“Sis?”
It was raining when the fighting was over. A woman with a wooden sword stood in the middle of the muddy ground, surrounded by small puddles and scars of the fight she just won. She didn’t even respond to her younger sister’s voice, nor did she mind the rain pouring down on her. She just stood there, staring at nothing. Digging deep into her mind that no one but her could see.
The little sister helplessly watched.
How could she be so naive? Talking about admiration as if it answered all her questions. During the last ten years her sister was left alone, she was standing alone underneath the rain just like this. Masking the tears as they fell. Her older sister had changed, that much was for sure.
Her admiration had been renewed, but yet, nothing seemed brighter, only bleeker.
“...Who do I look to you, Junior?” Neptune asked,
“Do I look like the same older sister you followed around before? Or do I look like some kind of a monster that hurts children?”
Neptune faced her little sister, dropping her sword and pulling her hair back with both hands.
Nepgear was at a loss for words. For any answer she thought up feels wrong. Neptune was looking for something specific, and she couldn't give it to her.
“I dunno Sis…” Nepgear squeamishly replied. It being the only answer that she could possibly give to such a loaded question.
“I see…”
Neptune picked up her sword and walked over to Nepgear, who was now looking down in embarrassment. She grabbed her hand, and rubbed the tips of her fingers, prompting her to look up.
“Let’s go home." Neptune said with a pained smile on her face, "We’re both gonna get sick”
Nepgear quietly nodded and picked up the remainder of their things. “...Mhm”
----------------------------------------
“... Now it’s a 1v3 situation, with Vert planting the bomb at A for Long. The opposition is going in at all entrances, going for a pincer attack on Vert”
“Vert has to be careful here, she’s up against the best shooters, where they shoot literally anything that moves”
“And there’s the peak from St-! Oooooh! She was waiting! She was waiting! What a headshot from Vert! Knowing full well that they’d peek Short first to get the info!”
“And now from Spawn, Jamie is now pushing and at Pit, LanLan watching the site trying to get as much intel as possible. Vert, very patient. Not going to peek, raising their anxiety. Remember. They don’t have a kit, so they have to pick Vert off as soon as possible.”
“Vert throws the smoke, then throws the flash, flashing LanLan. She pushes and-!”
“Takes out Jamie from behind?! Who was trying to push through the smoke. But now Vert has lost position and has to find a way to get back on site. Oh, she decides to go through Spawn and go to Short”
“It seems LanLan has also realized this, and is making a mad dash towards the site, throwing a smoke to cover her approach from spawn. Up on Ramp, he only has 6 seconds left before he needs to defuse the bomb. He fakes. Peeks short. Avoids getting flashed and pe-! What?! That was a bait!? OOOOOOOOOOH!”
“LanLan gets taken out by the frag grenade. We can see in the replay here that Vert threw the frag first, before throwing the flash. He got flashed and then exploded from the first frag. And look, she’s even in position to take out LanLan if the frag didn’t kill!”
“Holy shit…! What kind of brain does Vert even have!? That is some next level gaming, that in all my years of commentating on this game, I've never seen before!”
“You love to see it. And what a semi-finals we’ve witnessed here. I can’t wait to see what the grand finals would look like, the old guard versus the up and coming hero. We’ll be back, after this ad break”
A team of youngsters exits their chamber and makes their way towards their lockers. Jumping around and pumping their fists as the cheers of the crowd died down behind them. Though they’ve won countless tournaments, this is the first time they’ve felt actual victory as if it was their 3rd tournament. It was exhilarating. As if they were back to their prime.
All because they recruited the best player anyone could ask for. Dominating 1v1’s tournaments, and leading in the leaderboards around the world.
“Hell yeah! Finals are gonna be easy breezy!” one of them exclaims, pumping their fist high up in the air in happiness.
“I know right?! Another tourney in the bag!”
“Won’t we get some new sponsors if we win this one?”
“Shit, you’re right. And our contract ends next week”
“Bonus time!”
They all laugh in joy at the idea. It’s not like they were struggling. Of course they’re here and there in terms of skill, but this tournament felt like the easiest towards a mansion with gravure models waiting for them in a two-piece.
“By the way, where’s Vert? I know she’s a girl and everything, but I can’t find her in the common room”
“Probably still in her lockers?”
“We should look for her, it’s about time we get ready for the finals anyway”
“Hey! Hey! HEY!”
Then, someone came bursting into their lockers, kicking the double doors wide open. A man in his 30’s huffs in air, showing clear evidence that it’s an emergency that can’t be waited for.
“Yo manager, what up? What got you kicking and screaming?”
