It's been a while since I've been to the ocean. The salty tang of sea air, the light sound of crashing waves, even the distant, incessant keening of seagulls. It's all here.

Of course, I'm on solid ground this time, rather than in a boat, and the occasional whipping winds that the ocean attracts are warm, rather than the usual freezing Canadian winds.

I have to say, it's quite an improvement. I don't even need to zip up my coat to be out here.

We arrived at our destination about five minutes ago, and after a quick look over the immediate area for obvious or visible traps, began our hike to where the monster we're searching for is supposedly located.

I'd say I quite like this place. The sun's still near its apex - I'd say it's not even noon, there's not a cloud in the sky. While there is a curious lack of beach chairs, vendor stalls, and y'know, people, I can definitely see why this place is considered a resort. I'd definitely enjoy spending a day here, just lazing around fishing.

Even the monsters that plague the area around here are trash. While definitely nowhere near the stuff back in Virtua, the critters here are easy pickings to any of us five, going down in one or two hits. Even better, when stars align, I don't even need to be the one to defeat them. A golf swing with Seamus sends the smaller of my unfortunate targets sailing over the edge of the resort into the ocean. God, I love environmental kills.

Yes, it's a waste of loot, but it's hilarious watching the cats or Babyvaders panic as they go flying. It's the little things that help us stay sane, right?

All in all, our forward progress into the deeper parts of the resort is swift and relaxed.

"You seem happier, what's up?" comes a voice from my right.

"Heh?" I answer, as I turn towards the voice. It's Compa this time. Honestly, I haven't talked to the girl as much as I have the other three.

"You were all tense and fidgety when we were in the city. But out here, you seem a lot happier." states the nurse. "It was scaring Iffy."

Was I really that obvious?

"I… Don't really want to talk about it…" I concede, as I face forwards once more. "It's all a big mess."

"You don't need to tell us everything, y'know, but we are your friends, after all."

I've been lying to them ever since we met, though. Is that really a friendship? Or am I just using them?

"I'm not really…" I begin, but I'm cut off by a sudden cry from up ahead.

"Found it! Everyone! The dolphin monster is right here!" shouts Nepgear, who is waving her sword above her head.

I can't stop the sheepish look from spreading across my face. "Another time, I guess…"

Compa nods at me. "I'm always willing to listen."

"Thank you…" I utter, taking my breath in before I race forward to join the front line.

The dolphin's about the size of a small car, and is hovering in place menacingly, as it flops its fins about through the air. Honestly, whatever force is keeping this thing aloft a half meter above the ground is several times more terrifying than the actual monster itself.

Unless, of course, this thing takes after the depravities of dolphins from my world, at which point this creature is not only terrifying, but nauseating as well. I can't see its genitalia from here, and honestly, I'm not sure I even know what to look for.

Focus.

"Let's take it down quickly." I speak, as I draw my knives. I can hear the sound of the girl's weapons being readied, but I'm already in motion.

Alright, it's only a meter up, so I should be able to make the jump… Going to try to stab in…

Whoah! This thing's slippery-.

Okay. Ow.

Well, I made the jump, and the attack, but I didn't expect its skin to be as slippery as it was. Turns out, while the diving stab into its dorsal fin definitely hit, I had too much momentum: I'm on the ground now behind it, having torn a large, but strangely bloodless gash in the dolphin's hide.

I'm also only a few inches away from the edge of the platform, meaning if I had put any more speed into it, I'd have fallen into the ocean.

Needless to say, I'm glad that didn't happen.

Well, that definitely got its attention: it's staring at me with the signature dolphin shit-eating grin. It squeaks menacingly, as it opens its mouth to spit water, or bubbles, or some sort of aquatic themed attack at me.

Bit of help here, girls? I tumble out of the way of an incoming flipper. It leaves a wet, stinky spot on the metal.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a flash of light - Nepgear's probably gone HDD. I don't get a good look though, since I'm still dodging flippers.

Man, metal platforms suck. I gotta find softer places to fall down on. Or stop being so suicidal with my charges.

Suddenly, the dolphin flips away, gracefully dodging an attack from the transformed Nepgear. With the pressure off of me, I'm able to stagger up onto my feet. The others are pounding away, and it's starting to hover lower.

Once more, it lifts itself up, and begins to open its mouth, gurgling menacingly -

Yeah. No, that's not going to happen.

Rather than letting it finish its breath attack, which would have likely stunk like rotting fish, I run forwards, and give it a hearty kick to the underside of its jaw.

SCHLAPP!

Oooh! That is a satisfying noise. Rubbery face is the perfect target.

