“You got it.” Neptune said, smiling brightly and giving Histoire a little salute. “Let’s go Nepgear!” Neptune turned to the left and started jogging away. Nepgear couldn’t believe her sister was actually leaving. She watched as her sister jogged into the forest and vanish shortly afterwards.
“I can’t believe she left me.” Said Nepgear.
“I didn’t leave you.” Said Neptune.
Nepgear yelped as she twirled around and saw Neptune was standing behind her. “What the… You just ran that way!” Nepgear cried, pointing in the direction Neptune just ran off in.
“Yeah. That was freaky.” Neptune said, giggling nervously. “I ran off, got lost in the forest or a few hours and somehow ended up back here.”
“Got lost? No. You just left and reappeared behind me!” Nepgear said, her hands were shaking by her sides.
“Uh, no Nepgear. I left hours ago and now I need a pudding.” Neptune sank to her knees as she pulled off her backpack. After removing a cup of pudding, the girl removed the lid and started spooning the pudding out.
Nepgear watched as her sister did this for a few moments before turning her eyes to Histoire and Croire. “What’s going on here? Why did you tell us to run?” Nepgear asked.
“It’s strange, but I sensed something ominous in the area.” Said Histoire.
“Yeah, by the way your sister just appeared behind you a second ago.” Said Croire.
“Huh?” Nepgear said, surprised.
“Yeah. She didn’t run up to you, or sneak up behind you. She just appeared. Is she a ghost or something?” Croire asked.
Histoire sighed deeply. “I won’t use the word ghost, but I have to agree with Croire. She did just appear behind you a moment ago.”
“I see…” Nepgear said, taking a deep breath. “Histoire? What would you recommend we do?”
Histoire sighed once more, but this time she seemed upset. “I-I’m sorry Croire, but we have to prioritize the safety of Neptune and Nepgear right now. They have an important task they must accomplish and I can’t risk them getting hurt.”
“No. I get it.” Croire said, waving her hand dismissively. “Go ahead and abandon me here. It’s fine.”
“I’m sorry Croire.” Nepgear muttered. Nepgear looked down at Neptune who had finished a cup of pudding and looked as though she were about to reach for another. “Big sister? We should leave.”
“Already?” Said Neptune, surprised. Neptune got to her feet and hugged her backpack close to her chest. “Are you sure about this? I don’t mind hanging out a little longer.”
“I think it would be for the best. I’ll stay here and keep Croire company. Maybe eventually we’ll be able to help her.” Histoire said. Though Croire didn’t say anything, her cheeks grew bright red in color and the girl was forced to look away.
Nepgear nodded as she took her sister by the hand and led her away from the four buildings and the strange Fairy Tower. As the girls walked, they felt strange. Almost like the ground beneath their feet had shifted. Not only that, but the fog had gotten thicker, but soon it started to thin out.
“What the goodness?” Nepgear gasped, when she realized that she was standing in front of Croire’s Fairy Tower once more.
“You two are back?” Histoire said, surprised. “You’ve been gone for an entire day and-”
“Liar, liar bookmark on fire!” Neptune said.
“No. Your dorky friend is right. You two were gone for an entire day. Why’d you come back? Stupid or something?” Croire said.
Nepgear crossed her hands in front of her chest. “This doesn’t make any sense.” Nepgear said. Nepgear turned to Histoire. “Did we just walk into this area again, or did we appear out of nowhere?” She asked.
Histoire thought for a moment. “You just reappeared.” She said. “That is very strange.”
“This whole place is weird.” Neptune said, looking around nervously.
“Yeah.” Nepgear closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. As she breathed in the air, she held it in her lungs for a few moments before she breathed out. “Okay. I think we need to get a little rest Neptune. I don’t like the idea of staying here overnight, but we don’t have a choice.”
“Yeah?” Neptune said, her eyes turned upwards. “It looks like it’s daytime, right?” She asked.
Nepgear glanced up and saw that it was brighter now, but the fog made it impossible to tell where the sun was. “Yeah. This whole place is weird.” Nepgear said. Nepgear was starting to feel frightened. Nothing about this place made sense to her and her head was starting to spin.
That fear however was quickly squashed when she felt her sister give her hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay.” Neptune said. “With my brainy little sister and Histoire here, I’m sure we can figure this whole thing out soon enough!”
