Hello guys! Eraviel here!
First of all, I apologize for being gone for god knows how long. It's not like it was my intention, really.
Anyway, as you might already know, this is somewhat like a sequel to Memories! Though just showing what's on the other side during the last part of the epilogue, and a little bit of after that. Title explains everything.
Also, I'll just get this out of the way in case someone might get confused. The setting in this side is NOT the same as the one from Re;Birth 1/Original game despite being in the same dimension. You can expect some differences for convenience's sake.
This will just be a oneshot since I have no idea what to put after this. Until I get a flash of inspiration, this story will be marked as complete. I just did this on a whim, after all. Also I've been working on other fics, and an original story of mine that I might publish in webnovel but it ain't going to come out any sooner because of my job.
Anyway, onto the chapter now. Enjoy!
Planeptune - Basilicom.
In a certain dark room that looked like a physical version of the time-space continuum, a chibi girl sitting on a floating book could be seen in the middle. In front of her, there was a crystal floating in mid-air and several virtual windows around her. From the looks of it, she was looking for something, as several number-letter combinations were displayed on the screens.
"..."
Her eyes were swiftly switching from one window to another in steady pacing. It seemed like she was trying to establish a communication with those numbers.
What were those numbers anyway?
Those were dimension coordinates. Pretty self-explanatory. Who was she trying to communicate to? Someone very similar to her, of course, though that would be an understatement as the actual person she was trying to call was none other than herself.
Herself from that dimension.
As her activity continued, the door opened and someone entered the room. She noticed it and stopped her activity and turned to the person who just made their entrance.
"How is it going, Histoire?" The person who just entered asked.
Yes, the small girl's name was Histoire. What was she? Certainly not human judging from her appearance.
"Not good, Noire. I haven't received any leads at all." Histoire said as she sighed.
The person, Noire, just frowned. Who was Noire? She was none other than the CPU of Lastation. She was wearing her signature outfit of a combination of dark blue, white, and red color dress that looked like a cosplay of sorts, along with her usual twin-tail hairstyle tied by two-piece black and blue ribbons.
"No leads, huh...?" Noire's thoughts wandered a bit. "While we're at it, the world is continuously being filled with chaos."
Histoire frowned. What was happening in their world? As Noire said, it was in chaos, and it seemed like the situation wasn't improving at all. In fact, it was becoming worse.
What caused this?
"Arfoire really made a fool on us, huh...?" Histoire said as she bit her lip. "I thought I can at least lessen the casualties when you freed me from my seal, but it looks like I'm nothing but powerless."
Noire swung her head. "Don't say that, Histoire. I'm glad that you asked me for help during your sealed days." She said and averted her eyes away from Histoire. There was something else that she was feeling other than being glad about that. "This is so I can atone for my sins..."
Histoire knew what Noire was talking about. It was that event from twenty-five days ago, where the CPUs were fighting against each other in Celestia.
"Don't, Noire. You three were just manipulated."
"But... for a CPU to be manipulated..."
Histoire raised her hand up and stopped Noire from saying anything else. "We've already gone through this, Noire. Arfoire wasn't just a nobody. Not even you three can stand up against her with your bare hands and weapons."
Noire was silent. To be honest, she was a little relieved when Histoire said that, but also frustrated because of her, or their lack of strength. Arfoire wasn't just a simple everyday foe, after all.
"Anyway, how are Vert and Blanc?" Histoire asked.
Noire just swung her head. "They secured their respective sacred weapons, though I don't know where they are now. I got mine earlier so I hurried here." She said as she took out a dual revolver. "I had to run around as the parts are completely scattered."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know that the weapons were broken into several parts." Histoire apologized as she bowed her head a little. "Though I'm relieved that you managed to bring it back together."
"Yeah, I can't believe it myself that I managed to do that." Noire said as she crossed her arms. "Anyway, what can this even do? I don't feel any power in this weapon despite being called sacred and it's pretty old."
