Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 59

 “MAGES. cousin?” Nepgear said, surprised to have met a family member of one of her friends so close to Leanbox’s borders. “It’s really nice to meet you 5pb..” Said Nepgear, bowing her head a little. “I hate to ask, but do you mind if me and my sister come inside? My sister is really exhausted and she could really use the rest.”

“I don’t mind, but can I ask you both a question?” 5pb. asked.

“Of course.” Said Nepgear.

“Are your names Neptune and Nepgear?” 5pb. asked.

Nepgear and Neptune’s eyes went wide. “Th-That depends… Are you seeking revenge or something?” Neptune asked, cautiously.

5pb. giggled and shook her head. “It’s nothing like that.” The girl said, reassuring the two girls. “So can I assume you’re both Neptune and Nepgear?” Asked 5pb. as she placed her left hand high on her hip.

Neptune and Nepgear exchanged nervous glances. “Yes we are.” Nepgear said, gesturing towards her sister. “This is Neptune and I’m Nepgear.”

5pb.’s eyes went wide with delight. “Oh man! I can’t believe it! It’s so nice to meet you two!” The girl said, as she stepped aside. “Please come in! We can talk tomorrow morning if you’re up for it.”

“Thanks…” Nepgear said, as she and her sister stepped into the cabin. Nepgear spotted a large table that dominated the middle of the room. Located around the sides of the room were three small beds, a refrigerator and even a table where several computer monitors were located. “This place is nice.” Nepgear said, looking around the room for anything that could be considered dangerous.

“I’m sorry for surprising you.” 5pb. Said. “I promise. I’m not a threat or anything like that. I’m here to help you two. I promise.”

“Thanks!” Nepgear said, still not certain if she could trust 5pb. or not.

5pb. gestured towards the beds. “Please help yourself to a bed. Also you can have anything you want in the refrigerator if you want. I know you two have been on a very long journey.”

“Yes, but… How do you know that?” Asked Nepgear. “I appreciate your kindness, but you have to admit it’s pretty strange that you know so much about us. Especially considering we’ve never met before.”

“True, but the reason I know so much about you is because of Histoire.” Said 5pb..

“Wait… You know Histoire?” Nepgear asked, surprised.

“Not exactly, but I have a friend who does. Please. Get some rest.” 5pb. said, once again gesturing towards the beds.  

“What do you think Neptune?” Nepgear whispered under her breath to her sister.

“Those beds look really inviting.” Neptune said, laughing weakly. “Let’s trust her.”

“Okay…” Nepgear said, sighing deeply.

Neptune and Nepgear took a seat on the edge of different beds. The moment Neptune had removed her shoes the girl had laid back against the bed and closed her eyes and slid her hands behind her head. Soon the girl fell into a deep sleep.

“Your sister must have been really tired.” 5pb. observed.

“Yeah. She’s had a long day.” Said Nepgear. Nepgear folded her hands together in front of her and began fiddling with her fingers. “5pb. you promise to tell us tomorrow how you know us, right?”

5pb. Nodded. “Yes. I promise I’ll tell you both everything.”

“Thanks.” Nepgear said. Nepgear still wasn’t sure if she could trust 5pb. or not, but she was starting to feel tired herself. After removing her shoes, Nepgear laid back against the bed and soon fell into a deep sleep herself.

Nepgear wasn’t sure what it was that woke her up first. The smell of something delicious wafting through the cabin, the bright sun striking her eyes or the sound of someone humming a beautiful melody. Either way, Nepgear opened her eyes and sat up. “Good morning.” She breathed.

“Good morning Nepgear.” Said 5pb.. “I’m getting breakfast ready right now. I hope you’re hungry!”

“Starving.” Said Nepgear, patting her stomach. Nepgear slid her feet into her shoes and stood. Neptune was still sound asleep in bed. “Neptune? Time to wake up.”  

“Morning already?” Neptune breathed, as she blinked her eyes open.

“You know what Nepgear? You’re a great big sister.” Said 5pb..

“Oh no.” Nepgear said, shaking her head. “Neptune is actually my big sister.”

“Really?” 5pb. said, surprised. “Sorry about that. You must seem so much more mature.”

Nepgear giggled. “We get that all the time.”

 Neptune pulled her shoes on before sleepily making her way to the large table located in the middle of the room. “Something smells good!”

“I made breakfast for everyone.” 5pb. said, as she started pouring some oatmeal into three bowls. After placing them down on the table,  5pb. sat out some glasses with juice in it. After that the three girls sat down.

“Thank you for the food.” All three girls said, in unison.

Neptune eagerly dug into her breakfast, while Nepgear took her time to eat her meal. “We both heard you singing last night. You’re really good.” Nepgear said.

“Thanks.” 5pb. said, blushing heavily. “I used to get so embarrassed when people heard me sing, but thanks to my friends I’m better at performing in front of others.”

Nepgear was eager to find out more about 5pb., but she had more pressing questions for her. Nepgear however, decided to wait until everyone was finished eating. After 5pb. collected everyone’s empty bowls and started doing the dishes, Nepgear’s curiosity had reached a breaking point.

“5pb..” Nepgear began. “Please tell us. How do you know us?”

“Oh!” 5pb. said, quickly turning to Nepgear and Neptune. “I almost forgot about that.” To Nepgear’s dismay, 5pb. didn’t start explaining herself. Instead she made her way over to her computer and began pounding information into it. A few moments later, a beautiful blonde girl appeared on both monitors. “Yes? How can I help you?” The girl asked.

“Vert? It’s me. Neptune and Nepgear are with me!” 5pb. said, smiling brightly.

“Oh? Excellent!” Said Vert, folding her hands together in front of her, a small smile appeared on her face.

“Whoa! Look at those!” Neptune said, her eyes fell on Vert’s chest.   

“Neptune!” Nepgear said, her cheeks were bright red.

“Oh I don’t mind getting compliments for my body.” Said Vert, as she cupped her arms underneath her breasts. “I’m so glad that you managed to find 5pb., she’s a dear friend of mine.”

“Were glad too! She’s so nice!” Neptune said, happily.

“So I’m sure you’d love to know how 5pb. and I know you.” Vert began. “Would any of you like to hazard a guess?”

“Ooh! I know.” Neptune said. “I bet Histoire reached out to you in a dream. Right?”

“That’s right.” Said Vert. “She actually reached out to me in a dream. During my dream she asked me to help you and Nepgear activate the Fairy Towers. At first I thought my dream didn’t really mean anything because I’ve never seen or heard of a Fairy Tower before, but after doing a quick search I realized this huge thing located outside my home village is actually a Fairy Tower!”

“Cool!” Neptune said.

“So…” Nepgear began, trying to find the right words to ask her next question. “Why is 5pb. out here meeting us?”

“I can answer that.” 5pb. said. “Vert asked me to meet you two out here and guide you to her village. Though I have to admit, our plan was a little shortsighted. This cabin is hidden pretty well behind all these boulders. I thought you might miss me, so I started singing hoping you might hear me.” Said 5pb., rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.  

“Well it worked out pretty well for us.” Said Nepgear.

“And this welcome is a lot more friendlier than the one we got in Lastation.” Said Neptune.

“Oh dear? What happened in Lastation?” Vert asked, concerned.

“A really mean and lonely bully named Noire attacked us!” Said Neptune. “It was so sad, but we became best buddies.”

“Noire, huh?” Vert began, tapping her lower lip thoughtfully. “It’s strange. I’m missing a lot of memories, but I remember hanging out with a group of girls. I can almost picture them in my head, but at the same time I can’t.”

“Tell me about it.” Neptune said, sighing deeply.

5pb. turned her attention to both Neptune and Nepgear. “So… Are you two ready to get going?” She asked.

“That depends…” Neptune began. “Do you have any pudding here?” She asked.

“Pudding? No. I’m afraid not.” 5pb. said.

“Then were ready to go. Let’s move!” Neptune said, pointing sternly to the door.

“Alright. As soon as I lock up, we’ll get going.” Said 5pb.. “It’ll take us about two hours to reach the Fairy Tower outside Vert’s village.

“Very well. I’m looking forwards to meeting you both.” Said Vert, barely able to contain her excitement.

5pb. turned off her computer and began walking around the cabin closing windows and locking them. Nepgear volunteered to help her, but 5pb. politely refused. “I appreciate it, but I can handle it.”

After all the windows were locked and the girls stepped outside, Neptune, Nepgear and 5pb. headed outside, but not before grabbing a guitar case from underneath her bed. After locking the door to the cabin the girls set out on their journey to Leanbox’s first Fairy Tower.

As Neptune and Nepgear followed close behind 5pb., Neptune couldn’t help, but look at the guitar case 5pb. was carrying. “Uh… 5pb.? Stupid question, but do you play the guitar or do you have a Thompson Submachine Gun hidden in that guitar case?”

“Thompson Submachine Gun? How do you know what those are?” Nepgear asked.

“I played a mafia game at Noire’s.” Said Neptune. “Uni kept bugging me to play it so I finally sat down and gave it a shot. Anyways, you play as this one guy who carries a Thompson Submachine Gun around in a guitar case and every time someone ticks you off you take it out and- BAM! BAM! BAM!” Said Neptune, using her hands to show off what it was like to hold a Thompson Submachine Gun.

5pb. giggled. “I play a guitar.”

“If you play guitar as well as you sing then I bet you’re awesome!” Neptune said.

“I’m okay.” Said 5pb..

The three girls continued their journey to Leanbox. As the minutes slowly ticked by, the boulders that once dotted the land soon vanished. Now the girls were walking through endless fields of grass. A silence fell over the three girls. Not a silence because they didn’t know what to say to each other, but the kind of silence that gave them a chance to appreciate the nature all around them.

The girls could see monsters roaming around the plains, but none of them paid the girls any attention. The sun was shining brightly overhead and a warm breeze blew through the grass.

The girls passed over a small bridge that stood over a beautiful babbling stream. The girls could see Frog-in-the-box and Turtle monsters swimming around in the water, or sunbathing next to the stream.

“This place looks beautiful.” Said Nepgear, interrupting the silence. 5pb. and Neptune nodded, but they didn’t say anything.

Several long moments later 5pb. stopped walking and turned to Neptune and Nepgear. “Alright. Just to let you two know. Were now entering Leanbox! The Fairy Tower is only a few minutes away.”

“Cool! Can’t wait to get started.” Said Neptune. “And by that, I mean buying some more pudding. I’m so close to being out!”

“Don’t worry.” Said 5pb.. “I know a great place to restock on provisions.”

“Sounds good to me. I need to restock on a few things too.” Said Nepgear. “I also need to find a parts store so I can complete my other N-Gear. I need to find a chance to sneak into Leanbox’s Basilicom and continue my search for Histoire.” Nepgear thought to herself.