“It’s…! *huff!* *huff!* It’s…! Vert…! *haaa* *haaa*!”
“What about her?”
“She’s…! She’s…!”
“What?”
“She’s going home!”
----------------------------------------
As Vert approached the limousine waiting for her, the man standing in front of her door asked, “Lady Vert, you’re going to leave early again?”
Vert nodded indifferently, “It’s the same as always, manager”
The man put a hand to his head and sighed as he opened the door for her, “The press is going to tear us a new one…”
As Vert entered the back of the limousine, panicked footsteps could be heard running toward her. She sighed as she got into the car, and shut the door with an audible thump.
“Vert! What the hell!?” one of them shouted as he caught his breath.
The night of Leanbox was cold and quiet.
It’s late into the night, with very few cars passing by the arena. The excitement in the arena is the only beat beating into the somber night. Vert took a look at the time, it would take her no less than 5 minutes to get from here to her house. From there, she’d have enough time to take a long scented bath before retiring for the night. In all honesty, she couldn’t wait.
“VERT!” The sound of a teenage boy’s rage interrupts her imagination. Ticked off by this, she opens her mouth.
“Are you boys done now?”
“Wha…?”
“I only agreed to play with you, because your manager asked me to secure your sponsors. Now that I did that, my job is done. It’s time that I leave”
“But it’s the finals!?” one of them argued. Which was true, there were only ten minutes left till the finals. The team would have to reshuffle their entire roster in such a short amount of time.
“And so what? I came and saw what I needed to see. None of you are of any use to me anymore. You can’t support my plays. You lose to a 1v5 situation with all of them damaged. And finally, none of you are able to shoot properly. I’m surprised that you’ve held out this far. Then, again all of you are scrubs anyway”
“Why you b-!”
“If I was on my own, I could’ve won with a 6 point difference. Tell me boys, are you men enough to do it on 1v5 every round?”
Have you ever seen someone way out of your league? Maybe in terms of smarts, or practical skills? How could you tell that they were above you? The way they speak? Their mannerisms? The way they flick the mouse? The way they showed off their skills? The answer is no. It’s none of them. It’s the methods they use in which they overwhelm you.
It's the atmosphere.
You’ve seen this phenomenon before. Someone makes a statement, and the entire room shifts to listening to them. This is common in rap battles where most wins are dictated by the cheers of the crowd. For any professional athlete, atmosphere is everything. How quickly they can read “the room”, knowing who is pulling the other team together for the win. Finding if the opponent is nervous to be taken advantage of.
But for these boys, it’s been a long while since they felt it. The receiving end of the atmosphere created by someone in front of them.
A cold sweat ran down from the bottom of their nape as they unintentionally swallowed nothing. Their fingers began to feel cold, their bodies trembling in fear, as the blonde woman looked down on them from the limousine.
The player known as Vert. The previous Goddess of Leanbox, the selfish solo player known as Vert, was serious.
Vert gently closed her eyes as she rested her back on her seat, the window closing before her.
The limousine gently drives off, merging with the main road before speeding off towards the next intersection.
“Do you have to look like that? I think they peed a little” her Manager asked.
“It’s fine, Manager. Let children travel as they say”
“Hrmm.. You know, if you keep pushing people away like that. Then you’re never gonna get any friends”
“...” the Manager could feel a frown on Vert’s face.
“What? Something I said?”
“Nothing.” Vert said forcefully, “I’m going to sleep for a bit”
During the whole ride, Vert dreamt that she’d find friends like them.
----------------------------------------
“I said no, Junior.” Neptune said firmly, denying her Little Sister’s request the moment she brought it up once more.
“But Sis, I’m not sure if you realized it, but you haven’t had any customers for a week now.” Nepgear said, spreading her arm to show the amount of customers shopping in her Big Sister’s shop.
To which there were none.
Neptune waved her hands indifferently at her younger sister. “It’s fine. It’s fine! This is just a normal part of business, Junior”
But in reality, Neptune wants to do it. She genuinely wanted to do it.
In order for the shop to grow more customers beyond selling, Nepgear proposed that they buy consoles making the shop act as a social club for their customers. Doubling the exposure of the shop while also serving basic drinks and hours. They could put away the shelves, replace it with a station consisting of a cheap sofa big enough for 2, and a TV. Their biggest titles would be shown off by the counter and the window.
It was honestly a splendid idea.
However, there was just a small problem.
Money, and pride. Mostly pride.
Neptune didn’t mind spending a bit of money to get the business going. These ten years of running a business have ingrained in her the idea of “put money to make money”. She knew all too well how this worked.
The problem is… that she needed more money to get the ball rolling. So buying only one station wasn’t really appealing, no more than a “free demo” kind of thing.