Histoire swung her head. "Don't worry. We will not use them in combat. They are keys to open the path to Celestia."
Noire was surprised to hear that. It was the first time, actually. Since they can't use their teleporters in the Basilicom, they had to use another way which can be found in the ruins. As Histoire mentioned, the weapons were keys, though there was one slight problem: they had no idea where the ruins were. Either way, they had no choice but to do whatever they could.
"Anyway, I'm sorry I interrupted your work. I'll just sit here silently and wait for Vert and Blanc to arrive." Noire said as she sat down on one of the cushions. She was even surprised that there were cushions in this room when not a single furniture was present. Only a dark room and few cushions around.
"Alright. Make yourself at home." Histoire said before going back to whatever she was doing earlier.
Silence veiled the room instantly. Noire took out her PDA and messaged Blanc and Vert about their whereabouts, while Histoire was still looking onto the dimensional coordinates.
"..."
It was like that for a while. Noire was getting a little deaf from the silence, but she couldn't just talk to Histoire because she was doing her utmost best on her work as what she was doing was the most crucial part in their plan.
"Oh. Someone picked up my call." Histoire said unconsciously.
Noire's attention was immediately drawn to Histoire. She didn't say anything and just stood up and walked towards Histoire. She then sat down beside her.
"I will establish a video call." Histoire then laid her arms forward, and a static screen appeared in front of her. Shortly after that, a person appeared on the screen that looked like Histoire but somehow a little bit different.
Noire was surprised to see that, but she didn't say anything as it wasn't really the right moment to do so.
"Hello? Is this the me from that dimension?" Histoire spoke. The 'Histoire' from the screen was speechless the moment she saw Histoire. Additionally, there were three people that Histoire didn't recognize.
Knowing that Histoire wouldn't receive a response from the 'Histoire' on the screen, she took the liberty to keep the conversation going. "The fact that I can call you and talk to you personally right now means that you're me as well." She said. It didn't seem like the 'Histoire' on screen would response again, so Histoire spoke again. "It might be so sudden, but I want to introduce myself. My name is Histoire. I'm the one who records the History of Planeptune."
The 'Histoire' on screen's expression changed. It looked like she was ready to talk as her face was less stiff. "I see. My name is Histoire as well. I'm the one who guides Planeptune. Nice to meet you."
Histoire didn't quite understand what that role was, but it wasn't really the right time to talk about that.
"Likewise." Histoire said. As much as she wanted to have a good conversation, every second counts for them. "I don't want to waste your precious time, so I will cut to the chase."
'Histoire' on the screen just nodded as a reply.
"Do you perhaps, know a girl named Neptune? She has been missing for almost a month now, so I have been trying to call multiple dimensions to find her whereabouts."
Suddenly, the people on the screen had this surprised look, which somehow confused Histoire, but also gave her an idea that they knew something.
"She's our CPU, and Gamindustri wants... no, needs her back."
Right after Histoire said that, the screen suddenly disappeared.
"What happened?" Noire asked.
Histoire closed her eyes and inspected if there was a connection issue. After a short while, she opened her eyes. "They dropped the call."
"What? Are you sure it's not a problem with the connection? Because I don't see why they-"
"No, they definitely dropped the call." Histoire said as she clenched her fists. "It seems like they know something, else they wouldn't avoid me."
Now that Histoire mentioned that, it made sense to Noire. But for some reason, she was feeling the chills, as if there was something off. She didn't say anything as a reply and just gulped her nervousness.
"I will try to re-establish a connection." Histoire said. The other virtual windows disappeared and the remaining one was the one where she had that call earlier. She then tried establishing a link once more, but the request was getting dropped.
"What's wrong, Histoire?" Noire asked.
Histoire swung her head and sighed. "They are rejecting my call. This solidifies my hunch that Neptune is in that dimension."
"Well, how can we take her back? We can't even talk to your counterpart."
