Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 85

 Neptune opened her eyes and quickly sat up. At first, she couldn’t remember where she was, but soon she remembered. “Oh right. I’m still trying to activate that final Fairy Tower in Leanbox.” Neptune thought, as she rubbed the back of her head. Neptune turned her eyes towards the left and saw Nepgear was still sound asleep.

Nepgear’s eyes were closed and her breaths were shallow. Neptune couldn’t help, but blush as she moved a few stray hairs that had fallen into Nepgear’s closed eyes. “She looks just like an angel.” Neptune thought, before she unzipped the front of the tent and crawled outside.

The sun was just rising over the horizon, but even so it was still quite dark. Neptune was surprised to see a fire had already been started and Vert was sitting on a log. The girl held her hands out to the flames. “Good morning Neptune.” Vert said, sweetly.

“Good morning. Cave sleeping in too?” Neptune asked.

“No. She’s gathering more firewood.” Said Vert. “I was just waiting for things to heat up before I started making tea. I’m afraid were going to have to eat breakfast bars this morning.”

“Shoot.” Neptune said, as she took a seat on a log across from Vert. Neptune held her hands out to the flames as well. “So… How did you sleep?”

“Terrible.” Said Vert. “If only I had Nepgear to cuddle with last night.”

Neptune took a deep breath and smiled. “I think I’m finally getting used to you Vert.” Neptune said, as she raked her fingers through her hair. “Anyways, how far away from the last Fairy Tower are we?”

“We still have a few days left. Were about to reach a small village though.” Said Vert. “We can restock our supplies, maybe stay in a hotel.”

“Sounds good.” Said Neptune. “These days are getting a bit repetitive, huh? Walk, find village, stay in hotel, wacky shenanigans happen. Dull, dull.” Said Neptune, as she began kicking her feet.

Vert giggled and shrugged her shoulders. “You have a point.”

“Yeah, but Nepgear and I have been doing this for such a long time! I honestly can’t wait to go home and take it easy for a while.” Said Neptune, taking a deep breath before slowly releasing the air.

“I understand.” Said Vert. “I too wish to go home and relax for a while.”

Neptune didn’t say anything for a moment, but soon she started giggling which caused Vert to tilt her head thoughtfully to the right. “Sorry. I’m not laughing at you, but I just realized something.”

“What’s that?” Asked Vert.

“Well for you. The further away from your house we get, the closer you get to going back. Just a weird thought.” Said Neptune.

“Oh?” Said Vert, confused.

“Yeah. Remember once we activate all the Fairy Towers in Leanbox, you’ll be able to teleport between them.” Said Neptune.

Vert’s eyes went wide for a second. “Oh that’s right!” She said. “Let’s not have the same conversation we had the last time we talked about teleporting.”

“Yeah. I kind of freaked myself out with that theory of mine.” Neptune said, nervously scratching her right cheek.

“G-Good morning…” Nepgear breathed, as she crawled out from the tent. Neptune and Vert watched as Nepgear crawled on all fours over to Neptune and instead of sitting on the log, the girl rested her head on Neptune’s lap.

“Morning sleepy head!” Neptune said, in her usual chipper voice.

“I’m so tired…” Nepgear breathed.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Vert asked.

“No.” Said Nepgear.

“Cause you couldn’t stop thinking about Yvoire?” Neptune asked.

“No.” Said Nepgear, turning her eyes towards her sister. “It’s because you wouldn’t stop cuddling me last night.”

“What?!” Vert said, her eyes started sparkling. “You two were cuddling last night?”

“Neptune was. I was trying to sleep.” Said Nepgear.

“Really?” Neptune said, tapping her lower lip thoughtfully. “I had a dream last night that I was hugging something warm and cuddly. That must have been you Nepgear!” Neptune said, blushing and giggling.

“Yes. I didn’t mind it at the beginning, but you wouldn’t stop.” Nepgear said, groaning loudly. “Do we have any tea?”

“Oh right!” Vert said, suddenly remembering she was going to make everyone some tea. Vert reaching behind her back and pulled out a kettle. “Here we go.” Vert said, placing the kettle into the fire.

