Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 13

 Arfoire opened her eyes and sat up in bed. Her head was spinning and she felt a twinge of pain between her eyes. “What is this?” Arfoire wondered, as she threw her covers off of her and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Arfoire closed her eyes tightly and began massaging her eyes.

Arfoire had gotten back from a quest early and decided to take a nap before trying to take on any other quests. Her friends IF and Compa both told her how hard she had been working, but warned her not to overdo it.

“Is this what they were talking about?” Arfoire wondered out loud.

As Arfoire spoke, her mind was flooded with a million thoughts, but it was impossible for her to make sense of them. Finally the pain subsided and so did her dizziness. “What was that?” Arfoire wondered, as she stood.

Arfoire wasn’t sure why, but she had felt this kid of thing several times in the past. “I hope I’m not sick or anything.” Arfoire made her way into her kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. After that she brought the glass up to her lips and started sipping the cold liquid.

Several days ago Arfoire had met IF and Compa while staying at the hospital. Thanks to them, she was able to find some steady work completing quests. They even helped her find an apartment.

The apartment wasn’t that fancy though. It had one large room that acted as both her living room and bedroom. She had a small kitchen and a bathroom and that was about it. She did have a nice balcony that faced another large building, but she could look down at the street and watch people walk past.

Arfoire placed her glass in the sink before heading back into the main room of her apartment. Taking a seat on her bed, she buried her face in her hands. “Alright. Let’s make sense of this.” Arfoire thought to herself.

“For some reason I feel dizzy and I get this weird pain. After that I start to feel better, but memories start flooding back into my head. Why?” Arfoire wondered, aloud. “I remember things I shouldn’t remember too! Like what are DQN zombies and what’s a HachimaJin?” Arfoire asked herself.

Even though Arfoire didn’t know what those things were, she had a feeling that they were actually monsters. There were other monsters she remembered as well. “Maybe I need to take another nap.” Arfoire thought, as she started leaning back.

The sound of knocking erupted from the front door, causing Arfoire to groan loudly. “So much for that idea.” She breathed.

Arfoire stood and made her way to her front door. Standing on the other side was IF and Compa. “Hello Arfoire!” Compa said, smiling brightly.

“Sorry to drop in on you like this.” IF said, the girl was holding a box in front of her.

“It’s no problem. Come on in.” Arfoire said, stepping aside so the two girls could walk past her.

“Are you okay?” Compa asked.

Arfoire nodded her head. “Yeah, just a bad dream.” Arfoire said, almost forgetting how perceptive Compa was.

“Are you getting enough sleep? You really shouldn’t work so much you know.” Compa said, worriedly. “Have you eaten anything today? I can make you something really yummy.”

“I’m okay, I’m okay!” Arfoire said, the woman couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t meant to worry you or anything.

IF sighed. “That’s Compa for you. She worries about everyone and she takes care of everyone too.” IF sat the large box she was carrying down. “But she’s right. If there’s anything you need just let us know.”

“Thanks.” Arfoire said. “Why are you two always so nice to me? You don’t know me and you don’t owe me anything. So…”

“Were friends, right?” Compa said.

“That’s right!” Said IF. “Speaking of which… Aren’t you going to ask me about this box?”

Arfoire turned to the large box that IF had carried into her apartment. “I was wondering.” She admitted.

“Try opening it.” Said IF.

Arfoire made her way over to the box, but hesitated. “Is something going to spring out from this box, or scream boo?” She asked.

“Don’t know. Don’t remember.” IF said, shrugging her shoulders.

Arfoire sighed deeply, before turning her attention back to the box. After a few moments more of hesitation, Arfoire reached down and pulled off the lid. At first, Arfoire had no idea what she was looking at. “What is… This?” She muttered, as she reached inside and felt cloth.

Arfoire pulled the object out and gasped. She was holding a large, long brimmed, dark purple hat. “Oh my.” Arfoire said. “Is this for me?”

“Of course!” Compa said, happily. “We remembered you saying something about losing your hat so we decided to pick a new one out for you.”

“We wanted to find something that matched your unique style.” IF said, not wanting to mention that the girls went to a Halloween shop first.

“This is amazing!” Arfoire said, as she placed the hat on her head. “Thank you so much!” Arfoire wore a large smile on her face, as she showed the hat off to her friends.

“I’m glad you like it!” Compa said. “We were a little worried that it might not fit, but I’m glad we were worried for nothing.”

IF giggled. “Well Compa. Worry is what we do best.”

“That’s true.” Compa said. “Anyways Arfoire. Would you like me to make you something to eat?” The girl asked, turning to Arfoire’s kitchen.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that. After you gave me this hat.” Arfoire said.

“It’s no problem. I’d be happy to cook for you!” Compa said.

“You should just let her cook for you Arfoire. She’ll worry even more if you don’t.” Said IF.

Arfoire’s shoulders sagged. “Well if it means that Compa won’t worry. I guess I don’t mind.”

“Great!” Compa said, as she made her way into Arfoire’s kitchen.

“It’s a pretty small kitchen, huh? Sorry if it’s so cramped.” Said Arfoire, as she took a seat on her bed.

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t bother me.” Compa said, as she opened Arfoire’s refrigerator to see what kind of food she had inside. “How does a nice hotpot sound?” She asked.

“Sounds great!” Arfoire said, though she wasn’t sure what a hotpot even was. “That’s weird. Hotpot does sound like something I should know, but I don’t. I know what a DQN zombie is, zombie dogoo. I know that HachimaJin can create monsters, but I don’t know what a hotpot is.” Arfoire’s eyes went wide for a moment. “Wait… How did I know that HachimaJin could make monsters? I just remembered it a moment ago.”

“Are you okay?” IF asked, in a small voice.

“I’m alright.” Arfoire said.

“You can talk to us.” Said IF.

Arfoire looked down at her feet for a moment, before she turned her eyes to IF who wore a concerned look on her face. “Listen… IF…”Arfoire began, grabbing the brim of her hat and pulling it down so her eyes were hidden. “Have you ever remembered something that you can’t make sense of?”

“Uh…” IF began, tapping her lower lip thoughtfully. “Not really, but you have to remember that you’re suffering from amnesia. It’s normal for you to start remembering things that you can’t make sense of.”

“Yeah, but…” Arfoire began. “For some reason the only thing I’m remembering now are the names of monsters. Why is that?”

IF shook her head. “Don’t know.” IF thought about this for a few moments. “Maybe you really were a monster hunter or something. If it was your profession than it would explain quite a bit.”

“Maybe.” Arfoire said. “I do feel like I’ve traveled around the world before. Staying in one city feels new to me.”

IF nodded. “I’m sorry Arfoire. I wish I had some advice for you about this. I’m sure you’re going to learn a lot about yourself as time goes on. You’re not in this alone though, so if you start feeling overwhelmed just call me or Compa, okay? It doesn’t matter how late it is, we’ll pick up and help.”

“Thanks IF.” Arfoire said.

IF giggled. “To be honest with you. Compa and I have a couple of friends named Neptune and Nepgear. I really can’t wait to introduce you to them.”

“Neptune?” Arfoire said. For a moment the name hung in the air, but soon Arfoire felt gripped with anger. Her hands shook a bit and she had to squeeze them shut just to stop the shaking.

“Yeah. Neptune’s goofy and Nepgear’s the mature one. You’d think that Nepgear was the older sister, but she’s actually the youngest.” IF explained.

“They both sound lovely.” Arfoire said. “Why do I hate them so much?” Arfoire wondered to herself. “I don’t even know who this Neptune and Nepgear are, but I know that I hate them! Same with the goddess of Planeptune! I haven’t even spoken to them! Or… Maybe I have?”

Arfoire forced the thought out of her head as she and IF patiently waited for Compa to finish cooking dinner for them. After dinner, IF and Compa excused themselves. “We’ll see you later!” Compa said.

“See you!” IF said.

“Bye!” Arfoire said, waving goodbye to her friends. Arfoire gently closed the door before turning around and pressing her back against the door behind her and then she took a deep breath. “I was going to go on another quest, but now its too late.” Even though Arfoire wanted to feel annoyed, she couldn’t bring herself to feel that way. Instead she pushed off the door and headed back into her living room.

