Chapter 10 – Secrets & Plans Revealed
Amitie's POV
Geez. I can't believe I actually had to do that. Not only did I had to punch Neptune in the face to calm her down, but I did it with my Light Soul powers.
Luckily, it was just the normal powers and not any of the Copy Abilities. Otherwise, I definitely would've had to explain everything and reveal my secret.
…
But at this rate, it won't be long before I would actually have to tell them. Or better yet, "show" them.
I just hope that I'm mentally prepared for their reactions…
"Hey…Amitie."
"Oh…Neptune." I said as I noticed my cousin standing next to me on the boat's railing. "S-Sorry about…punching you in the face."
"No, it's fine. If you didn't do that, I've would've been running around Planeptune in a raging fit again."
"Yeah, true."
"But still, that power…I've never felt anything like that before. What the nep was that?"
"It's…nothing to think about, Neptune. Don't worry about it."
""Don't worry about it"? Amitie, your whole arm was covered with some weird rainbow-y pattern. Whatever it is, it's definitely something to worry about. Why are you even hiding it from us, anyway?"
"Why? Why are YOU been so hypocritical all of a sudden? You never bothered to tell me that you're an ageless goddess who rules over an entire nation."
"That's because it was too complicated to explain. I didn't know how you would react to such a thing." Neptune then went silent as she looked away from me.
"I thought…you would think of me as a freak."
"A freak?" I asked.
"Because I sure as hell think so."
"Neptune…why do you think that of yourself?"
That was when Neptune turned back to look at the other girls. Probably making sure they weren't hearing our conversation. Then she turned back and made a huge sigh of sadness as she continued to look over the blue waters ahead of us.
"To be honest, Amitie…I hate being a CPU."
"Y-You…You hate it? B-But when we first met…and even these past two days…you were all happy and prideful about "being a CPU" and "ruling an entire nation" and "being a super-cute lovable protag!". Whatever that is."
I'm still not used to this "story" thing, alright?
"Yeah, I was. Then again, that was before I met you. And started coming over to your world to hang out. Well…it was mainly to escape the work Histy always piled up on me. But it was all the same, really."
"Right…"
"Basically…the more I came over to your world…hanging out with you and your friends, lounging around with Melody, and having days where I could just…SOAK IN the sheer peacefulness that world seems to have over my own…the more it made me realize that I want…no, DESIRE a normal life. That I want to rid myself of everything. Being a CPU and the responsibilities it comes with, the powers of HDD…hell, I wouldn't mind leaving Gamindustri and come live in Primp with you guys.
Point is…being a CPU, ruler of an entire nation, and having God-like powers that keep you young forever…isn't fun at all. It's actually a dull, tiring, never-ending cycle of sadness and depression. And I want the hell out of it."
"W-Wow…Neptune, I had no idea." I said in disbelief.
"Yeah, it's true. In fact, you could say that I'm…I'm jealous of you, Amitie."
"W-Wowie…"
I truly had no idea. These were Neptune's true feelings about her own life for the past two months. She hates the life she currently has…and wishes to live like me.
I never had anyone jealous of me before. To be honest, I would always be jealous of things like Raffina's wealthy lifestyle, Arle and Ringo finding love in each other, Feli having so many friends back in Toyama, Lidelle's insane appetite (as odd as that sounds)…
…
…
…
Peruvis having a big chest. There, I admit it! I hate being flat-chested, damnit!
*sigh* Point is…to have someone jealous of me for once…and that person being my own cousin, who rules an entire freaking nation to herself, by the way…it's all just so mind-blowing to me.
…
…
…
But…I can kinda understand where she's coming from.
"Hey, Neptune…remember when I explained how I met Kirby and went to Dream Land and all that stuff?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well…before that, I was feeling like how you are now."
"Seriously? For real?"
"Yeah. I felt lonely and sad…like as if no one was there for me. I wasn't as close to my classmates as I wanted to and I'm still not the best when it comes to magic. Plus, I was still recovering from an event that changed my way of thinking and became less careless about things.
That's when one night, Kirby fell from the sky and crashed in my backyard. And it didn't take long for the little cutie to change my outlook on life. Now, I'm as happy as ever."