A few moments later Cave returned with an armful of dry sticks. “Good morning everyone.” Cave said.

“Morning!” Neptune said.

“Mmm…” Said Nepgear, not raising her head from Neptune’s lap.

A loud whistling sound came from the kettle, telling Vert her tea was finished. Vert took up the kettle and poured everyone a cup of tea. Nepgear finally lifted her head from Neptune’s lap, took the cup of tea Vert handed her and sipped the dark liquid. “Ahh… Thanks Vert.” Nepgear said, her eyes were closed and her cheeks were bright red.

“You’re welcome dear.” Said Vert, as she sipped her own cup of tea.

Neptune, Nepgear, Vert and Cave drank their tea at the same time. For a split-second everything felt perfect.

When the sun had finally risen, the girls packed up their things. After smothering the fire they continued their journey to the last Fairy Tower.

As the girls walked, Neptune couldn’t help but wonder what her sister was thinking about. For the last few days Nepgear wore a serious expression on her face, but now she seemed happy. Almost content. “Hey Nepgear?” Neptune began.

“What’s up big sister?” Nepgear asked, turning her eyes towards Neptune.

Neptune opened her mouth to ask her sister about Yvoire and how she was feeling about him escaping, but changed her mind. “Nothing. I was just thinking how cuter you are when you’re smiling.”

Nepgear blushed and turned away from her sister. “Come on Neptune. Goodness! Stop trying to embarrass me!”

“Hey if I wanted to embarrass you, I could tell everyone about the time you-” Before Neptune could utter another word, Nepgear had covered her sisters mouth with both hands. “I don’t know what you were about to say, but stop!” Nepgear cried.

Vert giggled, as she watched the entire scene. “Now I’m curious myself.”

“Not you too Vert!” Nepgear cried.

“What’s wrong Nepgear? You’re totally awesome, so of course people want to know more about you! Like the time you-” Once more, Nepgear covered Neptune’s mouth before she could utter another word.

“Stop!” Nepgear cried.

“Having a sibling does seem like fun.” Said Cave.

“Not right now it isn’t.” Nepgear said, sighing deeply.

“Oh please.” Said Vert. “I know you’d rather have Neptune teasing you right now, then no one at all. Right?”

Nepgear sighed once more. “Goodness. Leave me alone!” Nepgear said, trying to sound annoyed, but her smile broke through. “I guess so…” The girl finally admitted.

Nepgear pulled away from her sister as she pulled out her N-Gear and looked down at the screen. “That village Vert mentioned should be coming into view soon. It’s the last one that’s located all the way out here.”

“Alright.” Neptune said, rubbing her hands together as they continued walking. “How much do you want to bet this village has some kind of problem were going to have to deal with?”

“One-thousand credits!” Vert said.

“Ten-thousand credits.” Said Cave.

“One million credits.” Said Nepgear.

“Huh…” Neptune said, tapping her lower lip thoughtfully. “Are you voting for it having problems, or against it?”

“Either way I’ll win.” Said Vert.

Neptune’s shoulders sagged. “Bet’s off. Forget it.” Neptune said, waving her hands dismissively.

As Nepgear said, the village came into view a few moments later. The village wasn’t very big. It was made up of a handful of buildings and it had a small wall located around the entire thing.

As the girls got closer, they kept their eyes open for any signs of monsters or people in distress. “It looks relatively calm.” Said Cave.

“Yeah, but before you know it. Someone’s running up to us, warning us about some kind of monster attack.” Neptune said. “I’ve seen it in video games a million times.”

“This isn’t a video game.” Said Nepgear.

Once the girls reached the village, they were approached by a woman. “Hello.” The woman said.

“See?” Neptune said, taking a few steps towards the lady. “What monster would you like us to slay ma’am.”

“Monster?” The woman said, confused.

“Yeah! You know, the monster that’s been plaguing this village for years? We’ll deal with it chip chop chip or whatever!” Said Neptune.  

The woman shook her head. “You must be mistaken. Were not looking for a monster hunter. It’s just my job to welcome travelers.”

