English isn't my first language, even though I know it better than my native language. Any grammar mistakes or misspellings will be fixed when I feel like it so better deal with it. The chapter will also be reuploaded as well.
Neptune's body flung back a few feet before it made contact with the hard surface of the ground. She gritted her teeth and stared at the black-haired figure that towered over with her red eyes.
She felt as if a thousand needles had stabbed her body repeatedly.
She tried to force herself to stand up but her arms began to wobble for a bit before they eventually succumbed. Her face was planted on the ground as her mouth tasted dirt and the smell of grass mixed with sweat. Her body wasn't responding to her at all. The purple-haired girl tried to summon the last of her strength to turn her face at the woman.
She glared like a feral animal. The blood that came from her left eye burned.
Noire stood while aiming her sword an inch away from her nose. "Give it up, Neptune. I've defeated you. I admit, you were a worthy opponent and you fought well but I came at the top as in the end expected. Now... I shall reclaim my rightful title as the true protagonist." She then raised her blade high in the air. She prepared to deliver the finishing blow to her.
The girl closed her eyes shut and braced herself, silently hoping it would be quick and painless.
"Girls! Dinner's ready." A woman's yell was suddenly heard in the distance.
The voice snapped the girls two back to reality. Neptune lied on the ground, covered with mud and grass.
Noire stood there with a wooden sword. The two little girls were short and looked young with a petite appearance.
Noire loudly groned. Neptune's stomach loudly growled at the mention of food. She quickly pushed herself off the ground and walked off. "Oh yeah, food! Finally, I'm starving."
"Um, heeelloo? What about our spar?" The short black-haired girl yelled. "I was about to win and claim my title as the protagonist, dang it."
"Sorry, nowa~" The self-proclaimed girl placed both of her hands behind her head. "We'll continue or little spar later. Right now, my tummy wants food."
"Don't call me with that!" Noire yelled before she huffed as she crossed her arms and looked away. "Fine. I suppose a food break doesn't sound bad."
Neptune then began stretching. "Alright, then how about a little race? Last one to get there is a rotten eggplant."
The girl didn't wait for her response and quickly took off, leaving her dust behind.
"Wah—Hey! No fair!" She quickly ran after the girl while growling.
"You two, slow down or you might end up tripping and hurting yourselves." The blond girl who was observing from a tree shouted at the two but her heed was simply ignored. She then let out a sigh. "Honestly, those two sure do love to go head-to-head with one another whatever chance they get, don't they?"
She then turned her attention to the last girl who was sitting by the shade while reading a book about some novel about three princesses who were locked in their castle.
Out of all the three little girls, Vert was the tallest and developed among them and also acted the most mature despite being the youngest of the three. "Well, shall we head out as well, Blanc?"
The brunette didn't bother giving a response and simply continued reading. Despite looking the youngest and shortest, Blanc was the eldest one. She is known to be quiet and prefers expressing herself using gestures and short words.
She is the most intellectual and knowledgeable due to her excessive reading hobby. There isn't a day where you don't see her reading a book. She also has a short temper and can unleash a rage that matches a raging volcano.
"Come, Blanc. Let's go before Neptune eats all the foods."
"...Kay." The bookworm stood up while still looking at the book before the two walked back.
"Hey, stop pushing me!" Noire shouted as she were toe to toe in their little race.
"You started it." Neptune struck her tongue out.
Neptune was your typical energetic girl. While she is known to be carefree and laid back. She is also strong and very determined when she sets her mind to something.
And there's Noire, your typical tsundere gal. She is the most hardworking out of them all and constantly striving to be the best, which led her to compete with Neptune in their rivalry.
Neptune eventually took the lead and easily evaded the obstacles in her way by jumping on tree logs and rocks. Her heart was working overtime to keep up with her agility and long stamina.
She could see the cottage in the distance, which led her to push even more.
With such precision, she leaped over the fence and rushed to the front entrance before she quickly came to a screeching halt as her feet dag on the ground. An older woman stood in the doorway with crossed arms and a disapproving glare.