I retreat backwards, as the dolphin shakes its head. Did I stun it? Good.

"Mirage Dance!"

Damn, she's using a special? Too bad I can't see what she's doing from here - I'm still flanking this overgrown fish. It'd be interesting to see it in first person without the camera shenanigans.

The dolphin staggers backwards, faltering under the onslaught. Unfortunately, it's staggering backwards towards me. It squeaks in fishy fury, and begins flailing its tail about, forcing yet more dodging from me.

Well, it's focused on Nepgear now… Might as well give it a shot now, right?

Grinning maniacally, I flip my knives. I could definitely say nothing while doing this, but where's the fun in this?

"EXECUTE!" I bellow, stabbing forwards with both knives.

Stabbing into the rubbery skin, I embed both knives into the critter's side. Not willing to let up the pressure, I hop backwards, before throwing my entire weight into kicking the knives deeper. The monster shrieks in pain, as the twin knives sink until all but the hilts are fully buried. Finally, I grab the hilts with both hands, before twisting and pulling. There's a nasty squishing noise, before the knives are pulled free.

"Haaaa! Go to hell!" shouts IF from the other side of the creature. I find myself stepping back from a pillar of flame which envelops the creature.

That seemed to do it. With a final shriek, the dolphin flickers, before it dissolves before my eyes. A few credit chips and a handful of other bits of loot drop to the ground with a clank, one of which is a can of tuna.

I can only blink at the last item. "Huh, 'May contain Dolphins' is getting a bit literal, here." I muse, bending down to get a closer look.

"What do you mean, Mister Derek?" asks Compa. Poor girl. Doesn't know about predatory fishing practices.

"Umm… Never mind." I say. "Mind if I take the tuna?"

There's a shrug from Nepgear. Good enough for me. Besides, what else are they going to do with tuna?

"Well, we took down the monster, like the guard said…" states IF, as she banishes her katars. "Now, we just need to hope that he actually knows where to find Hematite."

Nepgear nods, and I see her close her eyes -

"Wait!" I interrupt, rushing towards the transformed CPU. I haven't actually ever had a good look at Nepgear in HDD, before.

"Oh? What's wrong?" asks Nepgear, opening her eyes again, and tilting her head.

"Never seen you in your goddess form, that's all." I answer, as I give her a once-over.

Honestly, while her 'super' form is definitely more physically attractive, what with the upping of cup sizes, along with the randomly summoned swimsuit-armor, up close the symbols in her eyes are sort of creepy. Do they function as irises? How do they react to changes in light? If I shined a really bright light in her eyes, would the symbols shrink? Would she even notice, or does divine form grant some sort of immunity? I can't remember any time in the games where the symbols really changed, even on the other goddesses. Not to mention, all of the different ways they're drawn in fan art and other sources-

"Umm… You're making me kind of uncomfortable…" murmurs Nepgear, as she scratches the back of her neck. She hovers backwards a little bit "I mean, you're sort of staring at my eyes…"

"Oh… Uhh… Oh shit!" I sputter, as I glance downwards. Good job, dumbass! "Sorry. Eyes are always interesting. Did you know that your eyes are often made up of lots of different colors?"

Dammit, random trivia wasn't the solution!

"Err… I mean, how do your eyes work?" I try to recover. The words aren't even out of my mouth before I regret them.

"Uhh… excuse me?" answers Nepgear, eyebrow raised.

"Uhh… Nevermind!" I say, as I try to end the (now incredibly awkward) conversation. "We should head back, right?"

There's probably a much dimmer flash as Nepgear returns to her previous state. Of course, I don't see it, because I'm walking away as fast as I can, while doing everything I can to make it look like I'm not fleeing.

I think I might've confused everyone a bit, because it's been about a minute and no one has caught up to me yet.

I didn't stop walking until I'm out of the resort and back onto the mainland.

Not because it was awkward, mind you: I got over that about five minutes ago. No, I keep walking because I just don't have a real reason to stop.

Still, I'm not even a third of the way back when I hear someone running to catch up to me.

Well, it'd be rude to not say hello, I guess. I look over my shoulder, to see who is arriving.

Oh, it's Compa.

"Hey, Compa. What's up?" I ask, slowing down my pace so that she can properly catch up. Seriously, why her? IF might be curious about why I was making such a big deal about Nepgear, Nepgear herself might be wanting to apologise, or RED might be wanting to warn me off of her wifeys. I don't know why Compa would be the one to come talk to me.

"Right before we fought that dolphin monster, you were about to say something. If it's not too much, do you mind telling me what you were about to say?"

