Chapter 18 – Digging Up a Secret Past

Melody's POV

"Geez…you're out of town for a few days and you come back to the place looking like an apocalypse. This town definitely isn't normal."

"Though, it's the un-normality that makes it an interesting place to live in, Melody-senpai."

"Yeah, you got a point, Lily…"

I had just came back from a trip relating to my writing and was greeted to an…interesting sight. The place was in ruins…and the sky was nothing more than a blue void of space. With pieces of land creepily floating in it.

And if that wasn't bad enough, I almost got attacked by these strange-looking dog-slime creatures that looked derpy as hell. But then I was saved by Lily and the two of us made it to my house without any more incidents.

Never have I've been more grateful that Lily kept that paintball gun…

"So, what exactly is going on here? What's with all this mess?" I asked.

"I don't have much on it." Lily said. "From what Miss Raffina told me, a girl named Resta appeared a few days ago…and then Miss Ridel and a strange blue girl sucked her up in a portal. Along with Miss Amitie, Miss Feli, Miss, Lidelle, and Miss Jarne."

"Seriously? Ami's involved in this, too?" I did a stressed-out sigh. "That girl just doesn't stay out of trouble, huh?"

"It does seem that way, Melody-senpai."

"Well, whatever. If she got herself into this, I'm sure she'll figure out something to fix it. I'm going to sleep."

"You're seriously going to sleep while the world's in this state of madness?"

"Well, it's not like I have anything to do with it, Lily. It's not the Legend thing with Ami and Rivi again." I then went silent for a bit. Feeling a bit uneasy as I took a look around the living room. "Although…now that I think about it…I think I have an idea on what it is."

"You do? What is it?"

"*intense groan*"

"Melody-senpai?" Lily grew a concerned look.

I still didn't respond to her, though. Instead, I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and held it in my hand. Still feeling that uneasy feeling.

"So, are you going to continue standing there out-of-sight…or are you going to freaking show yourself?!" I then threw the water at what seemed like a corner of the room. But when the bottle was stopped in mid-air and water was pouring out from it being pierced throw, I knew that I had found the source of the uneasiness.

"So, you noticed I was here. As I would expect from someone like you, Melody." And then, said source of the uneasiness revealed herself from the shadows. Not really surprising me much.

But as for Lily…

"A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A…Arfoire?! KYAAAAAAAAA!"

Yeah…she's out of it.

"Well…I sure didn't expect to see you again, Arfy." I said. "Did you miss me or something~?"

"Miss you? I can't stand LOOKING at you. I've only resurfaced after all these years to finally fulfill my revenge."

"Revenge?" I thought for a bit. "Oh~…you're still upset that I place that curse on you, huh? You really haven't let that go?"

"How can I let such a damn thing go when I have to look at myself every day?! You insensitive idiot!"

"Geez…you don't have to yell."

"H-How are you here, Arfoire?" Lily asked. "Last we saw you, you fell into that dimension mirror we had in the clubroom."

"Yes, I was. And I ended up in a place called Gamindustri…where I've spent countless years wishing for the day I would exact revenge on you all for what you've done to me. And now…with the worlds fused together, I've finally been given this chance."

"What, you mean YOU'RE the one that turned Primp into this hellhole?" I asked.

"The destruction of Primp Town has nothing to do with me. You can thank Ridel for that."

"So, you know Ridel? That makes a lot of sense."

"Considering you both are very nutty about revenge, it's a perfect match." Lily added.

"Sh-Shut it! You're the reason I'm this nutty in the first place!"

"Right…" I said. "…what exactly happened again?"

"YOU DON'T REMEMBER?!"

"Hey, gimme a break. It was a long time ago and a lot of things happened since then. Not my fault that I don't remember something from my high school days."

"It has been a while, Arfoire." Lily said.

"*sigh* Fine. Before I destroy you…and obtain my vengeance…I'll make you remember what will cause your endless suffering of despair! Hahahahahaha!"