"Wow…" Neptune said in disbelief. "…I had no idea Kirby had that big of an impact on you, Amitie. You sure are lucky."
"Yeah, well…" I then went silent for a bit.
*sigh* I might as well tell her…
"…It wasn't just meeting him and going to Dream Land that did it for me. There's actually a third thing. A rather HUGE third thing."
"Rather HUGE? What could that be?"
"Well…"
"Hey, Nep! Am! Ship's about to dock!"
"Coming!" Neptune responded to IF. "*sigh* Damnit, Iffy. Right when it was getting good."
Aw, well. Guess it's back to Plan A.
"Cheer up, Neptune. Once we get off this boat, we're gonna find the person who's been leaking those videos of you. Then your reputation will be saved. Sort of."
"You didn't even try to hide the "sort of" part…" Neptune gained a sweatdrop.
"Well, it's not going to be easy."
"True. Oh, and Amitie…could you keep this conversation between us? I don't want the others to worry or think badly of me. Especially Nepgear."
"Yeah, I get it. I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks, Dear Cousin. I…I owe you one."
"No problem."
Although, in the next few minutes, I'm gonna owe you back really really big.
Jarne's POV
"Ugh! What the hell?! I've been wandering around this place since yesterday and I still don't know where I am! This sucks…"
This was me, Jarne. Complaining to literally no one as I continued walking around this port-like place surrounded by water. I had no idea where I was and I didn't know where the others were either. Or even if they were still alive.
"Geez, that Ridel…and that other girl, too. They were really trying to kill us, weren't they? But why were they after me, too? Compared to Lidelle, Amitie, and Resta I'm not that much of a threat.
And speaking of Resta…those two had a Zodiac Stone with them, didn't they? To think they would have that much power…now it really matters that I help Resta find those things. For the sake of everyone's lives.
…
But where the hell am I supposed to find them? It's not like I'll just run into Ridel in this watery dump."
"Ugh. Why the hell are we here, Kurome?"
…
"W-Wait, that voice…"
I turned over to a nearby platform to see my lucky turning into the best it could ever be. Ridel was RIGHT THERE! And so was that dark- blue girl from before! And also with them was…a girl with blue hair made into a single ponytail. And wearing an outfit that kinda reminded me of an archer of some kind.
And then I saw the bow & arrow in her hands. So, my guess was right.
But the one thing I noticed about her was how soulless her green eyes were. It creeped the hell outta me. It was like she was under some kind of mind-control or something.
…
Wait a second…
"I've told you, Ridel. We're using this place to initiate the take over of Planeptune." The dark-blue girl said.
"If we're doing that, why don't you let me do it? I can murder an entire nation faster than this archer princess whatever."
"Yes, I know you can. But in order for our plan to work, we must have this place remain standing. For now."
"And what for? You never went into detail about this "quest for revenge" you mentioned earlier."
"Right. I supposed I can tell you now." The girl then started giggling to herself in an evil-like way. Which gave me freaking chills.
"You see, Ridel…we are going to fuse the worlds."
F-Fuse the…Fuse the WORLDS?!
"Fuse the worlds? The hell's that gonna do?"
"When two or more worlds collide and share the same space, their dimensional barriers grow unstable and begin to shatter. And once they do, an apocalyptic nightmare will form. The collided worlds will tear apart piece by piece. Fully disintegrating the landmass and all who rest upon it. And with this method, all three worlds will cease to exists. Our enemies will be erased from our lives. And vengeance will be ours for all eternity. *giggle*"
"Woah…holy crap, Kurome. That's just pure evil. You're really are my kind of girl! Nyahahahahahaha!"
"N-No way…so, that's what they plan on doing? They're freaking mass-murderers! At this rate, we're all gonna die in the hands of these two psychos! If only it were easy to stop them right here right now…"
"Then why don't you try and do it." I suddenly heard a voice talking to me. And I turned behind me to see…
"Gah! Ugly old lady!"
"Who the hell are you calling ugly?! You disrespectful brat!" Said this purple-toned witch lady in a pissed off tone. And next to her was a girl with pink hair being covered up by a black hoodie. I was only able to see her mouth and two bangs in the front. And she was quite emotionless, too.
