Chapter 7 – The Cousin's Sudden Reunion
Amitie's POV
Okay…after somehow surviving being sucked in a dark portal, I run into Arly in the middle of Space-Time…and now I'm here with Neptune? So many things happened at once that I'm having a hard comprehending it all. What the heck is going on?
I'm still alive. That's a good thing. But I don't know where the others are or if they got as lucky as I did. If they truly did, and ended up here, too, then I gotta at least try to find them soon.
But for now…
"Wow, Neptune. You sure live in a pretty impressive place. I've never seen a giant tower with so many rooms before."
"Pretty nepping sweet, right? This place is just right for a person like me."
"And the amount of games you have is…mind-blowing. An entire 3 shelves filled with games is amazing on its own right."
"In order to be a true gamer, one's gotta spend all their savings on tons of games. It's like one of the laws of gaming, Amitie."
"I'm not that much of a gamer, but I'm pretty sure that isn't a thing…" I gained a sweatdrop.
Neptune was showing me around this place called a Basilicom that she and Nepgear live in. It's freaking huge. I actually lost count at the number of stairs that I had to climb in order to see everything. I had no idea that they were so rich. To live in a freaking tower they gotta be richer than Raffina, at least.
Though, I'm not entirely sure how much either a mansion or a tower would cost…
"So." Neptune said. "With the grand tour now over, whaddya wanna do? Play games? Eat snacks? Play games while eating snacks?"
"Well…I'm not really sure…"
"There you two are!" Nepgear said as we ran into her in the hallway. "Neptune, why did you give Amitie a tour of the Basilicom at a time like this?!"
"Aw come on, Nepgear. Amitie's never been here before so I was just showing her around a little. No big deal.
"No big deal? Sis, did you already forget what happened BEFORE Amitie suddenly showed up?"
"U-Uh…" Neptune then gained a nervous look on her face.
"Something happened?" I asked.
"Well, technically…it's still happening. But it's a lot to go over. But for right now, we should get back to everyone else. They have a lot of questions about you."
"Really now? This outta be good." I said with a nervous look of my own.
The three of us went to the main area of this Basilicom place to find everyone else that was there when I fell from the sky. It sure was a lot, though. I hope my nerves don't act up at a time like this.
"Geez, Nep. Kept us waiting long enough." Said the brown-haired girl with the green bow.
"Hehhehheh. Sorry, Iffy. But when a family member suddenly falls from the sky and visits you, you got…show them around and stuff. I'm sure you understand."
"Right…" The girl gained a sweatdrop. "So, this is your cousin, huh? Now that I'm seeing you both side-to-side, you do have some similarities."
"It's almost like you two are twins." Said a girl with long pink hair.
Twins, huh? I should probably not mention Rivitie for now.
"Anyway." Neptune said. "This is our cousin from another dimension. Amitie Rose."
"Uh…hi there." I said. "Nice to meet you guys. Sorry for…you know…falling out of the sky."
"Don't worry about it. Nobody ended up getting hurt." The brown-haired girl said. "I'm IF, by the way."
"My name's Compa. It's nice to meet you, Amitie." Said the pink-haired girl.
"Name's Uzume Tennouboshi. Nice to meet ya, Am." Said a girl with long red pigtail-like hair.
"And I am Umio. It is a pleasure to meet you, Amitie."
"W-Wow. So, there's a talking fish here, too."
"You know others?"
"Yeah, but they're kinda…odd. In fact, you're pretty much the most normal talking fish I've ever met."
"The most normal?" Everyone else gained a sweatdrop while questioning the fact that I know other talking fishes.
Primp isn't a normal world.
"I see. Well, I am glad you think that." Umio said.
"O-Okay, then." Said a girl with average-length black hair. "My name's Uni. I'm Nepgear's friend. Nice to meet you, Amitie."
"Same here, everyone. Wow, you two sure know a lot of…people."
"Please. This is honestly a fraction of the many people that we know." Neptune said.
"We're basically traveling a lot. If you can really call being forcefully sent to different dimensions traveling…" Nepgear added. Whispering the last part to herself.
"I see…"
"*clears throat* Well, now." Histoire suddenly spoke. "Since introductions are out of the way, I really must ask you, Amitie…How on earth did you get here?"
