Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 87

 “Oh wow! This place is amazing!” Nepgear said, as she wandered down a long trail. Nepgear was looking up at the canopies of surrounding trees, taking in the majesty of the forest. “No wonder this place is protected. It’s beautiful here!” The girl exclaimed.

“It is, but we have to be careful. Monsters consider this place home after all.” Said Cave.

“Are we allowed to fight the monsters?” Asked Nepgear.

“We are.” Said Cave.

“That’s weird, huh? We can’t leave the trails, but killing the wildlife is a-okay!” Neptune said, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head.

“Well technically if we did kill all the monsters in this forest, the Fairy Tower could just resurrect them, right? It probably can’t resurrect the flora here, so that‘s why they have that rule.” Said Nepgear.

“True, true, but let’s ignore that and focus on the hypocrisy instead. That way I sound smart!” Neptune said, smiling proudly.

“True, otherwise, you sound like a goofball.” Said Nepgear, giggling.

“Oh? That’s it Nepgear! Time to Nep that mouth out with some soap!” Neptune chased after Nepgear, who was still giggling and running away from her sister.

The two girls ran around a corner, before Nepgear suddenly skidded to a halt. Standing in the middle of the trail were several Red Dogoo monsters. The gelatinous creatures leapt up and down in the air, before they noticed the two girls standing before them. “Let’s get to work Nepgear!” Neptune said, as she summoned her katana.

“Right!” Nepgear said, as she summoned her laser sword. The two girls leapt at the group of Red Dogoo and lashed out with their weapons. The girls easily defeated the monsters in a matter of moments.

Before Neptune and Nepgear could make a move after that however, Vert and Cave rushed past them and easily defeated a small horde of Carroteer monsters that were marching towards them.

“Don’t have too much fun without us!” Vert said, turning to Neptune and Nepgear.

“Sorry about that.” Nepgear said, as Neptune threw her arms around Nepgear. “We got a bit carried away.”

“True.” Said Neptune, giggling as well.

“Let’s keep going.” Said Cave, as she led the way forwards. The four girls continued to walk for several long moments. As they walked, they crossed over large bridges, climbed up ladders that led to higher ground and defeated more and more monsters.

Cave continued to lead the charge forwards, but stopped when four cat monsters, known as Max, leapt at her from the sides of the trail. Cave summoned her scissor weapon and sliced through the monsters as though they were made of nothing. Afterwards, she continued to move forwards.

“Cave is really cool, huh?” Nepgear said, with admiration. “I wish I could be that confident.”

“Silly Nepgear. You’re cool too!” Said Neptune.

“And cute!” Said Vert.

“And smart!” Said Neptune.

“And thoughtful!” Said Vert.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Nepgear said, blushing hard and giggling. “You’re just trying to embarrass me!”

“And easy to embarrass!” Said Neptune.

“And adorable when you turn red!” Said Vert.

“Hey Nepgear? Did you know that your ears turn red when you get embarrassed?” Asked Neptune.

“What? No way!” Nepgear cried, as she covered her ears with her hands.

Neptune couldn’t help, but giggle. “Just kidding!” She said, as she began running to keep up with Cave. “So how’s it looking?” The girl asked, once she was close to Cave.

“Not bad. Were making good time.” Said Cave, as she glanced over her shoulder at Nepgear. “You must enjoy teasing your sister.”

“I do it cause I love her.” Said Neptune.

“Understood.” Cave said, nodding.

The girls continued walking until a large figure suddenly smashed down on the trail directly in front of them. Neptune and Cave held up their arms, shielding their eyes from any debris that could strike them.

“Whoa!” Neptune cried, as she quickly held up her sword, blocking a giant sword that was sent crashing down on her head. Neptune gritted her teeth, as she looked past the massive weapon and spotted the monster that had attacked her. “A Regulus?” Neptune said, giggling. “Regulus are starting to become regulars!”

“Very humorous.” Cave said, trying to hide her smile with her hand.