The box that IF had brought had been left behind. “I wonder if she’s going to want that back. I’ll hold onto it.” Arfoire said, as she took the box and found a corner for it to sit in. After that Arfoire turned on her television and started flipping through the many channels.

“ Feel uneasy now. Like I’m waiting for something bad to happen.” Arfoire thought to herself.

***

“I’m really glad that Arfoire liked her hat.” Compa said, walking next to IF. “I hope she wears it all the time.”

“Same here.” Said IF.

“So…” Compa began, trying to find the right words. “Arfoire’s feeling kind of down, huh?”

“You heard us?” IF asked.

Compa shook her head. “Every once in a while she would look a particular way and I could tell she was worried about something.” Said Compa. “Something’s on her mind, huh?”

“Yeah.” Said IF. IF told Compa everything that Arfoire had mentioned to her. When she finished, IF mentally kicked herself. “I hope Arfoire doesn’t mind me telling you this.”

“I’m sure she won’t mind.” Said Compa, giggling. “Anyways, I think you’re right. Maybe Arfoire was just a monster hunter, but it’s hard to tell. Overtime she’ll regain more of her memories. We just have to be there for her when she gets them all back.”

“You’re right.” IF said.

Compa and IF continued to walk in relative silence for a few moments before both girls started thinking about Neptune and Nepgear at the same time. “I wonder what Neptune would say to Arfoire if she were here. I mean she lost her mem…” IF began, but her words trailed off.

“Yeah. I remember when we first met Neptune had lost…” Compa began, but stopped speaking as well.

Both Compa and IF exchanged glances with each one another. “Wait… Neptune lost her memory before? When?” IF asked.

“I don’t know.” Compa said. “It just slipped out before I thought about it.” Suddenly both Compa and IF winced in pain. A strange pain formed in the space between their eyes and they also started feeling a bit dizzy.

The pain and dizziness suddenly stopped and the girls were left breathing hard. “That was weird.” IF said, rubbing the spot between her eyes.

“Yeah.” Compa agreed. “Did you remember anything else?” Compa asked.

“Maybe.” IF said. “Nothing substantial. I just remember the times we spent with Neptune and Nepgear, but I don’t remember exactly.”

“Yeah. I remember we met Nep-Nep after she had gotten hurt once and I had to take care of her. That’s also around the time we met Ge-Ge too, right? Do you remember that?”

“I do.” IF said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s go home and get some rest. Maybe were both tired.”

“Yeah.” Compa said, but both girls had a feeling there was more to all this. 

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!”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 11

 Even though Nepgear was happy and felt safe with her sister, she still couldn’t help, but feel uneasy. “Sis is the strongest girl I know, but she was almost… I don’t want to think about it. I just have to step up my game and help keep her safe!” Nepgear thought, as she made her way back over to her N-Gear.

“How are we looking over there?” Asked Neptune, eager to travel deeper into the facility.

“Almost finished.” Nepgear said, trying to hide her nervousness. “All those DQN zombies really surprised me. I understand that the people in this facility were studying them, but what happened? Did they escape or what?”

“What if the people from this facility were those DQN zombies?” Neptune said, in a scary voice. Neptune’s eyes went wide. “Whoa! I scared myself there for a second. I’m sure the people who worked here fled and those DQN zombies were left behind, you know?”

“That’s true. DQN zombies don’t need food, water or anything really. They could throw their heads at high velocities and are physically strong. Even if they were locked up, given enough time I’m sure they could have broken their holding cells and escape.” Nepgear said.

A few moments later and Nepgear had unplugged her N-Gear from the computer tower and started looking it over. “Alright. Were finished here. I’ll go through this data while we walk.”

“Alright, but watch where you’re going. Nothing hurts more than walking head first into a wall.” Neptune warned.

“Right.” Nepgear said, nodding.

Nepgear and Neptune made their way to the open door. After taking a few deep breaths they stepped through the threshold and started walking.

The only sounds the girls could hear were the sounds of their footsteps. Nepgear’s heart was pounding loudly in her ears. The sound was so loud that she wondered if her sister could hear it.

“This place is spooky…” Neptune breathed.

“It is.” Said Nepgear, closing her eyes for a moment and shaking the thought out of her head. When Nepgear opened her eyes back up she looked down at her N-Gear and started going through the information. “Alright… According tot his the reason why the people in this facility were monitoring the Fairy Tower is because they were trying to unlock the secrets of it’s regenerative powers.”

“What does that mean?” Neptune asked.

“Remember when we touch the Fairy Tower our wounds heal? That’s basically it.” Said Nepgear. “One researcher in particular wanted to say magic was the cause, but they thought their colleagues would scoff at the idea.” Nepgear said.

“Sounds about right. Scientists are all business all the time.” Neptune said.

“They did hypothesize that nanomachines could be the cause as well.” Said Nepgear. “They thought about taking the Fairy Tower apart to find the real reason, but it looks like Histoire stopped them.” Nepgear read.

“So she was aware of these people, but forgot?” Neptune asked.

“It looks like it.” Nepgear said.

“I see… What about the monsters?” Asked Neptune.

“I’m still looking for information on that.” Said Nepgear.

Neptune and Nepgear walked side-by-side down a long hallway. When they reached the very end, the girls found themselves standing in another hallway that split off from the main one. “Where do we go?” Neptune asked.

Nepgear looked at the hallway on the left and then the right. The hallway on the left had about four closed doors while the hallway on the right only had one large door. “I don’t know. Maybe we should split up?”

“No can do little sister!” Neptune said. “We can’t split up! If we do, who’ll I bug when I get scared?”

Nepgear giggled a little. “Good point.” She said. “Alright, let’s head left first.”

“Sounds good to me!” Neptune said, and with that the girls turned left.

Nepgear’s fingers became a blur as she searched for more and more information about the base. A lot of the information she saw involved supplies for people, materials to build the facility, computer equipment and other things that didn’t really help them find out what the people in the facility were trying to accomplish.

When Neptune and Nepgear reached the first doorway, Neptune opened it and peered inside. The room beyond was enormous. It was filled with empty tables and dozens of other doorways. “This is getting old.” Neptune said, sighing deeply.

“I think this is a cafeteria.” Said Nepgear. “If I had to guess…” Nepgear made her way to one of the closed doors in the room and opened it. Beyond the door was a bed. “Yeah, this must be where the workers here at the facility ate and slept.”

“Do you think we might find anything interesting here? Secret documents? Flash drives? Dirty magazines?” Neptune asked, as she opened a door herself.

A loud growling noise erupted from the room Neptune had just opened. Located inside the room was a large dog. Most of the creatures flesh was missing and large bones were exposed.

“I found someone’s puppy.” Neptune said, giggling nervously.

The dog suddenly lunged at Neptune, but the girl was able to leap out of the way just in time.

The dog landed several yards away from Neptune, who had the tip of her sword aimed at the creature. “Bad doggy! No tummy rubs for you!” Neptune said, narrowing her eyes at the creature.

The dog snarled at Neptune and exposed it’s fangs. Suddenly the creature rushed forwards. Neptune leapt at the creature and swung her sword, however the creature leapt out of the way avoiding Neptune’s strike by mere inches. “This things fast!” Nepgear said. Nepgear had activated her energy sword and was now standing beside her sister.

The dog snarled and snapped its jaws at the girls as it slowly inched forwards. “I have an idea sis.” Nepgear said, in a low voice. “I’ll attack on it’s left side and when it dodges, you strike.”

“Got it.” Neptune said, a determined smile appeared on her face.

Nepgear took a deep breath before she launched herself at the dog and swung her energy sword. Nepgear watched in amazement as the dog leapt over her blade to avoid the first strike, but couldn’t react as Neptune suddenly appeared in front of it and slashed the creature cleanly in two.

With a bright flash the monster vanished before its two halves could hit the ground. “Got it!” Neptune said, as she started humming a catching victory tune.

“Probably too early to celebrate. I doubt that’s the only monster in here.” Said Nepgear.

“Well duh little sister! I’m sure there are all kinds of zombie type monsters here. As long as we stick together we’ll be fine!” Neptune said.

“True.” Nepgear said. The girl was starting to gain some confidence now thanks to her sister. “Should we explore the rest of the rooms, or should we leave?”

“Let’s leave.” Said Neptune. “I’m sure we’ll avoid a lot of unnecessary fights if we do that.”

