After I convinced Lan to let me go from his vice grip, we started our journey to the Basilicom.
After we made a little small talk about Lan's rocks, which are cool, Neptune finally brought up the meeting.
"Sorry you can't join us, Lanny." After my declaration, Neptune decided to use Lanny for Lan's nickname. It's great they get along but…Can we not use teasing me as the bond?
"It's alright, I'm sure you guys have national secrets or whatever to talk about." Yeah, probably super secret stuff!
"Nahh, nothing like that. Just gonna be us girls gossiping as usual I bet." …As usual?
Neptune continues. "Yeah, probably just going to make lil' Nep here spill all the beans about the last 5 years." That's all this is!?
"What!? That's embarrassing! I don't want to do that!" It's embarrassing enough that I know!
"Relax~ kid! They were seriously worried about you! It's the least you can give us, yeah?" That's true…
"I guess, but I'm only going to give the short version! The details are…for me and Lan only!" Too many…personal things!
"As long as you give us a decent chunk. Just want to make sure you were doing okay and all that stuff." I get it…
"Fine! But if anyone makes fun of me I'm stopping!"
"Darn, here I was hoping to get a good chuckle!" She whips her hand and snaps her fingers and says 'Rats'.
I roll my eyes and think about where I should even start. I don't remember the first few months that well. All I know is that Lan and I did not get along. He was a serious butt-face to me at first.
While I was thinking about this and that, we arrived in front of the Basilicom.
"Okay Lanny, gonna need you to wait in my room while we do big kid stuff." She takes us up to her room and we drop off Lan.
"Before I go, Lily…" Lan stops us before we head to the next floor.
"What's up, Lan?" He pauses for a second and looks like he is trying to force some words out.
"...They were your friends once, uhhhh, don't forget that they're also leaders of their own countries as well." ?
"Just kick their asses if they bother you." He nods to himself and looks proud but…
"I don't really get it but, I guess I just won't let them bother me?" I'm sure it makes sense in his head.
"Yeah! Just let me know if you need me and I'll prepare the escape route!" I giggle at his imagination.
"Thanks, Lan. I'll figure it out!" I think he just wanted me to know he'll be here for me or something.
With that, my sister and I head up a few floors higher into what looks like another lobby.
We walk down a big hallway in between a few rooms and go to the furthest one in the back.
"Heyyyyyy! Guess who it is!" Neptune pushes open the door with energy befitting her and waltzes right into the room.
"Gee, I wonder?" As I step in I see Noire crossing her arms and rolling her eyes at Neptune.
"That's right! It's me! Everyone's favorite star and protagonist!" She sure is excited.
"I also brought along my little co-star today! Take it away, Nepgear!" She throws her hands to me as if presenting me.
"Oh! Umm, Hello! Nice to meet you! Again? Yes! Nice to meet you again!" Nailed it.
I hear a little giggle and see the source is a tall blonde woman in a green and white dress with some…uhhh…massive personalities.
"I'm glad to see you seem like you haven't changed much." She keeps giggling, with every giggle it feels like they giggle as well.
"Umm, who might you be ma'am?" She is definitely a CPU, and she seems so mature. I figure she might be the oldest.
"Ma'am? Please, I'm not old enough for that. Just call me Vert. I am the CPU of Leanbox." Leanbox? That's that one in the south somewhere right?
"Yes! Nice to meet you, Vert!" She looks sad for a second before she nods and smiles at me.
"Hahaha, she thought you were an old lady." I hear a quiet laugh on the other side of the room sitting across from Vert.
It came from a young looking girl with chestnut brown hair who almost seemed to be the exact opposite of Vert. In well…many ways.
"Hey, Nepgear, I can almost hear your thoughts there. You better watch it." In a split second her attitude flipped and she was very calm and angry.
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't trying to offend you or anything, Miss…?"
"It's Blanc, and it's fine. But, if you do it again I'll smash you." She said that and calmly sipped on her tea.
Yikes, I better warn Lan before they meet. He'll probably get his butt kicked if he isn't careful.
"Despite how she looks, she is actually the CPU of Lowee." Vert casually adds.