"Arfoire. What are you doing over there?" The dark-blue girl asked.
Crap! I've been spotted!
"Probably talking to herself cause she going senile." Ridel added.
"I am not!" The witch yelled. "While you two were talking amongst yourselves, this dimwitted brat was here the whole time!"
"Dimwitted? Well, that's demeaning coming from an old hag like you." I said.
"Why you little…"
"What the?! Jarne?! How the hell are you still alive?!"
"Call it a lucky break. I'm just as shocked as you are."
"Tch! If this one's still breathing then that means Lidelle is, too! Damnit, Kurome! You said they would all die in that black hole!"
"That was the plan. Someone must've interfered during the transition of space and time."
"Space and time?" Ridel went silent for a bit. "Tch. It must've been one of those two…"
Those two? What two is she talking about?
"Well, no matter. She's already heard the details of our plan. So, we'll just kill her once more. You two. Take care of her."
"Why do I have to do it? I'm busy with my end of this plan, you know." The witch lady complained.
"Just do it." The girl next to her said. "This won't take long at all." She then walked closer to me and held up a lilac trigonal stone with a weird black symbol on it. Two curves with a line going across them.
And with the amount of power I felt from it, I knew it had to be one thing.
Th-This is…a Zodiac Stone?! This girl freaking has one?! If that's the case, then fighting head-on would be a bad-as-hell idea! I gotta get outta here!
"Misty Hand!"
*POOF*
"Gah! *cough* *cough* *cough* Wh-What the hell…?!"
I performed one of my spells to make the whole area filled with smoke. And then used this chance to make my escape. Problem is…I still have no idea where I am. So, I'm basically running in a random direction at this point.
But my mind was too much in a panic to even notice that.
Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Oh, crap! This is bad, this is bad, this is BAD! Resta! Amitie! WHERE ARE YOU?!
Resta's POV
And so, we arrived at this place called Rebeat Resort. Which was really just this big open port in the middle of the ocean. There seem to be a bunch of creatures roaming around, too. Most of them small but a select few were…r-rather huge.
I can only hope there isn't a repeat of the Dogoo situation…
"So, uh…this is Rebeat Resort?" I asked. "The atmosphere here seems kinda out-ot-place for a dungeon."
"Yeah, no kidding." Amitie said. "When I think of dungeons, I think of dark depressing rundown buildings. Not a sunny port in the middle of the ocean."
"Ah, but that's how we differ from those other RPG games." Neptune said with a grin. "We don't copy/paste the same dungeon over and over again. Everything is all fresh and new. Like right now with you two being here."
"I see…" I made a mental note of that.
"Wow…looking back on it, it's been a long time since I've been here." Nepgear said.
"It actually brings back such wonderful memories." Compa added.
"Wonderful memories? What's so memorable about this place?" IF asked.
"Well, for starters, this is where I first met Uni." Nepgear said.
"And it's also where you gave Ge-Ge your first kiss, Iffy."
"You did what?" Neptune looked at IF with a look that highly gave out a "what the hell?" kind of impression.
"C-C-Compa!" IF started blushing hard.
"W-Wow, IF. I didn't think you swung that way." Uzume said with a sweatdrop.
"It really is interesting…" I said. "…Though, I'm not against it or anything."
"Yeah, me neither." Amitie added. "Two of my friends back home are openly into other girls. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"I-I don't…I-I'm not…y-you guys have the WRONG idea! I only did that to give Gear some share energy for that fight with that Underling girl! It was the only thing I could think of!"
"The only thing?" The four of us questioned that.
"Tch! G-Gear, help me out here! You know what happened, right?!"
"Well, yeah. That is true." Nepgear said. "But even then…you surprisingly kissing me like that really gave me butterflies in my stomach. It was my first kiss too, IF. *giggle*"
"Woah…Ge-Ge's gone lovestruck." Compa said.
"You gotta be kidding me…"
"Iffy…" If then suddenly felt a chill up her spine when she finally noticed Neptune standing over her.
"N-N-Nep, wait…"
"Iffy…do you mind if we have a little chat~?"
