Nepgear and Neptune walked side-by-side as they continued their journey to Leanbox. During this time, Nepgear explained everything that happened involving Croire’s Fairy Tower. She explained how Neptune had accidentally wandered into another dimension, how they were separated and how an older version of Neptune had rescued her. Nepgear did leave out the fact that she had gotten so upset when she realized she couldn’t find her sister.
“And that’s everything.” Said Nepgear.
“Whoa… That’s creepy.” Neptune said, hugging herself tightly. “Dimensional monsters that look like that? No thank you!”
Nepgear couldn’t help, but giggle. “Yeah. They were creepy, but they weren’t as powerful as I thought they would be. Their roar was something else though.” Nepgear said, shivering a bit when she remembered how horrifying their roar sounded.
“Still. Its cool knowing there’s another Neptune out there. I wish I could have met her. How different was she from me?” Neptune asked.
“Well…” Nepgear began, tapping her lower lip thoughtfully. “She seemed way more mature than you and I felt like I could rely on her more.” Nepgear thought, but quickly decided not to tell Neptune that. “She was a bit older than you and she seemed very reliable.” Said Nepgear.
“Cool!” Said Neptune, excitedly. “Though I’m a little confused about something. How much time did we lose because of that alternate dimension thingy?”
“Good question.” Nepgear said, as she pulled out her N-Gear and looked down at the screen. “It looks like we only wasted a few hours. Nothing we can’t make back up.” Nepgear said, reassuring her sister.
“Well that’s good.” Said Neptune.
The two girls continued walking side-by-side for several long hours. When the sun started to set over the horizon, they decided to set up camp. Neptune pulled out her sleeping bag. Before she placed it on the ground however, she pressed down on the ground using her foot. “Hard. No good nights sleep for me.” Neptune said, sighing deeply. “Oh. How much farther is Leanbox?”
“We still have about a day to go.” Said Nepgear. “So if we wake up early tomorrow and keep up the pace, we should arrive there not tomorrow, but the day after.”
“Great…” Said Neptune. “Any small villages or cities between here and there? I want to sleep in a bed!”
“Sorry big sis.” Nepgear said, shaking her head.
“Great.” Neptune said, her shoulders sagged. “Anyways. If we happen to see any other strange Fairy Towers on our journey. I vote we keep our distance.”
“Yeah.” Said Nepgear, as she pulled out her sleeping bag as well. After that, Nepgear and Neptune began gathering firewood. Considering there were hardly any trees around them, the girls could only find so much wood to burn. After that, Nepgear found some large rocks to surround the fire with.
After making a small circle with the rocks, Nepgear carefully placed the wood inside, before she stuffed some leaves and grass between the wood. After that she lit a match and soon they had a fire roaring. “Nice.” Neptune said, holding her hands out to the fire. Even though it wasn’t really that cold outside, the warmth of the fire was comforting to the girls.
“I wonder what Leanbox is like.” Nepgear said, as she pulled out a small pot of soup. Nepgear sloshed the contents of the pot around for a few moments, before she placed it on the fire.
“Don’t know.” Neptune admitted. “I asked Noire, but she said she’s never been.” Neptune giggled. “No surprise there.”
“Yeah.” Said Nepgear, nodding. “I noticed that Noire and Uni had a lot of pride in Lastation. I don’t think that’s a bad thing of course, but it felt familiar to me.”
“Oh yeah?” Said Neptune.
“Yeah. Like how I feel about Planeptune. Planeptune is my home and I love it and miss it.” Nepgear began. “I feel a lot of pride in Planeptune as well.”
“Yeah, me too.” Said Neptune. “It’s funny how we don’t question that either.”
“Yeah.” Said Nepgear. “A lot has happened on this journey. A lot of things that make me wonder if were doing the right thing. What’s going to happen when we reach the end of our journey. Sitting out here like this makes me miss our home.”
“Yeah, but it’s still fun in its own way.” Said Neptune, smiling brightly.
“What do you mean?” Nepgear asked.
