Can you really? Or will you be crushed once more by the very same mortals that chained you in the first place?

those words especially got to me. Despite my newfound freedom, what was really stopping Avenir from capturing me again? How long until I was in that abyss of a lab? chained to a wall once more, and having my very own blood used for goddess' knows what?

Your people no longer have faith in you. You are a goddess of none.

It continued to speak. 'NO, I can fix this, I can help my people!' despite my own thoughts, my heart was heavy with guilt. Once again, it was right.

…

…

...

"don't worry about the past, don't get caught up on your mistakes, you're free now. That means we can fix this mess."

Zed's words suddenly rang through my mind

'But he does... he has faith in me. And he's right, I can fix this.'

'No matter how long it takes, no matter how much my people may hate me.

I

Will

Fix

This!'

!

And, for the first time, the voice that plagued my every dream, was silenced.

And I slept soundly, for the first time in years.

Noire POV

I woke up feeling well rested, for the first time in what felt like forever. as I sat up, I noticed that Next to me was the same dragon-bird-thing that was there before, who also seemed to be awake. It chirped like a bird before once-again perching on my shoulder and rubbing its head on my face. "Thank you, but I'm fine now." I had the thought that it could understand me, it even shook its head up and down as if it were nodding. Then there was a knocking on my door. "Apologies Noire, but are you awake? I would like to talk to you." it was Zed.

"Yes, come in." and so he did. Unfortunately, it seems that while I had slept well, Zed had not. There were noticeable dark spots under his eyes. "Are you okay?" he sighed before responding. "Not quite, Avenir's machinations have played on my mind throughout the night. However I do believe I'll be fine soon enough." sadly for him, I was an expert when it came to nightmares. "Don't try to act as if it's nothing." I walked over to him and flicked his forehead, just as he did to Neptune, before hugging him. He quickly returned the hug and began to laugh. "Ha, how arrogant of me to presume I could hide such a thing from you."

After a few moments, he began to speak. "I saw what they did with your blood." the liquid in my veins turned cold. Then he continued. "They mixed it with something called 'black blood' and injected it into humans after they were fed monster flesh." my eyes were wide open in twisted anticipation. "The results...were not pleasant. The human subjects rapidly began to mutate into horrific monstrosities, their flesh twisting, tearing and bloating until they resembled beasts. Most were considered failures and were given an end to their suffering. One however, was considered a success. The 13th subject turned into a twisted amalgamation of man and monster, instead of turning completely into one." my body was frozen in horror (...those... those monsters!)

But he wasn't done. "He was the very same beast that was guarding your prison." he paused for a moment, before forcing himself to continue. "a-a part of him was still human. When I looked into his eyes, I could see what was left of his humanity was in agony." his breathing had gotten shaky at this point. "I h-had to put him out of his misery." his shaky voice had crumbled into full blown tears at this point. For a few minutes the only sounds in the room were his sorrowful cries and my comforting words.

"Listen. You found me in that cursed facility, cut me down from the chains that bonded me. Fed and completely healed me. Then you not only rescued me from that facility, but you also burned it to the ground so that no one else would have to go through the same thing." I pulled away from the hug and stared directly into his eyes. "The torturous nightmares that have plagued my dreams for years have stopped thanks to you." then I kissed him on the cheek. His crying began to stop shortly afterwards. "You are my hero, my prince." his face had gone a little red, his frown turned into a gentle smile, and he began to speak.

"Thank you Noire, truly." shortly after his smile turned mischievous. "Though I did not know you felt that way about me~" (…. WHAT?) "D-don't be stupid! I was just thanking you!" he laughed. "I know my dear, I'm only teasing." his face turned serious not soon after. "Now that is dealt with however, I have an important question to ask you." "What is it?" "How much do you know about Neptune? We got sidetracked by her antics, but you said her name before I introduced her to you." I was confused, did he really not know that Neptune was a goddess? (He casually flicked her in the forehead. No human would do that to a goddess, so that must be it.)

"She's the goddess of Planeptune; Lady Purple Heart. I recognised her because we fought in the console war years ago." he didn't look nearly as shocked as I expected, he even smiled smugly! "Well, she did fall out of the sky, and she can transform. I doubt that regular humans could perform such a feat." he laughed more before continuing. "Besides, this way I don't have to feel down about her being such a challenge in our weekly bouts." we both laughed at that. Eventually though, we stopped. And his face turned stern.

"Neptune lost her memory, that's why she didn't recognise you. We've had no luck with getting them back so far." he took a moment to think before continuing to speak. "Her memories... are they pleasant, or will they bring her pain?" his question made me think carefully. While most of her memories were unknown to me, the ones during the console war weren't. And they weren't pleasant at all. Not to mention the guilt she'd feel if she was told she was a goddess that neglected her people for the sake of fighting other goddesses for power. I knew firsthand how horrible that feeling was.

"i obviously don't know too much, but the memories I was present for aren't exactly nice. Our battle during the console war wasn't sunshine and rainbows either." he took a second to process my words before talking. "And if she were to remember how she essentially abandoned her people, she would not take it well." he took a second to think. "How about this: reveal that she is a goddess but don't go into detail." his reasoning sounded logical enough. "Ah! My apologies. I forgot who I am talking to. You are one of her rivals, correct?" I nodded. "Then I suppose asking you to assist in your enemy's recovery is a tad bit insensitive. However, I beg of you-" he kneeled before me. "Please help her! She means the world to me, and even if she tries to hide it, I know her lack of memories gets to her."