“Alright. Let’s go!” 5pb. said, turning on her heels.

Neptune and Nepgear followed after 5pb.. A few moments later they both could see a Fairy Tower in the distance. Beyond that was a small, quaint looking village. “There it is!” 5pb. said, pointing straight ahead.

“Yep!” Said Neptune, running ahead of her sister and 5pb.. “Come on everyone! I’ll race you there!”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 58

 Nepgear and Neptune walked side-by-side as they continued their journey to Leanbox. During this time, Nepgear explained everything that happened involving Croire’s Fairy Tower. She explained how Neptune had accidentally wandered into another dimension, how they were separated and how an older version of Neptune had rescued her. Nepgear did leave out the fact that she had gotten so upset when she realized she couldn’t find her sister.

“And that’s everything.” Said Nepgear.

“Whoa… That’s creepy.” Neptune said, hugging herself tightly. “Dimensional monsters that look like that? No thank you!”

Nepgear couldn’t help, but giggle. “Yeah. They were creepy, but they weren’t as powerful as I thought they would be. Their roar was something else though.” Nepgear said, shivering a bit when she remembered how horrifying their roar sounded.

“Still. Its cool knowing there’s another Neptune out there. I wish I could have met her. How different was she from me?” Neptune asked.

“Well…” Nepgear began, tapping her lower lip thoughtfully. “She seemed way more mature than you and I felt like I could rely on her more.” Nepgear thought, but quickly decided not to tell Neptune that. “She was a bit older than you and she seemed very reliable.” Said Nepgear.

“Cool!” Said Neptune, excitedly. “Though I’m a little confused about something. How much time did we lose because of that alternate dimension thingy?”

“Good question.” Nepgear said, as she pulled out her N-Gear and looked down at the screen. “It looks like we only wasted a few hours. Nothing we can’t make back up.” Nepgear said, reassuring her sister.

“Well that’s good.” Said Neptune.

The two girls continued walking side-by-side for several long hours. When the sun started to set over the horizon, they decided to set up camp. Neptune pulled out her sleeping bag. Before she placed it on the ground however, she pressed down on the ground using her foot. “Hard. No good nights sleep for me.” Neptune said, sighing deeply. “Oh. How much farther is Leanbox?”

“We still have about a day to go.” Said Nepgear. “So if we wake up early tomorrow and keep up the pace, we should arrive there not tomorrow, but the day after.”

“Great…” Said Neptune. “Any small villages or cities between here and there? I want to sleep in a bed!”

“Sorry big sis.” Nepgear said, shaking her head.

“Great.” Neptune said, her shoulders sagged. “Anyways. If we happen to see any other strange Fairy Towers on our journey. I vote we keep our distance.”

“Yeah.” Said Nepgear, as she pulled out her sleeping bag as well. After that, Nepgear and Neptune began gathering firewood. Considering there were hardly any trees around them, the girls could only find so much wood to burn. After that, Nepgear found some large rocks to surround the fire with.

After making a small circle with the rocks, Nepgear carefully placed the wood inside, before she stuffed some leaves and grass between the wood. After that she lit a match and soon they had a fire roaring. “Nice.” Neptune said, holding her hands out to the fire. Even though it wasn’t really that cold outside, the warmth of the fire was comforting to the girls.

“I wonder what Leanbox is like.” Nepgear said, as she pulled out a small pot of soup. Nepgear sloshed the contents of the pot around for a few moments, before she placed it on the fire.

“Don’t know.” Neptune admitted. “I asked Noire, but she said she’s never been.” Neptune giggled. “No surprise there.”

“Yeah.” Said Nepgear, nodding. “I noticed that Noire and Uni had a lot of pride in Lastation. I don’t think that’s a bad thing of course, but it felt familiar to me.”

“Oh yeah?” Said Neptune.

“Yeah. Like how I feel about Planeptune. Planeptune is my home and I love it and miss it.” Nepgear began. “I feel a lot of pride in Planeptune as well.”

“Yeah, me too.” Said Neptune. “It’s funny how we don’t question that either.”

“Yeah.” Said Nepgear. “A lot has happened on this journey. A lot of things that make me wonder if were doing the right thing. What’s going to happen when we reach the end of our journey. Sitting out here like this makes me miss our home.”

“Yeah, but it’s still fun in its own way.” Said Neptune, smiling brightly.

“What do you mean?” Nepgear asked.

“Think about it baby sister. If we were at home right now I’d be playing video games and eating pudding, you’d be sitting over your workbench. We wouldn’t have met anyone that we had met so far. Red, MAGES., Falcom, Purple Sister, Noire, Uni, Linda or the older version of me! Also…” Neptune began, before she suddenly fell quiet.

“What’s wrong?” Nepgear asked.

Neptune scratched her right cheek. “Suddenly I feel like playing video games while eating pudding.” Neptune said, laughing awkwardly.

Nepgear giggled as well. “I know what you mean, but like you said. We met so many wonderful people that I couldn’t imagine not being on this journey right now.” Said Nepgear.

“Exactly!” Neptune said.

Nepgear and Neptune stopped talking for a few moments. Nepgear lifted the lid off the pot filled with soup and looked down at the contents. After that, she picked up the pot and poured the soup into two cups. “Here you go.” Nepgear said, handing one of the cups over to Neptune.

“Thanks!” Neptune said, taking the cup. “Cheers little sister!” Neptune said, holding up her cup.

“Cheers!” Said Nepgear, holding up her cup as well. The two girls clinked their cups together before they tipped them to their mouths.

“Never thought I would eat soup out of a cup.” Neptune said. “It’s simple, but you’re a super genius for figuring this out.”

“No.” Nepgear said, shaking her head. “I just figured bowls would take up too much room.”

“Ah just take the compliment.” Said Neptune, as she held her cup of soup with her left hand and waved her right one dismissively.

Nepgear didn’t say anymore as she continued to sip her soup. “I love when my sister compliments me, but she doesn’t have to compliment me on everything I do.” Nepgear said, as she began to shift nervously in her seat. Suddenly a small smile appeared on Nepgear’s face and her cheeks grew red. “I really love when she compliments me and pats me on the head.”

“Is something wrong Nepgear?” Asked Neptune.

Nepgear shook her head. “No. Nothings wrong.” Said Nepgear.

After Neptune finished her soup she dragged her backpack over to her and peered inside. “Bad news. I’m almost out of pudding. Guess I should wait to eat anymore.” Neptune said, sighing deeply.

“Sorry about that big sis.” Said Nepgear.

“It’s alright.” Said Neptune, shrugging her shoulders. “Hey. How much soup do we have left?”

“We have half a pot left. Do you want some more?” Nepgear asked.

Neptune shook her head. “Nah. I was just thinking it would be nice to have something to eat in the morning.”

“Okay. Oh and don’t worry if we run out of soup. Uni and Noire loaded me down with breakfast bars and some other things. I think we even have some milk and hot chocolate.”

“Well who needs how soup if we have hot chocolate?” Neptune said. Neptune began playfully kicking her feet for a few moments before she remembered something. “So how are we going to get into Leanbox?”

“Good question.” Nepgear said, as she sat down her empty cup of soup and reached for her N-Gear. Nepgear looked down at the screen and pushed a few commands into her handheld. After a few moments of searching, she looked up at her sister. “It looks like Leanbox has security guarding the border, but they shouldn’t try to stop us from getting in.”

“What should we tell them if they stop us?” Asked Neptune.

Nepgear thought about this for a few moments. “We’ll just tell them that were visiting for a little while and that’s it.” Said Nepgear.

“Sounds good to me.” Said Neptune. “See? You are a super genius! Way smarter than me.”

Nepgear shook her head several times. “Don’t put yourself down like that Neptune. It doesn’t matter who’s smarter. Were sisters and were a team. That’s all that matters.” Said Nepgear.

Neptune suddenly squealed loudly. “Ooh! I love that kind of talk Nepgear! Good thing you’re my sister, cause my heart just swooned!”

“Don’t be weird big sister!” Nepgear said, annoyed.

Neptune couldn’t help, but laugh. Suddenly both Neptune and Nepgear yawned and stretched their hands high over their heads. “Oh man… I feel like I could sleep for a few days.”

“Yeah. I’m tired too, but I’m going to go ahead and set an alarm to wake us up tomorrow morning.” Said Nepgear.

“Yeah. The sooner we get to Leanbox, the sooner we can sleep in beds.” Said Neptune.

“No Neptune. That’s not why were going to Leanbox.” Said Nepgear.

“Oh I know that Nepgear. Were going for exclusive Leanbox pudding, right?” Said Neptune.

“No.” Said Nepgear.

“To find videogames that are only sold in Leanbox?” Neptune offered.

“No sis.” Said Nepgear, shaking her head .

“Well were not going there for any Fairy Towers, right?” Neptune asked.

“Actually we are!” Nepgear said.

“We are? Fairy Towers? This is the first I’m hearing about this.” Said Neptune, a small mischievous smile appeared on her face.

“Enough!” Nepgear cried, pretending to be annoyed. “Bed time!”

“Fine, fine.” Neptune said, suddenly going serious. “I want you sleeping next to me Nepgear. I might need someone to cuddle with tonight.”

Nepgear sighed deeply, but agreed. “Alright.”

Neptune and Nepgear pulled their sleeping bags closer together. After throwing the remains of their firewood onto the fire, they cuddled up close to each other. “Good night big sis.” Nepgear said, closing her eyes.

“Good night little sis.” Said Neptune, hugging her sister close to her chest.

***

The following morning Nepgear’s N-Gear started ringing, stirring the two girls from their sleep. Nepgear sat up and yawned loudly. “Big sis? Time to wake up.” She breathed.

“I’m awake.” Neptune said, her eyes were wide open.

“Did you sleep?” Nepgear asked.

“Hardly…” Neptune said, taking a deep breath. “It’s weird, but once I knew that your alarm was going to go off, I couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh no.” Nepgear said, turning off her N-Gear. “Do you want to sleep in for a while, or…?”

“Nah… I’m getting up.” Neptune said. “I did manage to get a few hours of sleep, but it wasn’t the best.” The girl admitted.

“I’m sorry.” Said Nepgear.

“Don’t be.” Said Neptune, patting her sister on the head. “Come on. Let’s get some hot chocolate and get going.”

“Right.” Said Nepgear, feeling guilty that her sister wasn’t able to get any sleep. While Neptune packed everything away in their backpacks, Nepgear used the milk and chocolate that Noire had given them before they left. After fixing some hot chocolate for them and pouring it into glasses, Nepgear swung on her backpack and stood. “Ready to go when you are.” She said.

“Great. Let’s go!” Neptune said, taking a cup of hot chocolate from her sister.