I can almost hear a vein pop from Blanc when she hears this "'Despite'? Despite how they look, those tits are only good for sagging and getting in the way." Vert lightly laughs in response.
"Oh dear, a problem you'll never get to have I'm afraid." Oh goodness. These two are…
"WHAT WAS THAT, THUNDER TITS?" How colorful.
"Enough guys!" Noire is the one who ends up butting in to save the civility of the meeting.
"We're here to talk about Nepgear and what we have to do next. Not about petty arguments." They both kind of chill out and say a quiet 'Sorry…' under their breath.
Noir sighs and clears her throat. "So, Nepgear, we're all here to figure out what happened to you and how you've been living your life since you disappeared." As my sister kind of said.
"We also need to discuss what we're going to do going forward. …Thinking about it is enough to give me a headache." Well, it is a very complicated situation from their position.
"Alright, I understand. I'll help out how I can. Just a heads up, I don't remember much about what happened or what immediately followed though." Most of what I know is from the medical records to be honest.
"Hmm, I figured. Might as well just tell us the earliest memory you have up to now. If you, you know, don't mind." Noire was twirling her hair in her finger. Maybe she was a little nervous?
"Oooo! I want to hear all the juicy details! I've only heard snippets up to now!" Neptune got more excited when it seemed she'd finally get to hear the whole story.
Blanc also chimed in. "I won't lie, I am curious about how your relationship with your husband progressed." I didn't take her for a romance type…
"Yes! Me too! I've talked to him a little bit but…" My sister seemed conflicted. I thought they got along?
"You've met him right?" Vert was jumping in too. "What was he like? I must know if he's the right man for my little Nepgear!" Your wha?
"First, back off. Secondly, he's uhhhh? A very peculiar guy? Every time I think he's normal, he says or does something that hits me like a paralyzer."
"He is pretty weird if you don't know him that well." When I was getting to know him, there were a few moments like that for me too.
"We'll get to him later, I'm also a little curious. For now, tell us about you." Noire once again tries to get the conversation back to the topic. This time, all the ladies nod and look at me with a lot of emotions in their eyes and faces.
"Ughh, alright. It's a long story though. So better get comfy in that chair." I sigh and sit down next to Neptune and take a deep breath.
"So, starting from the beginning I don't know much. I only know what the doctors and Lan told me. My memories of that time are really fuzzy. I'm told I was barely responsive for the first few days but I recovered much faster than they thought possible." Probably because I'm a deity?
At this point Blanc raised her hand. This isn't a classroom, but okay.
"I don't want to dredge up any bad memories so I don't know if this question would be okay?" I can't really tell by the expression on her face but I think her voice sounds concerned.
"It's fine, I've moved past most of my trauma. I can't wear the clothes they found me in, but other than that anything is fair game. Just…not too personal." I am not talking about Lan and I's first night together.
She nods and continues. "What kind of wounds did you have? I know we've gotten injured frequently during our time as CPU's, but most of the time they're from deities or gods. We're pretty sturdy." Huh, I didn't think about that.
After thinking for a few seconds I give her the best I can remember. "If I remember correctly, they were blade wounds across my chest and I had several broken bones. Lan knows more than me, he picked me up after all." Even if I'm over it, I don't like to think about it too much.
Blanc seems to be taken aback a little bit, but nods.
At this point Neptune has a question of her own. "How and where did Lanny find you anyway?" The ladies all turn to Neptune, slightly baffled by my husband's nickname, but I answer anyway.
"Actually, he was foraging in the woods for some potion making hobby he just got into when he happened to stumble upon me."
"He can make potions!?" Neptune excitedly jumps up, clearly excited at the idea.
"He can make a potion." I state plainly.
"You mean, just the one?" Of course you would be confused, so am I!
"Yup, he only wanted to learn how to make a 'high-grade healing potion like item'. Those are the exact words he says."
"Oh, uh, why not more?"
I merely shrug my shoulders. "He does stuff like that very often, he gets interested in one thing and anything outside of that thing is unnecessary. He does it with people too." One certain area in a subject interests him and he dives head first into it. When he gets what he needs, he drops the subject entirely. Except for one time, hehe.