Geez…did that curse make her go extremely cliché, too?


3rd Person POV

As Melody had said before, this happened during the high school days of herself, Ms. Accord, Lily, Yumi, Rulue, and yes…even Arfoire. Though, she didn't look or act like how she is now.

Believe it or not, Arfoire was originally a normal-looking high school girl. Her skin was a normal light shade instead of her current purple tone, her long white hair was comparable to snow, and her blue eyes were…often emotionless. But they were better to look at compared to her current red eyes. And less evil.

How she was turned into how she is now…started with a simple game. A game that, nowadays, is known for causing A LOT of trouble. No matter who you are.

And that game is…

"Puyo Puyo? What kind of stupid name of a game is that?"

"Oh, come on, Arfy. It's not stupid. It's a really fun game."

"Hmph. Please. If it's a game created from this club, then it has to be stupid. Much like you as a whole."

"Ouch. Geez, Arfy. If you stay this cruel, no one would want to be your friend."

"I do not need friends! And stop calling me "Arfy" already!"

Right now, a younger Melody was trying to convince a younger Arfoire to play the infamous game. This was already a difficult task because back then, Arfoire found Melody to be an annoying carefree girl. They were in the same class and the latter would bother the former until she would snap at her. Or until the younger Ms. Accord would stop her. Whichever came first.

And now, after being dragged to the clubroom of the Unofficial Club (sub-name to the "What?! Aw, Hell No! Hold Up! Huh?! Oh, Okay." Club) the younger version of the Neptunia Series Main Antagonist was listening to these five girls…

The younger version of Amitie's mom…

The younger version of Primp's Magic School teacher…

The younger version of the Fielding Family maid…

The younger version of Demon King Namanari's wife…

And the younger version of Arle's self-proclaimed rival (although, she never ages physically due to a potion she drank after graduating)…

…as they explain to her this jelly blob-popping game with the weird-as-hell name.

And after a while…she was starting to gain interest.

"Hmm…interesting. So, these emotional rainbow jelly blobs will give you magic power once you pop them? How did you even find these things?"

"They just started showing up one day at the old school building." Younger Rulue said. "We grab them whenever we see them."

"And it seems that they give out such power when you connect four of the same color." Younger Ms. Accord said. "And the more you pop one after another, the more power you gain."

"And with that, we made a game out of it. Pretty cool, right?" Younger Melody said with a confident smirk.

"Hmm…it is impressive. But none of that explained why you gave it such a ridiculous name."

"Well, about that…"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Did that thing just talk?" Younger Arfoire asked after hearing one of the puyo speak.

"Yes…though, that seems to be the only thing they say." Younger Lily said.

"But it is cute, though." Younger Yumi added. "Especially when you poke them." She then proceeded to poke the green puyo in front of her.

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"Puyopuyo~"

"STOP POKING IT!" Younger Arfoire yelled. Of course, getting very much annoyed with the constant "Puyopuyo~".

"So." Younger Melody said. "Now that you know all about it, Arfy…care to play with us?"

"Hmm…well…the concept of gaining magic from these things does intrigue me. I could probably use them together with my hex spells for more power."

"Sure. Whatever floats your boat, Arfy."

"Hmph. Alright, then. I'll play this little game of yours. I'll show you all the true power of a Celestial Witch. *creepy demented giggle*"

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Younger Ms. Accord said to herself.

"Sure thing. It's on like Donkey Kong, Arfy!"

"Tch! Stop calling me Arfy!"

"Why? It's a cute nickname for you."

"I do not wish to be cute!"

"But you're blushing. Really hard." The five girls said.

"Graaaaaaah!"


Melody's POV

"Oh, yeah. I remember…kinda crazy that we were one of the first people to bring Puyo Puyo into existence. Pretty dope."

"We still never figured out why or how those puyos were at the old school building in the first place." Lily said.