Neptune and Nepgear continued their journey towards Leanbox. The day passed quickly and before the girls knew it, the sun was starting to set over the horizon once more. The girls were standing in the middle of a plain that had large boulders poking out of the ground. “Were so close to the border of Leanbox.” Nepgear said. “I hate stopping now, but you really need some sleep.”

“Yeah…” Neptune said, her arms were drooping lifelessly by her sides. “I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

“Here… Why don’t you rest and I’ll…” Nepgear stopped speaking the moment she heard the sound of someone singing. The song was unlike anything she had heard before. “Neptune? Do you hear that singing?” She asked.

“Huh? Sleeping?” Neptune said. “Sure. I could sleep.”

Nepgear made her way over to Neptune and took the girl by the hand. “Come on. Let’s see who’s singing.” Said Nepgear.

Nepgear led her sister through the plain, around the large boulders and soon found themselves standing in front of a small cabin. The cabin’s windows were partially open and a light could be seen coming from inside. Nepgear took a deep breath. “I hope they’ll help us.” Nepgear thought, as she led her sister to the cabin’s front door.

Nepgear knocked on the door and moments later it was opened. “Huh?” Nepgear said, blinking her eyes several times. “MAGES. is that you?”

“No, but I have a cousin named MAGES..” Said the girl who stood before them. “Nice to meet you two!” The girl said, smiling brightly. “My name is 5pb.”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 57

 Nepgear squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could. When she opened them back up the girl who introduced herself before as Neptune, was still standing in front of her smiling brightly. “You look… so much like my big sister.” Nepgear said, taking a few steps backwards. “You’re not my big sister, are you?” Nepgear thought, fearful that something had caused her sister to age by several years.

“I wish, but no. I don’t have any cute siblings like you.” Said Neptune, as she reached behind her back and pulled out a strange book. When the book opened, Nepgear gasped. Sitting between the books pages was Croire.

“Croire what are you… What’s going on here?” Nepgear asked, suddenly feeling like she was going crazy.

“So you know who I am?” Croire asked, crossing her arms in front of her. “Let me guess. My big mouth other self told you?”

Nepgear turned towards the Fairy Tower and spotted the holographic version of Croire smirking. “That’s right. It’s your fault for leaving me alone for so long. I had to use some idiot to help me get back.”

“What do you mean?” Nepgear asked, confused.

“Don’t listen to her.” Said Neptune, giggling. “Croire here in my book is the original. The Croire over there is the name of the AI who’s supposed to help adventurers when they use the Fairy Tower.” Neptune explained. “As you can see she isn’t very friendly.

“Hey!” The original Croire said, annoyed. “Calling her unfriendly is the same as calling me unfriendly.”

“Which is why I said it.” Neptune said, her voice trailed a bit as she spoke.

“Oh? Well who’s the big jerk who helped you to travel here, huh?” Croire asked.

Neptune giggled. “I’m sorry Croire. I still love you.” She said, giving Croire’s head a small pat.

Croire grumbled loudly, but she didn’t shoo Neptune’s fingers away. Nepgear watched this for a few moments, before she suddenly felt tears form in the corners of her eyes. “W-Why are you two being like this? I’m missing my big sister right now. I have no idea where I am.”

Neptune and Croire’s smiles instantly vanished. “See? You’re such a big jerk Neptune!” Croire snapped.

“Hey! Who are you calling a jerk?” Neptune snapped back.

“You you jerk! Croire said.

“Only a jerk calls someone else a jerk you jerk!” Neptune said, before she and Croire began growling at one another. Neptune sighed deeply before she made her way over to Nepgear. “I’m sorry sweetie. I’ll help you.”

“Really?” Nepgear asked. “How? Where are we right now?”

“Right now you’re in a pocket dimension.” Croire said, matter-of-factly. “And this pocket dimension is actually located in our dimension, but oddly enough it’s connected to your dimension as well.”

“How? Why?” Nepgear asked.

“Well…” Croire began, as she closed her eyes and searched for the data. “About seven years ago we were working on our alternate dimension technology. We were actually visited by a ‘special’ guest that told us that it was possible. Not only that, but they also told us that I had the ability to do it stored in my memory. So after a search that took about three months, I managed to find all the information we needed to travel between dimensions.” Croire explained.
    
“Unfortunately our technology wasn’t exactly perfect. We made a few mistakes and this Fairy Tower was one of them.” Said Croire.

“One of them?” Said Nepgear.

“What do you mean?” The Fairy Tower’s Croire demanded. “I was sent to this stupid dimension three years ago! I had no one to talk to or anything! You know how lonely that is?” The holographic girl demanded.

“Yeah, yeah.” Said the original Croire, blushing a little. “Anyways during one of our experiments we accidentally sent this Fairy Tower to another dimension and lost contact with it. We tried to find it as soon as it vanished, but it was gone. It took us about six years to find it.”

“Wait…” Nepgear said, confused. “You said you were stuck here for three years.” Nepgear said, glancing over her shoulder at the holographic Croire.

“I was.” Said Croire. “You calling me a liar?” She demanded.

“It’s obvious isn’t it?” Croire said. “Time passes differently here.”

“That’s right.” Nepgear said, suddenly remembering something her sister had told her. “My sister ran into the forest and suddenly appeared behind me seconds later. She said that she got lost for a few hours before making it back here.” Said Nepgear.

“That’s how unstable this dimension is. If I had to guess. She ran right into this dimension before making it back into her original dimension.” Said Neptune. “She’s actually lucky she managed to make it back at all.”

“Wait. Your dimension is unstable?” Nepgear asked.

“Oh right! Were not in our dimension!” Croire said, smiling proudly. “We actually created a pocket dimension. That’s why it took us so long to find the Fairy Tower. We didn’t even think creating a pocket dimension was even possible.” Said Croire. “This pocket dimension is being manipulated by not only our dimensions natural frequency, but your worlds natural frequency.”

“What does that mean?” Nepgear asked.

“It just means…” Croire began.

Nepgear shook her head. “No. That’s not what I’m asking.”

“Huh?” Croire said. The fairy like girl opened her mouth to snap at Nepgear for cutting her off, but Neptune placed a single finger on top of her head.

“Hold it Croire. I think I know what’s she’s asking.” Neptune said. “Nepgear? It’s alright. What were here to do is send the Fairy Tower back to our dimension. We’ll take you with us to our dimension for a moment and send you back to your own. Okay?”

“Really?” Said Nepgear, hopefully.

“Really.” Said Neptune, smiling warmly at the girl. “I know all of this is scary, but I promise you you’ll be fine. I have a soft spot for cute girls like yourself.”

Nepgear blushed a little. “Thanks… Neptune.” She said. Nepgear took a deep breath before she added. “I don’t want to make you feel awkward or anything, but you look like my big sister.” She said.

“Really? Was she a Nep too?” Neptune asked.

“Yeah.” Said Nepgear. “She means the world to me.”

“I get it.” Said Neptune. “I might not have any siblings, but I get it.” Neptune suddenly looked down at Croire. “Well Croire? Let’s get started, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Said Croire. “I just need to do a few tweaks to the Fairy Tower. You idiots should stay here and not wander off.”

“Do you need any help?” Nepgear asked. “I’ve been wanting to see inside the Fairy Tower and…”

“Heck no!” Both the original Croire and Fairy Tower Croire said, in unison. “She wants to take me apart!” Said the Fairy Tower Croire.

Neptune giggled as she walked up to Nepgear and patted the girl on the shoulder. “You’re a curious one aren’t you little sis?”

“Little sis?” Nepgear said.

“Oh! Sorry!” Neptune said, holding her hand up to her mouth.

Nepgear shook her head. “No. It’s okay. Do you mind if I call you big sister?” Nepgear asked.

“Of course!” Neptune said, happily.

Just as the words left Neptune’s mouth, the girls heard the sound of several twigs snapping and the rustling of leafs. “This isn’t good.” Neptune said, twirling on her heels and summoning two swords.

“What’s going on?” Nepgear asked, as she summoned her energy sword. Nepgear’s question was answered when several strange creatures appeared out of the forest and from behind buildings. The creatures stood well over five feet tall, they had long arms and legs and strange cylindrical bodies. Their skin looked translucent and they had strange orbs located in the middle of their bodies. Not only that, but strange veins were connected to those orbs and ran throughout their entire bodies.

“These are dimensional monsters. They live in unstable pocket dimensions like these. These things are bad news.” Neptune said. “Croire? Call me if anything happens.”

“Right.” Croire said.

The creature’s roared an otherworldly roar that sent chills down Nepgear’s spine. “Oh my goodness.” Nepgear cried, all the color drained from her cheeks.

“Hey little sister?” Neptune said, turning to Nepgear and smiling. “Just take a deep breath and follow my lead. Okay?”

Nepgear wasn’t sure why, but she knew she could trust this Neptune. “Right.” Nepgear said, regaining her courage.

Neptune and Nepgear suddenly rushed forwards and launched an attack on the strange creatures.

Neptune was faster and managed to reach the dimensional monsters first. Leaping into the air Neptune brought both of her swords down on one of the monsters easily cleaving it in two. After that she leapt between two of the monsters cutting them down as she flew past.

Nepgear watched as Neptune easily killed three of the strange monsters in mere seconds. Unlike regular monsters these creatures didn’t simply blink out of existence. Instead their bodies seemed to fade until they vanished completely.

Nepgear ran to one of the creatures as well and easily sliced through it. After that she cut down several others. “These things aren’t as tough as I thought they would be.” Nepgear said, aloud.

“Their roars are worse than their bite.” Said Neptune, as she cut down several more of the monsters. “If you’re not used to them, they could overwhelm you with creepiness, but you’re doing great!” Neptune said, smiling brightly at Nepgear.

“Thanks!” Nepgear said, as she cut down another monster.

As the seconds slowly turned into minutes the amount of monsters started to dissipate until none of them remained. Nepgear took several deep breaths before she made her way over to Neptune.

“Good work little sister.” Neptune said, patting the girl on the head.

Nepgear blushed. “Thanks Neptune.”

Neptune and Nepgear returned to the Fairy Tower. To their surprise a huge section of the Fairy Tower had been open and several large pieces of machinery were lying on the ground.

“Wh-What happened here?” Nepgear cried.

“It’s fine. I just had to rewire some stuff.” The original Croire said.

The Fairy Tower’s Croire screamed and pointed a stern finger at Nepgear. “Turn around! This is private!” She cried.

Nepgear quickly turned around. “Sorry!” She cried.

“I told you she would look at my insides! This is so embarrassing!” The Fairy Tower Croire said.

“Whatever.” Said the original Croire.

“Not whatever! This is all your fault! I was sent to this stupid pocket dimension and forgot about for six years!” The Fairy Tower Croire cried.

“We didn’t forget about you, you idiot.” Said the original Croire.

