Chapter 2 – Shiny Crystals & Game Articles

Neptune's POV

Okay, so…you know how I said in the last chapter that I could TOTALLY get Histy's approval on letting Amitie and the others stay here for a week and everything will be "100% A-Ok perfectly fine!"?

Well…

"Neptune, that is definitely not happening."

"B-But, Histy! C'mon! You should've seen them! They could really use a good vacay! Melody didn't even know I was there for three nepping days! That's how tired she is!"

"Isn't Melody always sleeping?" Histy gained a sweatdrop.

"W-Well…yes…b-but that's not the point! Don't you wanna reconnect with your long-lost extended family, too?!"

"I understand how you feel, Neptune…but interdimensional travel isn't something to be toyed with. We shouldn't bring people from a different world simply because they need a vacation."

"*whine* This sucks!" I complained in defeat. "And I promised them it'll be perfectly fine, too!"

Looks like I owe Rivitie 1,000 Credits…

"I'm back, Histoire!" We then heard Nepgear's voice as she was heading towards the room we were in. "Oh, Neptune. You're back. How was your weekend at Amitie's?"

"It was great, but…" I let out a depressed sigh. "…it just HAD to reach the Bad Ending, I guess."

"Bad Ending?"

"To clarify, Nepgear…" Histy spoke. "…Neptune wants to bring Amitie and the others here for a week-long vacation. But I'm not in favor of the idea."

"Br-Bring them here? Wouldn't that be dangerous? If something were to happen during the process…"

"Precisely my point." Histy then went silent for a bit. "Which begs the question of how you are able to travel there unharmed, Neptune. Especially without my assistance at times."

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I then went digging through my jacket to pull out a bright crystal-like gem hanging around my neck. "Amitie gave me this gem thingy that can apparently travel through space and time and whatnot. She said it was called a…uh…"

Crap, I forgot what she said about this thing!

"A-A CRYSTAL SHARD?!"

"Yeah, that's it! A Crystal Shard!" I said to Nepgear and Histy…who for some reason had looks of pure shock on their faces.

"S-So, Amitie just GAVE YOU a Crystal Shard?!" Histy asked.

"Yeah…why the shocked looks?"

"S-Sis, do you not know what a Crystal Shard IS?!" Nepgear asked.

"Not really. Is it some kind of end-game item or something?"

"END-GAME ITEM?! SIS, IT'S WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN THAT!"

"H-How, exactly?" Not only was I not getting what was so special about this "Crystal Shard" thing, but the yelling coming from these two was totally starting to unnerve me.

"*sigh* Crystal Shards are pieces of an even bigger Crystal. Even at such a small size, each can contain powers born from the galaxy itself. Allowing someone to manipulate Space, Time, and even Dreams."

"Woah…" I said in amazement as I stared at the Crystal Shard still around my neck. "…This little thing can do all of that?"

"Yes. They can." Histy said. "Which is why they've been proven to be very dangerous. How on Earth did Amitie managed to get one?"

"Uh…she said something about going to Dream Land and being friends with Kirby. So, that's probably it."

"Sh-She went to DREAM LAND?! A-And she's friends with KIRBY?!" Both Histy and Nepgear yelled in shock again.

"She didn't tell you? It's how she became knowledgeable in all this stuff. Deals with it on a regular basis, actually."

"I-I see…" Histy gained a huge sweatdrop.

"S-Sounds like Amitie isn't as much of a "normal person" as we thought she was…" Nepgear gained a huge sweatdrop of her own.

"Still, though…" I said as I got up from the floor. "…It's kinda crazy that Amitie has one of these things. It's almost like it's her version of a Share Crystal, am I right?"

"Hm? Her version of a Share Crystal?" Histy asked with a HUGE look of curiosity in her eyes.

"Well, when you think about it, they both give out insane amount of power. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if they had other similarities like that."

"Really now? Neptune, this may be one of those rare instances of you showing that you're actually smart."