“That’s true.” Nepgear said. “I think once I figure a few more things out, we should leave this facility and head back to Histoire.”

“What’s next on the docket?” Neptune asked.

“I want to find out about that liquid and HachimaJin.” Said Nepgear. “Even though this facility was studying all kinds of monsters, it was HachimaJin that took up most of their attention.”

“Really?” Neptune said, furrowing her brow. “How do you know?”

“Well…” Nepgear began, as she brought her N-Gear over to Neptune. “I just found some information on that dog, but look how they named it.”

“HachimaJin Number 3?” Neptune read the information. “That’s weird. There’s more than one HachimaJin?”

“I don’t know. It’s weird how they’re naming these monsters. I mean look at this.” Nepgear said, finding another piece of information.

“HachimaJin Number 2?” Neptune read. Nepgear scrolled down on her N-Gear’s screen until a picture appeared. “Wait! That’s a DQN Zombie! These scientists are such goofers!” Neptune said, giggling.

“I don’t think it was a goof though.” Nepgear said, shaking her head.

Neptune could tell something was bothering Nepgear. “What’s going on little sis?”

“Neptune… How did we know what those monsters were called?” Asked Nepgear. “We never fought DQN zombies before. We’ve never even seen them until just now, but for some reason we knew what they were called! It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well… Uh…” Neptune began, but she was drawing a blank as well. “Now that you mention it, I don’t remember.”

“Exactly. This whole thing doesn’t make any sense.” Nepgear said, her shoulders sagged.

“Maybe were thinking too much about this. Maybe we should head to the surface now?” Neptune said.

Nepgear shook her head. “I’m alright sis. Let’s just keep going for a little while longer. If we don’t find anything then we can leave.”

“Alright, but you better tell me if you start feeling weird or anything.” Neptune said. “If you don’t, I’ll have to give you a scolding!” The girl warned.

Nepgear nodded. “Thanks sis.” She said.

Nepgear and Neptune headed out of the cafeteria and back into the hallway. Making their way to another door they opened it and peered inside. The room beyond looked like a gymnasium.

“I don’t have to guess what this room was used for.” Nepgear said, closing the door.

The next door led to a locker room and shower and finally a storage facility. The storage facility was enormous and filled with crates, barrels and other containers. “I wonder if there’s pudding or…” Neptune began, but a look from Nepgear told her to drop the subject. “Uh never mind…”

“I don’t think we should bother with this room.” Said Nepgear, closing the door and turning towards the large doorway located at the other end of the hallway.

The two girls made their way towards that doorway and pulled it open. The girls gasped. Located on the other side of the door was an enormous circular device that hovered several feet above the ground. The device had dozens of cords connected to it and a giant monitor located directly behind it.

“This is incredible!” Nepgear said, touching her chest. “But…”

“Yeah.” Neptune said, breathing hard. “I feel kind of weird too. What is that?”

Nepgear closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I feel this way sometimes when I’m fighting a monster, but there’s nothing in here, right?”

Neptune glanced around the room, but the only living things inside were themselves. “I don’t see anything.” Said Neptune, shrugging her shoulders. “So what is that giant thing anyways?”

Nepgear looked through her information. “I… Whoa…” Nepgear breathed. “This is some kind of portal device.”

“Portal device?” Neptune said, her shoulders sagged. “Portal device to where?”

Nepgear tried to find information on that, but nothing came up. “I don’t know, but this device is a portal generator. It creates a portal in its center. According to this data, HachimaJin came out of the portal.”

“Cool, cool.” Neptune said.

“According to this information. HachimaJin appeared and basically attacked the researchers. The creature was weak and they were able to contain it using energy barriers. However, the creature summoned monsters from its body.” Nepgear read.

“Neato!” Neptune said. “If I had to hypothesize, those creatures were the DQN zombies and doggies, right?”

“Yeah, but there are other creatures we haven’t seen yet.” Nepgear said. “A lizard monster and even dogoos.” Nepgear said.

“Dogoos, huh? We can’t get away from those things can we?” Neptune asked. The girl almost sounded bored.

“Oh! And according to this data, the portal generator had a habit of overheating and they would have to flood it using the water tanks above.” Nepgear said, pressing an onscreen prompt on her N-Gear. After Nepgear pressed the button, a large panel in a nearby wall opened and a small room appeared. The room was located nearly ten feet overhead and a metal ladder led up to it.

“Whoa! Did you do that Nepgear?” Neptune asked.

“Yes. I also hacked into this facilities systems and can control certain parts of it.” Said Nepgear.

“That’s it!” Neptune said, strolling over to her sister and placing a hand on Nepgear’s head. “You earned another head pat! I’m so proud of you!”

Nepgear blushed heavily and giggled. “Thanks Neptune!” She said. “We should probably leave now.”

“Alright, but watch out Nepgear! I might just have to give your head another pat!” Neptune said.

Nepgear giggled once more. “You don’t have to spoil me so much.” She said, though she secretly hoped that her sister would keep spoiling her like that.

The two girls headed out of the room, but stopped in their tracks. All the color drained from their cheeks. “Oh goodness!” Nepgear cried.

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 10

 Nepgear felt both excited and nervous as she and her sister made their way back to the house they stayed in the night before. “So this place has a really big basement, huh?” Neptune said, as they stopped in front of the house. “What do you thinks inside? Giant fake Christmas trees? Rats? Cardboard boxes?”

“I don’t know.” Nepgear admitted. “I think it’s weird that those three computer towers were still active, but without a monitor I couldn’t tell what they were being used for. If I had to guess. Maybe they were monitoring the house, or something?”

“Oh yeah? Wonder why.” Neptune said. “Very suspiciously suspicious!”

“Yeah.” Nepgear said, in agreement.

Nepgear led the way into the house once more. “How are we going to find this basement? I looked in every room and I didn’t see any stairs leading down.” Said Neptune.

“I have an idea.” Nepgear said, as she pulled out her N-Gear. “I should have done this sooner, but I didn’t want to mess with those towers.”

Neptune followed Nepgear through the house and were soon standing in front of the computer towers. Like earlier that morning, the towers were still active and humming along. “I’m not sure how long this is going to take, so please give me a minute.”

“Take your time sis.” Neptune said, as she collapsed on the couch. “I was thinking about taking a few days off anyways.”

“Neptune…” Nepgear groaned, but she knew her sister was just joking. Pulling out a wire, Nepgear plugged it into the first computer tower. After that she plugged the other end of the wire into her N-Gear. “Alright. I’m downloading all this computer towers data. It shouldn’t take that long.”

“Cool, cool.” Neptune said, her eyes were closed.

“Finished.” Nepgear said, after a few moments of waiting. After that Nepgear downloaded the data off the other computer towers. Once finished, Nepgear took a seat on the couch next to her sisters head and began going through all the data she could. “It looks like this place was some kind of research lab. They were monitoring the Fairy Tower, but it doesn’t look like it was the focus of their research.”

“Huh.” Said Neptune.

“It looks like the main focus of their research was monsters.” Nepgear said, looking the data over. “That’s interesting. It looks like they were really focused on a monster called HachimaJin.”

“I see.” Said Neptune.

“I can’t find any data about this HachimaJin, but it looks like they were trying to summon a goddess.” Nepgear said.

“I can’t believe it.” Said Neptune.

Nepgear sighed deeply as she glanced down at her sisters closed eyes. “Are you really listening Neptune?” Nepgear asked.

“Of course.” Neptune said, keeping her eyes closed. “People were really nosey about Hachima and they wanted to summon a goddess named Jin. Right?”

“Kind of, but no. They never named the goddess they were trying to summon. Also its HachimaJin.” Said Nepgear.

“Like I said.” Neptune said, sitting up. “So what about that basement?”

“Oh right.” Nepgear said, as she started looking for information on the house they were staying in. As Nepgear searched, a scary thought entered her mind. “I wonder if the information about this house were on the computer towers I took apart? I hope not!”

“I was thinking. What if the information we need on this house was actually in-” Neptune began.

“I found it!” Nepgear said, cutting her sister off. “There’s a secret switch over there!” Nepgear said, pointing to a nearby wall. “We’ll need to move the couch as well.”

“Oh man… More hard labor.” Neptune groaned.