"Tch! H-Hey, now that I think about it, we came here to look for those three, right?! L-Let's split up and search around! I'll go this way!"
"Iffy~!" Neptune yelled as IF ran away from her in mild fear.
"S-Sorry, Nep! Can't hear ya! I'm too busy looking in this direct-"
*BAM*
"Ow…Geez, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." IF said to a girl who she just bumped into. A girl with blue hair made into a ponytail and had two average-sized horns coming out of her head. And she also had a lot of smoke coming out of her.
This description meant the world to me because this was…
"It's fine. I was doing the same thing. Geez, I hope I freaking lost them…"
"Jarne!" Amitie and I yelled out.
"Huh? Resta! Amitie! You guys really are here! Awesome!"
"Hey, guys. Is this another friend of yours?" Uzume asked.
"This is Jarne." Amitie said. "She's from my world and is known as a djinn."
"What's a djinn?" Compa asked.
"A genie of sorts. Though, she doesn't grant wishes. She more-so has supernatural powers that involve her right hand."
"Just her right hand?" Nepgear asked.
"Hey, there ain't anything wrong about my right hand." Jarne said. "Using it every day makes me super freaking happy! Ja-ja-ja-jaan!"
"It sounds super wrong when you put it like that, Jarne…" I said with a huge sweatdrop.
"Anyway…who are these people? Friends of yours, Amitie?"
"Well, sort of. These are my cousins Neptune and Nepgear. They live in this world."
"Your cousins? You mean it isn't just you, Melody, and Rivitie?"
"Thanks to Mom, apparently not."
"Woah…"
So, it really was just those three before. Now I feel worse for asking about her father when we met.
"And then there's Compa, the pink-haired girl…Uzume, the red-haired girl…and the one who bumped into you is IF."
"Like I said, I'm sorry for bumping into you." IF said. "It's just…things were happening around that time."
"Eh, don't worry about it. I wasn't looking, either. Anyway, nice to meet you all."
"Same here, Jarne." The five girls replied.
"So, uh…what's this about a "world" you mentioned earlier?"
"Well, Jarne…it seems that we're in a different world." I said.
"THIS is a different world?!" Jarne asked in shock.
"This is known as Gamindustri." Nepgear explained. "A world with four nations that live peacefully. And right now, we're in one called Planeptune."
"And side note, I'm the ruler here. Known as a Console Patron Unit. Or CPU, for short." Neptune added.
"You don't say? *sigh* Well, at least I know where I am. I've been wandering around here since yesterday."
"Since yesterday?" Amitie asked. "What have you been doing all this time?"
…
…
…
"Aw, crap! I remember now!" Jarne shouted after thinking about it for a bit."I just saw Ridel not too long ago!"
"No way! Really?!" Amitie and I yelled in shock.
"Were Arfoire and Kurome with her?" Nepgear asked.
"Arfoire? Kurome?" Jarne thought for a bit. "If they were an ugly old purple witch lady and the dark-blue girl, then yeah. They were there, too."
"So, the rat was telling the truth, then." IF said. "Where did you last see them, Jarne?"
"Uh, well…I was kinda running away from them because they caught me spying on them. But I had a really good reason to. You see…"
*ONE EXPLANATION LATER…*
"No way…fusing the worlds?" Compa asked after Jarne had told us what she overheard.
"It's like a repeat of last time…only on a worse scale than before." Uzume said.
"Resta, can that really happen?" Amitie asked me.
"On their own, no. But with their powers fused with the ones of the Zodiac Stones, they can even take control of time and space itself. And do whatever they please with it.
Even killing us all."
"Get really real…"
"So, that's it..." Neptune started mumbling to herself. "They want to drag us down to Hell one last time before they wipe out all existence of life once and for all…those goddamn psycho-bitches."
"Neptune…"
"I-Is Nep-Nep gonna go insane again?" Compa asked.
"I hope not." IF said.
"Well…if that's how they want to play…then we're not gonna lose. We've beaten them before and we'll do it again. They won't get away with this. Not a chance in hell."
That's when everyone stared at her with looks of shock. Surprised at what just happened.
