Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 49

 Nepgear and Uni woke up like they did every morning. They ate breakfast, made sure they had everything they needed for that day before they headed to Kei’s to start working. That particular morning Nepgear and Uni were both sure that the day would be normal. That was until they got the phone call.

“Huh? It’s your sister.” Uni said, taking out her phone and looking down at the screen.

Nepgear instantly got excited as she leaned in close. “I hope everyone’s okay.” Nepgear said.

“Hello? Uni and Nepgear here.” Said Uni.

“Hi ladies!” Neptune said, in a sing-song type voice. “How’s every little thing?” She asked.

“Were good. How’s everything there?” Nepgear asked.

“Well I have some good news and some weird news.” Neptune said. “Which do you want to hear first?”

Uni and Nepgear exchanged quizzical glances before Nepgear said. “How about the good news?”

“Good news go! We found the Fairy Tower and activated it.” Neptune said.

“That’s good. We just have one more to go!” Said Nepgear, excitedly.

“And that Fairy Tower is actually really close to Lastation. Talk about boring am I right?” Neptune said, giggling. “Anyways, here’s the weird news. Turns out everyone abandoned this city about a month ago and this Fairy Tower here was brought here a month ago as well.”

“Huh?” Uni said. Nepgear gasped when it looked like all the strength in Uni’s arm had vanished and she nearly dropped the phone. Nepgear quickly caught her hand and brought it back up so they could both hear.

“That can’t be true. Everyone I’ve talked to swear that the city was abandoned since they were little.” Said Nepgear.

“I know! It’s weird, right?” Neptune said, giggling once more.

Nepgear thought about this for a few moments, before she remembered she was holding Uni’s hand. “Um… Big sister? How is Noire doing?”

“Noire and Linda are fine. They’re both just a little… out of it right now.” Said Neptune. “I can move them around though, so I’m sure they’ll snap out of it once we get out of town.”

“That’s good, but… Who’s Linda?” Nepgear asked.

“Linda is that crazy chick me and Noire ran into when we activated that Fairy Tower in Lastation.” Said Neptune.

“Oh right.” Said Nepgear.

“Well were headed home now. It’s going to take us a day and a half to get back. Maybe longer if I have to carry everyone.” Said Neptune.

“Alright. See you soon big sister.” Nepgear said. After Neptune hung up the phone, Nepgear did the same thing. After that she slid the phone into Noire’s pocket and took her friend by the hand. “Come on Uni. Time for work.” Nepgear said.

“I… uh… huh?” Uni said, but she didn’t snap out of it. She still wore a vacant look in her face.

Nepgear swallowed hard. “I really hope this information wasn’t too much for Noire and Uni.” Nepgear thought, as she guided her friend to Kei’s.

Once the two girls were indoors, they found Kei sitting behind her desk. “You girls are almost late.” Said Kei, who was looking down at an open folder.

“Sorry about that.” Nepgear said, turning her eyes to Uni.

“What’s wrong with her?” Asked Kei, not taking her eyes off the folder.

“We just got some strange news is all.” Said Nepgear, smiling nervously. The girl thought about telling Kei what had happened, but quickly changed her mind. “Uni’s cute when she’s like this, but Kei might become frightening.”

“THE ABANDONED CITY WAS ABANDONED A MONTH AGO? HOW THE HELL DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE!?” Uni screamed.

“Huh?” Kei said, finally tearing her eyes off her folder.

“Uh! Nothing!” Nepgear said, waving her hands wildly around. Nepgear quickly turned to Uni and cupped her friends face in her hands. “Uni? Not the time, okay? We have to work!”

Uni opened her mouth to say something. At first Nepgear was certain she was going to scream again, but instead she said. “We have to work.” As though she were terrified to say anything else.

“That’s right.” Nepgear said.

“Excuse me.” Kei said, finally getting to her feet. “The job of an employer is to look after the wellbeing of their employees. If Uni isn’t feeling well, she can have the day off. Of course I can’t pay her for that day, but…”

“Were fine.” Said Nepgear. “Also if Uni needed a sick day, that is covered and she should be getting paid anyways.”

“That’s after she worked a certain amount of hours.” Said Kei.

“Which you waved when you signed Uni, remember?” Said Nepgear.

Kei’s eyes went wide, before they went back to normal. “You’re right… How did that slip my mind?”

“But anyways. Were not sick, we can work.” Nepgear said, as she and Uni made their way over to Kei’s desk.

“Right… We need more spider web.” Kei said, handing the paper over to Nepgear. “Also to make things easier. I bought a small pocket dimension for the both of you. Here.” Said Kei, handing a watch over to Nepgear.

“Pocket dimension?” Nepgear said, her eyes were as large as saucers.

“That’s right. All you have to do is click the buttons on the watch and it’ll open the pocket dimension. It’ll open a three foot long and tall doorway. Just slide the items into it. I’ll receive an alert every time something gets put into it.”

“Awesome!” Nepgear said, gleefully.

“Oh. I should tell you that people can’t travel through the pocket dimension.” Said Kei. “You actually wont be able to enter the pocket dimension yourself.”

Nepgear looked the watch over for a few moments before she slid it onto her wrist. “Alright. Were heading out now.” Nepgear said, as she took Uni by the hand once more and led her friend outside.

Uni still seemed kind of out of it, but she was more aware of her surroundings than before. “None of this makes sense.” Uni said, shaking her head. “None of it. How did this happen?”

“Oh I’m sorry Uni. I wish I could help you.” Nepgear said, as she too tried to figure everything out.

The two girls headed outside the city and made their way to the Fairy Tower. “Spider monsters.” Uni said, pointing towards a group of five spiders who were watching them intently.

“Not now.” Said Nepgear, dragging her friend forward.