Neptune and Nepgear leapt off the couch and quickly pushed it aside. After that, Nepgear made her way over to the wall that she had pointed at. Placing her hands on a panel, she pushed it upwards revealing a hidden switch. After pressing the switch, the floor beneath the girls feet started to shake.

“Uh… Nepgear? Are we sure you didn’t hit a self-destruct button or something?” Asked Neptune.

“I’m pretty sure.” Said Nepgear, giggling nervously.

“Well we’ll both find out in a second.” Neptune said, as she started to get nervous.

Both girls screamed when they heard a loud boom, but it wasn’t the house exploding. Instead the floor where the couch had been sitting moments before opened up and a large service elevator appeared. The elevator was red in color and it was covered in a heavy layer of dust. The elevator didn’t have a top either.

“Were alive!” Neptune said, throwing her hands up in triumph.

“Goodness that scared me.” Nepgear said, placing her hand over her heart.

“I wasn’t worried. I knew my brainy little sister wouldn’t blow us up.” Neptune said. “Still… Should we go down there?” Neptune asked, as she looked throwing the grating on the elevator and saw nothing, but darkness underneath. “I know Histoire asked us to investigate.”

“It’ll be okay. According to this data, lights should come on as we descend.”

“Descend into the pits of hell!” Neptune said, in a spooky voice.

“Don’t say that.” Nepgear said.

Both Neptune and Nepgear nervously stepped onto the elevator. After that, Nepgear pressed a single green button located on a control panel and the elevator started moving downwards. As the elevator moved downwards, the floor above them closed and everything went dark.

Before any of the Nep’s could say anything, lights started turning on illuminating the area around them.

“This is a boring looking elevator shaft.” Neptune said.

“Yeah.” Said Nepgear, looking down at her N-Gear. “I have a map of this facility. It’s incredibly large. I don’t think were going to be able to explore the entire area.”

“It’s that big?” Neptune asked.

“It’s not really that. Most of these areas look like they were built to contain some kind of liquid. I’m not sure what it’s for though.” Said Nepgear.

“We’ll find out soon enough, right?” Asked Neptune.

“Yeah.” Nepgear said.

When the elevator came to a stop, the girls found themselves standing in a large room. The floor, walls and ceiling were bright white in color. Located on the left side of the room was an enormous generator and on the right side of the room were dozens of computer monitors that sat on top of a large table. Underneath the table were even more computer towers. The monitors all had different kinds of information displayed on them.

“That’s weird.” Nepgear said, making her way over to one of the monitors and raking her index finger over the screen. “There’s no dust. Maybe someone’s been taking care of this place.”

“I see.” Neptune said, noticing a door was located on the far side of the room. “Well maybe we can find everything we need in this room.”

“I hope.” Said Nepgear, as she took a seat in front of one of the monitors. After plugging her N-Gear into one of the towers, Nepgear went to work gathering all the information she could from the massive facility.

As Nepgear worked, Neptune wandered around the room taking everything in. “This isn’t my deal.” Thought Neptune. Neptune walked around the room several times, before she found herself standing in front of the doorway. “I really want to explore some more, but I better not leave Nepgear behind. She gets so lonely sometimes.” Neptune said giggling, when she remembered how upset her sister would get whenever she left the house without her.

Neptune turned but before she could take a single step, a low growling noise came from the other side of the door. “Whoa.” Neptune said, surprised.

“Hungry big sis?” Nepgear asked, not taking her eyes off her N-Gear.

“That wasn’t me.” Neptune said, glancing at the door over her shoulder.

The sound of something heavy smacking against the door caught both girls by surprise. “What’s going on?” Nepgear demanded, jumping to her feet.

“No idea.” Neptune said, turning towards the door. “Someone could be down here with us.”

“What should we do?” Nepgear asked, nervously.

“Well… If someone’s down here we can question them! I’ll be good cop, you be bad cop. Put on a mean face Nepgear!” Neptune said, as she reached for the door and pulled it open.

A large figure stumbled out of the door. The figure’s skin looked green and putrid. “Oh gross!” Neptune said, before covering her mouth with her hands. “Oh. Not you sir. I was thinking about something else.”

The figure looked into Neptune’s eyes. “DQN!” The figure shouted, before it grabbed it’s head and tossed it as fast as it could at Neptune.

Neptune leapt out of the way, missing the head by mere inches. “DQN!” The figure shouted, as it’s body lumbered toward Neptune.

“It’s a DQN Zombie!” Nepgear cried out.

“A what?” Neptune said, taking several steps away from the creature.

“It’s a monster the people in the facility were studying. Quick sis! Get rid of it!” Nepgear said, a she summoned her energy sword.

Neptune summoned her katana and leapt at the creature. Once Neptune was close enough, she brought her sword down fast. The blade sliced through the creatures chest, sending it reeling backwards. “I hope this thing isn’t really human.” Neptune muttered, as she swung her sword several more times.

The DQN Zombie tried to fight back, but Neptune was too fast for it and after another slash of her katana, the creature vanished.

“Gross!” Neptune said, shivering a little. “Nepgear? Find me a shower, okay?”

“Yeah.” Nepgear said. The girl was about to sit back down at the computer monitor, but stopped when she heard more growling coming from the open doorway.

“Uh-oh…” Neptune said, in a small voice. “WATCH OUT!” Neptune cried, as she jumped to the right.

A second later dozens of DQN Zombie heads flew through the open door. The heads rolled across the ground. After that, the owners of those heads ran into the room. “I’m coming sis!” Nepgear cried, as she ran forwards.

Neptune and Nepgear swung their blades wildly as they defeated all the DQN Zombies that flooded into the room.

“Nepgear? Are you okay?” Neptune asked.

“I’m fine!” Nepgear said, as she sliced one of the DQN Zombies cleanly in two.

“Good! Stay close so-” Neptune screamed in pain as a zombie slammed it’s body into her back, sending Neptune flying forwards. The girl slammed into the ground and rolled several feet away before coming to a rest.

Neptune scrambled to her feet and turned to the DQN zombie that had attacked her, but before she could do anything, she felt several large hands grab her arms and pull them back.

“LET GO!” Neptune cried. “I hate handsy zombies!”

The DQN zombie that had attacked her before grabbed its head and took aim at Neptune. “Looks like I’m about to get a game over!” Neptune said, sadly,

“GET OFF MY SISTER!”  Nepgear screamed, as she sliced through the attacking DQN zombie with a single swing of her energy blade. After that she leapt at the zombies holding her sister.

“Yeah!” Neptune cheered, as the grip on her arms loosened. Neptune leapt to her feet and sent the heel of her right foot into one of the creature’s chest, sending it flying backwards.

“Are you okay?” Nepgear asked, as she pressed her back firmly against her sisters.

“Thanks to you Nepgear! Remind me to pat you on the head later, okay?” Neptune said.

“Right!” Nepgear said, smiling proudly.

Neptune and Nepgear leapt at the DQN zombies and in a flurry of motion, were easily able to defeat the rest of the creatures. Once they were finished all the monsters had vanished leaving the girls completely alone.

“We did it!” Neptune said.

“Y-yes.” Nepgear said, the girl was standing directly in front of her sister. Her head was lowered and her eyes were closed.

Neptune smiled warmly. “Aw Nepgear.” She said, reaching forwards and patting her sister on the head. “You did good! I’m proud of you!”

“Thanks!” Nepgear said, the girl sounded as though she were close to tears.

Nepgear opened her eyes and looked at the open doorway. “I’m still gathering information, but I think this facility is hiding a lot of secrets.”

“Secrets mean more hard work.” Said Neptune. “I guess were staying down here a little longer, huh?”

Nepgear nodded. “Yeah. I think it’s for the best.”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 9

 Neptune and Nepgear walked side-by-side as they made their way to their next destination. The sun was shining brightly and a warm breeze blew through the girl’s hair. “I’m glad the weather is so nice.” Nepgear said, closing her eyes and feeling the warm breeze blow over her face and through her hair.  

“Yeah. The weather could have been a lot worse.” Neptune agreed.

As the girls walked, they passed by several monsters. They thought about hunting them down, but changed their minds. “I have a feeling were going to be doing a lot of hunting as we get closer to the second Fairy Tower.” Said Neptune, after Nepgear proposed going after them.

“That’s true. We also shouldn’t wear ourselves out too much either.” Nepgear said, putting her energy sword away.