Ouch, right to the heart of the conversation, huh? I stop in place, trying to figure out what she wants to hear.

"I…" I take a breath. I hate having to lie this much. My memory's not great at the best of times, and soon enough, I'm not going to be able to keep my story straight. "All right… You promise not to hold this against me?"

There's a nod of affirmation from the nurse, who nonverbally nudges me to continue on.

"I'm not telling you guys everything." I begin, deciding to not lie any more than I need to. "I just… can't. Some of the things aren't even my secrets to tell."

There's another 'go on' gesture.

"I swear I want to help you girls, but it feels horrible lying..." I try to keep talking, but my voice dries up. It seems nothing more will be said.

"Mister Derek?" asks Compa, her tone gently and questioning. "Are any of the lies dangerous?"

I shake my head. Not dangerous. More like just insane. "No… they shouldn't be. But they're personal. They're personal, and I just… can't talk about them. Not now… and maybe not ever. And it feels wrong, you know? How can you trust me, when I can't even trust you enough to..."

There's a moment's pause between both of us, with only the sound of distant seabirds breaking the awkward silence.

"Even if you can't tell us everything, you said you want to help us, right?" asks the nurse, nodding to herself. "That's good enough for me, and I'm sure it's good enough for Iffy and Ge-Ge."

I want to say more. I really do…

But I can't. Not yet, and maybe not ever.

"I guess so… Oh, and sorry about freaking out Nepgear, back there." I mention offhandedly. "You might think it's weird, but I find the whole 'power-symbol eyes' thing really strange. Do they change at all like a real pupil?"

Compa pauses for a moment, before replying. "You know, I've never really thought about it. After all, when Ge-Ge's in that form, she's usually fighting something nasty, so I'm pretty busy."

I snort, rolling my eyes. "So much for figuring out that medical mystery."

There's a slight chuckle from both of us, as we continue to walk. I can see buildings coming into focus: we're almost there.

"You know, Mister Derek…"

I cut off Compa. "I never really said this earlier, but can you just call me Derek? It feels weird being called Mister…"

There's a pause, probably due to Compa trying to come up with a nickname for me. Yeah, that's not going to work.

"Uhh… Compa? I don't think Derek can be turned into a nickname easily." I interject.

"No, there has to be one… Dere-Dere… Rick… Ricky…" murmurs the nurse.

"No." I cut in, intent on killing this before it can go any further. "There is no way, in this world, or any other, that you are calling me Ricky."

And dere-dere? What, am I a tsun or something?

There's a sigh from Compa. "I guess no cute nickname for Derek, then…"

I can't help but laugh at her. "I guess not. I mean, if RED were coming up with it, it'd probably be 'Mr. Silly Knifey and RED's Many Wifeys', so it's probably for the best. So, what were you going to say, just now? I'm sorry for cutting you off there, but I had to put my foot down. I always hated nicknames."

"M… Derek, even though you say that you're weird, you really remind me and Iffy of a friend of ours."

I raise an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"She's a bit weird too, but that's what we all like the most about her." continues Compa, scratching the side of her neck. "I'm really hoping that you'll be able to meet her someday. I get a feeling you both would get along real great."

Who? Oh...

Neptune.

"Does she live far away, or something?" I ask, voice once again weak. I know who she's talking about, but I can't-

"No… She's in the Gamindustri Graveyard. Her name is Neptune, and she's the CPU of Planeptune, and Ge-Ge's older sister." answers Compa simply, voice quiet. She chuckles sadly, as tears begin to fall. "But everyone thinks Ge-Ge is Nep-Nep's older sister."

"Nep-Nep… is that her nickname? You two must have been close then…" I speak back, unsure what else to say. "I never considered it…"

Never considered what the others felt about this task. I've, and I'm sure many others, have only ever seen it as "Go rescue the funny meme girl and her three non-friends."

I know what our end goals are - I've known since I've gotten here. But hearing it from Compa's perspective… Hearing it, in person, and not dissociated through a screen. Watching the tears in person...

Here, it's not a game. This is their world. This isn't just some metaphorical carrot dangled in front of the player to convince the player to progress. They're not just trying to rescue the CPUs to save their world.

They're doing this to free their best friend. They're doing everything in their power to rescue their sister, who, even if not due to blood, might as well be. And even if the CPUs were not needed, they'd do so.

"So…" I answer, taking a bracing breath. "That's why this quest is so important to you three, huh?"

There's a nod of affirmation.

I take another deep breath, before I turn my gaze up skyward once more.

"C'mon." I gesture. "It's time to see a man about a pretty rock."