Nepgear rushed at the Regulus and stabbed the creature in the chest using her energy sword. After that, she planted her feet into the creature and kicked off. Vert suddenly appeared over the Regulus and began stabbing the robot’s body using multiple attacks with her spear.

After the fifth strike the Regulus vanished with a bright flash of white light. Vert and Nepgear landed gracefully on the ground in front of Neptune and Cave. “Neptune? Did you make that same Regulus joke?” Nepgear asked.

“Uh… No.” Neptune said, shaking her head.

“Yes she did and it was still humorous.” Said Cave, giggling under her breath.

“Well Cave likes it.” Said Neptune, after she shrugged her shoulders.

The girls continued to make their way through the forest until they finally reached the Fairy Tower. The Fairy Tower was located in the middle of the forest and unlike other Fairy Tower’s, this one had several vines growing over it. “Uh-Oh. I think we should clear those vines away.” Said Nepgear.

“Now were gardeners? Geesh! I should charge someone for all this extra work!” Neptune said, as she inserted the memory stick into the USB port on one of the monitors. A few moments later, Histoire appeared in holographic form.

“Congratulations girls! You’ve reached the final Fairy Tower in Leanbox!” Histoire said, bursting with joy. “Now you’ll be able to use the teleportation feature to move around.”

“Nice!” Neptune said, doing a fist pump. “With that said, Histoire you’ve got some vines growing around you.”

“Yes, but that’s alright.” Said Histoire. “The Fairy Tower was created so it didn’t interfere with the environment. The Fairy Tower can’t hurt nature and nature can’t damage a Fairy Tower. As long as people can still access the terminal, it’s okay.”

“Sounds good to me!” Neptune said, as she sent her katana away. “I didn’t feel like gardening today anyways.”

“So Nepgear? I shall I send you the coordinates to the next Fairy Tower in Lowee?” Histoire asked.

“Please do.” Said Nepgear, as she took out her N-Gear.

Histoire did as she was asked and sent the information. After a few moments Nepgear was able to figure out how they should proceed. “It looks like once we leave this forest, we just head north and we’ll walk right into the Fairy Tower.”

“Sounds good to me!” Said Neptune. “How many Fairy Towers are located in Lowee?”

“Unfortunately I don’t have that information. Once you activate the first Fairy Tower in Lowee, I’ll be able to get that information.” Said Histoire.

“Wouldn’t it be really awesome if it was just one?” Neptune said.

“That wouldn’t be very convenient for the people of Lowee.” Said Vert.

“If I had to guess. Considering Lowee’s size, you’ll probably have to activate five.” Said Cave. “That’s just a guess though.”

“Right…” Neptune said, sighing deeply. “Well shall we get going?”

“You don’t want to spend the night here or anything?” Nepgear asked, surprised.

“To be honest with you Nepgear. I kind of want to get a head start on Lowee. How long is it going to take us to reach the border anyways?” Neptune asked.

“About a day and a half.” Said Nepgear.

“I should warn you.” Histoire began. “The closer you get to Lowee, the colder things will get. You might consider wearing warmer clothes.”

“Wool panties?” Neptune offered.

“Neptune…” Nepgear said, groaning loudly.

“Wool panties do sound warm.” Said Vert, giggling. “However, I think you two should be okay. You’re wearing a parka and long sleeved shirt. Just make sure to keep your chest warm and the rest of your body should be okay.”

“Wool bra!” Neptune said.

“Not that you need a bra.” Said Vert, hugging her chest in a way that her breasts were lifted.

Neptune narrowed her eyes at Vert’s chest. “I know someone who would have killed you for saying something like that.” Neptune said.

“You do?” Nepgear asked, furrowing her brow. “Who are you-”

Neptune and Nepgear were both hit with a wave of dizziness and headaches. The girls stumbled back and forth before they grabbed the Fairy Tower to heal themselves. Shortly after that, Vert and Cave also had to grab the Fairy Tower to heal themselves too. “Whoa… All three of us remembered something?”

“Yes.” Vert said, rubbing the place between her eyebrows. “I can’t picture her face, but she wore all white.”