Several hours later the girls were starting to feel a bit tired. “My feet hurt and I haven’t played videogames in a week. I’m tired and also the suns too brighter and I’m sweating!” Neptune said, fanning herself with her hand.

“Yeah. I’m feeling tired too.” Nepgear muttered. “Were pretty close to the forest where the second Fairy Tower is. Let’s find a place to rest, okay?”

“Sounds good to me!” Neptune said, suddenly cheering up and rushing ahead of her sister.

“Tired, huh?” Nepgear said, in a small voice.

“You say something little sister?” Nepgear asked.

“Nope!” Nepgear lied.

The two girls started running as fast as they could across the plain until they finally reached the forest. “Where should we rest? I don’t really feel comfortable sleeping out in the open like this.” Nepgear said.

“Looky looky!” Neptune said, gesturing into the forest.

Nepgear followed where Neptune was pointing and spotted a house located in the forest. The house stood two stories tall. Most of the windows had been boarded up and the front door swung back and forth as though it had a mind of its own. “I wonder if anyone lives there.” Nepgear wondered, aloud.

“If someone lives in there, I’ll be very surprised.” Said Neptune.

“Yeah. It looks abandoned.” Said Nepgear.

“Which means it’s ours!” Neptune cheered, as she ran towards the house as fast as she could.

Nepgear tried to stop her sister, but her words were drowned out by the cheers and laughter of her sister.

Both girls ran up to the house and looked the building over. Even though the building looked dilapidated, they didn’t see any structural problems with it. “I think we can go in.” Nepgear said.

“I hope it’s not haunted!” Neptune said, opening the front door and disappearing inside before Nepgear could say anything.

“Haunted? Why did you have to say that big sis?” Nepgear asked, as she followed after her sister.

Nepgear gasped. The moment Nepgear had stepped into the house, she found herself standing in a long, empty hallway. “Sis? Where are you?” Nepgear called out, but Neptune didn’t respond.

Nepgear took a step forwards. As her foot touched the floorboard, a loud squeaking noise erupted and bounced off the dusty walls. Nepgear’s eyes went wide and she hugged herself tightly. “This place is haunted! Neptune! NEPTUNE!”

“What’s up sis?” Neptune said, poking her head into the hallway.

Nepgear yelped. For a moment she thought she spotted someone standing behind Neptune, but quickly realized it was her sisters shadow. “I just found some lights.” Neptune said.

“Huh?” Nepgear glanced up and saw a light bulb poking out of the ceiling. To her surprise the light bulb was on. “This place has electricity?”

“Yeah. Maybe it has pudding!” Neptune said.

“NO!” Nepgear cried. “This place looks really old! Don’t eat anything you find, understand?”

“Aww…” Neptune pouted. “Fine, but I better not catch you sneaking any one-hundred year old pudding for yourself.”

Nepgear shook her head. “You won’t sis.” Nepgear said, as she made her way down the long hallway and soon found herself standing in a kitchen. “I wonder who used to live here.”

“Don’t know.” Neptune said, as she moved around the kitchen and opened each cabinet, drawer and refrigerator. “Huh… It’s broken and empty.” Neptune said, sadly.

“You weren’t really going to eat anything you found, right?” Asked Nepgear.

“Huh? Of course not! I was just playing around.” Neptune said, waving her hand dismissively. “Anyways, why don’t we explore the rest of this house? Maybe we’ll find some place we can sleep or something.”

“Right.” Nepgear said.

Neptune turned to leave, but stopped when she felt someone grab her hand. “What’s up?” Asked Neptune.

“I… Was worried you’d be scared or something, so I’m going to hold your hand.” Nepgear said.

Neptune smiled mischievously and eyed Nepgear for a moment before she said, “aww! Thanks Nepgear!”

Neptune and Nepgear made their way out of the kitchen and started making their way from room to room. As they moved they kept their eyes open for any monsters that might have wondered into the building.

The girls entered what looked like a living room. The room wasn’t very big, but it looked cozy. A fire place was located on the far side of the room, the walls had a few paintings on them and there was a large couch as well. “Whoa!” Nepgear said, when she spotted a table filled with old computer towers. “I’ll check those out later, but they look so old!”

“That’s my geeky sister for you.” Neptune said, smiling proudly. “I’m just… WHOA!” Neptune cried out, which caused Nepgear to jump “Look! Look! A game console!”

“Huh?” Nepgear said, looking the console over. The console looked pretty old and even though it was covered in a fine layer of dust, the girls could tell that it was unusual. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Me either. What’s the deal with this orange swirl mark?” Asked Neptune.

Nepgear shook her head. “Let’s check it out later.” Said Nepgear, leading her sister away from the console.

“I have bad news Nepgear. Chances are good that that game console is going to end up in my backpack.” Said Neptune.

“I know how you feel!” Nepgear said, barely able to contain her excitement. Depending on what’s in those computer towers, a few motherboards might end up in mine!”

Neptune and Nepgear quickly finished looking the house over. Once they were finished, they headed back into the living room where the computer towers and game console were waiting for them.

Nepgear instantly made her way over to the table, but a thought entered her mind. “Big sis?” Nepgear began, her voice shook a little as she spoke.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Neptune said, picking up the old game console. “Have fun Nepgear!”

“Thanks!” Nepgear said, smiling brightly and blushing hard. After that, Nepgear turned her attention to the computer monitors and went to work.

As Nepgear scrounged for tools to take the computer monitors apart, Neptune looked the game console over. Neptune considered herself a game console expert, but she couldn’t place where the console was made or what company created it. “This is weird.” Neptune began, as she pressed a button on the front of the console. The lid on the console popped open, but besides learning that the console was a disc drive, she still couldn’t figure it out.

“No hook ups either. Not that I can find.” Neptune said, glancing around the living room. She spotted a box nearby that was filled with cords and other items. Grabbing the box she dumped it out and started separating the contents. “Nothing. This is weird.”

“I can look the console over later if you want.” Nepgear said. “Give me a minute to look these computer towers over.”

“By a minute you mean a few weeks, right?” Neptune asked.

“No. I won’t take that long.” Nepgear said.

Nepgear managed to locate a few tools that would help her take the computer towers apart. Nepgear didn’t say much, but every once in a while she would squeal with delight before continuing her work. Every once in a while Nepgear would look back at her sister to make sure she was still in the room with her.

Neptune had given up on finding any of the consoles cords and instead tried to find a way to fit it into her backpack. “I’m going to need to make some room.” Neptune muttered, as she gabbed a pudding cup and peeled off the lid.

An hour slowly passed and soon both Neptune and Nepgear were starting to feel tired. “I’m getting exhausted.” Nepgear said, stretching her hands high over her head.

“I’m feeling it too.” Neptune said. Neptune had managed to fit the game console into her backpack. She felt like going back home and trying to figure out more about the console, but knew she wouldn’t be able to convince Nepgear to do it.

“Did you find anything good?” Asked Neptune.

“I did, but…” Nepgear began, gesturing towards three computer towers. “These towers are still active.”

“They are? What are they doing?” Asked Neptune.

Nepgear shook her head. “I don’t know. This house is kind of strange. It’s really close to the second Fairy Tower. Maybe it was setup to monitor the tower or something. I don’t know.” Nepgear got to her feet and stretched her hands high over her head. “Let’s ask Histoire after we activate the Fairy Tower tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Neptune said, stretching her hands high over her head as well. “Let’s get some sleep.”

Neptune and Nepgear collapsed on the couch. Even though it smelled old, the girls were able to drift off to sleep.

***
The following morning the Nep’s made their way out of the house. Thanks to the surrounding trees, the girls couldn’t tell if it was sunny or not. They could at least see where they were going.

“I wonder what kinds of monsters were going to run into.” Nepgear wondered, as she grabbed her energy sword.

Neptune had her katana out already. “Doesn’t matter! We’ll Nep up any monster that gets in our way!”

The girls made their way through the forest until they reached a large clearing. Located in the middle of that clearing was the Fairy Tower. This Fairy Tower looked like the first one they had activated and it was also surrounded by monsters.

The girls spotted Clyde monsters, Ms. Clyde monsters and even a Super Otaku. Neptune and Nepgear rushed forwards and cut through the monsters with relative ease and soon they were close to the Fairy Tower.