"Eh, who knows. Probably some Madou Monogatari crap or something."

"Ma…what?" Lily gained a confused look.

"Hey! Don't treat this as some kind of trip down memory lane! This is supposed to be a monologue!" Arfoire yelled.

"Monologue of what?" I asked. "The time I accidentally shot you in the face with an acid-filled purple puyo…that turned your skin purple, destroyed most of your hair, changed your eye color…and when you tried to fight me because of it, you slipped on that same purple puyo and fell face-first into the dimension mirror we had in there and pretty much disappeared from this dimension?"

"So, you remembered this entire time?!"

"Yeah, pretty much. I just wanted to screw with you."

"Graaaaah! Infuriating as always! I should've just taken my chances and TRIED to kill both of your daughters! Just to piss you off like you've done to me countless times!"

"Huh?!" Lily and I reacted with total shock.

"Wait, hold on! You actually met both Ami and Rivi?!" I asked.

"Oh? Did I finally struck a nerve in you, Melody?" Arfoire gained a cheeky smirk.

"Arfoire, I swear! If you've done ANYTHING to my daughters…"

"Please…you think I would be that stupid to go against those two in my current state? With the power they got over me?"

"So, you're aware of them being the Light Soul & Dark Soul…" Lily said.

"To think that you would give such terrifying powers to your own daughters…and even seal one away inside another. I wonder, Melody…what would Felix had thought of all of this, hm?"

"Y-You didn't…"

Tch! This bitch! The nerve of her to bring up Felix like that! It still hurts that he's gone…but now she brings him up to make me feel bad for what I did to her?! Which was CLEARLY an accident but she just refuses to let it freaking go?!

"*pissed-off moan*"

"M-Melody-senpai…?" Lily said quietly.

"Okay, Arfy. I get it. You want to pick a fight with me for what happened all those years ago. I'm not that stupid."

I then felt immense power flowing through my body. A power that I haven't used in years that was caused by a cursed ruby. And was too scared and more so depressed to ever use again.

But with the world looking how it is now, the whereabouts of Ami unknown, and worst of all…the sudden reappearance of Arfoire, I don't really have a choice right now.

"So, you finally understand." Arfoire said. "At least me destroying you will have some seriousness included."

"Don't think getting rid of me will be easy. I'm no longer the ditzy high school girl you knew me as before."

"You're now the lazy, insensitive, light novelist mother with a very questionable mindset."

"Y-You're not helping, Lily!" I yelled at her.

"I don't care what you are, Melody Rose. I, Arfoire…The Deity of Sin…will destroy you and everyone else who has made my life hell! And finally get my revenge! Hahahahahaha!"

"Deity of Sin? What are you, a child?"

"Sh-Shut up, Lily!" Arfoire yelled at her.

"Look, can we get this over with already? I got things to do." I said impatiently.

"Hmph. Fine then. I've been waiting to say these words to you once more. Let's…"

"PUYO BATTLE!" We both shouted at the top of our lungs.

I can't believe I'm playing this game again…hope I still know how to play…

Author's Note: Melody returns to Primp in the midst of its chaotic mess. And not only does she not know where Amitie is or what she's been up to, but she also unexpectedly reunites with Arfoire, who blames her for how she is now.

So, with the two of them in a battle of their own, the result of it will be revealed in a later chapter.

This story contains a lot of references to a lot of things. Which are:

The younger versions of Melody, Ms. Accord, Lily, Yumi, and Rulue are based on my story Love of Puyo Puyo.

Arfoire being known as a Celestial Witch is a small nod to Celestia from the original Hyperdimension Neptunia.

Arfoire's "original look" is basically her true form from Rebirth 1.

And finally…Melody having those powers at the end is a reference to Chapter 9 of my story Friends with Enchantments.

All of that went into this minor chapter that kinda goes into detail about Arfoire's past. It wasn't planned…it honestly came to me like a few days ago. And I just went with it.

Thanks for reading. Later.