"O-Oh. That." I went silent for a bit. "It's actually a very complicated story. And a bit of a crazy one to boot."
"Ooh~. A crazy complicated story." Neptune sounded oddly interested for it. "Those are always the best ones to listen to. I'll get the popcorn!"
"Don't get the popcorn." IF quickly retorted.
"If it explains how you suddenly came to our world, Amitie, then it is best that you go ahead and tell us. It could help in getting you back home."
"*sigh* Well, alright. But fair warning. I'm having a hard time comprehending it all myself. So, it may be a bit long."
And so, I told them everything. How a girl named Resta came to my world in an attempt to flee after her own world was attacked by a purple witch lady who was after this thing of hers called a Zodiac Stone, how a villain of ours named Ridel somehow got a hold of one of these stones as a way to kill a friend of mine, and how she's working with this other girl who was dark blue in every way. And how they both sucked up me and some of my friends in a dark portal as an attempt to kill us. But somehow ended up here.
I purposely left out running into Arly in the middle of Space-Time and it was her that possibly sent me here. I don't think I can explain the clones and what Space-Time is. Ringo's better at doing that than I am.
"And that's basically what happened." I said. Finishing off the explanation.
"I see." Histoire said. "After hearing all of that, it is easy to say that Arfoire is definitely involved."
"Not to mention the other me is back. And even bigger pain." Uzume added.
"Man…who would've thought that Kurome Ankokuboshi would rise from the dead and seek her revenge? Such a shocking twist." Neptune said.
"Is that seriously her name?" I asked with a sweatdrop. "It sounds ridiculously stupid."
"That's because Nep came up with it on the spot when we fought her the first time." IF said. "And a lot of people felt the same way."
"Hmph. You're just jealous of my quick thinking skills, Iffy."
"Quick thinking my ass…" IF mumbled to herself.
"Right…so, Arfoire is that witch lady, right? She's really from this world?"
"We've dealt with her a few times before." Nepgear said. "Her main goal is to destroy Gamindustri without really much of a reason."
"She was even here just a few days ago and did something horrible to Nep-Nep." Compa added.
"Something horrible?"
"Ahhaha. Oh, don't mind her, Amitie." Neptune said to me. "Compa's airheadedness must be making her thinking of totally weird things. It's just like her, y'know."
"Hey!"
"Nep. Tell her." If said.
"B-But Iffy…"
"If you won't, then I will."
"What?! Histy, you're just gonna let her do this?!"
"Normally, I would be against such a thing. But if Amitie seems to know what these stones are, then it would be best if we told her what happened. It could help in getting you back to normal, Neptune."
"Y-Yeah…b-but…" Neptune then gained a sad look on her face. A pretty rare sight for me despite only knowing her for two months. I can tell that something was bugging her. And whatever happened to her must be really REALLY bad.
Hey, Neptune." I said to her. "Whatever it is that happened to you, I'll try my best to help you out. I promise."
"S-Seriously? L-Like, for real?"
"Sure. I mean, we are family, right?"
"Amitie's right, Sis." Nepgear said. "As your little sister, I want to help you get back to normal as much as possible. You just gotta let us help."
"You guys…" Neptune went silent again. "*sigh* Well, alright. If you're willing to help, then I can't really refuse. As much as I really don't want to talk about it."
"We all have to say or do things that we don't want to, Nep. That's just how life works." IF said.
"Yeah, whatever."
So then, Neptune (with the help of the others) explained to me what had happened three days ago. How this Arfoire lady came by here…and after nearly losing a battle with her, Neptune had her soul shattered. Only a small piece of it remains and because of that, she's been going crazy at random moments saying that this pain in her chest feels "so damn good". As IF stated.
"W-Woah. S-So, that really happened?" I asked.
"Yeah. It did. The worst part of it all is that I can never remember any of it. I was out cold for three days the first time it happened."
"And it seems that this blue orthorhombic-shaped stone that Arfoire had in her possession is that cause of it." Umio said. "Do you happen to know what that is, Amitie?"
"Well…it does sound like a Zodiac Stone. But I can't be too sure. My friend Resta knows a lot about them considering that they're from her world. Though, we'll probably have to find her, huh?"
"Well, in that case, we can probably check the Guild." IF said.
"The…Guild?" I gained a confused look.