Of course, she could ask her filthy rich little sister for said money. But as her older sister, and as someone who just re-established proper, honest to goodness, communication, she couldn’t just assume that Nepgear would be okay with it. Nepgear might’ve accumulated some debt and would like to pay it off, or she’s paying for insurance… whatever she could use insurance for. Or maybe she wanted to feel some sense of worth because Planeptune’s taxes are terrible for freelancers. In any case, asking for money from your little sister was assuming they were already on good terms to begin with.
And Neptune’s not going to make the same mistake again.
Of course, said little sister wasn’t taking no for an answer, as she squeezed her cheeks together and stared expectantly at her older sister, “Mmmmmm…!”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“I said no already, Junior.”
Nepgear unsqueezed her face and let out a frustrated sigh, “Fine! Have it your way!”
With a hmph and turn, Nepgear stomped out of Neptune’s way and towards her room.
Neptune sighed and put a hand to her head in exasperation, “Why do you have to be so stubborn about this…?”
It had been a few days since they'd reconciled. So far, their relationship as sisters had gone back to the way it was… Somewhat? Neptune can’t tell really. It didn’t take long for her to realize that her younger sister, being a shut-in and all, is now completely oblivious to everything going on around her. Like a newborn chick appreciating the sky for the first time. It took a lot of mental fortitude to explain the recent events to her, despite still feeling awkward around her.
“I swear it was easier before…” Neptune mumbled to herself
That was a lie.
Hearing the chime of the door opening, Neptune instinctively looked. Only to see a nurse she raised with a plastic bag in her hand.
“And you’re here once again…” Neptune mumbled to the congo-haired woman
“Mhm. The hospital was a bit too crowded today. We’ve got a celebrity visiting” Compa answered as she made her way to the back.
“Celebrity? Who?” Neptune initially asked,”If you’re gonna eat, we’ve got some leftover rice from this morning”
“I’m not really into celebrities that much, Nep Nep”
“I think I’ve seen a collection of memorabilia in your room in the past haven’t I?”
“Fwueeeeeeh!?!” Compa exclaimed and looked down in embarrassment, Neptune smiling smugly at her reaction.
Compa walked past her and into the hall leading to the kitchen. After a few moments, Neptune could hear the sound of water coming out of the faucet.
“Two cups only, Compa!” Neptune shouted,”Also, add a bit more water than usual!”
“Kaay~~~”
Neptune let out another sigh as she pulled out her phone to check Chirper. She didn’t use the social media platform that much anymore, but considering Compa said that a big celebrity was visiting her hospital, she figured she might as well see who it was.
And who it was, wasn’t much of a big surprise to her.
BREAKING! After quitting near the end of the bracket, pro-gamer and former Goddess, Vert, is headed to Planeptune?! For a vacation?!
OMG! I can’t believe Vert just dipped like that!
What’s so great about Planeptune? Why is Vert visiting there?
I wonder if Vert has someone she wants to visit in Planeptune?
“Haha…” Neptune gave a low chuckle, shaking her head not in disbelief, but because she expected this outcome, “You really did become a pro gamer after all, didn’t you Vert?”
As she talked to herself, Neptune could hear Nepgear’s door creak open, and then see said person peek her head out of the door to catch a glimpse of what she overheard earlier.
“What’s going on, Sis?”
“Vert’s coming over to Compa’s hospital.” Neptune quickly explained, “But it seems like she’s made a name for herself as a pro gamer, and she’s stirred up some controversy before then. So right now Chirper is all in a buzz about it.”
Nepgear immediately sweat dropped at that, “Of course she’d be a pro gamer…”
Neptune chuckled and nodded at her younger sister, “Right? Anyway, want to visit IF even though Vert’s going to visit? I’m calmed down enough now, so I want to check up on how she’s doing.”
“Right now?”
“Of course not right now!” Neptune immediately countered, “I meant for later! I’m still hungry right now, you know?! I can’t be visiting IF, and then my stomach growls while I’m talking to her! Do you know how embarrassing that’ll be?!”
Nepgear slightly raised her hands up and waved them with a sheepish smile on her face, “Sorry, sorry, Sis. I didn’t mean to say something so insensitive…”
“Well… whatever. What do you want to do while Compa prepares the rice?”
“Err…”
Neptune sighed, “How about some games from our console generation?”
“That works too, yeah! We did have some pretty good games at the time!”
Neptune nodded, and she brought out the dusty old console from her room, and into the living room so that they could pass the time.
----------------------------------------
“We’re finally here…” Nepgear muttered in relief as she relished the cold air from the air conditioner, sticking her face directly in front of it the moment they entered the hospital.