Neptune giggled. “Wow. You made some enemies, huh Vert?”

“Yes… Well I may have teased her, but calling us enemies isn’t the right word to describe our relationship.”

“I see…” Histoire said, as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Until this very moment, all the Fairy Tower’s you’ve activated have brought back not only monsters that roamed Gamindustri, but also your memories.”

“That’s true. We’ve know that for a while now.” Said Nepgear, after she took several deep breaths.

“Yes, but you’ve reached a threshold. Right now you’re final stop is Lowee. Which means that you’re nearly finished with your quest. I have a feeling that your memories may return before you activate the Final Fairy Tower.” Said Histoire.

“Seriously?” Neptune said, surprised.

“Seriously.” Histoire said, nodding. “As a thought experiment. I want you all to touch the Fairy Tower and try to remember each other.”

The four girls did as they were told and placed their hands on the Fairy Tower. Neptune closed her eyes and started to think about Vert. “Oh yeah! I remember Vert you teased everyone with your booby talk!”

“I didn’t do it all the time!” Vert said, her eyes were closed as well. “I also remember how I loved serving tea and telling my friends about the different kinds that were best for different situations. I also remember that girl in white used to join us! Oh and Noire was really competitive of Neptune.”

“You remember Noire, Vert?” Nepgear asked.

“Of course! I also remember how you and Uni were very close. That’s so sweet!” Said Vert.

“Of course! Uni’s my best friend, but she’s not the only one. Cave! I remember playing all kinds of bullet-hell video games with you!” Said Nepgear.

“I remember it as well. You were very talented despite being an amateur with the genre.” Said Cave. “I always admired your ability to pick up on things.”

“As I thought.” Histoire said, breaking into the girls thoughts. “You’ve reached a threshold and I’m very proud of all of you. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to figure out the overall mystery.”

“You mean who seals Histoire and shut down all these Fairy Towers?” Neptune asked, as she opened her eyes.

“Yes, but there’s one more mystery the rest of you need to figure out.” Said Histoire.

Nepgear tapped her lower lip thoughtfully. “I mean. I can think of a few, but I have a feeling you’re talking about something else. Right?”

Histoire shrugged her small shoulders. “Nothing to worry about right now. Please. Continue with your journey. I’ll see you very soon in Lowee.”

“Right!” Nepgear said, nodding.

Neptune turned her eyes towards Cave and Vert. Even though the girls didn’t say anything, she had a feeling they had something very important to announce. “So…” Neptune began, taking a deep breath. “This is it, huh?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Nepgear asked, looking confusingly at Neptune.

“It’s time to say goodbye I’m afraid.” Vert said. “At least for now.”

“Yes.” Said Cave.

“No… Wait.” Nepgear began, tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “I just started remembering you two. It’s not fair that you have to leave right now.”

“Aww!” Neptune began, cuddling up to Nepgear. “Dry those leaky pipes. This isn’t goodbye forever! These two are our buddies! We’ll be bugging them all the time!”

Vert giggled. “That’s right Nepgear. You and your sister are more then welcome to bug me at any time.”

“Same.” Said Cave.

Nepgear swallowed hard. “O-Okay. I’m going to bug you a lot very soon.”

Vert giggled once more. After shaking Neptune and Nepgear’s hands, Vert and Cave turned to the Fairy Tower. “I’ve been itching to use this teleported for a while now.” Said Vert.

“I’m curious about it too.” Said Cave.

“I’m happy to show you how it works.” Said Histoire. “Where would you like to travel to?”

“How about the Fairy Tower near Leanbox city?” Vert suggested.

“I’d like to go there as well.” Said Cave.

“Very well. Sending you there now.” Said Histoire and in a flash the two girls were gone. Now Neptune, Nepgear and Histoire were all that remained. “And they’ve arrived safely at their destination.”

“Good.” Said Nepgear.

“Well Histoire! See you soon!” Neptune said, and with that the two sisters continued their journey. Their next stop was Lowee.