The girls didn’t stop walking until they reached the Fairy Tower. Once they were there, Nepgear stood in front of Histoire. “Histoire? Is it true that the abandoned city was only abandoned a month ago?” She asked.

“Yes.” Histoire said, nodding.

“But that can’t be true! For as long as I can remember the city has been abandoned!” Uni said, angrily. “Before our sisters left for the city, we all asked people about the city. Everyone said that it’s been abandoned for years and years!” Said Uni.

“I understand that, but according to my data it’s been abandoned for only one month.” Said Histoire.

“Could they have been rewritten or anything like that?” Nepgear asked.

“No.” Said Histoire, shaking her head. “That would be impossible. Not even forcing the original Histoire could cause our data to be rewritten.”

“I thought so.” Nepgear said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“What do you mean?” Asked Uni.

“Well…” Nepgear began. “We all talked to a lot of people about that abandoned city. This young guy told me that when he was a kid he was living in Lastation and the abandoned city used to be thriving, but then he heard about all the strange things happening there and everyone abandoned the city.”

“Yeah. I heard the same thing.” Said Uni.

“I also heard the same story from an elderly gentlemen.” Said Nepgear. “The elderly man told me that when he was a kid the abandoned city was thriving, then something horrible started happening and everyone left.”

“Maybe he was confused?” Asked Uni.

“It doesn’t make sense. Everyone we spoke to, regardless of age, had the same story.” Said Nepgear. “Everyone was living in Lastation, everyone was a kid and that’s when they heard about the abandoned city. Then we find out that it was abandoned a month ago?”

“Yeah…” Uni said, nodding.

Nepgear shook her head. “Histoire?” Nepgear began, as she placed a firm hand on the Fairy Tower. “If I wanted to move this Fairy Tower right now. How would I go about doing that?”

Histoire shook her head. “The only way you could do that, is by getting permission from the goddesses.”

“And if the goddesses came here now and ordered you to move the Fairy Towers. You’d have to obey them. Right?” Nepgear asked.

“No.” Histoire answered. “The only one who could move the Fairy Tower is the original Histoire. All I could do is communicate this information with her.”

“Okay. So how many times have the goddesses in the past asked Histoire to move the Fairy Towers?” Nepgear asked.

Histoire closed her eyes. When they opened she held up seven fingers. “Seven times.”

“And that’s just in Lastation?” Nepgear asked. Histoire nodded. “And why were they moved?” Nepgear asked.

“Safety reasons. They were also placed in areas for hunters who wanted to get stronger.” Said Histoire.

“Alright. So the Fairy Towers were moved a grand total of seven times. Did you count the Fairy Tower’s moved in Lastation or the abandoned city?” Nepgear asked.

“No.” Said Histoire. Histoire’s eyes became large. “Those were unauthorized movements.”

“Alright.” Nepgear said, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Nepgear?” Uni began. “Where are you going with all this?” She asked.

“I’m trying to narrow things down.” Said Nepgear. “Histoire. I have a few more questions if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.” Histoire said, bowing a little. “I’m here to help you.”

“Thanks!” Nepgear said, smiling. “My next question is this. Let’s say hypothetically I was a goddess and I had the original Histoire in my hands right now. Could I order her to move this Fairy Tower?”

“Only if you are the goddess of Lastation. If you were, then yes you could.” Said Histoire.

“And if I was a candidate instead?” Nepgear asked.

Histoire shook her head. “No. You wouldn’t be authorized to move it.”

“Okay. So is there anything in this world that could force Histoire to move the Fairy Towers, alter people’s memories including the memories of a goddess?” Asked Nepgear.

Histoire didn’t close her eyes this time. “No. The only ones who could force the original Histoire to do anything would be a goddess.”

“I thought so.” Nepgear muttered.

Uni looked from Nepgear to Histoire and then back to Nepgear. “Hold on Nepgear. You’re not really suggesting that one of the goddesses forced the original Histoire to do all this, are you?” She asked.

“I… Maybe?” Nepgear said. “Histoire? Did I make a wrong conclusion?”

Histoire didn’t answer right away. Not because she had to calculate or go over everything they had uncovered together, but simply because it was a hard question to answer. “No. You conclusion isn’t wrong.”

“But who would do that? Why?” Uni demanded.

Nepgear shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t like the idea either. I mean I could come up with a million reasons why Purple Heart and Purple Sister wouldn’t do that kind of thing.”

“Oh yeah? Well Black Heart and Black Sister wouldn’t either!” Uni said, angrily.

Nepgear smiled weakly at Uni. “You see? We could both come up with a reason why they wouldn’t do something like this and I’m sure the people of Leanbox and Lowee could do the same thing.”

Uni took a deep breath as she began pacing back and forth. “Alright! Alright… Alright… Right, right, alright.” Uni said, as she continued to pace. “Alright. Let’s just shelve this for a minute, okay?”

“Uni…” Said Nepgear.

“It’s not because I want to ignore what you said. I hate to admit it, but it makes sense.” Said Uni. “I think we should shelve this conversation, simply because were all missing our memories and the original Histoire is still sealed away somewhere.”

“That is true.” Said Nepgear. “If we just go by the information we have now. It would be easy to blame one of the goddesses.”

“That’s a valid point.” Said Histoire.

“So what should we do now?” Nepgear asked. “Our sisters are coming back now. Should we just work until they get back?”

“What other choice do we have?” Asked Uni. “Come on Nepgear. Let’s get to work.”

Nepgear nodded. “Yeah.” She said, waving goodbye to Histoire. As Nepgear turned her mind returned to what they were just talking about a moment ago. “I’m sorry Uni.” Nepgear thought. “But I’m convinced now that a goddess is indeed responsible for all of this. The only question is. Which one?”