“I’ll keep them busy Nepgear! You activate the tower!” Neptune said, as she launched herself at a group of super otaku that were rushing towards them. Even though the super otaku looked like people, they were actually monsters. The creatures reached for Neptune with their large hands, but Neptune easily defeated them all with only a few swings of her sword.

Nepgear did as she was told and slide the USB memory stick into the Fairy Tower. Moments later the Tower came to life.

“Hello.” Histoire said, bowing to Nepgear. “It’s a pleasure to see you two again.”

“Hi Histoire. It didn’t take that long to activate this tower.” Nepgear said, to Histoire.

Neptune finished with the last of the monsters before she came over to the tower as well. “Howdy Histy! Is everything working fine? Not rusted anywhere?” She asked.

“No. I’m not rusted.” Histoire said, put off by the question. “Would you two like to alter your stats?”

“Sure!” Neptune said.

Neptune and Nepgear started pressing buttons into the terminal. “I don’t have enough share energy to change anything.” Neptune said, sighing deeply.

“Same here.” Nepgear said, looking out at the remaining monsters that were roaming around the clearing. “These monsters might not be strong enough to give us any good returns. We should probably move on.”

“Yeah.” Neptune said. “I feel exhausted again. Let’s go back home.”

“Home?” Nepgear said, when she suddenly remembered the house the two girls had just departed. “That house Neptune! Histoire! I was going to ask you about this house that’s located near here.”

“House?” Histoire said, surprised. “Oh my! There’s a house!” Histoire said, once she finished scanning the area.

“Yeah. We found it just a little while ago. It looks really old.” Nepgear explained. “Also we found some computer towers inside and three of them were still running.”

“That is very strange.” Histoire said. “This Fairy Tower was deactivated a few weeks ago and that house wasn’t there before!”

“Whoa… Spooky.” Neptune said. “Do you think it was a ghost or something?”

“I seriously doubt it.” Nepgear said, shaking her head. “What do you want to do Histoire?”

Histoire thought for a few moments. “Activating the last Fairy Tower is important, but I also think we need to look into that houses origin. Do you two mind going back and looking it over more thoroughly? I know it might take a while, but I’m sure you can do it.”

“Take a while?” Neptune said. “Uh Histoire, maybe you shouldn’t judge everything based on your size. That house might be two stories tall, but it’s still pretty small.”

“Small?” Histoire said. “According to my scans, that house’s basement alone is enormous!”

Nepgear’s eyes went wide. “Basement?”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 8

 Several days had passed since Neptune and Nepgear left Planeptune in order to become stronger monster hunters. Since they reached the makeshift camp Purple Heart had set up for them, Neptune and Nepgear had been hunting monsters nearly everyday. Though it hadn’t been without its problems.

Once Purple Heart had left the two Nep’s alone in order to hunt monsters, Neptune turned to Nepgear and sighed deeply.

“What’s wrong big sis?” Nepgear asked.

“This place has everything, but videogames!” Neptune said. “How are we going to live here without any games to play?”

Nepgear sighed deeply. “Sis… Were not here to play videogames. Were here to hunt monsters and get stronger, remember?”

“That’s right Neptune.” Histoire said, from the Fairy Gate. “You really need to start working.”

“Uh No! I need to taste test that pudding. It might be poisonous! Expired! Or worse! It could be sugar-free!” Said Neptune, hugging herself tightly and shivering.

Nepgear’s shoulders sagged. “Neptune…” She whined.

“I’m kidding!” Neptune said, giggling. “Seriously… I’m kidding. I know this is important.”

“That’s right.” Nepgear said, happily.

“So let’s get started and start hunting monsters!” Neptune said, holding up her katana.

Nepgear nodded and with that both Nep’s started hunting the monsters that were located around the Fairy Tower.

As Neptune and Nepgear defeated the monsters, they slowly gained share energy. Every time the girls could increase their stats, they did so.

Neptune focused on her strength, while Nepgear focused on her stamina, defense and health. As the girls changed their stats by five or six points, they started to notice a difference.

“Hey! This sword is starting to feel a lot lighter!” Neptune said, as she raised her strength stats by ten points. “For a second there Histoire, I thought you were lying about raising our stats!”

“How rude! I would never lie!” Histoire said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and puffing out her cheeks in annoyance.

Neptune giggled nervously. “Sorry Histy. I didn’t think you could hear me.”

“Histy?” Histoire repeated the nickname Neptune had just thrust on her. “I like it.”

Neptune and Nepgear both giggled. “Sister?” Nepgear began. “Are you just focusing on your strength?”

“Yeah! I smartly assumed that this quest could be simpler if I can defeat monsters in one hit! Pretty cool, huh?”

“No.” Nepgear said, shaking her head. “You really need to focus on everything. Not just strength! We have no idea how much we can raise our stats, right? Also every time we raise our stats the amount of share energy we need to keep raising it goes up.”

“Huh…” Said Neptune. “See? That’s why you’re the brains of this operation! I wasn’t even thinking about that!”

Nepgear took a deep breath. “Are you sure she’s the only one who can activate all the Fairy Towers? Are you sure the real Histoire didn’t just get Neptune and Purple Heart mixed up?”

Histoire giggled. “I’m sure.”

Several days later Neptune and Nepgear’s stats were even higher than before, but thanks to the cost of share energy they weren’t able to increase their stats as much as they wanted to. “Hey! This is extortion, right?” Neptune asked, when she realized she needed over twenty-thousand shares in order to raise her stats a single time.

“Unfortunately no. Also those numbers are just presented to make it easier for everyone to understand. There’s a lot more to raising your stats than simply pressing a button.” Histoire explained.

“That makes no sense.” Said Neptune, annoyed.

“It actually does.” Said Nepgear. “I mean were both physically stronger thanks to this Fairy Tower, but besides fighting monsters we aren’t really doing anything other than clicking a button. I’m guessing this Fairy Tower has the power to alter our bodies and its using that share energy in order to do it. Though I’m not sure how. I don’t feel different when I raise my stats. I mean I do feel stronger and I can heal you using magic, but other than that I feel nothing.”

“Huh?” Neptune said.

“Neptune…” Nepgear began, trying to come up with the right words. “You know how your arms feel sore as you swing your sword?”

“Yep. Very sore.” Said Neptune.

“Well that’s happening because you’re exercising and gaining muscles. When the Fairy Tower increases your strength, you don’t feel sore do you?” Nepgear asked.

“No. Actually thanks to the Fairy Tower the soreness goes away immediately when I touch it.

“Exactly!” Nepgear said, her eyes were sparkling. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? This Fairy Tower is an amazing piece of technology. That’s why, with Histoire’s permission, I would-”

“No.” Histoire said, dully.

“Please! I’ll put it back exactly the way it was!” Nepgear said, folding her hands together.

“Activating Fairy Tower defenses.” Histoire said.

“Whoa! Whoa!” Neptune said, placing her hands on her sisters shoulders and pulling her away from the Fairy Tower. “We get it Histy! Be a good girl Nepgear! Okay?”

“Aww…” Nepgear said, sadly.

“Anyways. I wish I could explain how this tower works, but I’m not even sure. All I know is that it’s my job to look after it and help adventurers.” Said Histoire.

“Exactly. We respect that.” Neptune said, leading Nepgear away from the tower. “Come on Nepgear, cheer up and hunt some monsters!”

Nepgear did as she was told and continued to hunt monsters along side her sister.

An entire week had passed and Nep’s only managed to raise their stats a few more times. Now all of Nepgear’s stats were up to twenty, with her magic stat only being raised up to nineteen.

Neptune however managed to raise her Strength up to fifty and health up to twenty-five.

“Not bad, huh?” Neptune asked, smiling proudly.

“You should have focused a little more on defense.” Said Nepgear. “Sister… I don’t know if were ever going to get strong enough to deal with the other Fairy Towers. We couldn’t get our stats very high.”

“Fifty is very high!” Neptune said. “I bet I could beat one-hundred dogoo with a single hit!”

“Maybe, but were not going to be fighting dogoo the entire time. The monsters are going to get more and more powerful as we go.”

“Excuse me?” Histoire said. “What Nepgear says is true, but the amount of share energy you collect from defeating monsters will go up as well. The more powerful a monster is, the more share energy you’ll receive from defeating them.”

“That’ll help.” Nepgear said.