“It’s still your fault!” The Fairy Tower Croire said.

“I know… I’m sorry.” Said Croire.

Neptune and Nepgear giggled nervously while the Original Croire completed her work. Even though Nepgear was really curious to see how the tiny Croire was able to lift the giant machines that were located inside the Fairy Tower, the girl decided to not look.

“Alright. I’m finished.” Said Croire. “The problem was a simple one. The internal power-”

“Shut up!” The Fairy Tower Croire cried.

“Anyways, we can leave now.” Said Croire.

“Great. You take care of the Fairy Tower.” Said Neptune, as she turned to Nepgear and extended her hand to the girl. “Okay. So I’ll take you to our dimension. The moment we leave, this pocket dimension will vanish.”

“Wait.” Nepgear said, shaking her head. “What if someone or my sister walked back into this dimension? What will we do?” Nepgear asked, holding her hands close to her chest.

“Not happening. The first thing I did was seal off all entrances to this pocket dimension.” Said Croire. “The only thing that could have gotten in were those dimensional monsters.”

“That’s a relief.” Nepgear said, before she reached out and took Neptune’s hand into her own.

The moment Nepgear took Neptune’s hand into her own, a large white doorway appeared behind Neptune. Neptune smiled as she started backing up leading Nepgear through the doorway.

One moment later, Nepgear and Neptune stood in the middle of a forest, but this one didn’t look foggy or dull. Instead it was filled with vibrant greens and singing birds. The sun overhead was large and warm on their skin. “Wow…” Nepgear said, glancing around the area.

Besides the Fairy Tower, nothing manmade existed there. “Where are the buildings?” Neptune asked.

“Those buildings never existed in our dimension. They only existed in your dimension.” Said Neptune.

“That’s weird. The buildings in my dimension didn’t have furniture, but they did in the pocket dimension.” Said Nepgear.

“Dimensional hopping can be weird.” Said Neptune, giggling and scratching the back of her head nervously. “I’ve seen some things in my life.”

Nepgear smiled. “Thanks for everything Neptune.” She said.

“Aww. It’s my pleasure!” Neptune said. “I wish we had more time together, but I should send you on your way.”

“Right.” Nepgear said, as a large door appeared behind her. “See you Croire’s!” Nepgear said.

“Whatever!” Both Croire’s said, in unison.

“Bye Neptune!” Said Nepgear, turning and disappearing through the white doorway.

The moment the doorway vanished, Neptune sighed deeply. “What’s wrong with you?” The original Croire asked.

“Nepgear makes me wish I had a little sister of my own.” Neptune said, shrugging her shoulders. “That’s all.” The moment Neptune stopped speaking a large shadow fell over her. Looking up Neptune’s smile vanished. “What the heck is that?” She asked.

***

Neptune and Histoire continued searching for Nepgear, but it was impossible to locate the girl. They moved from building to building and even tried to check the forest, but no matter how many times they ran into the forest they only reappeared back in front of the Fairy Tower.

“This is freaky!” Neptune said, her hands were shaking by her sides.

“Neptune. I feel…” Histoire began, but before she could finish speaking the fairy girl had vanished.

“Histoire? HISTOIRE!” Neptune cried. “Oh… I don’t like being alone like this…” Neptune fell to her knees as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “Ooh… So this is how it feels to be Noire.”

Neptune felt tears trickling down her cheeks, but her tears stopped when she noticed something had changed in the forest. The fog that once dominated the area had suddenly vanished. Not only that, but the green had also returned to the forest as though by magic.

Neptune’s eyes went wide when she noticed something else was changing as well. In a split second several sections on the Fairy Tower had been opened and large machines were now on the ground. A second later the machine parts were inserted back into the Fairy Tower and those sections that were once open were now closed. After that the entire Fairy Tower had vanished.

Neptune slowly got to her feet. The moment she stood fully erect Nepgear was back in front of her.

“Big sister!” Nepgear cried.

“Little sister!” Neptune sobbed, before she threw her arms around Nepgear and started crying. “I missed you Nepgear!” The girl cried.

Nepgear couldn’t help, but cry as well. “I missed you too!” Nepgear said, holding her sister close.

After the girls managed to settle themselves down, they looked into each others eyes. “So what happened?” Neptune asked.

“It’s a long story, but… I actually got help from the original Croire and Neptune.” Said Nepgear.

Neptune furrowed her brow. “You met another Neptune, huh?” She asked.

Nepgear nodded. “Yeah. And she helped me out a lot.”

Neptune giggled and smiled proudly. “Of course she did! All Neptune’s are awesome like that!”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 56

 “You got it.” Neptune said, smiling brightly and giving Histoire a little salute. “Let’s go Nepgear!” Neptune turned to the left and started jogging away. Nepgear couldn’t believe her sister was actually leaving. She watched as her sister jogged into the forest and vanish shortly afterwards.

“I can’t believe she left me.” Said Nepgear.

“I didn’t leave you.” Said Neptune.

Nepgear yelped as she twirled around and saw Neptune was standing behind her. “What the… You just ran that way!” Nepgear cried, pointing in the direction Neptune just ran off in.

“Yeah. That was freaky.” Neptune said, giggling nervously. “I ran off, got lost in the forest or a few hours and somehow ended up back here.”

“Got lost? No. You just left and reappeared behind me!” Nepgear said, her hands were shaking by her sides.

“Uh, no Nepgear. I left hours ago and now I need a pudding.” Neptune sank to her knees as she pulled off her backpack. After removing a cup of pudding, the girl removed the lid and started spooning the pudding out.

Nepgear watched as her sister did this for a few moments before turning her eyes to Histoire and Croire. “What’s going on here? Why did you tell us to run?” Nepgear asked.

“It’s strange, but I sensed something ominous in the area.” Said Histoire.

“Yeah, by the way your sister just appeared behind you a second ago.” Said Croire.

“Huh?” Nepgear said, surprised.

“Yeah. She didn’t run up to you, or sneak up behind you. She just appeared. Is she a ghost or something?” Croire asked.

Histoire sighed deeply. “I won’t use the word ghost, but I have to agree with Croire. She did just appear behind you a moment ago.”

“I see…” Nepgear said, taking a deep breath. “Histoire? What would you recommend we do?”

Histoire sighed once more, but this time she seemed upset. “I-I’m sorry Croire, but we have to prioritize the safety of Neptune and Nepgear right now. They have an important task they must accomplish and I can’t risk them getting hurt.”

“No. I get it.” Croire said, waving her hand dismissively. “Go ahead and abandon me here. It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry Croire.” Nepgear muttered. Nepgear looked down at Neptune who had finished a cup of pudding and looked as though she were about to reach for another. “Big sister? We should leave.”

“Already?” Said Neptune, surprised. Neptune got to her feet and hugged her backpack close to her chest. “Are you sure about this? I don’t mind hanging out a little longer.”

“I think it would be for the best. I’ll stay here and keep Croire company. Maybe eventually we’ll be able to help her.” Histoire said. Though Croire didn’t say anything, her cheeks grew bright red in color and the girl was forced to look away.

Nepgear nodded as she took her sister by the hand and led her away from the four buildings and the strange Fairy Tower. As the girls walked, they felt strange. Almost like the ground beneath their feet had shifted. Not only that, but the fog had gotten thicker, but soon it started to thin out.

“What the goodness?” Nepgear gasped, when she realized that she was standing in front of Croire’s Fairy Tower once more.

“You two are back?” Histoire said, surprised. “You’ve been gone for an entire day and-”

“Liar, liar bookmark on fire!” Neptune said.

“No. Your dorky friend is right. You two were gone for an entire day. Why’d you come back? Stupid or something?” Croire said.

Nepgear crossed her hands in front of her chest. “This doesn’t make any sense.” Nepgear said. Nepgear turned to Histoire. “Did we just walk into this area again, or did we appear out of nowhere?” She asked.

Histoire thought for a moment. “You just reappeared.” She said. “That is very strange.”

“This whole place is weird.” Neptune said, looking around nervously.

“Yeah.” Nepgear closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. As she breathed in the air, she held it in her lungs for a few moments before she breathed out. “Okay. I think we need to get a little rest Neptune. I don’t like the idea of staying here overnight, but we don’t have a choice.”

“Yeah?” Neptune said, her eyes turned upwards. “It looks like it’s daytime, right?” She asked.

Nepgear glanced up and saw that it was brighter now, but the fog made it impossible to tell where the sun was. “Yeah. This whole place is weird.” Nepgear said. Nepgear was starting to feel frightened. Nothing about this place made sense to her and her head was starting to spin.

That fear however was quickly squashed when she felt her sister give her hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay.” Neptune said. “With my brainy little sister and Histoire here, I’m sure we can figure this whole thing out soon enough!”

“Hey! Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Croire asked, annoyed.

“Of course!” Neptune said. “And of course we can all count on… Me! I’ll make sure to crack all kinds of jokes to make you all laugh!”

Nepgear and Histoire giggled, but this merely annoyed Croire even more. “Whatever…” The fairy like girl huffed.

“Anyways. It’s time for a nap.” Neptune said, pointing at one of the buildings. “Let’s see what’s in here.”

Neptune and Nepgear made their way into the building. As they opened the door and peered inside. The room beyond the door was large and square in shape. The room didn‘t have any furniture. “This place looks nice.” Nepgear said. Nepgear wanted to tell her sister that for a split-second she thought she saw furniture inside the building, but quickly changed her mind.

“Yeah.” Said Neptune.

The two girls stepped into the building. As they did, Nepgear found a switch located near the door. Nepgear flipped the switch, but nothing happened. “I guess it was too much to ask for some electricity.” Said Nepgear.

“Yeah… That stinks.” Said Neptune. “I’ve got a flashlight though. That’ll keep the monsters away.”

“Please don’t talk about monsters big sister.” Nepgear said, as Neptune fished out a flashlight from her backpack and flipped it on. After that the two girls pulled out their sleeping bags and laid them on the floor.

“Are you hungry?” Neptune asked.

“No. I’m okay.” Said Nepgear. The two girls laid down. “Goodnight Neptune.”

“Good night.” Said Neptune. After that the two girls fell asleep.

***

Neptune groaned loudly as she sat up. “Oh man… I don’t know about you Nepgear, but sleeping on the floor isn’t doing my back any favors. Lousy sleeping bag…” Neptune said, grumbling loudly.

Neptune yawned loudly and stretched her hands high over her head. After that, the girl got to her feet. “Nepgear?” She began, turning to where her sister was lying. To Neptune’s shock, Nepgear was gone. Not only was her sister gone, but her sleeping bag and backpack was gone as well.

“Nepgear? NEPGEAR!” Neptune cried, as she ran out of the building. Neptune ran from building to building trying to find her sister. After searching the area for several long moments, she ran to the Fairy Tower. “Histoire? Croire?” Neptune cried.