"Okay?" Uhh, so what about finding you?" I would give up too, Neptune.
"He found me in a bed of lilies actually pretty close to the ingredients he was looking for."
"Wow! So he named you after those lilies huh? That's kind of cute!" It is…
"It is cute, what isn't cute is that he moved me out of the way to get to the ingredients he wanted."
They all just kind of stared at me with the blankest looks on their faces.
"WHAAAAT!? He was gonna let you die!?" My sister got up and looked like she was going to stab him in the face.
The other three also looked similarly displeased to say the least.
"He was not one for charity or compassion back then." I sigh remembering all the times I was absolutely baffled by his attitude.
"I'm lucky that he wanted to test the potion on me. He has apologized profusely for it at this point, but honestly he was a different person then." Once we got to know each other better and he actually cared about me, he did everything he could to make it up to me.
"Wow, that's…hard to take in." Vert was at a loss for words.
"There goes the fairy tale romantic meeting…" Blanc was also seemingly distressed.
"Truthfully, if anyone else found me I would probably have died though…" My wounds were pretty bad.
The room grew silent, seems like they didn't know how to feel after that.
"It's alright! As you can see, I'm healthy and strong! I have Lan to thank for that!" I pump my fists in front of me to show how energetic I am.
"Yeah, I guess as long as he got the job done…" Noire admits hesitantly.
"Right! That's how I see it!" I chime in and smile to show I mean it.
The others nod and I continue. "So he stopped further damage with his potion and brought me back to his house. Where he treated me until I was healthy enough to move. Then he transferred me to a nearby hospital."
The 4 CPU's just watched me as I spoke. Uhh, this is kind of making me nervous now. But I have to keep going anyway I guess.
"The doctors told me he visited me everyday until I woke up, and after that he continued to visit me. It seemed he had taken an interest in how his potion affected my body."
The first time I actually met him wasn't too long after that. How nostalgic, even though it wasn't that long ago.
I giggle to myself as I think about how we started off compared to now.
"After I woke up, uhhh, we did not get along very well. Hahaha…" Oof, all the name calling and teasing and taunting. Yikes, he just really irked me somehow.
Blanc seemed to perk up. "So, you guys were kind of enemies?"
That's a bit of an exaggeration, but…
"I guess that isn't too far off?" I did hate his guts after all.
She seemed content and only added one word. "Classic." Okay?
"That's rad and all but, when are we gonna get to when you guys shack up and stuff?" Shack up!?
"Neptune! Come on! Have some decency!" Yeah! Please keep her in line Noire!
"Th-that being said, I might be a little interested…maybe. But only because Neptune brought it up!" Nooooo!
"I am as well. I do wonder how he managed to win your heart." Vert gives me a playful smile. You meanies!
Blanc just stares at me silently with twinkles in her eyes and her pen and notebook open.
"Blanc! What are you going to write!?"
She puts her hand up. "Don't mind me, just taking some notes." Notes for what!?
"Spill the beans, girlfriend! We're not letting ya outta here until you do!" Neptune is even more hyped!
"Lannnn! Now is the time to come to your beloved's rescue!" With that futile effort, I'm forced to tell them a lot of the intimate details I wish I could keep to myself.
With the room drowning in "Kyaaahhh!" and "Ooooooo" and "Awwwww"'s, I had no idea that Lan had his own struggle happening right where I left him.
*Back In Neptune's Room*
"We need to talk, Lan." The black haired girl had a serious expression on her face as she walked into the living room.
"Should've seen this coming…" The boy sighs and sinks into his seat, clearly not looking forward to this experience.
Poor guy, he just wants to go home and hang out with his wife. This one was hard in that I wasn't sure how much Lily should divulge. I want their whole past to be brought to light eventually. However, I want it to be natural? I guess? Having a hard time figuring out how to do that. Got a few ideas I'll play around with in a few chapters from now. Also, how do you guys feel about longer chapters vs. shorter ones? Personally, I just try to write everything that comes to my head that is related. Maybe there are too many words though? Let me know what you guys prefer, and I'll try (keyword try) to write it like that. Once again, thanks for the comments. Don't forget to liek, cooment, and subscrib for moar kontent.