“That’s really disturbing, Junior” Neptune scolded her, “Also immature.”
“I’m going to clock in, wait for me here”
Arriving at the hospital an hour after lunch, the sisters took seats in the waiting area. Nepgear looked around, to which Neptune quickly reminded her not to stare. The waiting area being filled with patients and visitors alike, some are healthy, while plenty are in gowns.
“What are you looking for, Junior? It’s kinda rude you know” Neptune whispered to her lilac-haired younger sister
“I know.” Nepgear immediately replied back in a hushed tone, “But I can’t find signs of a celebrity here”
Neptune frowned, but nodded in understanding, “Mmm… Maybe not on this floor then. C’mon don’t look around too much”
Nepgear nodded and went to look at her phone while Neptune closed her eyes to let them rest.
Surprisingly for her, she was calm. Her heart wasn’t beating too fast, her fingers didn't feel cold at the touch. If she didn’t reconcile with Compa and her younger sister, would she have felt like this while visiting a dear daughter of hers? Maybe not.
“Nep-Nep!”
But maybe…
“Hrm?”
“We’ve got trouble!”
“I-It’s IF!”
The world just loves to kick you down a notch…
“-!”
Neptune quickly jumped up and headed toward the 3rd floor. Her mind racing, her heart jumping. Her feet running. Her arms swinging. With each step she took, she launched herself off the floor, expending as much energy as she could. Everything was a blur to her, she couldn’t hear people running past her, she couldn't feel the people pushing against her. She just runs, powering them through as if her life depended on it.
And at the end of the tunnel stands her in between the brunette.
“Hello, Neptune”
Neptune took a moment to catch her breath, “V-Vert…?”
“Can you tell me why this has happened?”
----------------------------------------
“What the hell are you doing here, Vert?”
“My, are you sure you want to be using that language in front of the media?”
Neptune looked to the side, and true enough, outside of the glass walls of this room were camera men and women, journalists and bloggers all gathered witnessing and recording everything. It’s not too much of an imagination to say that everything was being streamed right this moment.
“...So how are you, Nep? It’s been a long time since we last talked” Vert asked in her usual tone of voice that Nep remembered oh so well.
“Huh?”
“My, how long have we not talked? Twenty years ago? How times have really changed for you”
“What are you…?”
“So how’s life been going for you, lately? I heard you’re running a video game store?”
“...I-I’ve been doing well”
“My, my. That’s splendid. I’ve been busy with my gaming career, with all the sponsors and streaming and stuff. It’s been quite busy”
“I… see…?”
“And Noire and Blanc have been busy with their careers as well. Noire has tons of jobs now, and Blanc is an established writer. Quite amazing that our group of friends are able to achieve quite a career for themselves, right?”
“...”
“So have sales been going well for you, Neptune? I heard a new game came out and it’s quite popular.”
“I… I don’t sell those…”
“Oh? But I’m sure your shop is filled to the brim right?”
“Um… no. I sell old retro games. Refurbished and cleaned”
“My, retro games, those are quite good. I’m sure those are selling like hotcakes, right?”
“...No…”
“No? What do you mean no?”
“...We don’t get as much customers as you think”
“My, my. That’s no good. It must be a bad year for you”
“At all”
“At all?”
“Mhm…”
“My, my. That’s quite unfortunate, how are you able to get by?”
“Quests…”
“I see. I see. That is quite unfortunate, Neptune. How are you able to pay for Iffy’s fees?”
“I…”
“With that said, would you be happy if I take care of Iffy from now on?”
“Huh?”
“I would transfer her to Leanbox and I’m going to pay all of the expenses. She does look quite beaten up I must say”
“...”
“And with your financial situation, it will be quite the load off your shoulders right?”
“What the hell…?”
“So, what do you say, Neptune? I’m sure this is what Iffy would want, right? Lessening your burden on her”
“What the hell Vert!?”
“Don’t worry Neptune, you can still visit her anytime you wish”
“Shut the fuck up, Vert”
“...”
“What the hell did you come here for? Visiting Iffy? Or dissing me?!”
“No no, I’m here to negotiate”
“Negotiate!?”
“To transfer Iffy to Leanbox’s hospital of course! I can’t just simply let her rot here in Planeptune, can I? It would simply be too cruel for me”
“For you?! What about me?!”
“What about you?”
“I’m her…! I’m her-!”
“Her what?”
“...Kh!”
“Her mother? The person that raised her? Please don’t delude yourself, Neptune. You were merely doing your job as a Goddess”
“...!”
