Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 91

 Neptune had a difficult time getting to sleep that night and she knew it had nothing to do with the fact that she had slept for most of the day. Neptune’s thoughts were on Nepgear. Neptune needed to know where her sister was, if she was safe and warm, or if she was in trouble.

“Please be careful Nepgear. Be okay!” Neptune thought, as she kept rolling around in bed.

Blanc, Rom and Ram each shared a bed that was located on the other side of the small house. The house itself was small, but it felt cozy. A large fire place was located on the left side of the room, close to the front door of the building. A small table was located in the middle of the room where the girls ate their meals.

Located near the back of the house on the right side was a large television where Rom and Ram played their video games. Normally Neptune would have been very interested in seeing what kinds of games they owned, but Neptune couldn’t bring herself to try them out. Not when she knew her sister wasn’t around to enjoy them with her.

Neptune wasn’t sure when it happened, but she did manage to fall asleep. The following morning, Neptune felt a hand gently shake her awake. “Huh? Wh-what’s going on?” Neptune asked, sitting up.

“Big sister wanted you to get ready for breakfast.” Came the voice of Rom.

“Aww thanks Rom.” Neptune said, sitting up. “Has Nepgear had her breakfast yet or…” Neptune’s eyes went wide, before she turned them down towards her feet. “Oh right…”

“I’m sorry about your sister.” Rom began, trying to find the right words to comfort Neptune with. “But I’m sure she’s okay! We’ll find her soon!”

“Yeah. I know.” Neptune said, nodding her head several times. “I mean, the Fairy Tower was right there. I’m sure she’ll head there first thing in the morning. Heck she might even beat us there!” Neptune quickly got to her feet. “To be honest. I’m not really feeling hungry right now. We should-”

Before Neptune could finish speaking, Blanc entered the room. “We should eat breakfast first.” She said, gesturing towards the small table located in the middle of the room.

Neptune wanted to argue, but she remembered how scary Blanc could be. She didn’t have to yell, or threaten anyone. A mere look was enough to send chills down her spine. “Right.” Neptune said, giggling nervously.

Neptune took a seat at the table. After a moment Blanc placed a bowl of oatmeal down in front of her. “It’s not much, but it should fill us up.” Said Blanc. “I already visited the nearby village and bought supplies for us.”

Neptune nodded. It was at that moment the girl noticed four backpacks located near the front door of the house. One of the backpacks obviously belonged to Neptune, while the others belonged to Blanc and her sisters.

“You have cute backpacks Rom and Ram.” Neptune said, noticing the smaller backpacks matched the colors Rom and Ram wore.

“Our backpacks aren’t cute! Their awesome!” Ram said.

“Yeah. Awesome.” Said Rom.

Neptune giggled once more. “You two are cute. I bet Ram’s the oldest, huh?”

“No dummy! Rom is.” Said Ram.

“Ram. Please don’t insult our guest. That’s poor manners.” Said Blanc.

“Sorry.” Ram said.

“It’s okay. I didn’t take any offense.” Said Neptune, as she turned her eyes down towards her bowl of oatmeal. “This looks good! Down the hatch!” Neptune picked up a spoon and began eating her meal. Rom, Ram and Blanc quickly joined her. Once their bowls were emptied and Blanc did the dishes, the girls grabbed their backpacks and headed out.

Neptune walked several yards away from Blanc, Rom and Ram’s house before she stopped and began turning around in a circle. It didn’t take Neptune very long to spot the Fairy Tower.

“There’s the Fairy Tower. Is it the same one from yesterday?” Neptune wondered, aloud.

“That’s right.” Said Ram. “You were heavy too, but Rom and I carried you all the way out here!”

“No I‘m not and thanks!” Neptune said, placing her hands on her hips. “It’s weird. I didn’t notice your house yesterday. Though in all fairness, a goddess was trying to murderize me.” Neptune scratched her right cheek as she spoke.