“You see little sister? We’ll be fine as long as we stick together!” Neptune said.

Nepgear nodded, but she was still feeling apprehensive. “Alright. So what should we do now? We’ve been here an entire week. Should we head back to Planeptune and give a progress report, or should we head towards the next Fairy Tower?”

“Good question.” Neptune said. “A better question would be. What about videogames?!”

“Nepgear? I’ve sent you a map of Planeptune and marked the locations of each Fairy Tower on it.” Said Histoire.

Just as Histoire finished speaking, Nepgear heard her N-Gear beep. Pulling the device out she saw the map that Histoire had sent her. “Oh cool! This map also shows our location as well! This will help us find the Fairy Tower’s more easily.”

“Cool map. Got any videogames on that thing?” Neptune asked.

“Hey! The next Fairy Tower is only a few miles away from this one. It looks like it’s in a giant forest.” Nepgear said.

“Are you ignoring me? Or is the cute voice of your big sister not reaching your cute little ears?” Neptune asked.

“Thanks Histoire!” Nepgear said, flashing the small girl a giant smile. “Neptune! What do you think? Should we had for the next Fairy Tower or should we head back home?”

“Oh! So now you remember I’m here.” Neptune said, sarcastically. “As for your question. I think we should head for the next Fairy Tower. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can play videogames while enjoying a nice pudding.”

“Okay.” Nepgear said, before looking at the time. “Oh. It’s pretty late. I think we should wait until tomorrow before we head out.”

Neptune took a deep breath. “Sounds good to me. Might not have the games, but we have the pudding!” And with those words, Neptune jogged over to the refrigerator and pulled open the door. “Were almost out of pudding.” She said, grabbing two cups.

“I can’t believe how much you ate.” Nepgear said.

“I had help.” Neptune said, handing one of the pudding cups over to Nepgear.

Nepgear didn’t argue. Instead she took the pudding, pulled off the lid and started eating. “This is pretty good.”

“Top shelf pudding!” Neptune said, eyeing the pudding that was jiggling on her spoon. “Chilled vanilla pudding aged to perfection.“ And with that, she slid it into her mouth and felt the cool pudding slide down her throat.

“It’s pretty cool that you and Purple Heart enjoy pudding so much.” Nepgear said. The young girl was having a hard time not adding the ‘Lady’ part when she mentioned the CPU of Planeptune.

“Yeah, but a lot of people like pudding.” Said Neptune.

After the girls finished eating their puddings, they considered going back out and hunting more monsters. “I actually think it would be best if you two rested for now. It’s true the Fairy Tower can heal you of your exhaustion, but mentally it’s best if you rested like usual.”

“That’s true.” Nepgear said.

“That’s right Nepgear!” Neptune said, suddenly trying to act like a stern older sister. “Now get your butt into bed!”

“Sis…” Nepgear began.

“Now missy!” Neptune ordered.

Nepgear tried to hold back her laughter. “Yes ma’am.” She said.

Both Neptune and Nepgear climbed into a tent. “Goodnight Histy!” They both called out.

“Good night girls.” Histoire said. “Have a pleasant night.”

***
After Neptune and Nepgear woke up the next morning, they gathered the few supplies they could carry. Even though the girls didn’t have to worry about using the medical supplies Purple Heart had left them thanks to the Fairy Tower, they knew they might need it for their journey to the next tower.

“Alright. I think we got everything we could carry.” Said Nepgear, noticing that her sister was now wearing a backpack as well.

“Yeah. It’s been nice Histy, but we’ve got to hit the road.” Said Neptune.

“It’s been a pleasure.” Histoire said, as Nepgear took the USB memory stick from the Fairy Tower. “I should mention something before you two leave. That USB memory stick might activate the Fairy Towers, but they also record our interactions with each other. So the next Histoire you meet will have the same memories that I do.” Said Histoire. “We’ll also share information as each tower is activated.”

“That’s handy.” Said Neptune.

“Yes.” Said Histoire, bowing to Neptune and Nepgear. “Good luck out there girls and don’t hesitate to come back if you need to.”

“Thanks Histy!” Said Neptune, waving to the small girl.

“Bye Histoire!” Nepgear said.

Neptune took a deep breath as she readjusted the straps on her backpack. “What are the chances of getting Purple Heart to travel to every Fairy Tower and setting up a camp for us there?”

“Pretty good I think, but we shouldn’t count on her doing that for us.” Nepgear said.

“Yeah…” Said Neptune, disappointed.

“By the way Neptune… Did you fill that backpack up with pudding?” Asked Nepgear, already knowing the answer to her question.

“Why ask questions you already know the answer to?” Neptune asked. “There wasn’t much left anyways so the rest of this stuff is actually medical supplies.”

“Oh? Well that’s helpful!” Nepgear said.

“Yep! You’re sister isn’t always just thinking about pudding. Just most of the time.” Said Neptune. “Anyways, you said this next Fairy Tower is located a few miles away in a forest?”

“That’s right. The monsters are going to start getting even stronger.” Nepgear warned.

“Great…” Neptune said, sighing deeply. “I have a feeling you’re going to be thankful I packed away so much pudding by the end of this!”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 7

IF stood outside the hospital room looking down at her cell phone. IF had been sending messages to Otome-chan about Arfoire, but so far Otome-chan hadn’t been able to find any information about the woman. “This is weird. Otome-chan can normally find anything for me. Maybe Arfoire is from another nation or something.” IF thought to herself.

Compa opened the door to Arfoire’s room and poked her head outside. Her eyes instantly fell on IF. “You can come inside now.” She said.

IF closed her phone and slid it back on her belt. After that she stepped into the room. Arfoire was resting in a bed. A white sheep had been pulled over her chest. An IV drip had been connected to Arfoire’s arm. “Is she okay?” IF asked.

“She’s alright. Miss Arfoire was just dehydrated. That’s all.” Compa explained.

“Is she awake?” IF asked, even though Arfoire’s eyes were closed.

Just as IF asked her question, Arfoire opened her eyes. “I’m awake.” She said, in a small voice.

“Sorry about that.” IF began, making her way over to Arfoire’s bed. “I know you’re probably tired, but I was hoping to ask you a few questions.”

“Sure, but I don’t remember anything other than my name.” Arfoire admitted.

“So you don’t remember where you came from? Or how you ended up in Planeptune?” Asked IF.

Arfoire closed her eyes and shook her head. “Sorry. My head feels so foggy right now. I’m dizzy too.”

“You really need to get some rest.” Compa said, patting Arfoire’s leg gently. “Iffy? Can we…” Compa began, gesturing towards the hospital door with her head.

“Yeah.” IF said.

“W-Wait!” Arfoire said, her eyes flashed open. Arfoire managed to catch IF’s hand before the girl could get too far away from her. “Please. I…” She began.

“It’s alright.” Compa said, smiling warmly at Arfoire. Compa’s smile caused both Arfoire and IF to feel a comforting warmth in their chests. “Iffy and I are just going to give you sometime to rest. Once you’re ready to be released the hospital will give us a call. Okay?”

“That’s right. Were not going to leave you alone.” IF said, reassuringly to Arfoire.

“Thank you.” Arfoire said, releasing IF’s hand. The moment Arfoire released IF, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

“She must have been scared.” Compa said.

“Can’t blame her.” IF said, turning to Compa. “Let’s let her rest.”

Compa and IF headed out of the hospital room and were soon outside. “Well this was an eventful day. First we had to say goodbye to Nep and Gear and now this.” IF said, sighing deeply. “What’s next?”

“Yeah.” Compa said, her voice was low. Suddenly tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. “Oh no Iffy!” Compa began.

“Wh-What’s wrong?” IF asked, worried.

“I almost forgot that Nep-Nep and Ge-Ge left today! I’m already forgetting our friends!” Compa began to sob.

“Oh man!” IF began, scratching her head furiously with both hands. “Enough tears Compa! Let’s just go home! Okay?” IF took Compa by the hand and started leading her through the streets of Planeptune. As they walked, Compa continued to sob, but soon enough she started to calm down.

“I’m okay.” Compa said.

“Yeah?” IF said, glancing at Compa out of the corners of her eyes. Instead of releasing Compa’s hand she gave it a gentle squeeze. “Do you still want to hold hands?” She asked.

Compa smiled and nodded. “Thanks Iffy.”