Histoire didn't say anything and flew towards the crystal. She touched the crystal and then several virtual windows appeared around her again. Her fingers moved swiftly on the virtual keyboard in front of her as her eyes ran around the screens.
"What are you doing?" Noire asked in curiosity.
"I'm going to apologize to you in advance, but I'll have you pick Neptune up yourself." Histoire said without even turning to Noire and just kept doing whatever she had to.
Several question marks dropped on Noire's head. "Eh, what?"
"I will send you to that dimension to retrieve Neptune."
~o~O~o~
Lowee - Snowy Forest.
Outside the cave in the forest, there was a girl with a petite figure standing in front of the entrance. She had crimson red eyes and short sky-blue hair, mostly kept free, with her sideburns reach her stomach. Her attire was something of a tight battlesuit colored in white and some blue linings. She had a huge axe on her right hand, and something that looked like a spear on her left hand.
"Phew, this should do it." She sighed and dematerialized her axe. She then took out her PDA and dialed a number. The call was ringing for a few seconds before it was picked up.
"Hello, Blanc. What's up?" A female voice then suddenly spoke from the PDA.
The girl named Blanc answered immediately. "I'm done on my sacred weapon. How about you, Vert?"
"Fufu, I'm also done. I'm on my way to Planeptune."
"Good, I'll see you there." Blanc said and then ended the call.
Blanc stored the spear in her inventory and flew up to the skies. Her destination was Planeptune's Basilicom, and she had no time for detours.
~o~O~o~
Planeptune - Basilicom.
Back inside the room where there was a floating crystal in the middle, Histoire and Noire was still present. Histoire working on something, with Noire being shocked about something.
"Wait, Histoire, you can't be serious." Noire said.
"I am always serious, Noire." Histoire replied.
"You're joking, right?"
"When was the last time I told a joke? Also that meant the same thing from what you said previously."
Noire was speechless. Histoire was going to send her to an unknown dimension to pick Neptune up. That was some crazy escalation of events. She didn't even know that dimension travelling was possible until Histoire brought it up.
"What if I end up somewhere else? That's something I'd like to avoid because I want to get back home." Noire said. She was getting too nervous with this dimension traveling thing.
Histoire swung her head. "Don't worry, Noire. I'm just making a program that will allow you to cross between this dimension and that other dimension. It's easier to make it as a tunnel than a crossroad."
Noire didn't quite understand that, but all she knew was it was like some kind of a straight road without any turns, and all she could do was walk straight on it and walk back on it.
Well, at the very least, it would be safer that way.
"Anyway, I'll be done shortly. Is Vert and Blanc not coming?" Histoire asked.
"Blanc told me that they're on their way here as they just got their sacred weapons. Shouldn't take them long." Noire replied.
Histoire smiled a bit. "That's good." She said. Things were proceeding smoothly for them, and she just hoped that it would until the very end.
A very good moment to introduce the God of Jinx.
About an hour or so, Histoire finished what she was doing. "I'm done."
"That was fast indeed." Noire was astonished. Histoire never ceased to amaze Noire nor the other CPUs with her abilities. "So, am I going now or should we wait for Vert and Blanc?"
Histoire held her chin for a bit before answering. "Let's wait for them. I don't want to repeat what I'm going to say."
~o~O~o~
About half an hour or so, Blanc arrived in front of Planeptune's Basilicom. The common folks didn't even question why the CPU from the other side of the world was in Planeptune; it was just they already accepted it that the neighboring CPUs were coming and going here. They must've thought that they had business with Histoire, after all, she had offered great help to the other CPUs when she was released from her seal.
About that story, well, that would be saved for later, if ever chance had it.
Shortly after her arrival, another person just dropped down from the sky, and exactly beside Blanc.
"You got here fast, Blanc." The person who landed beside Blanc said.
"No, I just arrived here myself, Vert." Blanc said.
Yes, the person who just arrived was Vert, the CPU of Leanbox. Currently, the two of them was in their HDD forms, but then before taking a step toward the entrance of the Basilicom, they undid their transformations.