“Hey! Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Croire asked, annoyed.
“Of course!” Neptune said. “And of course we can all count on… Me! I’ll make sure to crack all kinds of jokes to make you all laugh!”
Nepgear and Histoire giggled, but this merely annoyed Croire even more. “Whatever…” The fairy like girl huffed.
“Anyways. It’s time for a nap.” Neptune said, pointing at one of the buildings. “Let’s see what’s in here.”
Neptune and Nepgear made their way into the building. As they opened the door and peered inside. The room beyond the door was large and square in shape. The room didn‘t have any furniture. “This place looks nice.” Nepgear said. Nepgear wanted to tell her sister that for a split-second she thought she saw furniture inside the building, but quickly changed her mind.
“Yeah.” Said Neptune.
The two girls stepped into the building. As they did, Nepgear found a switch located near the door. Nepgear flipped the switch, but nothing happened. “I guess it was too much to ask for some electricity.” Said Nepgear.
“Yeah… That stinks.” Said Neptune. “I’ve got a flashlight though. That’ll keep the monsters away.”
“Please don’t talk about monsters big sister.” Nepgear said, as Neptune fished out a flashlight from her backpack and flipped it on. After that the two girls pulled out their sleeping bags and laid them on the floor.
“Are you hungry?” Neptune asked.
“No. I’m okay.” Said Nepgear. The two girls laid down. “Goodnight Neptune.”
“Good night.” Said Neptune. After that the two girls fell asleep.
***
Neptune groaned loudly as she sat up. “Oh man… I don’t know about you Nepgear, but sleeping on the floor isn’t doing my back any favors. Lousy sleeping bag…” Neptune said, grumbling loudly.
Neptune yawned loudly and stretched her hands high over her head. After that, the girl got to her feet. “Nepgear?” She began, turning to where her sister was lying. To Neptune’s shock, Nepgear was gone. Not only was her sister gone, but her sleeping bag and backpack was gone as well.
“Nepgear? NEPGEAR!” Neptune cried, as she ran out of the building. Neptune ran from building to building trying to find her sister. After searching the area for several long moments, she ran to the Fairy Tower. “Histoire? Croire?” Neptune cried.
Histoire appeared after a few seconds. “What’s wrong Neptune?” Histoire asked.
“Nepgear’s missing!” Said Neptune.
“What do you mean she’s missing!?” Histoire cried, as she flew in front of Neptune’s face. “She couldn’t have gone far! We have to…” Histoire’s voice trailed off, as she looked down at her digital body. “Wait a second. How did I do this?” The fairy like girl asked.
Neptune shook her head. “I’m not a nerd like my sister so I don’t know.” Neptune said, shrugging her shoulders.
“This… Isn’t possible. My holographic image can’t move from the Fairy Tower.” Histoire said, scratching her chin thoughtfully. “Neptune? Could you poke me in the ribs or something?”
Neptune sighed deeply. “Histoire. You’re terrible at setting up jokes sometimes.”
“This isn’t the time to be making jokes!” Histoire cried.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t bite me.” Neptune said, as she lifted her hand and reached for Histoire using her index finger. Neptune wasn’t surprised when her index finger moved through Histoire’s body as though it weren’t there. “Still a holograph.”
“I thought so.” Histoire said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I’m starting to understand what’s happening here.”
“What?” Neptune asked.
“Remember I told you that I was getting some interference yesterday?” Asked Histoire. “Well that same interference I felt the day before has been changing throughout the night. Now I’m convinced that that interference was coming from our dimension and whatever dimension that Croire has come from.” Histoire explained.
“Really?” Neptune said. “So what does all that mean?”
“It means that this place is highly volatile. Last night you and Nepgear traveled between dimensions without even realizing it.” Said Histoire. “Right now. You’re in your own dimension, but Nepgear stayed in the other dimension.”
Neptune’s eyes went wide with fright. “My… No way!” Neptune said, slowly shaking her head. “My baby sister is trapped in another dimension? Well how do we get her back! I need my Nepgear! I’m an emotional wreck without her!”
