Soul-Dimension Neptunia

Chapter 52: The Truth Not Understood

Dreamcast and Cave rushed to the back of the town, the cold blizzard raging all around them. Rendering humans frozen and Goddess' asleep. Fused Dreamcast was warding off the effects but even their current form was frosting over. The rear of the district was more of a green land, in the manner of trees and freeze resistant plants but even they succumbed to the cold

Cave tried scouting around pointing to a tree "Hmmm...there...the shard is there...ahhhh" Cave was forced to the ground, her rocket jets weakening "My core tempurature is starting to fail. Though mechanical I am a bio-android so have living flesh"

"And...I know its getting to hold this body" Dreamcast said worriedly "Neptune is struggling to stay awake and Tenma is freezing" Dreamcast flew over to grab the shard, which absorbed into her body before sneezing and her body freezing which she shook off "Where to next?"

"Let us head for the warehouse, let's hurry" though they both flew over, it was proving more difficult by the minute. There's bodies getting colder, and slower.

The warehouse was a desolate place, not a Monster in sight, and the shard was easy to find in plain sight. But upon reaching there "AHhh...core...temperature...below...safe...levels...body shutting down" Cave was now freezing in place, literally, as ice formed around her 

"Cave...Cave hold...on ahhh" Dreamcast punched her arm and knee to shatter the ice 

"No time. Grab...the shard, then the one in the shopping district. You're running out of time, if you both freeze...no time for...any...he..." and she too was frozen like the rest. 

Dreamcast would shiver and absorbs the core into her being before taking off...but little over halfway...Dreamcast would droop and near crash into the floor "Its...becoming harder to remain...here...have to hurry. While I can exist" Dreamcast broke into a run, fighting off the cold as she made it to the shopping district. She tried sensing the flow of Share energy "come on, come on...where are...you...there" she followed the signal to a woman who had it in her hand and held it in herself "Now to get back...back to the core" but she grew weaker, her running turning to a jog, then a power walk... "almost there...Lowee Basilicom is...is...AHHH" but as she made it before the front door...she defused back into Tenma and Neptune.

Tenma was horribly cold, his body frosty, shivering as ice was slowly forming "Have to...have to hold...Neptune, Neptune" to his dismay Neptune was out cold, sleeping as if peacefully even as an ice-shard extruded from her chest "got to...finish it...before we...freeze" Tenma picked up Neptune, as to not leave her on the floor and carried her inside. "Ahhh...got to...got to...ahhh" he was forced to put down Neptune in the foyer, as he forced himself onwards, his feet now frozen literally weights.

More of his legs froze over, his body getting harder to move...so much so that as he made it o tthe stairs down to the core, his cold tired body lost strength and he tumbled down the stairs but not to hit the floor but a moist, if cold, softish surface "You took your...time" the weak pained voice of Trick spoke, Tenma awkwardly turning to him to see ice piercing through most of his body, as if rendering him static "do you have shards?"

"Y-y-yes...I...d-d-d-d-ooooo" he said shaking with Trick pulling him over to the crystal, even as his torso froze over, a pain piercing his heart 

"Then...give the crystals back" Tenma reached out, his arm even now following his body, the crystals absorbed into him, from Dreamcast, coming out and spinning around the crystal.