"It's a place where you can accept many quests from clients. Whether it be defeat monsters or collecting certain items, it's a good place to check for information like this. Plus, you even get rewarded for doing them."
"It's possible that someone might have seen Resta and reported her as lost. We should definitely check there." Nepgear added.
"People request such things?"
"We often get requests that are rather…weird. To put it simply."
"Huh…" I decided not to question that any further. "Well, if this Guild place can help then let's go see what's there.
"Alright!" Neptune cheered as she wrapped her arm around me. "Be prepared, Amitie! Now's my chance to show you around MY domain! A grand tour of Planeptune awaits! Hahahahaha!"
"Nep-Nep sure seems excited." Compa said.
"She seems to have forgotten that we're doing this to restore her soul." IF said.
"Well, at least Nepsy's happy again." Uzume said.
"Alright, everyone! Let's get going!"
"Are you coming along, Uni?" Nepgear asked her friend.
"Sorry, I'll have to pass. I have to get back home right about now."
"Huh? You mean you don't live here, Uni?" I asked.
"No, I live close by in the neighboring nation of Last…"
"Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah!" Both Neptune and Nepgear suddenly shouted as they rushed over to Uni and stopped her from continuing.
"Huh? Neighboring nation?"
"Oh, don't mind her, Amitie." Nepgear said.
"Uni's just spouting weird stuff." Neptune added. "She can be just as airheaded as Compa sometimes."
"*muffled anger*" Uni was clearly pissed. But due to her mouth being covered up, nobody could understand what she's saying.
"Uh…okay?" Was all I said.
"*sigh* Geez…" IF facepalmed.
"I-I'm not airheaded…" And Compa whined while having a hurt look on her face.
I certainly don't blame her…
Land of Purple Progress – Planeptune
Neptune's POV
"Here we are, Amitie! Welcome to Planeptune!"
"Woah…This is seriously where you guys live? It's so big and…futuristic. It's like I time-traveled or something."
"R-Really? I don't think we're THAT advanced." Nepgear said.
"Is this your first time seeing Planeptune, Amitie?" Compa asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. In the two months that I've known these two, Neptune's been coming to my world a lot to hang out. In fact, she was with me just a couple of days ago."
"Yeah, we know." Iffy said with an exasperated face. "Nep just straight up left without telling anyone and we all wasted an entire day looking for her. It was a huge pain."
"Well, sorry, Iffy. But if I did tell someone then you all would've stopped me. And I really wanted to go."
"Then you should've at least left a note or something and save us a bunch of time."
"Okay, fine. I'll do that next time."
"You mean you're gonna do it again?" Iffy gained a sweatdrop.
"How'd you even get there without using Histoire's powers?" Uzume asked.
"Oh, right." I then went digging through my jacket to pull out a crystal hanging around my neck. "Amitie's letting me borrow this thing that can travel through space and time and whatnot. It's called a…hey, what's this thing called again?" I then whispered to her.
"It's called a Crystal Shard."
"Yeah, that. A Crystal Shard."
"Crystal Shard? Isn't that thing related to Kirby in some way? How'd you get your hands on that thing?" Iffy asked.
"Well, you see…I've actually been to Dream Land before."
…
…
…
"What?!" Iffy, Compa, and Uzume yelled in total shock.
"I had the same reaction when she told us one day." Nepgear gained a sweatdrop.
"W-Wait, so you're saying that you ACTUALLY went to Dream Land?!" Iffy asked.
"Yep."
"And met Kirby?!" Compa asked.
"Yep."
"And even explored the whole world and whatnot?!" Uzume asked.
"Well, most of it. There were still places that we just never went to. Dream Land is a really big place."
"No freaking way…" All three were experiencing shock overload at this point.
*giggle* This is fun to watch. I so totally nepping wish that could shock people like that. Amitie's a total pro at it.
"It's a rather interesting story…" Nepgear said. "…But should we focus a bit more on this current story and not ones in the past?"
"Nepgear's right. Onward to the Guild!" I yelled in a cheerful mood.
We continued walking around the city and showing Amitie around. It truly sucks that I can't brag about me ruling over an entire nation. But like Histy said, sharing interdimensional stuff is always risky.
Even though we pretty much lucky with it multiple times before.