Histoire appeared after a few seconds. “What’s wrong Neptune?” Histoire asked.

“Nepgear’s missing!” Said Neptune.

“What do you mean she’s missing!?” Histoire cried, as she flew in front of Neptune’s face. “She couldn’t have gone far! We have to…” Histoire’s voice trailed off, as she looked down at her digital body. “Wait a second. How did I do this?” The fairy like girl asked.

Neptune shook her head. “I’m not a nerd like my sister so I don’t know.” Neptune said, shrugging her shoulders.

“This… Isn’t possible. My holographic image can’t move from the Fairy Tower.” Histoire said, scratching her chin thoughtfully. “Neptune? Could you poke me in the ribs or something?”

Neptune sighed deeply. “Histoire. You’re terrible at setting up jokes sometimes.”

“This isn’t the time to be making jokes!” Histoire cried.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t bite me.” Neptune said, as she lifted her hand and reached for Histoire using her index finger. Neptune wasn’t surprised when her index finger moved through Histoire’s body as though it weren’t there. “Still a holograph.”

“I thought so.” Histoire said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I’m starting to understand what’s happening here.”

“What?” Neptune asked.

“Remember I told you that I was getting some interference yesterday?” Asked Histoire. “Well that same interference I felt the day before has been changing throughout the night. Now I’m convinced that that interference was coming from our dimension and whatever dimension that Croire has come from.” Histoire explained.

“Really?” Neptune said. “So what does all that mean?”

“It means that this place is highly volatile. Last night you and Nepgear traveled between dimensions without even realizing it.” Said Histoire. “Right now. You’re in your own dimension, but Nepgear stayed in the other dimension.”

Neptune’s eyes went wide with fright. “My… No way!” Neptune said, slowly shaking her head. “My baby sister is trapped in another dimension? Well how do we get her back! I need my Nepgear! I’m an emotional wreck without her!”

“I’m sorry Neptune.” Histoire said, shaking her head. “I don’t know what to do. I wasn’t built to deal with alternate dimensions like this. After a search using all the available Fairy Towers, I did learn something unfortunate.”

“What?” Neptune asked.

“The only one who could help us is the original Histoire.” Said Histoire.

Neptune dropped to her knees. “NOOOO!” Neptune screamed.

Histoire rolled her eyes. “Please. Enough of the melodramatics.”

Neptune giggled. “Sorry about that.” Neptune’s smile quickly faded. “What should we do? My little sister is trapped in another dimension all alone.”

Histoire shook her head. “Actually she’s not alone.”

“What do you mean?” Neptune asked.

“I just checked the Fairy Tower. Croire is missing.” Said Histoire.

“Missing? How? Isn’t this her Fairy Tower?” Neptune asked.

“Yes, but she’s not responding. She might have separated from the Fairy Tower like I did.” Said Histoire. “Speaking of which. I’m going to have to return before I disappear.” Histoire said, as she floated back to the Fairy Tower and reconnected with the device.

***

“Hey! Wake up lazy bones! Your sister’s missing!” Croire said, annoyed.

Nepgear groaned loudly as she opened her eyes. At first, Nepgear had no idea what she was looking at. Floating above her head was a tiny girl who wore a sour expression on her face. “Croire?” Nepgear said, taking a deep breath. “I must be dreaming…”

“You’re not dreaming!” Croire said, louder than before.

Nepgear opened her eyes all the way and sat up. Nepgear was still lying on the floor in the building, but she noticed several changes to the room she was in. Once the room was completely empty, but now there was furniture inside. Couches, a chair and even a table pushed to one side of the room.

“What the goodness?” Nepgear cried, as she jumped to her feet. “Neptune? Time to wake up!” Nepgear began, as she turned to where her sister was lying down, but to her horror her sister was gone. “NEPTUNE? NEPTUNE!” Nepgear screamed.

“Will you stop screaming like a weirdo?” Croire said, floating in front of Nepgear’s face.

“Croire? What’s going on? How are you away from the Fairy Tower?” Nepgear asked.

Croire shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know how, but I think were in another dimension. I bet that annoying Histoire probably knows something about it. Also I don’t know how, but I managed to break free from the Fairy Tower, but I’m not going to last long. So if you’re done freaking out, you should come with me.”

“Done freaking out?” Nepgear said, breathing hard. “I feel like I’m just getting started!”

“Well save it for later.” Said Croire, rolling her eyes. “Anyways, we need to deal with me disappearing first.”

Nepgear took a deep breath to calm her nerves. After that she gathered her things and followed Croire out of the building. Croire floated over to the Fairy Tower and reconnected herself to it. “It’s weird. I could never leave the Fairy Tower before. Probably something to do with all this interference I’m feeling.”

“Interference?” Nepgear said. “If I had to guess. I think that interference is the natural frequency of our planet, clashing with the natural frequency of another planet from another dimension.”

“Yeah that makes sense.” Said Croire, her voice was filled with sarcasm. “Though It would explain why were in another dimension right now. I kept feeling the interference changing all through the night.”

“Were in another dimension” Nepgear said, shocked by what she was told. “You and I are in another dimension? Where’s Histoire?” Nepgear asked.

“In another dimension you dimwit.” Croire said, smirking.

“How?” Said Nepgear. “She was attached to your Fairy Tower and it’s here now. Some residual data of her should still remain.”

“Well it doesn’t.” Said Croire, giggling. “You’re not as smart as… YOU’RE RIGHT!” Croire snapped. “Where is that little… I bet she jumped ship once she felt us being sucked into another dimension!” Croire said, angrily crossing her arms in front of her chest. “And just when I thought we were going to be friends…”

Nepgear wanted to say something to Croire, but all she could think about was her sister. “Neptune…” Said Nepgear.

“Did someone just say my name?” Came a familiar voice.

Nepgear turned on her heels. “Neptune? Is that you?”

A tall figure suddenly dropped down from the sky. The figure had long purple hair and wore a black outfit. The figure stood fully erect and smiled a bright, toothy grin. “Hiya cutie!”

Nepgear took several steps backwards. “W-Who are you?” The girl stammered.

“You already know that!” The girl said, giggling. “My names Neptune!”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 55

 After Neptune and Nepgear said farewell to their friends, they started making their way to the Leanbox. As the girls walked, they talked among themselves, though there were times when they didn’t say a single word to each other. During those moments, Nepgear found herself thinking about Leanbox’s Basilicom.

“I wonder where Leanbox’s main city is. I’ll have to sneak over there and break into the Basilicom. I just wonder if I’ll have a chance to do that without my sister finding out.” Nepgear thought to herself.

Several hours after Nepgear had that thought, the two girls found a large boulder pocking out of the ground and decided to take a break on it. Neptune carefully sat down and placed her hands on her thighs. Nepgear on the other hand decided to keep standing. “I can’t believe we have to walk for three days! This stinks!” Neptune said, though she didn’t sound as annoyed as she normally would have.

“You’ve gotten stronger big sister.” Said Nepgear. “I bet you’re not that tired right now, huh?”

“Hmm? Guess so.” Said Neptune, a small smile appeared on her face. “Got to say Nepgear, you always find the best way to look at things.”

“Thanks.” Said Nepgear, smiling.

“Also you make this journey better. I’m glad you’re my sister Nepgear!” Said Neptune, smiling warmly at her sister.

Nepgear giggled. “I’m glad you’re my sister too.” Said Nepgear. “I really hope you never find out that I broke into the Basilicom now.”

“Anyways…” Neptune said, playfully slapping her legs a few times. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

“I’m ready.” Said Nepgear.

Neptune got to her feet and the two girls continued their journey. As they walked, they kept their eyes open for any monsters that might try to attack them. Even though there were all kinds of monsters around them, none of them tried to attack them.

Spider monsters kept their distance from the girls. Terits would hop away when the girls got too close to them and Boss Lizards didn’t even bother with them. They simply flew around as they pleased.

Even though the monsters didn’t attack them, Neptune and Nepgear summoned their swords just incase.

The plains that surrounded Lastation soon came to an end and the girls found themselves climbing over more boulders. Walking up long stone slopes that only ended in giant mountains. “Ugh… No thank you.” Neptune said, as she stood in front of one of those mountains. Neptune turned lazily towards the left and started walking around.

“I don’t feel like climbing a mountain either.” Nepgear admitted, giggling nervously.

The trip around the mountain took quite a while to walk around and soon the sun had disappeared overhead and the sky had turned orange and pink in color. “It’s almost sleepy time.” Neptune said, the girl was starting to feel exhausted.

“Yeah.” Said Nepgear. “I kind of want to get around this mountain first, but…” Before Nepgear could finish speaking, her eyes fell on something that shocked her.

“Huh?” Neptune said, turning to look at her sister. “What’s wrong?”

“Look.” Nepgear said, pointing towards the northwest.

Neptune followed where her sister was pointing. “I don’t see…” Neptune began, but stopped speaking when she saw exactly what it was that her sister was pointing at. Poking out of a grove of trees was a Fairy Tower. “Whoa!” Neptune gasped. “is that a Fairy Tower? Yep! It’s a Fairy Tower!”

“I didn’t know you and Noire traveled out this far before.” Nepgear said.

Neptune shook her head. “We didn’t.” Said Neptune. “Believe me baby sister, if Noire and I traveled this far out, we’d have teleported here. Not walked.”

“Oh yeah…” Nepgear said, nearly forgetting how lazy her sister could get. “We should go over there and check it out. Maybe if it’s abandoned or something, I could take it apart!” Nepgear said. The idea of taking apart a Fairy Tower excited Nepgear. Her fingers started to wiggle as she imagined taking apart the massive device and uncovering all of it’s secrets.

“No way little sister.” Neptune said. “It would take you years to take that thing apart and study it.”

“Yeah, but…” Nepgear said, trying to come up with a way to convince her sister. “You’re right… We should just keep going.”

“No, no.” Neptune said, turning her body in the direction of the Fairy Tower. “I’m curious. Let’s check it out!”

Nepgear followed Neptune as she led the charge to the Fairy Tower. As they got closer, they noticed a strange fog started to surround them. The fog wasn’t thick though, so they could easily keep one another in sight.

After several long moments, the two girls stood in front of the Fairy Tower, but they also found themselves surrounded by five buildings. The buildings looked like they were houses, but the girls couldn’t be sure.

“This whole place is weird.” Nepgear said, suddenly feeling nervous. “Maybe we should leave.”

“Hey!” Came a voice.

Nepgear and Neptune yelped. “Who’s there!” Neptune said, holding her katana out in front of her.

“Over here!” The voice said.