"Let's not waste any more time, shall we?" Vert said as they entered the Basilicom. Of course, they were short on time, given the situation they were in.
"Couldn't agree more." Blanc replied.
The two of them didn't even bother going to the reception as the receptionist bowed as she saw their presence. They headed for the elevator and went several floors up. As soon as the elevator stopped, they made their exit and headed for a certain room.
"Seems like Noire beat us." Blanc said as they stopped in front of a room. It had a power button symbol inscribed on it, and it was glowing.
Vert didn't reply and just opened the door. The first thing that greeted them was darkness, with only the light coming from the share crystal in the middle of the room lighting the area. Also there were two people near it, and it seemed like they were having a conversation.
"We're back, Histoire, Noire." Vert said.
The two people who were in the room the whole time turned to Blanc and Noire.
"Welcome back, Vert, Blanc." Histoire said. Noire just nodded at them as a greeting. It seemed like they weren't really in a close relationship with each other.
Well, given that they were on to each other's throats about a month ago, that wouldn't be so surprising.
"We've got the sacred weapons." Blanc then showed the spear she had hidden. Vert showed a weapon that took the shape of a bow.
Histoire inspected the weapons that the two CPUs just showed. "Mhm, this is indeed the sacred weapons. Good job on retrieving it."
"Then, Planeptune's weapon is the only one left?" Blanc said.
Histoire just grinned at Blanc, which made the petite CPU confused. "Yes, but we will save it for last until we finish one more errand."
"One more errand?" Blanc and Vert asked in unison. The moment they realized that Noire didn't join them, they turned to her with expectant looks.
Noire coughed a little. "It would be better to listen to Histoire."
The two CPUs then turned their attention back to Histoire.
"We're going to bring Neptune back."
Silence.
Blanc and Vert blinked twice, but the silence was still present. After a short moment, they blinked twice again.
And that was when the ice broke.
"WHAAAAAT?!" Blanc's voice raised in confusion.
"You're too loud, Blanc. Keep it down." Noire commented.
Blanc instantly turned to Noire with an enraged aura. "How the hell am I supposed to do that after hearing something so absurd as bringing Neptune back?!"
"Calm down, Blanc." Histoire said. "It's not absurd. We more or less have a lead on where Neptune could be.
Vert didn't seem to be convinced with that statement. It did look like the information Histoire had was off. "More or less?"
"I was calling my counterparts from different dimensions to ask for Neptune's whereabouts." Histoire said after nodding at Vert. "Incidentally, there's this one 'me' from a certain dimension that I find odd."
Histoire continued her explanation. From when she established a call to that certain dimension up to the point where the call was suddenly disconnected. Vert and Blanc thought that it might've been a connection issue, but Histoire mentioned that it wasn't because she already checked it.
"So, that's the plan, then?" Blanc asked after all of her questions were answered.
"I'll have Noire go to that dimension and investigate if Neptune is really there." Histoire answered.
"Haah? Are you kidding me?"
"She's dead serious, Blanc." Noire said.
Blanc then turned to Noire. "And you agreed to it?"
"I did." Noire nodded along with a serious look on her face.
Blanc realized how serious this plan was. The main objective of this plan was to bring Neptune back. That would mean that Noire was going to meet Neptune in flesh and blood. It was also the same time that Blanc realized why Noire was really serious about this.
After all, they all had sins against Neptune.
"Will you be okay, Noire...?" Vert asked with a concerned look.
Noire swung her head. "I'd be lying if I said that I will be okay." She said as she embraced herself. "After what I've done to her, I don't even know what I'm going to do once I see her."
Silence veiled the room for a few moments.
"But this is not the time to hesitate. I'm going to drag her back here myself and listen to whatever she's going to say and accept whatever she's going to do to me later after we resolve all of the mess we have here."