"Hold it right there, Missy." Her tone made the poor little girl involuntarily flinched. The tall woman had long white hair as a sheet and had fair skin. Her eyes were blue, like a sapphire sparkling in the sunlight. She wore a white and black outfit and a split hooded teal cape around her neck.
Soon after, Noire caught up and also stopped in her tracks besides the purple-haired girl. Arfoire was the caretaker of the four little CPUs and mentor. She was tasked with raising the four little girls and training them to become the next generation of CPUs, along with her little flying tomb.
"You're not going inside while you're like this." She pointed at the two girls' clothes, which were covered in mud from their little spar from earlier and the two were also reeking of sweat. "You're both taking baths first."
Neptune's arms flopped to her side."But Arfyyyyy, I'm sooooooooo hungry..."
"No buts." Her tone let her know that there wasn't any room left for arguing. "Bath first, dinner second. You both will have to wait for Vert and Blanc either way."
"Right away, Miss Arfoire." Noire nodded and headed to the bathroom after wiping her feet on the mat. Arfoire then returned to the small purple gremlin that was covered in mud. "Neptune. Stand in front of the water hose."
"Ugh, fiiine..." She reluctantly followed the woman behind. She watched her prepare the water hose before aiming at her and began spraying her with water.
"Ah, cold, cold, cold!" Neptune yelled as the cold splash of water slammed on her body. She felt the mud slowly wash off. After a few moments, Arfoire twisted the water tap shut. Neptune stood like a wet cat. She wrapped her hands around her body as she was reduced to a quivering mess.
Arfoire soon came with a dry towel in hand and carefully wrapped it around the girl's small body. "Now, go join your sister in the bath before you catch a cold."
"O-O-O-kkk-a-a-a-yyy." She nodded while her teeth were chattering and headed inside.
Arfoire watched the little one leave before she shook her head. She then noticed Vert and Blanc return. "Ah, there you are two. Go and have a seat by the table and wait for your two siblings."
"Most certainly." The blonde nodded as she headed in, while the brunette followed her but soon was stopped.
"Ah, ah, ah. You know the rules, young lady; hand it over." Arfoire held her hands out in front of her. "No reading while eating."
Blanc let out a quiet grumble and handed the book before she went and took a seat and crossed her arms with a displeased look. Arfoire hummed and placed the book on one of the wooden tables before untying her cape and hanging it on a wall hanger. After a short while, the two girls finished with their quick path and came dressed in a set of fresh clothes.
Neptune quickly plopped on the chair. "Finally. I was about to die out of starvation. So, what's today's dinner?"
"Stop being so dramatic." Noire rolled her eyes and sat down after her.
Arfoire came back and handed everyone their plates. "There you go, dig in girls."
Upon a quick glance, Neptune's face twisted into disgust before she pushed the plate away. "Ugh, eggplants again?"
"You shouldn't be picky about what you eat. Besides, eggplants are healthy for you. They are sources of fiber, vitamins, and minerals." Arfoire lectured the girl.
"They're not that bad. You're just overreacting like you do." Noire added with a deadpan face.
"Agreed." Vert chimed in before she took a bite out of her food. "You're acting spoiled."
Meanwhile, Blanc blew her the steam off of the food before taking a bite of it. She had no little interest in the conversation that's happening. The sooner she finishes, the sooner she gets her book back and resumes reading.
"But they're so yucky. I don't get why anyone would like them."
Arfoire, having none of that, massaged her temples. "Neptune, you will eat your vegetables and finish them, or no pudding for you."
"B-B-But... Aw, dang it... f-fine!" Neptune grabbed a hold of the spoon and scooped a spoonful before she slowly brought her mouth before she reluctantly took a bite and there are... actually not that bad.
Neptune's eyes shot open at the pleasant taste in her mouth. She let out a hum before she began taking another bite, then another.
Arfoire smiled triumphantly. "Careful. Don't eat too quick or you might end up choking."
After a while, everyone was done with their dishes. The white-haired woman collected all the dirty plates and placed them in the sink.
"Ho, I'm full." Neptune patted her stomach and licked her lips as she finished her third plate.
Noire huffed. "Honestly, how do you fit so much in your stomach? It's like a black hole."