Anyway…the walk around the city was all normal in itself. What wasn't normal, though…was all the people staring at me with mild looks of shock and fear. It was truly unnerving. Like I'm being judged or something.
"H-Hey, what's up? Why's everyone staring at me?" I asked.
"It's because they know about your shattered soul, Nep." Iffy said.
"H-Huh?! How?!"
"Somehow, someone made a video of the moment you first went insane and leaked it all over the internet." Nepgear said. "It quickly became a worldwide phenomenon."
"What?! And I was the last one to find out?!"
"You were knocked out for three days. Of course, you'd be the last one." Iffy said.
"*sigh* Aw, damn. And I bet the shares went down as a result of that too, huh?"
"Yep. They really took a beating." Uzume said.
"Ugh…"
Maybe that's why I felt a little weaker this morning…
"Huh? Wait, what are this "shares" everyone's talking about?" Amitie asked.
"Uh…well…" Nepgear and I gained worried looks.
"Just tell her already." Iffy said. "There's no way in hell you can keep everything a secret with her actually being here."
"*groan* It looks like we don't have a choice, Neptune…" Nepgear said to me.
"Figured as much…"
"Tell me what?" Amitie asked.
"Well, Amitie…we have to be honest with you. The whole "CPU" thing we told you about before…there's actually more to that."
"It stands for Console Patron Unit." Nepgear said. "And Neptune and I are actually the rulers of Planeptune."
"H-Huh?! Y-You mean you actually RULE the entire WORLD?!"
"W-Well, not the entire world. Just Planeptune."
"Just Planeptune?"
"There are three other nations here in Gamindustri. Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. The CPUs of those lands are good friends of ours and we often travel to their lands and vise-versa. In fact, Uni came all the way here from Lastation to hang out with me after what happened with Neptune."
"There's also stuff like Hard Drive Divinity, HDD for short, and all that jazz. But that's basically the gist of things in this world." I added.
"Woah…that's crazy." Amitie then went silent for a bit. "But…I kinda had some idea that you both weren't normal humans."
"Y-You did?!" We all asked in shock.
"What made you think that?" Iffy asked.
"Well, when they told me that they were CPUs, my mind instantly went to believe that they were computers of some kind."
"C-Computers?!" I yelled. "You thought you cute and loveable cousin was a big bulky computer?!"
"Well, that's what CPU means in my world. It made sense in my mind."
"I…guess that makes sense." Nepgear said.
"Still, though. Can you imagine what it'll be like if we really were computers? Life would truly suck if that were the case." Uzume said.
"Why would you think that?"
"I'm actually a previous ruler of Planeptune and a CPU."
"Woah, seriously?"
"Yep. Though the story to that is rather long as hell and I don't think we don't have any time to go over it thoroughly. Since we're currently doing something right now."
"O-Oh, right. I almost forgot." Amitie said while rubbing the back of her head.
"Alright, ladies. Storytime's over. Let's head on over to the Guild to see what we can find." Iffy said.
"Right."
"Sure thing, Iffy." Compa said.
"I'm all ready." Uzume said.
"You know, Iffy." I said with a pout. "We really didn't want to tell Amitie any of that stuff. But ya just HAD to force it out of us, huh?"
"IF can be real forceful at times. Even in such calm situations like this." Nepgear added.
"Just shut up and walk." Iffy retorted to us both.
Nepgear's POV
After a few more minutes of walking, we finally reached the Guild. And it was busy as it always was. People lined up to make requests and others such as monster hunters looking for quests to take. It was pretty much an average day here.
Although…people were still staring at Neptune because of the leaked video. And now it was at the point where people were whispering rumors and hurtful things about her. She ended up staying outside with Uzume to wait for us due to how uncomfortable it all felt to her. And of course…it was all painful for me to witness.
Poor Neptune. She finds out that her soul is shattered and learns that the entire world saw her in that state all on the same day. I can't blame her for feeling all sad and uncomfortable.
How did someone film the whole event of Neptune going insane and leak it all over the internet? There was nobody else inside the Basilicom at the time, was there?
…
I mean…Arfoire managed to sneak inside. So, it is possible that someone else was with her. Or at least took the chance when everyone else was distracted.
Nonetheless, this is something that I need to figure out. For my sister's sake.
"Wow…so, this is the Guild, huh?" Amitie asked.