“If anything you did a terrible job at it. And this is the result. Are you going to tell me that you want to make her suffer more, as her ‘mother’, Neptune”
“As her ‘mother’! You have no right! No fuckinn right! To be messing around in my fucking business you thunder tits!”
“...!”
“How dare you!? How fucking dare you!? To show up in my life again after 20 years! Not even greeting me! Not even asking if I was okay! Do you know how much I fucking bled! While you were sitting comfortably in your chair playing your goddamn video games! I was fucking killing myself! And you come here spitting nonsense like this!”
“Ne-!”
“Are you going to do it again! ARE YOU FUCKING GOING TO DO IT AGAIN! ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME AGAIN! YOU SHITTY TITS FOR BRAINS!”
*CLASH!* *BAM!*
“-!”
“GET OUT!”
*CLASH!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *CLASH!* *BAM!*
“GET OUT!”
*CLASH!* *BAM!* *CLASH!* *BAM!*
“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FUCKING LIFE YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!”
*CLANG!*
“Si-Sis!”
“-!”
When Neptune came to, she was holding a sword she wasn’t familiar with. No, that was wrong. She was holding a very familiar sword. Whose shape, size, and weight, all screamed familiarity to her. The way it shifted its weight the moment you added any sort of force. The way its weight felt solid to the touch. The way it’s sharpness almost gleamed.
“Sis…!” Nepgear squeaked in pain.
In pain…?
“Ju-!”
Red.
The color red filled her vision.
A red that she was all too used to seeing. A deep red she was so familiar with. A red so tiring to look at, that it was just part of a person who had taken up arms.
But the thing she didn’t expect was… Who did this red belong to?
With her eyes, she traced the red’s path. Her imagination reinforces the futile belief in who this red belonged to. The sword was digging deep into something. Soft. Squishy. Like rubber, but wetter. That something was covered with white, slowly being stained by the color red.
It was reminiscent of her clothes from oh so long ago. White, with purple linings at the edges. With a purple tie and a purple o-ring belt to complete the ensemble. The perfect clothes for the afternoon.
And yet, those clothes were being stained red. From the shoulder down towards the chest by the familiar sword that was once used to protect.
“Sis…! Take it out…!” Nepgear breathed, holding her arm weakly.
Nepgear was in pain, her face clearly showing that fact. The sword pierced her shoulder cleanly. But it feels like needles were stabbing her repeatedly in the wound. The moment her Sister even moved, it felt like she was being stabbed by countless needles. It was excruciating, as her arm began to feel heavy and started to lose its feeling.
“Sis-!”
“Neptune, what are you doing!? Take it out now!”
“-!”
Vert suddenly stepped in between the two. Neptune, out of reflex, letting go of the sword.
Nepgear collapsed right on the spot, to which the tits-for-brains pro gamer caught her before her head could make contact with the floor. Seeing Compa rushing towards her fallen younger sister, Neptune grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out, Nepgear’s face contorting in real time as she did so.
“Ge-Ge! Anyone! Maria! Maria! Call a Code Blue! Two bags of Type A and get the trauma team ready! Also, Epinephrine, she’s going into shock!” Compa quickly issued orders as she put a finger on the artery on the shoulder.
“Ma’am! Code Blue! Code Blue! We need two Type A’s, a trauma team at Room 319”
As quickly as the events went by, a crown of people suddenly surrounded her younger sister.
Neptune stood there, unable to process what was happening.
They were supposed to be okay now.
They were supposed to be better now.
They were supposed to act like Sisters again.
She worked hard for it.
She was careful about it.
She wanted it to last long before it came crumbling down again.
She wanted to keep it standing. She wanted...
“You see now, Neptune…”
“...!”
“...it’s just like before. You failed again”
“-!”
That was it. The last straw.
She knew it. She definitely knew it.
She knew it from long, long ago.
If someone was lucky enough to have a series of blessings come down on them. One of them is just the devil’s blessing. Filled with consequences beyond what one could ever imagine. One would gain something in exchange for everything. One would get their wants, in exchange for their needs. One would receive material, in exchange for their heart and soul.
One would receive children, in exchange for riches.
One would receive a Sister, in exchange for their communication.
One would receive forgiveness, in exchange for her chance at redemption.
But no one could be that lucky. No one was that blessed.
Not especially her. Not with everything she had been through. Fighting dogoos day in and day out to make ends meet, almost going bankrupt because there weren’t enough Guild missions that month, her alcoholism, shunning IF and Compa for years…
She had gone through a lot. She had recovered a lot.
But was that really true?
She didn’t know. The tears in her eyes wouldn’t tell her how she was feeling. The heartache that had returned denied her response. The screams from her anguish drowned the answer from her.
She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know.