“Lady White Heart is very protective of Lowee’s borders, but she doesn’t always come out this way. I doubt we’ll see her today.” Said Blanc.

“Yeah. Why come back out here when she thinks Nepgear and I…” Neptune’s words faded as her mind was filled with thoughts of Nepgear once more. Neptune took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Well… Let’s get going.”

“Right.” Blanc said.

Blanc led Neptune, Rom and Ram over to the Fairy Tower. Once the girls reached the large machine, Neptune began scanning the area for any signs of her sister. However, As Neptune rounded the Fairy Tower twice, she quickly realized that Nepgear wasn’t there. “No…” Neptune said, sadly.

“It’s okay!” Rom said, in her usual soft spoken voice. “Nepgear’s fine.”

“Yeah. Cheer up already!” Ram said.

Neptune forced a smile, but wasn’t sure if she could believe Nepgear was actually okay. Neptune fished out the USB memory stick and stuck it into the USB port on one of the terminals located beneath the massive structure. A few moments later Histoire appeared.

“Congratulations Neptune and Nepgear. You’ve managed to….” Histoire began, but she stopped speaking when she noticed that Nepgear was missing. “Where’s Nepgear? Is she sleeping in or something? That doesn’t really sound like her though.”

“No.” Neptune said, shaking her head. “Yesterday Lady White Heart attacked and tried to kill us! Nepgear and I were separated and now I have no idea where she is!” Neptune said, sadly.

“Oh no.” Histoire said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “It’s true that the original Histoire called out to Lady White Heart, but why would she attack you instead of help you?”

“She’s very protective of Lowee’s border.” Blanc said.

Histoire looked up and spotted Blanc, Rom and Ram standing a few feet behind Neptune. “Oh. Hello girls. Thank you for helping Neptune here.”

“You got it dude!” Ram said, saluting.

“Sure.” Said Rom.

“Girls… You’re being rude.” Said Blanc.

Histoire giggled as nervous looks appeared on Rom and Ram’s faces. “It’s alright girls.” Histoire said, before turning her eyes back to Neptune. “I still can’t believe Lady White Heart would attack you. I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“What should we do?” Neptune asked.

Histoire scratched her chin thoughtfully. “Well Nepgear does know what your quest is. And there are four more Fairy Towers that need to be activated. I’m sure she’ll meet you at one of them.”

“Yeah, but I have this.” Neptune said, holding up Nepgear’s N-Gear.

“Oh no…” Histoire said, sighing deeply. “Well in that case I’ll contact Lowee’s security and inform them about her. Hopefully they’ll find her before anything bad happens. While I’m doing that, I’ll also send a strongly worded email to Lady White Heart. She should be ashamed for attacking you two.”

“Agreed.” Neptune said, nodding her head several times.

“In the meantime. We’ll continue to activate the other four Fairy Towers in Lowee. If Nepgear happens to stumble upon any of them. Could you send her a message?” Blanc asked.

Histoire closed her eyes. After a few moments she opened them. “Yes. All the Fairy Towers in this area have reserved power. I can send a message to her via text. That is if she looks at the terminals.”

“Well considering how nosey Nepgear is about electronics. I’m sure she’ll look eventually.” Neptune said.

“So Nepgear’s a nerd? Boring!” Ram said.

“Ram…” Blanc said, placing a firm hand on Ram’s right shoulder.

Ram’s eyes went wide and the color drained from her cheeks. “S-sorry!” She breathed.

Neptune giggled. “Yeah. Nepgear’s a nerdy birdy, but I still love her.” Neptune took a deep breath and released it. “I guess we should start making our way towards the next Fairy Tower, huh?”

“Yes.” Said Histoire. “I’ll send the coordinates to the N-Gear. Can you access the device?”

“Yep. Nepgear gave me permission.” Said Neptune, looking down at the device. Neptune was hoping to find Nepgear at the Fairy Tower. Now that she’s realized that wasn’t going to happen, the girl started feeling depressed again. “Looks like the next Fairy Tower is over that way. Let’s go.” Neptune said.