“I’m sorry Neptune.” Histoire said, shaking her head. “I don’t know what to do. I wasn’t built to deal with alternate dimensions like this. After a search using all the available Fairy Towers, I did learn something unfortunate.”
“What?” Neptune asked.
“The only one who could help us is the original Histoire.” Said Histoire.
Neptune dropped to her knees. “NOOOO!” Neptune screamed.
Histoire rolled her eyes. “Please. Enough of the melodramatics.”
Neptune giggled. “Sorry about that.” Neptune’s smile quickly faded. “What should we do? My little sister is trapped in another dimension all alone.”
Histoire shook her head. “Actually she’s not alone.”
“What do you mean?” Neptune asked.
“I just checked the Fairy Tower. Croire is missing.” Said Histoire.
“Missing? How? Isn’t this her Fairy Tower?” Neptune asked.
“Yes, but she’s not responding. She might have separated from the Fairy Tower like I did.” Said Histoire. “Speaking of which. I’m going to have to return before I disappear.” Histoire said, as she floated back to the Fairy Tower and reconnected with the device.
***
“Hey! Wake up lazy bones! Your sister’s missing!” Croire said, annoyed.
Nepgear groaned loudly as she opened her eyes. At first, Nepgear had no idea what she was looking at. Floating above her head was a tiny girl who wore a sour expression on her face. “Croire?” Nepgear said, taking a deep breath. “I must be dreaming…”
“You’re not dreaming!” Croire said, louder than before.
Nepgear opened her eyes all the way and sat up. Nepgear was still lying on the floor in the building, but she noticed several changes to the room she was in. Once the room was completely empty, but now there was furniture inside. Couches, a chair and even a table pushed to one side of the room.
“What the goodness?” Nepgear cried, as she jumped to her feet. “Neptune? Time to wake up!” Nepgear began, as she turned to where her sister was lying down, but to her horror her sister was gone. “NEPTUNE? NEPTUNE!” Nepgear screamed.
“Will you stop screaming like a weirdo?” Croire said, floating in front of Nepgear’s face.
“Croire? What’s going on? How are you away from the Fairy Tower?” Nepgear asked.
Croire shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know how, but I think were in another dimension. I bet that annoying Histoire probably knows something about it. Also I don’t know how, but I managed to break free from the Fairy Tower, but I’m not going to last long. So if you’re done freaking out, you should come with me.”
“Done freaking out?” Nepgear said, breathing hard. “I feel like I’m just getting started!”
“Well save it for later.” Said Croire, rolling her eyes. “Anyways, we need to deal with me disappearing first.”
Nepgear took a deep breath to calm her nerves. After that she gathered her things and followed Croire out of the building. Croire floated over to the Fairy Tower and reconnected herself to it. “It’s weird. I could never leave the Fairy Tower before. Probably something to do with all this interference I’m feeling.”
“Interference?” Nepgear said. “If I had to guess. I think that interference is the natural frequency of our planet, clashing with the natural frequency of another planet from another dimension.”
“Yeah that makes sense.” Said Croire, her voice was filled with sarcasm. “Though It would explain why were in another dimension right now. I kept feeling the interference changing all through the night.”
“Were in another dimension” Nepgear said, shocked by what she was told. “You and I are in another dimension? Where’s Histoire?” Nepgear asked.
“In another dimension you dimwit.” Croire said, smirking.
“How?” Said Nepgear. “She was attached to your Fairy Tower and it’s here now. Some residual data of her should still remain.”
“Well it doesn’t.” Said Croire, giggling. “You’re not as smart as… YOU’RE RIGHT!” Croire snapped. “Where is that little… I bet she jumped ship once she felt us being sucked into another dimension!” Croire said, angrily crossing her arms in front of her chest. “And just when I thought we were going to be friends…”
Nepgear wanted to say something to Croire, but all she could think about was her sister. “Neptune…” Said Nepgear.
“Did someone just say my name?” Came a familiar voice.
Nepgear turned on her heels. “Neptune? Is that you?”
A tall figure suddenly dropped down from the sky. The figure had long purple hair and wore a black outfit. The figure stood fully erect and smiled a bright, toothy grin. “Hiya cutie!”
Nepgear took several steps backwards. “W-Who are you?” The girl stammered.
“You already know that!” The girl said, giggling. “My names Neptune!”
