Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 12

Neptune and Nepgear weren’t prepared for what they saw the moment the large doors opened. Standing in the hallway directly in front of them were dozens of monsters. The monsters all varied in size and shape and all of them looked as though they were half-dead.

The creatures comprised of sickly looking dogoo who had razor sharp teeth. Dogs who’s bones were exposed and even giant lizards that had strange hair growing out of their heads and metal claws on their hands.

The creatures roared in defiance as they started marching towards the two girls. Neptune quickly swung her sword as a dogoo attacked her. The girl was able to block the attack and with a flick of her wrist she was able to slice the creature in two. After that Neptune started swinging her sword wildly. Her blade sliced through the air, cutting down anything that got in her way.

“Come on Nepgear! We have to-” Before Neptune could finish speaking, a giant lizard ran forwards and slammed it’s claws into the side of Neptune’s head, sending her flying backwards.

“NEPTUNE!” Nepgear screamed.

Neptune flew backwards several feet before she slammed into the ground and rolled for several feet before coming to a rest. Nepgear turned and ran after her sister. She could see a little blood on the side of Neptune’s head. “Neptune…” Nepgear cried. Nepgear pointed her hand at Neptune.

“HEAL!” Nepgear cried.

Neptune’s body started to shine brightly. When that glow vanished, Neptune slowly opened her eyes. “What… happened?” She asked.

“You were hurt!” Nepgear said, turning back to the monsters. The monsters were making their way into the room. Dozens of tiny dogoo skittered in first while the dogs and lizards took their time. “Can you get up?” Nepgear asked, after she sliced through several zombie dogoo that attacked.

“No… I… can’t.” Neptune breathed.

Nepgear looked down at her sister. For a split-second she thought her sister was joking, but could see that Neptune was still seriously injured. “Okay sis. Hold on!” Nepgear fell to her knees and grabbed Neptune with one hand and pulled her sister over her left shoulder. After that, Nepgear stood.

After that Nepgear made her way over to the metal ladder that led up to the flood controls located overhead. Nepgear sent her weapon away just as she reached the ladder and then she began climbing up the ladder as fast as she could.  

As Nepgear climbed, she watched helplessly as the monsters continued to march towards her. Their beady black eyes were locked on the two sisters.

Nepgear managed to climb up the ladder and into the flood control room. After that, she looked down at the controls. “I hope this works.” Nepgear breathed, as she pressed a single green button. A loud alarm started blaring. After that, a large panel in the ceiling opened and water fell.

At first only a little water started to fall, but soon gallons upon gallons fell into the room. The pressure of the water slammed against the portal generator and the monsters. The monsters tried to keep their balance, but the pressure of the water caused them to trip and be pushed against the walls of the room and out of the door and down the hallway.

After that Nepgear, still carrying Neptune, leapt out of the room. At first, Nepgear was certain her feet or legs would start hurting the moment she landed, but surprisingly she felt no pain. She effortlessly landed on the ground.

“Are you okay sis?” Nepgear asked.

“Fine…” Neptune breathed. “I have a question though. Could I always see out of one eye, or did I have vision in both?”

“Oh no! Hold on Neptune!” Nepgear cried. Nepgear felt like crying. Her eyes were burning and a lump formed in her throat, but the girl knew she didn’t have time for that. Nepgear knew she needed to get Neptune back to the Fairy Tower.

Nepgear ran through the room and back into the hallway. Water was everywhere and the monsters were struggling to get back to their feet. Thanks to the height of the water, the dogoo weren’t able to gain any traction on the ground and helplessly floated across the water.

Nepgear summoned her energy sword when she noticed a lizard had managed to stand and was leaping at her.

Nepgear swung her sword, cutting the monster down with a single slash. After that, Nepgear leapt into the air and spun. As she spun around, she sliced the creature in the back of the head.

Before Nepgear’s feet touched the ground, the creature vanished as though it were never there.

“Nepgear? Can we have some pudding after this? I think we earned some.” Neptune asked.

“Of course big sis!” Nepgear cried.

Nepgear turned down the first hallway they had come through before, but stopped when she saw dozens of lizard monsters standing around waiting for them. “No…” Nepgear breathed.

Nepgear felt like giving up hope, but shook her head. “Let’s go to the storage room. Maybe…” Nepgear thought, as she turned on her heels and started running.