Blanc watched as Neptune sadly started walking away from the Fairy Tower. “Poor Neptune.” Blanc said, in a small voice.

“I’m really sorry about this.” Histoire said. “Neptune and Nepgear have been activating the Fairy Towers together for months now. This must really be effecting her.”

“Not that I can blame her.” Blanc said. “If something happened to my sisters. I would be depressed too.”

Blanc watched as Neptune continued to walk away when suddenly the girl slipped and fell face first into the snow. Instead of getting up however, Neptune continued to lay down. “Aww… I feel bad for her.” Said Rom.

“She’s no fun to tease like this.” Said Ram.

“Good. Don’t tease her.” Blanc warned. “Also… Help her up okay? She looks so pitiful right now.”

Blanc watched as Neptune finally tried to standup, only to lose her grip and fall back down into the snow. Rom and Ram approached the girl, grabbed her arms and yanked her to her feet. “Thanks for helping.” Neptune said, as she continued her journey towards the next Fairy Tower.

“I better get going Histoire. Please keep us informed.” Said Blanc.

“Will do.” Histoire said, nodding.

Blanc began jogging in order to catch up to Neptune, though it didn’t take her long to accomplish this. “Neptune? You should try to pull yourself together. Nepgear’s only going to worry if she sees you so depressed.”

“Yeah… I know.” Neptune said, before she suddenly tripped and fell in the snow face first once more. Neptune slid a few inches before coming to a stop. “Uh-oh… I tripped again.”

Blanc sighed deeply before she reached down and pulled Neptune to her feet. “Come on Neptune. You literally tripped over nothing. Pull yourself together!” Blanc said, giving Neptune a gentle shake.

Neptune nodded her head once. “Alright. I’m sorry.” The girl said, before she started walking once more.

Blanc watched as Rom and Ram began running around. The girls gathered up snow in their hands, packed it into balls and flung them at one another. Her eyes then turned to Neptune who looked like she was about to fall over. “Alright! That’s it!” Blanc snapped.

Neptune, Rom and Ram instantly halted in their tracks and turned their eyes back towards Blanc. Blanc had her hands balled into tight fists and her teeth were bared. “Listen up you punks! I’m sick of this crap already!”

“Whoa!” Neptune said, holding up her hands in defense.

“No! I’m not going to whoa, hold on, or keep quiet! You three will shut up and listen to me!” Blanc snapped. “First off Neptune. Your sister is fine! I get you’re worried, I get your depressed, but you need to put that shit away and concentrate on this quest!”

“Gotcha.” Neptune said, giggling nervously and saluting.

“And you two!” Blanc said, turning her attention towards Rom and Ram. Blanc hesitated for a moment. “Well you two really weren’t doing anything wrong, so keep that shit up!”

“Gotcha sis!” Ram said.

“Right.” Rom said, standing slightly behind Ram for cover.

Blanc took a deep breath. “Sorry I lost my temper, but we need to focus on our quest. I actually think it’s a mistake to head towards the next Fairy Tower today. We should go back home and wait until tomorrow. That way we’ll give Nepgear another day to catch up to that Fairy Tower we were just at. Agreed?”

“Right.” Neptune said, nodding. Neptune didn’t notice it before, but Blanc had a concerned look on her face. “She’s doing all this for me, huh? Blanc’s such a softy!” Neptune thought.

“Cool. Let’s go back home.” Said Ram.

“I want to build a snowman.” Said Rom.

“And I want to check out your video games and raid your refrigerator for pudding.” Neptune said.

Blanc sighed deeply. “Now you’re being too relaxed.” The girl thought, before shaking it out of her head. “Oh whatever. Let’s go home.” Blanc said, taking Rom and Ram by the hands.

“Aww! Who’s going to hold my hand?” Neptune wondered. For a moment, Neptune felt herself getting depressed, but when that happened she slapped her cheeks. “No! I have to stay strong for Nepgear’s sake!”