"Wh-What the Nep is that supposed to mean?!" I yelled while being extremely insulted by that remark.

"Oh, nothing. Now, if you two excuse me…I have some things to prepare for."

"Huh? B-But what about my idea?!"

"Oh, that?" Histy went silent for a bit. "Alright, Neptune. They can come over."

"YES! A TOTAL NEPPING VICTORY!"

"Wh-What made you change your mind?" Nepgear asked.

"R-Reasons that I cannot explain right now. Get back to me within 3 days."

"Ah. Of course…" Nepgear gained a sweatdrop once more.

Hello. My name is Nepgear. I'm the Goddess Candidate of Planeptune and Neptune's little sister. I love to tinker with old machines and help other people whenever I can. It's nice to meet you.

In any case…it was the next day after Neptune's proposal to have Amitie come to visit us. And I was explaining to Uni, Rom, and Ram what was talked about yesterday.

"…And that's what's going on…I-I guess."

To be honest, I still didn't understand any of it.

"So…to start off…you have cousins that live in an entirely different world? How is that even possible?" Uni asked.

"Well…I don't really understand all of the details. But DNA-wise, we are related. Neptune actually has some facial similarities to them when standing side-by-side."

"Huh…" I could tell that Uni was even more confused than before.

"Well, I think it's pretty cool that you have other-worldly cousins, Nepgear!" Ram cheered. "It finally proves that there are other worlds out there!"

"B-But that's…already been proven…" Rom said.

"Well, yeah. I know about the Ultra Dimension and that one place Uzume came from…but I'm talking about worlds that aren't a copy-paste of this one! FULLY ORIGINAL BRAND-NEW WORLDS! And with their own lifestyles and physics, too!"

"Since when did you become interested in other worlds?" Uni asked.

"Ram's been watching this documentary on discovering new worlds." Rom said. "She got hooked on it rather quickly…"

"It's all I've been talking about for weeks!" Ram added. "Haven't you guys been listening?!"

"Uh…." Uni and I gained huge sweatdrops.

To be honest…we've been tuning her out recently. Ram picked up swearing and she'll occasionally drop an F-bomb or two mid-conversation…

"*sigh* Ah, whatever. With so much stuff on there, it'll probably bore the fuck out you guys, anyway."

"R-Ram!"

L-Like that…

"A-Anyway…" Uni continued. "…This other thing you mentioned. Neptune travels to this other world on her own free will because one of your cousins gave her…a Crystal Shard?"

"Are those truly real?" Rom asked.

"Yeah…they're real." I replied. Still in disbelief myself. "Apparently, my cousin Amitie went to Dream Land and is friends with Kirby. I didn't think such a thing was possible…"

"Yeah, no kidding." Uni said. "Sounds like to me that your cousins have moments stranger than ours."

Moments stranger than ours…

"N-Now that I think about it…there is something even stranger than that."

"Nice going, Uni. You've opened up another plot hole." Ram said in an exasperated tone.

"H-How was I supposed to know this would happen?!" Uni yelled back.

"I-It's nothing reality-shattering!" I claimed. "It's just that there's a game that they play in their world and I've been rather interested in playing it myself. They call it Puyo Puyo."

"Puyo Puyo?" The trio asked.

"What a weird-ass name…"

*JAB*

"Ow! The hell?!" Ram then yelled in anger after Rom had jabbed her in the side for swearing again.

Why is this normal?

"From what I was told, it's a game where you connect four of these jelly blobs called Puyo together of the same color…and they pop. You use that to make "chains" and they'll give you magical power to perform spells and such. It's a rather competitive game."

"Really now?" Uni asked. Sounding rather interested. "Well, if it can get THAT competitive, then I wouldn't mind learning this "Puyo Puyo" game."

"Ooh! Ooh! I want in, too!" Ram cheered in excitement. "A game like that just HAS to be fun! Right, Rom?!"

"It…does sound fun." Rom added.