Vert and Blanc gulped. They were impressed with Noire's determination and resolve. If they were in her shoes, they wouldn't be able to say those words, nor even accept Histoire's proposal. After exiling Neptune from Gamindustri, none of them had the right to order her or even ask her to come back and save the world.
"Ahem. If there's no more complaints, we better get to it. The world isn't going to save itself." Histoire said as she flew to the other side of the room. "Noire, please come here."
Noire complied with Histoire's orders. Histoire told her to stand in front of her, in which Noire followed without questions.
"Now, I will connect the program in your PDA to the Share Crystal in this room. It will serve as a powerhouse; a server of sorts." Histoire explained, though none of them actually understood what she just said. "The connection should hold out for about three days but I'd appreciate if you can bring her back immediately."
"What will happen if I fail to do so? I hope I'm not going to be stuck there for the rest of my life."
Histoire swung her head in disagreement. "No. As long as you have your PDA, you will be forced to teleport back here. It's a failsafe that I made." She said. "You can return early as well by just accessing the program in your PDA. Just make sure you have physical contact with Neptune so she will be included in the dimension travel as well."
Noire sighed in relief. She didn't really want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
"Now. Let us begin." Histoire said. "Take out your PDA and open the program, Noire."
Noire complied with the order. After about five minutes, the program finished initiating, and several virtual windows appeared around Histoire. Her fingers swiftly moved around them like she was a super hacker of sorts, but of course, none of it was true.
"Connection established." Histoire said, but her fingers didn't stop moving. Noire's PDA glowed for a bit, then a virtual window suddenly escaped from the screen.
Noire wondered if her PDA had such function, but this was Histoire they were talking about. Someone who was capable of doing such absurd things.
"Noire, if you may, please press the Confirm Transfer in front of you."
Noire didn't even notice that there was a message on the virtual window. It did have a "Confirm Transfer" dialog box on it, along with a series of letter and number combination. Without hesitation, Noire pressed the button and suddenly the virtual window disappeared and a pillar of light escaped the PDA's screen.
"Initiating transfer." Histoire mumbled. After a few moments, the pillar of light expanded until it covered Noire's whole body and as soon as it disappeared, Noire was nowhere to be found.
The Share Crystal in the middle of the room was glowing brighter than normal, indicating that an activity was going on that requires its presence.
After a short while, the virtual windows around Histoire disappeared and she sighed in relief. "It looks like the transfer succeeded." She said. Vert and Blanc sighed in relief. It would be a problem if the transfer failed and Noire got transported somewhere else. Worse, she could be stuck in the boundary between dimensions.
"Well, then, shall we-"
Before Blanc could finish what she was about to say, a pillar of light suddenly appeared right where Noire disappeared earlier. As soon as the light was gone, everyone was completely shocked with what they saw.
"Haah... Haah..."
Histoire couldn't believe it.
"N... Noire...?
Yes, it was Noire who just came out of the pillar of light. It wasn't even five minutes since she left and she was already back here.
"Haah... Haah..."
Noire was panting very hard, and was coughing as well. It seemed like she went through a very huge ordeal. It couldn't be anything other than that as her body was covered in bruises and she was bleeding from her head and mouth.
"Noire, what in the heavens happened to you?" Vert immediately rushed to her aid.
Noire's coughs didn't calm down at all as she just swung her head from left to right. "N... No..."
The other three didn't quite understand what Noire was trying to say.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
Vert grabbed Noire's cheeks and stopped her from recklessly swinging her head. "Noire, calm down!"
"What the hell is going on now?" Blanc was somehow getting bad vibes from this. Apart from Noire getting beat up badly, other stuff was going inside Blanc's mind.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!" Noire screamed as she held her head, but her scream was interrupted by another cough.
Histoire gulped. She was completely speechless by how Noire was acting. Nothing came to mind as to why Noire suddenly became like that after less than five minutes of travelling to the other dimension.