***

A few days later Compa and IF received a phone call from the hospital. Arfoire had regained her strength and was being released.

Arfoire stepped out of the hospital and glanced up at the sun. “I feel… Like I used to own a hat.” Arfoire thought, as she placed a hand on top of her head.

“Arfoire!” Came a voice.

Arfoire turned and spotted both Compa and IF jogging towards her. Compa wore a large smile on her face and was waving her right hand over her head. “Sorry were late.” IF said. “We were doing a quest.”

“That’s alright.” Arfoire said, turning to the two girls. “I apologize for all the trouble I caused you.”

“No trouble at all.” Compa said.

“So Arfoire. I don’t mean to keep hounding you, but do you remember anything?” IF asked.

Arfoire didn’t answer right away. Instead she raked her fingers through her hair. “I remember that I used to wear a hat.” She answered. “I also remember I used to have a… pet rat?”

“Pet rat?” IF said, trying hard to hide the disgust on her face. “I didn’t see any rats when we found you.”

“I could be wrong.” Arfoire added.

“Anyways, what are you going to do now?” Compa asked.

Arfoire shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s weird. I barely remember meeting you two a few days ago. After that everything is just blank. I don’t know where I should go or what I should be doing.”

“That’s not good.” IF said, before she suddenly thought about something. “Have you checked your pockets for any papers or anything?”

“I have and I didn’t find anything.” Said Arfoire. “I’m actually surprised that I remembered my name.”

“Not good.” IF said, sighing deeply.

Compa clapped her hands together. “I know what we can do! Why don’t we go to the guild and do a few quests?”

“How will that help?” Asked IF.

“Well either way miss Arfoire is going to need credits and a place to stay, right? Well we can help her. Also maybe a little work might help her remember something.” Compa said.

“Well… It couldn’t hurt to try.” IF said, though she was doubtful work could help Arfoire remember anything.

With those words the trio made their way to the guild. Even though Arfoire didn’t have any identification, she was able to sign up to become a member of the guild. After that she took on a few jobs.

“What quests did you take?” IF asked.

“One is to gather herbs and one is to defeat dogoo.” Arfoire said.

“Huh. Do you have a weapon?” Compa asked.

“I think so.” Arfoire said, as she raised her hands.

“Wait! Don’t do that here.” IF said. “Let’s wait until were out of Planeptune.”

“Right.” Arfoire said, nodding.

After that the three girls headed towards Planeptune’s gate. “So you remember how to summon your weapon, right?” IF said. “That’s something.”

“Actually no.” Arfoire said, shaking her head. “I saw someone from my hospital window summon a weapon. I just assumed that’s how everyone does it.”

“Well you’re half right.” IF said. “Not everyone does that. Some people carry their weapons with them at all times.”

“I see.” Arfoire said, worriedly.

“Don’t worry! You’ll get used to it.” IF said,.

The three girls reached Planeptune’s gate. Located just beyond was a large field filled with hopping dogoo. “Here we are.” IF said. “Go ahead and try to summon a weapon.”

“Okay.” Arfoire said, as she raised her hands. In an instant a large sword appeared and Arfoire took the weapon by the hilt. “I did it!” She exclaimed.

“That sword is huge.” IF said, looking the blade over.

“Maybe you were a monster hunter or something.” Compa said, looking the blade over as well. The blade looked incredibly sharp and it had some strange symbols etched into the blade.

“Maybe.” Arfoire said, as she swung her sword using only one hand. “This sword does feel comfortable to use.”

“That’s good. Maybe we won’t have to back you up when you hunt dogoo. How many do you need to kill anyways?” IF asked.

“Just five.” Said Arfoire.

“Alright! Let’s do it!” IF said.

Arfoire hesitated for a moment, but soon she was charging through the gate. Several dogoo turned their gelatinous bodies towards the charging woman. Once she was close enough to them, they all pounced at once.

“Careful!” Compa cried.

Arfoire swung her sword and managed to cut through four of the dogoo at the same time. The creatures instantly vanished. Without missing a beat, Arfoire launched herself at the fifth dogoo and struck it dead as well.

“Impressive!” IF said, smiling proudly. “I guess we don’t have to…” IF began, but she stopped speaking when she noticed Arfoire was still killing monsters. She killed several dogoo in mere seconds, but now she was going after tulip, dogoo-man and even a boxer-x.

“Whoa! Arfoire!” IF said, rushing forwards.

Arfoire halted and turned to IF. For some reason the way Arfoire turned made IF feel as though the woman would attack her next. “Oh! IF.” Arfoire said, lowering her sword. “Sorry about that. I got carried away.”

“Tell me about it.” IF said, shrugging her shoulders. “Were trying to kill a few monsters, not wipe them all out!”

Arfoire giggled. “You’re right. Sorry about that.”

“You were amazing!” Compa said. “I’m certain that you were a monster hunter before you lost your memory.” Compa said.

“Yeah. You took down those monsters really efficiently. You targeted all their weak points without hesitation. You really impressed me.” IF said, placing one of her hands on her hips.

“I did?” Arfoire said, looking down at her sword. “Maybe I was a monster hunter.”

“Anyways, you already killed five dogoo. Let’s go ahead and gather those herbs next.” IF said.

“I… I don’t know anything about herbs.” Arfoire said, turning to the two girls.

“That’s alright! I’m an herb master!” Compa said, smiling proudly.

“It’s true. Compa’s an expert.” Said IF.

“I look forward to working with you Compa.” Arfoire said, bowing a little.

Compa blushed. “Me too miss Arfoire.”

Arfoire sent her weapon away before she said, “please just call me Arfoire. No miss.”

“Alright.” Compa said, nodding. “Anyways, follow me!”

Arfoire and IF followed after Compa who led them to a small group of trees. After that both girls went to their knees. “This is the herb were looking for.” Compa began, before she explained what the herb was used for.

“Making medicine, huh? This is important.” Arfoire said.

“VERY important.” Compa said, putting emphasis on the word ‘very‘.

IF watched as the girls worked side-by-side. As they worked, she felt her phone vibrate. Pulling it out she noticed Otome-chan had sent her a text. “IF. I’m sorry, but I can’t find any information about Arfoire. It’s almost like she didn’t exist until just a few days ago. I did learn that she recently applied for a guild license.”

IF took a deep breath. “Thanks Otome-chan. If you find anything else, let me know.” She texted back. After that, IF slid her phone back into its spot on her belt.

“And that’s it!” Compa said, getting to her feet and helping Arfoire up.

Arfoire’s hands were filled with herbs. “Thanks Compa!” Arfoire said, happily.

“You’re welcome!” Said Compa.

“Well then. Why don’t we go ahead and report back to the guild. After that we’ll find you a place to stay.” IF said.

“Thanks.” Arfoire said.

***

Arfoire felt a sense of accomplishment when she reported back to the guild. Thanks to her hard work, she was able to collect about seven hundred credits. “Is this really enough for a room?” She asked. “I could probably do a few more quests.”

“It’s okay. No need to overwork yourself.” IF said. “Not only do you have enough for a room, but you can buy yourself groceries too. Just make sure to keep an eye on your credits. That’s the most important thing.”

“Right.” Arfoire said, nodding.

IF and Compa walked side-by-side talking among themselves. Arfoire however walked a few feet behind them. As they walked through Planeptune, Arfoire continued to look around. She gave each building they passed a hard look. She peered through the windows, she looked down every alleyway and read every sign they passed.

However, no matter where she looked or what she read, Arfoire just couldn’t remember anything. “Why can’t I remember anything? Who am I? Where did I come from?” Arfoire wondered to herself.

“Look!” Compa said, suddenly halting in her tracks.

Arfoire looked forwards and saw Compa and IF were now standing in the middle of the street looking upwards. Arfoire looked up as well and spotted a girl in purple fly overhead.

“It’s lady Purple Heart.” Compa said.

“Lady Purple Heart?” Asked Arfoire.

“Yeah.” IF said, turning to Arfoire. “She’s the goddess of Planeptune.”

“The goddess?” Arfoire said, in a low voice. Arfoire watched lady Purple Heart until she vanished over the horizon. After that she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I might not be able to remember who I am, or where I came from, but I do remember one thing.” Arfoire opened her eyes. “I hate the goddesses more than anything in this world."