I was shocked. Here was a young man that exuded an aura of royalty and dignity. Yet he was kneeling before me. I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up. "My prince should kneel before no one, not even me." I looked straight into his eyes, "don't worry, I'll help Neptune, I owe you that much at least." his smile was brighter than I had ever seen it be previously. "Thank you." we hugged again. "Anytime, my prince." he laughed again a second later. "While I do adore that nickname, I do believe that you should keep it to private affairs, lest you be made fun of by Neptune."

I laughed along with him. "I guess you're right." our hug lasted a little longer before we separated once more. "Neptune and IF are awake, but I can tell the latter to give you some privacy, if you'd like." I smiled before replying. "I'd like that." before he left the room, he turned around to face me. He moved his right-hand palm-up and seemed to concentrate for a moment. From his hand sprouted radiant golden-orange flames, that seemed to crystalise into a solid orange feather-like object. He then took one of my hands and placed it in my palm. "This will enable you to teleport to me if you're ever in trouble."

(It's a shame that he's so attached to Neptune)

Once Zed had left, I had taken a couple of minutes to think about what I would say to Neptune. After coming up with a half decent plan and making sure I looked my best. (I can't look scruffy in front of my rival!) I opened the door and headed to the ground floor. When I had got there, I saw that IF was absent and Neptune was the only one in the room. just as Zed had said. She was sitting at one of the tables that littered the ground floor of the building. I sat down on the chair opposite her and began to speak. "You asked if I knew you yesterday. because you lost your memory, right?" she nodded. "Eyup! I fell from the sky with not a scooby-clue on who the heck I was!"

(That makes this a little harder.) she probably thought that she was human, it would probably be difficult to convince her that she wasn't. "Zed told me you can transform, right?" she didn't take long to respond. "Yesirree, I get a lot stronger and more mature an' stuff!" she said cheerfully. "Do you think just anyone could do that?" once more, her reply was quick. "Of course not! I'm the protagonist. so of course I get a special ability like that!" that lead me to only one option. (With the faith Zed has in me, I should be able to do it...) a flash of light surrounded me as I transformed. I was no longer Noire, but the goddess Black Heart.

"Huh? What the Nep? HACKS I CALL HACKS!" she got out of her seat and pointed her finger at me accusingly. "There are no 'hacks' Neptune." I paused, thinking over my next words carefully. Before deciding to just be direct. "I am a Goddess, Neptune. That is why I can transform." she seemed to realise where I was going. "And so are you." her eyes widened a bit as she began to laugh. "Ya know that isn't nearly as surprising as I thought it might be, it actually makes alota sense. My general awesomeness and ability to transform, it all makes complete sense now." her ease at being told what she was made little sense at first, then I realised who I was talking to. (This is Neptune of all people; something like this is completely in character for her.)

After a moment to take in the information. Her face went surprisingly stern before she spoke. "a Goddess has a duty to her people though, right?" her voice was once more surprisingly serious. "Yes, as the goddess Purple Heart, you have a duty to provide for and protect the people of Planeptune. Unfortunately, the position also includes having to deal with documentation." then Neptune did a U-turn. "Aww, but that's boooorrriiinnnggg! I Don't wanna hafta do paperwork!" I couldn't help but laugh at her sudden shift of tone. "Hey, don't laugh at me, this is serious business!" "of course, Neptune, of course." I spoke sarcastically. "Hey, wait a minute, if you're the goddess of Lastation, then that means Zeddy saved you from those Avenbeer guys!" I facepalmed at her obvious mistake. "its 'Avenir' Neptune." "Yeah, sure, whatever. Anyway, did Zeddy save you from their eeeviiiilll clutches?" it took me a second to prepare an answer. I wasn't ready to explain my full experience in that facility. Thankfully I managed to come up with a short version. "I was captured by Avenir a few years ago, almost immediately after the console war. I was kept in one of their research labs until yesterday when Zed rescued me and burned the facility to the ground." she looked at me with stars in her eyes. "So, the princess wasn't in another castle?" "No...?" "Huh, neat. Wait doesn't that make Zeddy your prince?" (That was unexpected... but...) "Wait... are you blushing?" I was not! "N-no!" "You totally are!" "Shut up!" I was NOT blushing, and you can't prove anything!

"He saved you too, didn't he?" her now serious tone was completely unexpected.

"Yes, yes he did. When I was at my lowest, he saved me." I couldn't help but be completely honest on that front, he had saved me in so many ways. "Sounds like him. a reaaall skirt-chaser that Zeddy." I smirked, that description fit him perfectly. "He kneeled before me, you know. Practically begged me to tell you all I knew." her reaction was not unexpected, she looked more shocked than I had ever seen her. "Really? Mr 'royal and dignified' Zeddy kneeled to you just so you would help me?" "Yes." I couldn't help but laugh when I remembered his exact words. "I think his exact words were: 'please help her, she means the world to me'." he was so sweet, I couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"EH?" she looked absolutely speechless. "That Nep-ing skirt-chaser..." despite apparently cursing him, her face was a bright red. "Wait... are you blushing?" "N-no!" "You totally are!" "Shut up!" revenge was sweet.

"Wait a minute, why are you dressed up like a hospital patient?" I had forgotten that I was still wearing the tattered hospital gown from my time in Avenir's facility the entire time.

"Do you happen to have a change of clothes I could borrow?"

"Naw, let's ask Chian."

END OF CHAPTER

Is it not frightening?

How the admiration of one-

-could lead to some becoming true monsters?