"She has quite the appetite. It's unbelievable how much she finished those three plates in such short time." Vert chuckled.
Blanc was once again back reading after everyone had already finished.
"Alright, who wants to try my homemade puddings?" Arfoire came with a tray of four puddings that she took out of the fridge.
"Oh, ME, ME, ME!" Neptune raised her hand almost instantly.
"Okay, settle down. There's enough for everyone." She chuckled and began serving. Everyone enjoyed them and took their time to appreciate the taste and texture, except for Neptune, who immediately began chomping and glopping it down. "Thesh are sho ghood~"
"Neptune, dear. You mustn't mouth open, Neptune." Vert scoffed. "It is inappropriate and impolite."
Neptune took a second to properly chew. "Mmmm... Sorry, I can't help it."
After finishing with desert, the CPU continued to talk and play until the sun began setting. The drowness began creeping on the four CPUs. By the time that night rolled in, Arfoire finished tucking the little CPUs into their beds.
Neptune shifted comfortably in her purple-colored bed.
(N)
Neptune opened her eyes and stared at the familiar ceiling. She sat up and began looking around the dark room.
Another dream of my past memories.
The purple-haired girl slowly took off the cover from her before shifting to sit at the edge of the bed. The memories were blurry and she couldn't make out most of the details. Why was she having those dreams of her past memories? Are her memories slowly returning?
Neptune then snuck a quick glance at the clock on the bedside that read five in the morning.
Ugh, great...
She then let out a sigh and a groan.
"Nep-Nep...? What's wrong?" She felt a movement next to her, followed by a loud yawn and she found a girl next with half-lidded eyes staring at her. "It's early in the morning... Why are you awake?"
"Ah, sorry, Compa." She rubbed the back of her neck with an awkward smile. "I wasn't able to sleep. You can... uh, go back to sleep."
Her friend mumbled an incoherent response before she quickly fell back asleep like a log and returned to snoring like grandpa as usual. Neptune stayed there and rubbed her eyes.
Well, don't feel like going back to sleep so might as well start the day.
Neptune made her way out of the room while making extra sure not to disturb her sleeping friend. She took out her white and purple hoodie dress that was hanging and wore it before zipping it shut.
She made a trip to the bathroom and washed off the remnants of sleep with cold water. "Prrr..."
She then stared at herself in the mirror. Her face hadn't changed all that much. She had grown a bit taller now, even taller than Compa, but also gained so much weight that her hoodie was starting to get tight from the fat slowly building in her belly and also in her chest as well.
She knew that her tomboy friend wouldn't let her live it down if she saw her like this. No doubt she'd pester her to exercise more and lose weight.
Man, puppetry hit her hard like a train. She missed her old, young body—not that she digs this new look, mind you.
She brought a hand on her purple hair and flocked it. It was all messy and had a lot of knots. It's length reached her below her shoulders. "Hmm... my hair has grown a lot. Maybe I should cut it short? Compa says it looks cute on me but honestly?" She let out a dramatic sigh. "It's getting tiring to maintain, not to mention very time-consuming. I don't know how Compa managed to take care of hers."
After pondering about whether she should get a haircut or not, she moved on to doing her usual routine and preparing to face the day ahead.
And frankly, she wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest.
She started by taking a warm shower first. After drying off, she started brushing her hair. After some time, her hair looked a bit less messy. Usually Compa would help her with her hair and comb it. She tried to do it on her own and it didn't get the result she was hoping for.
Eh, it looked presentable enough.
Neptune sat the brush aside and got dressed up. By the time she was done, the sun had risen. Her friend wouldn't wake up until another hour or so, so she still has some to kill.
It was yet another day in her human life.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Thanks for checking the story.
This is a random idea that I had. A both pre/post canon of the first mainline game(s). I'll use it as a breather from my writing on my main story.
I'll be posting updates when I feel like it or come up with ideas for the future chapters, so don't get your hopes up.
In the meantime, consider checking Pyrrhic Victory in my profile. Or don't, I guess.
Next Chapter: Friends Reunited
Neptune was taking a stroll in the city of Planeptune until she bumped into a familiar face.