"The center of operations, pretty much." IF said. "We come here a lot to get jobs and such. Some of them are even required to advance the story and such."
"Wow. That's pretty neat-o. But how do we get info on where Resta might be?"
"Easy. We check this board over here and see which ones are available. Then we pick a few and head on out."
"And there seems to be a lot of them today." Compa said. "A lot of people sure need help nowadays."
"Get real…" Amitie said with an exasperated sigh.
*BEEP*
"Huh? Hey, it looks like this one just came in. Client: Captain α: Hot Water Manager…weird name. *clears throat* "Finally, my turn to be the bath janitor has come! Unfortunately, I'm stuck with a part-time job as a monster-hunter. I refuse to relinquish this opportunity to…t-to peek in the female changing room legally?! Someone, please defeat the monster in my place. I shall become the king of public baths by peeking into the ladies' bath?!" What the hell?!"
"You know how I said that we often get requests that are rather weird?" I asked with a sweatdrop.
"Yeah, but you said weird! Not perverted!"
"And those are the ones we tend to avoid." IF said with a look of disgust from having to hear that quest description.
"*sigh* Get really real…"
*BEEP*
"Ugh. Now what?" Amitie said as she turned back to the screen. "Client: Some Old Guy…already not liking where this is going. *clears throat* "A colony of Dogoos from Virtua Forest have been harassing us residents of Erethisan City. A redheaded braided girl in a white robe offered to help, but she hasn't returned. Can someone go check up on her? And take care of the Dogoo problem, of course." Wait, a redheaded braided girl in a white robe? That description sounds like it's Resta!"
"So, she ended up in Erethisan City and made her way towards Virtua Forest." IF said. "At least now we have a pinpoint location on her."
"Virtua Forest isn't that far from here. We can look for Resta and stop those Dogoos at the same time." Compa added.
"Sounds good to me. But…what exactly is a Dogoo?"
"Well, they're…"
*BOOM*
"Wh-What was that?!" I yelled in shock as we all heard an explosion coming from outside.
"G-Guys!" We then saw Uzume rushing over to us in a panic. What was weird about that was…Neptune wasn't with her.
"Uzume, what happened? Where's Neptune?"
"I-It happened again! Nepsy went crazy and blew up a nearby car with her weird powers! I tried stopping her, but…damn she's so strong!" Uzume then nearly fell over due to the injuries she gained while trying to stop Neptune.
"Crap! Just went I thought we were going to have an easy first quest for once!" IF yelled while completely agitated.
"Do you know where she ran off to?" Amitie asked.
"It looked like she was heading towards Virtua Forest. And from what she was saying before she left, it sounded like she wants to inflict pain on someone or something."
N-No way. Neptune…
"Aw, geez. And we just found out that Resta might be in that area."
"Then we've got no choice. Let's head over to the forest and stop Nep before she actually does hurt someone." IF said.
"Right!"
"I'm ready, Iffy!" Compa and I immediately agreed.
"Sorry to do this to you, Am. But you'll have to come with us. With Uzume injured, we need a 4th person to tag along in the party. And we don't have anyone else."
"I get it…kinda. Point is, I was going to come even if you refused. Neptune's my cousin and I want her safe, too."
"Fair enough. Alright, let's go."
"I'll treat to your injuries once we calm Nep-Nep down, Uzume." Compa said.
"Y-Yeah…s-sure. J-Just go and…h-help Nepsy."
And so, the four of us rushed out of the Guild and quickly made our way towards Virtua Forest. To control the Dogoo problem, find Amitie's friend Resta, and to stop my sister from satisfying her lust of inflicting undeniable pain.
Neptune…please. Please don't hurt anyone!
Author's Note: After Amitie's sudden arrival to Gamindustri and Neptune and Nepgear come clean about their identities, the party learns that Resta has been seen in the nearby forest. But as they were about to depart, Neptune's shattered soul begins to act up once more. And now it's a race to the Virtua Forest to stop the CPU of Planeptune from making the biggest mistake of her life.
Sorry if it felt like there was a little too much filler in this one. Covering both real and imaginative things for both series does make these a bit long. Then again, now that I think about it, both Puyo Puyo and Neptunia do have a lot of filler cutscenes int heir games. So, I guess it works out.
Thanks for reading. Later.