Neptune looked around the area, but couldn’t see anyone talking. Her eyes soon turned to the Fairy Tower. There she spotted a tiny girl. “Oh! It’s Histoire!” Neptune said, as she started jogging over to the Fairy Tower.

“Who the hell are you calling Histoire!” The girl snapped.

Neptune stopped in her tracks when she realized the small, holographic girl in front of her wasn’t Histoire, though she did look a little like her. “Uh… Who are you?” Asked Neptune.

“My names Croire.” Said the girl, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Who the hell are you two?”

“You don’t know?” Nepgear asked, confused. “Don’t you share information between Fairy Towers?” Asked Nepgear.

“Of course I do!” Croire said, annoyed. “Except I’m the only Fairy Tower left, so excuse me if I don’t know who the hell you two are.”

“No! That’s not true!” Nepgear said, making her way over to Croire. “There are over five Fairy Towers in Lastation alone. How can you say you’re the only one left?” The girl asked.

“What can I say?” Croire asked, shrugging her shoulders. “I was connected to dozens of Fairy Towers one minute and disconnected from them the next. So obviously you’re an idiot.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about my baby sister! She knows a lot!” Said Neptune, before she smirked. “Besides, there are more than five Fairy Towers, so you’re the idiot you idiot!”

Croire narrowed her eyes at Neptune and growled under her breath. “Dumb ass girls… I swear…”

“Hold on. Let’s calm down for a second.” Nepgear said, holding up her hands. “Do you mind if I touch you?”

Croire’s cheeks grew bright red. “Only if you’re gentle.” She teased.

Nepgear ignored Croire’s innuendo, as she made her way over to the Fairy Tower’s terminal and began pounding information into it.

As Nepgear worked an awkward silence hung in the air. Croire glanced around the area while Neptune tapped her right foot and began humming to herself. After a few moments of this Neptune finally broke the silence.

“Oh yeah. My name is Neptune and that’s Nepgear.” Said Neptune, pointing at herself and then Nepgear.

“Yeah, great.” Croire said. Her response made Neptune groaned loudly. “Can’t blame me can you? I’ve been so bored here!”

“How long have you been here?” Neptune asked.

“A long time. Three years maybe.” Said Croire. “I remember I was located in a giant field one minute and here the next.”

“That’s weird. Maybe one of the goddesses decided to move you.” Neptune offered.

“That wouldn’t explain her being cut off from the rest of the Fairy Towers.” Said Nepgear. “I didn’t mention this before, but the connect between each Fairy Tower is incredibly powerful. Remember that Fairy Tower located underground in that massive cave filled with dragons?” Nepgear asked. “Well that was still connected to all the other Fairy Towers and it didn’t have any kind of informational delay either.”

“I see.” Neptune said, though she became lost along the way.

“The fact that this Fairy Tower was cut off from the rest is odd.” Said Nepgear, as she continued to pound information into it. “Also why is Croire here instead of Histoire? That doesn’t make any sense either.”

“It doesn’t make sense that Histoire would be here when I’ve always been here!” Said Croire.

“Is that how it was when you were connected to all the other Fairy Towers?” Nepgear asked.

“Of course!” Said Croire. “I’ve been apart of the Fairy Tower’s since the very beginning! Also I was designed to look exactly to look exactly like the original Croire as well.” Croire said, a large smile appeared on her face.

“I see…” Said Nepgear, as she continued to pound information into the terminal.

“Uh… Nepgear?” Neptune began. “What are you doing over there?”

“I’m trying to figure everything out.” Said Nepgear. “I found a few interesting things. I just looked at your connection device and it’s working flawlessly. I also did a quick histoire search and it looks like Croire is telling the truth. Her connection with the other Fairy Towers ended in a single minute.”

“See? So stop acting so surprised that I told the true.” Said Croire.

“There’s something else that really surprised me as well.” Said Nepgear. “Croire? Do you have the power to heal people?”

“Of course!” Said Croire. “Didn’t you feel my healing ability when you touched me?”

“No.” Nepgear said, shaking her head. “I also tried to look at my stats, but they didn’t appear.”

“Well maybe you should touch me somewhere else.” Croire said, giggling evilly.

“How lewd.” Neptune said, giggling as well.

“This is really weird.” Said Nepgear, scratching her chin thoughtfully. Nepgear pulled out her N-Gear and connected it to the Fairy Tower. Moments later her eyes turned to Croire. “Croire… I have a theory, but you might not like it.”

“I doubt you could say anything that I would like, but let’s hear it anyways.” Said Croire.

“I believe… You may have come from another dimension.” Said Nepgear.

The words ‘another dimension’ hung heavy in the air. “Nepgear? Are you sure that Croire’s data is wrong? Or maybe this whole thing is a prank or something?” Neptune asked.

“I wish that were the case, but it’s not.” Said Nepgear. “I did a search of Croire’s database and found that all the information inside is accurate and hasn’t been tampered with. Not only that, but I also compared her mapping system with mine and they’re completely different. I believe Croire is from another dimension.”

“Hey!” Croire snapped. “All of that stuff is protected with my firewalls! How did you-”

“I hacked you.” Said Nepgear.

“She hacked me…” Croire said, her voice trailed.

“I also uploaded a surprise.” Said Nepgear.

Before Croire could say anything, a girl appeared next to her. The girl sat on a book and was smiling brightly. “Hello. My name is Histoire.” The girl said.

“Whoa!” Neptune said, giggling. “Histoire is here!”

“You hacked me and now I gave birth? I’m a mommy?!” Croire cried.

“No! Nothing like that!” Nepgear said. “I only uploaded a program that would give Histoire access to other computer devices. That’s all.”

“When did you make this?” Neptune asked.

“I thought it was a good idea all the way back in Planeptune. After Histoire told us that she was going to monitor that weird house, I thought it might make things easier if I had a way of helping Histoire make connections. Her image is here, but she’s not actually uploaded to your Fairy Tower.”

“That’s good. This Fairy Tower is mine!” Croire said, angrily.

“Stop getting map at Nepgear! She’s trying to help you out!” Neptune said, nearly losing her patience with Croire.

“It’s alright big sis.” Said Nepgear, trying to calm her sister down.

“It’s okay.” Said Histoire. “I would be upset too if someone tried to upload another AI to my Fairy Tower, but I promise you Croire I’m not here to take over. I’m going to help Nepgear find out what happened to you.”

“Yeah? Well you better keep your artificial hands off my processors!” Croire warned.

“I can agree to that.” Said Histoire. “With your permission, I would like to do a scan though. If I’m correct, Nepgear is working under the hypothesis that you are from another dimension, correct?”

“Yes I am.” Said Nepgear. “I compared the map from where Croire was originally located to the map in our dimension and they are completely different.”

“Well…” Neptune began. “I know this is going to sound uncharacteristically smart of me, but a lot can happen in three years.”

“You’re right big sister, but the only way that things could have changed so drastically is if the world was reshaped.” Said Nepgear. “For instance three years ago a mountain located a few miles away from where Croire was originally located. That was in Croire’s dimension. In our dimension that mountain would be located only a mile away from where she would be.”

“Let me guess. That mountain?” Neptune said, gesturing towards the mountain she and Nepgear had walked around.

“Exactly.” Said Nepgear. “With that said. This area is a bit wonky.”

“Wonky how?” Asked Nepgear.

“Nepgear is correct. I’m picking up some weird interference coming from… All around us?” Said Histoire.

“Yeah. I’ve been feeling that too for a few years now.” Said Croire, leaning backwards. “You get used to it.”

Histoire closed her eyes, but suddenly they shot back open. “Neptune? Nepgear? I think you two need to leave! NOW!”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 54

 “So… You thought you could get away with it did you?” Black Sister said, as she pointed an accusing finger at the girl who sat directly in front of her. “You thought you could sneak into the Basilicom and do whatever you want, huh?”

Linda’s entire body was shaking with fear. Her eyes were as large as saucers. “N-No! I swear I didn’t sneak into the Basilicom.”

“Oh? And if it wasn’t you then it had to be your accomplice!” Black Sister said, suddenly pointing at Kei, who sat in a chair next to Linda.

Kei closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “First of all. I’m not built to sneak in anyplace. Secondly, I have a business to run. So if you could, please untie me.” Kei said. Both Kei and Linda were sitting side-by-side in a small room located in the Basilicom. Their hands had been lashed together behind their backs.

“Well one of you must have done it!” Black Sister said, as she began pacing the floor. “The only thing I don’t understand is why! Or which one of you actually did it!”

“Can I ask a question?” Kei said.

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to ask permission to admit your guilt!” Black Sister snapped.

Kei shook her head. “I can’t speak for Linda here, but what exactly makes you think that I’m the guilty party?” Asked Kei. “I was merely outside heading home when you kidnapped me.”

“I didn’t kidnap you. I just forced you to come with me.” Said Black Sister. “And I know you’re guilty because the intruder went outside and guess who happened to be outside? You two!”

“This is crazy!” Linda cried.

“I agree.” Kei said, sighing deeply. “I’m sure if you searched a little longer you would have found other people outside too.

“So you admit you had other people helping you.” Black Sister said, eyeing the girl suspiciously. Kei didn’t respond. Instead she turned her eyes towards her feet. “You better be careful Kei! I have ways of making you talk! Have you ever heard of horrifying torture before?”

Kei sighed once more. “Listen. I understand that you want to find the person responsible for breaking into the Basilicom. I would feel the same way, but you can’t just arrest the first people you find and accuse them of doing it. You need evidence.”

“T-That’s right!” Linda said, nodding her head several times.

“You have a point.” Black Sister said. “You know what Kei? You may have BROKEN my view of this wide open. You could almost say you INTRUDED into my thought process. Only someone as SNEAKY as you could do that!”

“Oh brother…” Kei said, sighing once more.

Black Heart opened her mouth to say something else, but the sounds of footsteps slowly approaching the room. “Oh crap! That’s my sister!” Black Sister said, as she began running her fingers through her hair. “When Black Heart comes in here, please look terrified and confess to everything. If you do that my sister might pat me on the head and tell me I did a good job!”

The door to the room opened and Black Heart stepped into the room. “Black Sister. Why did you call me here?” Black Heart asked, before she turned her eyes to Linda and Kei who were bound to the chairs. “I didn’t know you were into this kind of thing.” The goddess said.

“Goddess?” Linda began, her voice was shaking in her throat. “P-Please help us! We didn’t do anything wrong!”

“She’s right.” Said Kei. “Were being falsely accused of breaking into the Basilicom. Your sister has presented no evidence to convict us and she’s threatening to torture us.”

Black Heart sighed deeply. “Black Sister? Is this true?”

“No!” Black Sister said, as she quickly ran behind Linda and Kei. “When the intruder ran from the Basilicom, they had to go outside to escape. Right?”

“Yeah?” Black Heart said.