Even though there were dozens of monsters still in the hallway, Nepgear managed to get to the storage room without having to use her energy sword. Once inside, Nepgear glanced around the room hoping to find what she was looking for.

The storage room was enormous. The room was filled with shelves, crates and other items the researchers needed in order to live and continue their work. “What are we doing in here?” Neptune asked, dreamily.

“Hopefully we can escape from here.” Nepgear said. Nepgear began running around the massive shelves and carefully squeezed herself and Neptune between large crates. As they ran, the girls heard the sound of the lizard monsters forcing their way into the room. The sounds of their talons scraping across the bare floor sent shivers down the Nep’s spines.

“We have some hungry boys coming.” Neptune said. “Feed them a Nep sandwich Gear. Leave me behind.”

“NO!” Nepgear screamed. “I won’t leave you behind! We’ll both feed those monsters!”

“No way! Keep running…” Neptune said, before giggling.

Nepgear finally reached the end of the room. A look of delight appeared on her face. “I knew it! A hydraulic freight elevator!” Nepgear said.

Nepgear ran over to the hydraulic freight elevator and gently laid Neptune down. After that, she turned to the control panel and pressed the up button. A loud siren went off, but soon it had died down and the elevator started to move upwards.

Nepgear held her energy sword out in front of her as the lizard monsters appeared. “Neptune! Hold on!” Nepgear said, as she leapt at the giant monsters and swung her sword.

The two lizard monsters screamed in anger as Nepgear’s sword cut their chests. The creatures took several steps backwards, before they rushed at Nepgear and snapped their jaws at the girl.

Nepgear avoided their attacks by mere inches and took a step back herself. “Come on you bastards!” Nepgear screamed.

“Language.” Neptune said, from the hydraulic freight elevator.

“Sorry.” Nepgear called back.

One of the monsters swung it’s claws at Nepgear, but the girl was able to block it with her energy sword. After that she pushed the creature back with all her might, before quickly cutting down the monster that was on her right side.

The monster roared before it vanished. Leaving only one of the creatures left.

Nepgear glanced over her shoulder. The hydraulic freight elevator was now five feet in the air and it’s speed was starting to get faster.

Nepgear took several steps backwards before she bent down and then leapt high into the air. The lizard monster watched as Nepgear landed gracefully on the elevator.

The lizard monster opened its maw wide before it too leapt upwards. Before the creature could grab the elevator, Nepgear pointed the tip of her energy sword at the creatures head and plunged it’s blade deep into the creatures head. The lizard monster’s body went limp before it vanished completely.

“I did it…” Nepgear breathed, collapsing onto the elevator.

“Good job Nepgear. Head pats later. I need a nap.” Neptune breathed.

“NO!” Nepgear cried. Nepgear ran over to her sister and began tickling Neptune’s cheeks. “Please stay awake Neptune.” Nepgear could see a bruise on the side of Neptune’s head.

“Okay, okay. No fair tickling me. I can’t move.” Neptune said, her voice sounded weakened.

Nepgear felt warm tears trickling down her cheeks, but angrily wiped them away. “Were almost to the surface. I’ll take you to the Fairy Tower after this, okay? Just hang on for me!” Nepgear cried.

“Of course.” Neptune said, smiling weakly.

Just as Nepgear had hoped. The hydraulic freight elevator had led outside the house Neptune and Nepgear had entered earlier. Once they were outside, Nepgear felt a pang of hope.

Carefully picking her sister back up, this time she cradled Neptune in her arms. After that Nepgear began running through the forest until they reached the Fairy Tower.

“Neptune, Nepgear!” Histoire said, happily. “I’m eager to hear…” Histoire stopped speaking the moment she noticed the distress on Nepgear’s face.

“Sorry Histoire, but please hold on.” Nepgear said, as she ran up to a terminal. Nepgear grabbed Neptune’s right hand and pressed it against the terminal.

At first nothing seemed to have changed. Neptune’s condition didn’t change. Her eyes were closed and her head still looked bruised. “Please big sis… Get better…” Nepgear closed her eyes and started crying. Tears streamed down her bright red cheeks and her shoulders trembled.

“Nepgear?” Neptune said.

“Yes sis?” Nepgear asked, opening her eyes. Nepgear’s eyes went wide and her cheeks grew even brighter red in color than they were before.