"That's great, everyone." I said with a big gleeful smile. "Maybe I can convince Amitie to teach us while she's here."

"Oooh~! I sense a new scoop for an article~!"

"H-Huh? Famitsu?"

"Sorry for eavesdropping." Said the orange-haired game reporter after she had walked up to our table. "I just couldn't help but overhear such an interesting detail. This "Puyo Puyo" game taught by this "Amitie" person…"

"Aw, geez…maybe coming to this café wasn't a good idea…"

"Famitsu, don't go leaking this out to everybody just so you can get a good story." Uni said.

"Y-You honestly think I would stoop that low? Doing something like that is TOTALLY breaking journalism etiquette! I've got morals, you know!"

"Huh…" It looked like Uni didn't believe her fully.

"But really, though…what's so bad about this that it has to be a secret?"

"W-Well, it's not exactly bad, but…*sigh* well, you see…" I then explained everything that was talked about before to Famitsu. And like Uni, Rom, and Ram…she was in disbelief.

"W-Wait, so…this Amitie girl is your cousin? From an entirely different world?"

"I-It's a bit complicated…but it's also true." I said with a sweatdrop.

"E-Even with the Faith of Goddesses and Share Crystals and the fact that none of you age at all?"

"I-It's complicated." The four of us Candidates repeated with huge sweatdrops.

"Huh…" Famitsu went silent for a bit. "…Well…I don't understand any of the cousin part. But this game part sounds interesting. You said it's called Puyo Puyo?"

"Yeah. It's a game played constantly in that world." I said. "I was going to see if my cousin could teach us how to play."

"I see…well, I wouldn't mind writing an article about that. Certainly more understandable than the cousin thing."

"Is that really a good idea? I mean…it's something from another world. What if too many people become aware of it?"

"We've had situations where three separate dimensions were fused with ours at one point. I'm pretty sure that most people in Gamindustri are aware of other worlds existing."

"Yeah, you have a point…" I gained a sweatdrop.

"Come on, Nepgear! What's the big issue?!" Ram yelled. "If this Puyo Puyo game becomes popular enough, we can make several competitions out of it! Think of all the exposure Lowee would get!"

"Y-Yeah…" Rom added.

"Hang on…why is it just Lowee?" Uni asked. "Lastation could use some of that exposure too, you know."

"Well, yeah. It could…" Ram then gained a smirk on her face. "…but it won't be as big as Lowee's! Not by a longshot!"

"Hmph. Well, aren't you cocky…I bet your ass that I can beat you in a match with no sweat at all."

"Oh, really~? That's rich…coming from the girl who doubts herself on a regular basis."

"Wh-What is THAT supposed to mean?! Are you saying that I'm WEAKER than you?!"

"You said it, Uni~! Not me~! *giggle*"

"Grr…You little…"

"G-G-Guys! Pl-Please stop fighting!" Rom quietly yelled as she tried to break the two apart.

"W-Well…if everyone's okay with it, then I guess it wouldn't be too bad for you to write an article about Puyo Puyo, Famitsu." I said to her.

"Great! This will be the scoop of the century! I can feel it! Oh…and don't you worry. This will be a Planeptune exclusive. None of the other nations have to know."

"Phew…well, that's a bit of a relief." I then gained a smile. Actually excited about not only seeing my cousins again, but also getting a chance to play a brand-new game with everyone.

…

But something tells me this is going to be one hell of a week…

Author's Note: Thanks to Neptune having a Crystal Shard, Histoire's worries about interdimensional travel are suddenly gone. SO THE VACATION IS STILL A GO! And with the added bonus of a special article being written, too!

So, I got two chapters done before the end of the month. I usually go for three, but…certain things got in the way. More specifically, a hurricane that knocked out my internet for a whole week. It happens when you live right next to the Gulf of Mexico.

Anyway…this is what I got done. Hopefully, this refresh becomes at least as favorable as The Zodiac Stones. And obviously shorter.

Thanks for reading. Later.