“Well guess who happened to be outside!” Black Sister said, placing a firm hand on both Kei and Linda’s shoulders. Linda yelped when she felt Black Sister touch her.

Black Heart sighed once more. “Listen Black Sister. I get that you want to help find the intruder, but you can’t arrest them simply because they were outside.”

“Yeah I can…” Said Black Sister, her voice trailed.

“Yes, but you shouldn’t.” Said Black Heart.

“Yeah, but…” Black Sister took a deep breath. “I’m trying really hard to find the culprits. I just want you to be proud of me.”

Black Sister turned on her heels. “Release those two girls now Black Sister.” Black Heart said. “And as far as being proud of you goes. That’s probably something that can never happen. I don’t know why Black Sister, but you always disappoint me.” And with those words, Black Heart made her way out of the room.

“Oh… Okay.” Black Sister said, as she reached down and untied both Kei and Linda. “You two can go now. Sorry for the trouble.”

Black Sister didn’t wait for Kei or Linda to respond. Instead she headed out of the room and closed the door behind her. “Normally I would contact a lawyer and file a formal complaint against the goddesses, but I actually felt bad for her right there.”

“Y-Yeah…” Linda said, hugging herself tightly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t much help there. I was freaking out!”

“I don’t blame you. I admit I was a little worried, but I couldn’t see Black Sister actually torturing us.” Said Kei.

“Why’s that?” Asked Linda.

Kei shook her head. “To be honest. I’m not sure. I feel like I know both Black Heart and Black Sister really well and not just because they’re our goddess and candidate. There’s more to it than that.”

“Yeah?” Said Linda. “Well that’s good.”

“Well we should probably leave.” Said Kei.

“Agreed.” Said Linda, as she followed Kei out of the room. The moment the two girls opened the door, they were surprised to see Black Sister in front of them. Black Sister was sitting on the ground, her knees were pulled up close to her chest and had her arms wrapped tightly around them. Black Sister also had her head leaning against her legs.

“Black Sister?” Said Kei. “Are you alright?” She asked. Linda’s gasped at the sight and started inching away from Kei and the goddess candidate.

“I don’t know.” Black Sister said. “I can’t concentrate on anything anymore. All I think about is making my sister happy and proud. She’s never happy or proud. She can’t focus on her work either! She get’s wrapped up doing one thing and then starts doing something else. I feel like something’s wrong with us!”

Kei took a deep breath. “Maybe you two should just manage things better. Focus on one task at a time.”

“Yeah… Maybe.” Said Black Sister.

“I have an idea.” Said Kei, taking a few steps closer to Black Sister. “Your sister is working on a job right now, correct?” She asked.

“Yeah?” Said Black Sister, looking up at Kei.

“Well. Why don’t you go help her? When she starts to feel distracted, just keep her on point. I’m sure you’ll be able to pull something off that way.” Said Kei.

“Huh… That’s not a bad idea.” Black Sister said, as she slowly got to her feet. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Said Kei.

“Did you break into the Basilicom?” Black Sister asked. “Cause if you did I could-”

“Focus!” Kei said, in a loud voice. “Go help your sister finish the job she’s currently working on. Stop worrying about the intruder. Go! Now!” Kei ordered.

“Right!” Black Sister said, as she began flying down the hallway as fast as she could.

Kei turned on her heels and noticed Linda was staring at her. A look of bewilderment could be seen on her face. “You just gave the CPU candidate an order and she listened to you.” Said Linda.

“Yeah? I guess she did.” Said Kei.

“Can I work for you?” Linda asked.

“We’ll have to discuss it back at my place. Come along.” Said Kei.

***
“BIG SISTER!” Black Sister cried, as she ran into her sisters office. Black Heart was sitting behind her desk looking down at dozens of quest fliers that sat in front of her. Black Heart wore a look of desperation on her face.

“I’m busy. I have so much work I have to do.” Black Heart said, looking down at the quest fliers.

Black Sister made her way over to Black Heart’s desk and watched as her sister looked at each quest flier intently, before she finally slid one directly in front of her. “Here. An ancient dragon’s wandering around the plains on the outskirts of Lastation. This is the quest I’ll take on.” Said Black Heart, before her eyes fell on a different flier. “No… I’ll take on this one dealing with Spiders.” She said, sliding the first quest flier away.

Black Sister watched as Black Heart slid the quest flier away from her, before she reached across the desk and slid it back. “No. Let’s do this one together.”

“Together?” Said Black Heart. “Fine, but try to do a good job for once.”

“I will.” Black Sister said.

Black Heart and Black Sister made their way to the balcony behind Black Heart’s desk. After activating their wings the girls took off into the air. “Wait… I really should read those other fliers again and…”

“No. Ancient Dragon!” Black Sister said, flying closer to her sister and taking her by the hand.

Black Heart blushed heavily and tried to pull her hand away, but Black Sister refused to let it go. Instead she started flying faster and pulled her sister along with her. The two girls flew out of Lastation and were soon flying over the plains that stretched out in all directions.

The girls continued to fly until they spotted the Ancient Dragon. The creature was incredibly large and it was chasing a herd of Terits and Boss Lizard monsters. “We should slay those other monsters as well.” Said Black Heart.

“No! Ancient Dragon only!” Said Black Sister. The girl started dipping downwards and flew straight at the Ancient Dragon.

“Let go!” Black Heart ordered.

Black Sister hesitated for a moment, but released her grip on her sisters hand. Black Heart flew in front of Black Sister and summoned her sword. “Take this!” Black Heart cried, as she sliced through the Ancient Dragon.

The Ancient Dragon roared as Black Heart’s sword sliced through it’s chest, but it wasn’t enough to kill the monster. The ancient dragon turned on it’s heels and launched it’s tail at the girl. Black Heart held up her sword and took the full impact of the tail, but it was powerful and it sent the girl flying backwards.

“HEY!” Black Sister roared, as she summoned her rifle and started firing it at the Ancient Dragon. Several shots hit the dragon in the back, forcing the creature to turn it’s attention to her.

The ancient dragon opened it’s maw wide and roared in defiance.

Black Sister narrowed her eyes at the creature. “Eat this!” She screamed, as she pulled the trigger on her rifle. The bullets struck the creature several times, which caused it to fall backwards, kicking smoke and dirt into the air.

“Good work Black Sister!” Black Heart cried, as she flew at the ancient dragon’s back and plunged her sword into it. The ancient dragon’s entire body went rigid as it opened it’s maw wide. However, the creature didn’t roar. The creatures maw trembled before it vanished.

Black Heart smiled brightly. “I can’t believe it. We finished a quest!” She said, happily.

“G-Good work?” Black Sister said, her hands were shaking. “Did you say… Good work Black Sister?”

“Huh?” Black Heart said, as her sister flew closer to her. Black Heart gasped when she saw tears streaming down her sisters cheeks. “I… Guess I did.” Black Heart said, quickly looking away from her sister.

“You complimented me. I did good. Good work!” Black Sister said, before she started sobbing uncontrollably.

Black Heart groaned loudly. “Yes… Well I… I should be proud of you and… I am. I am proud.” Black Heart said, before she reached over and patted her sister awkwardly on the head.

“Good job, proud and head pats?” Even more tears began streaming down her cheeks. “I’m a good girl!” Black Sister cried. “I’m a really good girl!”

“Yes, yes.” Black Heart said, sighing deeply. “Anyways. What made you decide to help me today?”

“You remember that Kei girl who probably broke into the Basilicom? Well she told me I should help you to stay focused. It worked too!” Black Sister said.

“Yeah, well I can stay focused just fine.” Said Black Heart. “Now let’s go turn in this quest. S-Since you were such a help to me. A little help, very little. You can turn in the quest. Understand?”

Black Sister smiled brightly. “Right!”

***

Kei wanted to put her experience with Black Sister behind her, but quickly realized that would be impossible. An entire day had passed since she had given Black Sister advice on helping her sister. Now Black Sister was sitting in a chair across from her, she wore a stern look on her face.

“Kei.” Black Sister began.

“Can I help you?” Kei asked, folding her hands together in front of her.

“Even though you’re probably the one who broke into the Basilicom, considering you were outside and all, I’ve decided to overlook it and ask for your advice.” Said Black Sister.

“Putting aside my innocents, what kind of advice?” Asked Kei.

“Well. Helping my sister stay focused worked out for me yesterday. Black Heart said I did a good job, she was proud and patted my head. Now that I have a taste for all that I need more! More advice please!” Black Sister said.

Kei took a deep breath. “Very well…” She said. “For the sake of Lastation and my sanity, I’ll try to help you.”

Neptunia Heart Souls- CHAPTER 53

 When the girls woke up the following morning, they didn’t have to waste a lot of time getting ready. Thanks to Noire, all they had to do was put their food into a single backpack. Now everyone had a backpack that they carried. After that, they headed outside where the morning sun greeted them. “Well… Let’s get going.” Noire said, smiling warmly at her friends.

“Too early. Need sleep.” Neptune whined, her arms were swinging lifelessly by her sides.
    
“It is pretty early, but I’m sure we’ll all be wide awake by the time we reach the national park.” Said Noire.

Neptune, Nepgear, Noire and Uni started walking down the long street that led out of Lastation. As they walked, the girls took the sights in. “I’m really going to miss Lastation.” Nepgear said. “This place wasn’t always fun, but it felt like home every time I came back.”

“Yeah.” Neptune said, perking up a little. “Remember when Black Sister went nuts?”

“Don’t remember stuff like that.” Noire said, annoyed. “Remember how it felt when we came home every time we activated a Fairy Tower.”

“Yeah…” Neptune muttered, as she tried to come up with another joke, but quickly realized she didn’t have one. “Happy.” She said.

Noire beamed with pride, but she didn’t let it show on her face. Instead she led the charge through the city and soon the girls were leaving out of Lastation’s many gates. As the girls walked towards their destination, all of them kept their eyes open for any signs of monsters.

“So…” Nepgear began. “What are our plans today?” She asked.

“First were going to activate the Fairy Tower. Then were going to do some hunting.” Said Noire.

“Huh? I don’t want to exercise all day!” Neptune cried.

Noire sighed deeply. “Don’t worry Neptune. Were just going to hunt for a little while. Not all day.” Said Noire. “I actually have something better planned for us afterwards.” A mischievous smile appeared on Noire’s face.

Neptune cupped one of her hands over her mouth. “Nepgear?” Neptune whispered.

“Yeah?” Nepgear said, whispering back. Unfortunately for her, Nepgear’s whisper was louder then she meant it to be.

“Noire’s up to something. Be ready to make a run for it when she whips out the ultra-training or something.” Neptune said.

Noire sighed deeply and rolled her eyes, but her smile quickly returned. “Now it’s time for some ultra-training!” Noire announced. “Everyone hand your backpacks over to Neptune to carry!”