“How long are you going to carry me princess style?” Neptune asked.

“Neptune? Are you okay?” Nepgear asked, noticing the bruise on Neptune’s face had healed.

“I’m fine!” Neptune said, giggling. “Thanks for all your hard work Nepgear. I thought-” Neptune continued speaking, but Nepgear couldn’t hear her. The reason was simple. Nepgear started hugging Neptune close to her and now Neptune’s words were coming out muffled.

“I’m so happy!” Histoire said. “The Fairy Tower certainly is a mysterious thing, isn’t it?”

“It is, but I’m glad it exists!” Nepgear said.

Nepgear loosened her grip on Neptune. “And in conclusion. I thank you.” Neptune said. “Okay! So what’s next?” She asked.

“Next? Next you should rest for a while.” Nepgear said, letting her sister slide out of her arms. “I need to look at this information first.”

“Rest? With pudding, right?” Neptune said.

“Yeah! Let’s eat all of it!” Nepgear said, happily.

“Oooh! That’s what I like to hear!” Neptune said.

Neptune retrieved two puddings from her backpack and handed one of them over to Nepgear. Nepgear didn’t start eating right away. She first made sure her sister was able to eat something first. After Neptune shoveled two large spoonfuls of pudding into her mouth, Nepgear opened her pack and started eating as well.

“Sorry Histoire.” Nepgear began, after noticing Histoire was watching them. “I know you want this information, but I suddenly felt weak there.”

“No.” Histoire said, shaking her head. “Your health is more important, but after you finish eating you should probably touch the Fairy Tower as well. Just to be safe.”

“Yeah. Good idea.” Nepgear said.

Nepgear and Neptune continued to eat their pudding in silence. Neptune was happy to be able to eat another pudding, while Nepgear couldn’t help, but think about everything the two had just been through to escape. “We need to get stronger.” Nepgear said.

“I agree. For pudding!” Neptune said, holding up her empty cup.

“No. For each other.” Nepgear said, turning her eyes towards Neptune. “I almost lost you Neptune. I don’t want to go through that ever again!”

“Yeah… I know.” Neptune said, nodding her head several times. “Sorry Nepgear. I shouldn’t have made you worry like that.”

Nepgear shook her head. “It’s alright. We’ll get stronger and be better together.”

“Right!” Neptune said. Neptune and Nepgear gave one another a high five. After that, Neptune placed her hand on Nepgear’s head. “Good girl!”

Nepgear giggled and blushed, before a stream of tears began flowing. Neptune placed her hand on Nepgear’s shoulder and pulled her sister close to her. “There, there Nepgear.”

When Nepgear was finally able to settle down, she got to her feet and placed her hand on the terminal. She felt whatever exhaustion and pain quickly disappear. “Thanks Histoire. Sorry about the trouble.”

“No trouble at all.” Said Histoire.

“Alright. Let’s get started.” Nepgear said. Neptune and Nepgear both took their time and told Histoire everything they knew about the facility. While Neptune talked, Nepgear pulled out her N-Gear and started looking up information about the house on it. “It looks like the house was built in about a weeks time. They were worried that people might come to investigate, so they had a fake family living there.” Nepgear read.

“Interesting. So what happened to all the researchers?” Asked Histoire.

“I bet they ran off once that Hachi dude started spawning in all those trash mobs.” Said Neptune.

“That may be true.” Said Nepgear. “We didn’t find any holding cells for monsters.”

“Maybe they didn’t really need holding cells.” Histoire offered. “Maybe they were only researching a handful of those monsters at a time.”

“That could be.” Nepgear said.

“So what now?” Asked Neptune, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Should we go back and find the self destruct button? I don’t mind, but I don’t want to carry the fuel supply capsule.”

“No.” Histoire said. “Considering everything you’ve told me, I’ll try to hack into the building myself and learn everything that I can. Though it might take me three weeks to accomplish.”

“Okay.” Nepgear said. “Well… I guess we should be going.”

“Thank you two for everything.” Histoire said, bowing a little. “Please be careful in the future Neptune.”

“Hey! Why did you single me out?” Neptune asked. “Oh right…”

“We’ll be careful. Thanks histoire!” Nepgear said. Nepgear took Neptune’s hand. “Come on big sis. Let’s head for the next Fairy Tower!”