“Think about it baby sister. If we were at home right now I’d be playing video games and eating pudding, you’d be sitting over your workbench. We wouldn’t have met anyone that we had met so far. Red, MAGES., Falcom, Purple Sister, Noire, Uni, Linda or the older version of me! Also…” Neptune began, before she suddenly fell quiet.
“What’s wrong?” Nepgear asked.
Neptune scratched her right cheek. “Suddenly I feel like playing video games while eating pudding.” Neptune said, laughing awkwardly.
Nepgear giggled as well. “I know what you mean, but like you said. We met so many wonderful people that I couldn’t imagine not being on this journey right now.” Said Nepgear.
“Exactly!” Neptune said.
Nepgear and Neptune stopped talking for a few moments. Nepgear lifted the lid off the pot filled with soup and looked down at the contents. After that, she picked up the pot and poured the soup into two cups. “Here you go.” Nepgear said, handing one of the cups over to Neptune.
“Thanks!” Neptune said, taking the cup. “Cheers little sister!” Neptune said, holding up her cup.
“Cheers!” Said Nepgear, holding up her cup as well. The two girls clinked their cups together before they tipped them to their mouths.
“Never thought I would eat soup out of a cup.” Neptune said. “It’s simple, but you’re a super genius for figuring this out.”
“No.” Nepgear said, shaking her head. “I just figured bowls would take up too much room.”
“Ah just take the compliment.” Said Neptune, as she held her cup of soup with her left hand and waved her right one dismissively.
Nepgear didn’t say anymore as she continued to sip her soup. “I love when my sister compliments me, but she doesn’t have to compliment me on everything I do.” Nepgear said, as she began to shift nervously in her seat. Suddenly a small smile appeared on Nepgear’s face and her cheeks grew red. “I really love when she compliments me and pats me on the head.”
“Is something wrong Nepgear?” Asked Neptune.
Nepgear shook her head. “No. Nothings wrong.” Said Nepgear.
After Neptune finished her soup she dragged her backpack over to her and peered inside. “Bad news. I’m almost out of pudding. Guess I should wait to eat anymore.” Neptune said, sighing deeply.
“Sorry about that big sis.” Said Nepgear.
“It’s alright.” Said Neptune, shrugging her shoulders. “Hey. How much soup do we have left?”
“We have half a pot left. Do you want some more?” Nepgear asked.
Neptune shook her head. “Nah. I was just thinking it would be nice to have something to eat in the morning.”
“Okay. Oh and don’t worry if we run out of soup. Uni and Noire loaded me down with breakfast bars and some other things. I think we even have some milk and hot chocolate.”
“Well who needs how soup if we have hot chocolate?” Neptune said. Neptune began playfully kicking her feet for a few moments before she remembered something. “So how are we going to get into Leanbox?”
“Good question.” Nepgear said, as she sat down her empty cup of soup and reached for her N-Gear. Nepgear looked down at the screen and pushed a few commands into her handheld. After a few moments of searching, she looked up at her sister. “It looks like Leanbox has security guarding the border, but they shouldn’t try to stop us from getting in.”
“What should we tell them if they stop us?” Asked Neptune.
Nepgear thought about this for a few moments. “We’ll just tell them that were visiting for a little while and that’s it.” Said Nepgear.
“Sounds good to me.” Said Neptune. “See? You are a super genius! Way smarter than me.”
Nepgear shook her head several times. “Don’t put yourself down like that Neptune. It doesn’t matter who’s smarter. Were sisters and were a team. That’s all that matters.” Said Nepgear.
Neptune suddenly squealed loudly. “Ooh! I love that kind of talk Nepgear! Good thing you’re my sister, cause my heart just swooned!”
“Don’t be weird big sister!” Nepgear said, annoyed.
Neptune couldn’t help, but laugh. Suddenly both Neptune and Nepgear yawned and stretched their hands high over their heads. “Oh man… I feel like I could sleep for a few days.”