She…She didn't go insane? But she was getting close there this time. How did she…wait…could she be adapting to the topaz's power within her shattered soul? The citrine isn't reacting to her power as much as it was before.
But is it truly possible for someone not related to the Zodiac Stones to do such a thing?
…
I'll just have to see where this goes…
"Nep's right." IF ended the silence. "Standing around here isn't going to fix anything. We know where they are and we know what they're doing. All that's left is to stop them."
"Right. We won't let them get away with this." Compa said.
"It's now or never, baby. Let's go kick some ass!" Uzume yelled out.
"You're welcomed to join us, Jarne." Nepgear said. "We could use the extra fighting power."
"I just want to get back home, honestly. But if fighting against Ridel will do it, then count me in! I'll show her what for! Ja-ja-ja-jaan!"
"Alright, then. Let's go, ladies. From this point onward, we've got three worlds to save."
"Oh, wait. Hold on a sec, Iffy." Neptune said.
"Huh? What is it, Nep?"
Neptune didn't say anything and just slowly walked up to IF. Placing her hand on her shoulder and leaning her face close to hers.
"Iffy~…don't think I've forgotten about you kissing my sister~. You'll have hell to pay later~. *demented giggle*"
"Tch! N-N-Nep, please…"
Yeah…it's starting to look like she's gaining control over it.
As everyone began to walk along the path in front of us, I was having a conversation with Jarne. Glad to have reunited with my first friend again.
"You know, it's great to have you around again, Jarne. You give off this special vibe to calm me down with. Whatever that is."
"Same here, Resta! Glad to be back with my best friend!" Jarne then went silent for a bit. "Uh, hey…Resta. There's something I gotta tell you. Something I left out before because…I wanted only you to hear it."
"Really? What's that?"
"Two things, really. One…I saw this girl with Ridel and Kurome. She had blue hair, in a ponytail, and she was dressed as an archer of some kind."
"A-An archer? Th-That's Sagey! She was with them?!"
"Yeah, but…it didn't look like she was there on her one free will. Her eyes looked completely soulless. As if she was being mind-controlled."
"No way…so, they did lose. All four of them." I started getting sad as I learned of my friend's/rival's fates. "So, what's the second thing?"
"The second thing is…there was another girl with them. Only this one had pink hair and was only wearing a black hoodie. Covering most of her face."
"Seriously? We're actually looking for that girl. She's been messing around with Neptune's reputation around here."
"Wow. Well…that girl also had a Zodiac Stone."
"Wh-What? A Zodiac Stone? B-But there's only five. What did this one look like?"
"It was a lilac trigonal stone with a weird black symbol on it. Two curves with a line going across them. It had the same amount of power as yours. So, I knew it was a Zodiac Stone."
"Two curves with a line going through it? That's the symbol for Pisces. But the Pisces went extinct 10 years ago. It's nearly impossible to find any record of them nowadays."
Unless…
"Resta! Jarne! Come on, we're gonna leave you two behind!" Amitie yelled out to us.
"Coming!" I took a quick sigh. "Hey, Jarne. Thanks for telling me this privately. I really need to think this over before I tell the others. As this whole thing could be bigger than what we currently think it is."
"Your secret's safe with me, Resta. I won't say a word until you're ready."
"Thanks, Jarne. You really are a good friend." I said with a smile.
We then ran off to catch up with the others. With what I was just told, my mind was in full thought of what could this stuff truly mean for myself and my friends.
One thing's for sure though…this is not a normal story.
Author's Note: With Jarne found and on their team, the group of heroines continue their trek through the resort dungeon to stop the now revealed plan of Kurome, Ridel, and Arfoire.
But with Resta keeping newly found information to herself, for now, it may not be that simple anymore.
Wow, it has been a full MONTH since this story was last updated! I deeply apologize for the long wait. I had put all my focus on one single story and that took longer than it should've. Hopefully, this won't happen again. I'm really trying to keep a good schedule with these stories.
Also, I'm scrapping the idea of this story only being in Resta's POV. Having multiple POV's will give this story more personality. And with a crossover on this kind of scale, that's something you really need. Otherwise, it won't work well.
Thanks for reading. Later.