“Oh…” Neptune said. Neptune quickly turned to her sister and friends. “Good thing I called off the bet, huh?” Neptune said, giggling nervously.

“I’ll take my one million credits now.” Nepgear said, a wry smile appeared on her face.

“Nepgear! I called it off!” Neptune cried, pretending to be upset.

Vert placed her hands on Neptune’s shoulders and pulled the girl out of her way. “I apologize for our friend. She’s… special.” Vert said, trying to find the right word to describe Neptune. “And thank you for the warm greeting!”

“Of course.” The woman said, smiling brightly at the group of girls.

“We were wondering. Does this village have a general store and perhaps a hotel?” Asked Vert.

“Of course. If you proceed down this road you’ll find the general store and hotel right next to each other.” The woman said, gesturing towards the street behind her.

“Thanks!” Neptune said. “Come girls! To the general store!” Neptune said.

Nepgear groaned loudly as she followed after her sister. “I was wondering.” Nepgear began, when she suddenly thought about something. “Are we really going to spend the night in this village? We still have plenty of time before it gets dark.”

“That’s true, but it’ll be the last village we come across. I just figured we could all use a nice comfortable bed to sleep in tonight. Maybe we could even do a little monster hunting before it gets dark.” Said Vert.

“That’s a good idea.” Said Cave. “I feel as though my skills are getting rusty.”

“If I don’t get some pudding in my belly, my skills get rusty too.” Said Neptune.

“Neptune that’s not…” Vert began, but stopped talking when she saw Nepgear shake her head.

“Actually that might be true. I noticed that Neptune’s fighting skills get worse when she doesn’t eat any pudding.” Said Nepgear.

“See? Nepgear knows her sister well.” Said Neptune.

When the girls reached the general store they bought all the supplies they needed. Even though Neptune was focused on buying pudding packs, she did make sure to get a few other items she knew that they would need. After that they headed over to the hotel and checked into two rooms.

Neptune tossed her backpack onto the first bed she saw and then plopped down on the mattress. “This is my bed.” Neptune said, closing her eyes and placing her hands behind her head.

“Okay.” Said Nepgear, taking a seat on the bed next to it. “This is my bed.”

Neptune raised her head and looked at Nepgear. “So… do you want to go out and do some monster hunting?” Neptune asked. “Even though it’s Vert’s idea, it doesn’t seem like a bad one.”

“Yeesh. You’re so terrible sometimes Neptune.” Nepgear said, leaning back against her bed.

Neptune giggled. “I only tease. I like Vert. I just don’t want her to get her hands on you.” Neptune threw her hands into the air as she spoke. “You’re my baby sister! I have a monopoly on Nepgear!”

Nepgear blushed. “Don’t worry big sister. I love you best.”

Neptune giggled as well. “I love you the best too!”

Nepgear suddenly yelped as she leapt off her bed. This caused Neptune to sit up as well. “What’s wrong?!” Neptune asked.

“Sorry.” Nepgear said, breathing deep. “I put my N-Gear on vibrate. It scared me.” Nepgear pulled out her N-Gear and looked down at the screen. “Ah man! No fair…”

“What is it?” Neptune asked, getting to her feet. Neptune took a seat next to her sister. “Dude! Awesome!” Neptune said, after reading the words on Nepgear’s screen. “5pb. is holding a concert, huh? We should… oh…”

“Exactly. It’s being held in Leanbox.” Said Nepgear, sighing deeply.

Neptune shrugged her shoulders. “Oh well. Were still having fun, right?” Neptune asked, placing her hand on Nepgear’s hand.

“Yeah. We are.” Said Nepgear.

“Now come on.” Neptune stood and pulled Nepgear to her feet. “Let’s go hunt some monsters and then eat some pudding. Or should we eat pudding first and then hunt monsters? Or… and hear me out Nepgear! Should we eat pudding while hunting monsters?”

Nepgear giggled, but didn’t answer. Her sister was right. Even though they weren’t able to see 5pb.’s concert, she was having a blast with her sister.