“Yeah. I’m tired too, but I’m going to go ahead and set an alarm to wake us up tomorrow morning.” Said Nepgear.
“Yeah. The sooner we get to Leanbox, the sooner we can sleep in beds.” Said Neptune.
“No Neptune. That’s not why were going to Leanbox.” Said Nepgear.
“Oh I know that Nepgear. Were going for exclusive Leanbox pudding, right?” Said Neptune.
“No.” Said Nepgear.
“To find videogames that are only sold in Leanbox?” Neptune offered.
“No sis.” Said Nepgear, shaking her head .
“Well were not going there for any Fairy Towers, right?” Neptune asked.
“Actually we are!” Nepgear said.
“We are? Fairy Towers? This is the first I’m hearing about this.” Said Neptune, a small mischievous smile appeared on her face.
“Enough!” Nepgear cried, pretending to be annoyed. “Bed time!”
“Fine, fine.” Neptune said, suddenly going serious. “I want you sleeping next to me Nepgear. I might need someone to cuddle with tonight.”
Nepgear sighed deeply, but agreed. “Alright.”
Neptune and Nepgear pulled their sleeping bags closer together. After throwing the remains of their firewood onto the fire, they cuddled up close to each other. “Good night big sis.” Nepgear said, closing her eyes.
“Good night little sis.” Said Neptune, hugging her sister close to her chest.
***
The following morning Nepgear’s N-Gear started ringing, stirring the two girls from their sleep. Nepgear sat up and yawned loudly. “Big sis? Time to wake up.” She breathed.
“I’m awake.” Neptune said, her eyes were wide open.
“Did you sleep?” Nepgear asked.
“Hardly…” Neptune said, taking a deep breath. “It’s weird, but once I knew that your alarm was going to go off, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Oh no.” Nepgear said, turning off her N-Gear. “Do you want to sleep in for a while, or…?”
“Nah… I’m getting up.” Neptune said. “I did manage to get a few hours of sleep, but it wasn’t the best.” The girl admitted.
“I’m sorry.” Said Nepgear.
“Don’t be.” Said Neptune, patting her sister on the head. “Come on. Let’s get some hot chocolate and get going.”
“Right.” Said Nepgear, feeling guilty that her sister wasn’t able to get any sleep. While Neptune packed everything away in their backpacks, Nepgear used the milk and chocolate that Noire had given them before they left. After fixing some hot chocolate for them and pouring it into glasses, Nepgear swung on her backpack and stood. “Ready to go when you are.” She said.
“Great. Let’s go!” Neptune said, taking a cup of hot chocolate from her sister.
Neptune and Nepgear continued their journey towards Leanbox. The day passed quickly and before the girls knew it, the sun was starting to set over the horizon once more. The girls were standing in the middle of a plain that had large boulders poking out of the ground. “Were so close to the border of Leanbox.” Nepgear said. “I hate stopping now, but you really need some sleep.”
“Yeah…” Neptune said, her arms were drooping lifelessly by her sides. “I feel like I’m going to pass out.”
“Here… Why don’t you rest and I’ll…” Nepgear stopped speaking the moment she heard the sound of someone singing. The song was unlike anything she had heard before. “Neptune? Do you hear that singing?” She asked.
“Huh? Sleeping?” Neptune said. “Sure. I could sleep.”
Nepgear made her way over to Neptune and took the girl by the hand. “Come on. Let’s see who’s singing.” Said Nepgear.
Nepgear led her sister through the plain, around the large boulders and soon found themselves standing in front of a small cabin. The cabin’s windows were partially open and a light could be seen coming from inside. Nepgear took a deep breath. “I hope they’ll help us.” Nepgear thought, as she led her sister to the cabin’s front door.
Nepgear knocked on the door and moments later it was opened. “Huh?” Nepgear said, blinking her eyes several times. “MAGES. is that you?”
“No, but I have a cousin named MAGES..” Said the girl who stood before them. “Nice to meet you two!” The girl said, smiling brightly. “My name is 5pb.”
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