“Eek! I’ll be good!” Neptune cried.

“Good to hear. Next time you’ll be giving Nepgear a piggyback ride all the way to the Fairy Tower.” Noire warned.

Nepgear giggled nervously, while Neptune nodded her head several times a look of fear on her face.

The girls continued to walk until they spotted the Fairy Tower in the distance. “Hey Uni? Can you please use your rifle’s scope to see what were dealing with?” Noire asked.

“Sure big sis.” Uni said, as she summoned her rifle and brought the scope close to her eye. “I see a bunch of little monsters like Terits, Spiders and Boss Lizard monsters.” Uni said. “Oh and a Phoenix and Galakryzer.”

“Uh…” Neptune began. “What was that last one?” She asked.

Just as Neptune asked her question, a giant robot appeared next to the Phoenix. The robot was black and red in color, looked like it had upside-down wings on it’s back and it held a large sword in it’s hands.

“I want to take it apart!” Nepgear said, her eyes twinkled with delight.

“Sure. I don’t mind.” Noire said. “But first we need to deal with it.”

“Rig-” Uni began.

“RIGHT!” Nepgear said, cutting Uni off.

Noire giggled. “Alright. Uni? I want you to pick off the smaller monsters from here if you can. Meanwhile Neptune, Nepgear and I will rush in and take that Galakryzer down. If you manage to defeat all the smaller monsters before we defeat that robot, I want you to start shooting the Phoenix. Okay?”

“Got it.” Uni said, nodding.

“Alright. Let’s get ready.” Noire said.

Uni fell to one knee as she took aim at a Terits. Noire stood directly behind her sister and held her rapier up to her face. Neptune and Nepgear held their swords down at their sides and both stood on either side of Noire.

“Now… Let’s….” Noire began.

“Wait.” Neptune said, before Noire could finish speaking.

“What is it?” Asked Noire.

“Look at us! Were doing a hero pose!” Neptune said, brimming with excitement. “We did a natural hero pose! Isn’t that awesome?”

Noire shook her head. “No Neptune. That’s not exciting.” Noire said. “Yeah that’s really awesome! Were doing a hero pose!” Noire thought to herself. “Let’s go now!” She roared.

The moment Noire said the word ‘now’, Uni fired at the Terits killing it instant. Meanwhile Neptune and Nepgear followed after Noire who led the charge against the Galakryzer. As the girls rushed forwards, more beams of energy flew past them and struck the surrounding monsters killing them in one hit.

The Galakryzer suddenly turned it’s attention towards the girls. Reeling back, the robot swung it’s heavy sword at Noire. Noire leapt high in the air and flipped over the robot, catching the creatures attention. The Galakryzer turned it’s body in hopes of keeping the girl in it’s sights, but before it could launch an attack, it felt two swords slice into it’s back.

The Galakryzer fell forwards. It’s right knee slammed into the ground sending debris into the air.
    
“Lace ribbon dance!” Noire cried, as she began twirling on her heels. Noire’s sword sliced through the robot’s body several times, sending sparks and smoke into the air.

The Galakryzer’s body started to shake violently, before it fell lifelessly into the ground. “We did it!” Noire said, excitedly.

“Watch out!” Nepgear cried.

“It’s okay.” Noire said, as the shadow of a phoenix fell over the girl. “I have a dependable little sister.” Before the phoenix could launch any kind of attack against noire, a beam of energy struck the creature in the chest several times. The phoenix roared in anger, but soon it’s lifeless body vanished.

“Awesome!” Nepgear said, turning her eyes towards the Galakryzer. “Now to take this-”  Before Nepgear could finish speaking, the robot vanished along side the phoenix. “Aww…”

“Ooh.” Noire began. “Sorry about that Nepgear. I forgot they did that.”

Nepgear felt tears form in the corners of her eyes. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to go home.” She cried.

“There, there Nep Jr.” Neptune said, patting her sister on the back. “I’ll buy you a calculator or something later, okay? Let’s hurry up and activate the Fairy Tower!” And with that, Neptune made her way to the Fairy Tower and inserted the flash memory stick into the USB port. Moments later, Histoire appeared.

“Congratulations!” Histoire began. “You’ve activated all five Fairy Towers in Lastation!”  Histoire looked into the smiling faces of all the girls who stood before her. “You all did very well. I’m proud of all of you.”

“Aww shucks…” Neptune said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

“Yes. If it weren’t for Noire, Nepgear and Uni, I doubt any of this could have been possible.” Said Histoire.

“Huh? HEY!” Neptune cried. “I’m the one who inserted the memory dealie. I… Aww…” Neptune said, sadly.

Histoire giggled. “I’m only joking with you Neptune. I’m proud of you as well.”

“I wouldn’t say that to her if I were you.” Said Noire, smirking. “It’ll just go to her head.”

“Yeah that’s true.” Neptune said, blushing heavily.

“Not a compliment.” Noire muttered under her breath. “Anyhoo… Histoire? Where are we off to next?”

“Leanbox.” Histoire answered.

“Thought so.” Said Nepgear. “It is the closest nation to Lastation.”

“Yes.” Said Histoire.

“I was going to ask.” Noire began. “How do you decide the order that we need to activate these Fairy Towers in?”

Histoire turned her eyes to Noire. “That’s a good question. You’re actually activating the Fairy Towers in the order they were deactivated in. It must be done this way or else they won’t work.”

“I see.” Said Nepgear, scratching her chin thoughtfully. “How far away is the next Fairy Tower?”

“It’ll take about three days to reach it on foot.” Histoire said, as she glanced around the area they were in. “I have a feeling that on foot is the only way you’ll be able to reach your destination.”

“Aww…” Neptune cried.

“Suck it up.” Said Noire. “Anyways. Let’s see how much share energy we collected from those monsters. After that I want to do some hunting and then my big surprise!” Noire said, as she rubbed her hands together.

The girls did as Noire suggested. After they removed their backpacks and leaned them against the Fairy Tower they checked the amount of share energy they had earned from killing all the monsters they did and they went hunting. The girls fought Terits, Spiders and Boss Lizard monsters at first, but soon the Galakryzer and Phoenix monsters returned.

The girls continued to fight the monsters for several long hours. As they fought they increased their stats and soon the monsters were easier to defeat. “I think that should do it.” Noire said.

“Finally.” Neptune said, collapsing on the ground. “Nepgear sweetie? Do your big sister a favor will you?”

“Oh no.” Nepgear said, a look of worry appeared on her face.

“Bring your sister a pudding please… Oh and tell her if her legs are still there.” Neptune said.

Nepgear sighed deeply. “You’re fine sis.” She said, but decided to go and get her sister a pudding anyways.

“You’re always going to dote on her. Aren’t you Nepgear?” Said Uni, smiling at Nepgear as she dug into her backpack.

“Yeah, well…” Nepgear began, but she stopped speaking when she spotted the devices she created to break into Lastation’s Basilicom. “She’s my sister. Have to look out for her.” She said, as she covered the devices up and grabbed a pudding instead.

“Yeah… I guess…” Uni said. Uni made her way to her backpack as well and pulled out a pudding before she turned to Noire. Noire was sitting on the ground next to Nepgear and the girls were talking amongst each other. Uni made her way over to her sister and handed it to her. “Here you are sis.” Uni said, handing the pudding over.

“Oh. That’s alright Uni.” Noire began, but noticed that her sister wasn’t facing her. Instead she was looking somewhere else and her cheeks were bright red. “Thanks Uni.” Noire said.

The four girls ate a cup of pudding, before Noire got to her feet. “Alright. Time for my surprise!” Noire said, as she made her way over to her backpack and reached inside. To everyone’s surprise, Noire pulled out four handheld game consoles. “I bought these yesterday and pre-installed some co-op games.” She said.

“Whoa!” Neptune said. “I didn’t know you played videogames Noire.”

“Of course I play videogames. I’m actually really good at them too.” Noire said, smiling proudly.

“Yeah. Sounds like something a losing loser would say.” Neptune said, giggling mischievously.

“What was that?!” Noire snapped. “That’s it Neptune! Me and you, one-on-one! NOW!” Noire made her way over to Neptune and shoved one of the handheld consoles into her hands.

Uni giggled nervously. “You shouldn’t have made fun of my sisters gaming abilities. She won’t stop playing now until she wins.”

“Stop talking like I already lost!” Noire said, handing a console over to Uni. “Here Nepgear. Oh and you better get another pudding ready for your sister. She’s going to need a sympathy pudding after she loses.”

“Ooh. Now I really hope I lose.” Neptune said, as she playfully kicked her feet as the console booted up.

Neptune, Nepgear, Noire and Uni started playing videogames for the rest of the day. Later that night, they unrolled their sleeping bags and continued playing while laying down. “This is really fun.” Noire thought to herself, but she knew their fun would soon be coming to an end.

***

The following day everyone, except for Neptune, tried to hold back their tears. “Waah! I’m going to miss you Noire! Uni!” Neptune cried, as she threw her arms around both girls. “You two were like the sisters I didn’t even know I had, or needed!” She cried.

“N-Neptune! Stop being a baby!” Noire said, as tears trickled down her bright red cheeks. “As soon as this whole thing is over with, were going to see each other all the time!”

“Yeah…” Uni said, choking back her tears.

“That’s true.” Neptune said, as she released her grip on her friends. “I’ll be over at your house everyday playing videogames and hogging the couch.”

“Yeah… We’ll probably be moving before that happens.” Noire said, smirking.

Neptune giggled as she moved backwards until she was standing next to Nepgear. “Nep J Jr.” Neptune said, placing her hand on Nepgear’s back and pushing the girl gently forwards.

Nepgear blushed heavily, but she didn’t let her sadness top her. Nepgear moved over to Uni and Noire and hugged them as well. “I’ll miss you both. I had so much fun.” Nepgear said.

“We did too.” Noire said, patting Nepgear gently on the back.

“You can hog our couch anytime, okay?” Said Uni.

“Heard that.” Neptune said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and trying to sound annoyed.

After that, Nepgear rejoined her sister. “See you later.” Nepgear said, as she and Neptune turned to leave.

“Bye.” Noire said and Uni said.

Noire and Uni waited until they saw their friends disappear into the distance. “Come on Uni. We can teleport back home if you want.”

Uni took a jagged breath. “Big sis?” She began. Uni wanted to ask her sister all kinds of questions. She wanted to ask her if she really would miss Neptune and Nepgear, when they would see their friends together, if staying behind was actually a mistake. Instead all she could ask her sister was one question. “Can we just walk back?”

Noire smiled warmly at her sister and extended her hand. “Of course.”

“Thanks.” Uni said, as tears trickled down her cheeks. Uni took her sisters hand and the two started their journey back to their home. Back to Lastation.