'Could it be that, there's a time dilation between two dimensions?' Histoire asked herself. She couldn't think of anything else as she made the travel between dimensions almost instantaneous. So being gone for only less than five minutes made her think that time was a little faster on the other side.
Which meant that, a lot must've had happened during that time.
"Noire, stop screaming! You're hurt badly!" Vert said in hopes of calming her down, but it looked like it didn't help even a single bit. "What happened?"
Or so she thought.
"She...-"
The other three was confused. "She-?"
Noire released her head from her arms and stared at her shaking hands coldly. From their point of view, Noire must've had seen something very unpleasant.
"Nep...tune... is-"
The three gulped. Noire was about to drop the bomb down and they had to pay attention to what she was about to say.
And yes, from earlier, it was something very unpleasant that it wasn't what they were expecting to hear at all.
"Neptune is gone! SHE'S DEAD!"
~o~O~o~
UD Planeptune - Forest.
A certain young girl just dropped down from the skies. She had short, blue hair which was only long on the sideburns part, and has crimson red eyes. She was also wearing a red and white battle suit, along with an axe resting on her shoulders.
"Pretty sure it came from here..."
She walked around a little to investigate something. It seemed like something caught her attention which made her fly here. As for what that something was...
"What the hell was that light? It sure caused some confusion in the city."
Yes, a light. Not too long ago, she, along the people of Planeptune, witnessed a pillar of light appearing out of nowhere. And that was what led her here, to see what that was, but unfortunately, she didn't see anything in particular.
"Shit... however unimportant it is, I don't think I can rest easy until I find it."
Blanc stopped for a bit and looked around. For some reason, she could feel a slight unease. She inspected her surroundings very carefully to spot some oddities.
"...?!"
She quickly turned around. All she saw was a bunch of trees and grasses.
"...Must be my imagination."
~o~O~o~
"Haah... Haah..."
A certain twin-tailed girl was running around the forest. She had a raven-colored hair, a pair of crimson-red eyes, and wearing an outfit that seemed to be a cosplay of sorts. It was an attire that looked like a maid outfit, with gold trimmings and white frills around her bust and upper arm. Her skirt was colored in white, with black linings at the edge, and more frilly compared to her top.
Judging from her actions, it seemed like she was running. Specifically, running away from someone. It didn't look like she was being chased away, but still she was running away.
After a short while of running, she stopped on a nearby tree. She then rested her back on it and tried to catch her breathing.
She rubbed the sweat running down on her forehead. "That... That was... Blanc... right...?"
~o~O~o~
UD Planeptune - Forest; About an hour ago.
Out of nowhere, a pillar of light that rose up to the skies suddenly appeared. It was but just a short moment, but as it disappeared, a girl in her mid-late teens (outside appearance) emerged from it.
"..."
She looked around her surrounds. She couldn't say that she recognized the place she was in. Actually, she didn't recognize it completely. This place was alien to her.
"Now... where am I...?"
She took her PDA from her phone to check the map, but then it showed nothing. She just remembered something very important.
"Oh yeah, I'm in a different dimension now." She said as she put her PDA back in her pocket. "Let's see, just by the ambiance of it... I'm sure this place doesn't have a feel of my Lastation."
Her Lastation. Yes, the person who just got out of the pillar of light was none other than the CPU of Lastation, Noire. With the help of Histoire, she arrived safely from her dimension to this one.
"Okay... first thing first. Get out of this forest." Noire said as she started to walk around. While she was sure that there was a chance into bumping Neptune here, judging from how she knew Neptune, or with the little knowledge she had of her, she'd find her best in the city.
It was already a while since Noire began her journey to the city, but for some reason, she was still in the forest. She hated to admit it, but since she had no idea where she was, she had no choice but to do so.
"Okay. I'm lost." She mumbled under her breath. "And I can't feel my shares in this place; I can't transform at all."
It would be easier if she could just fly out of here, but still, she was thankful that she wasn't able to do so because that would definitely attract attention. That was the last thing she wanted for herself in this place.
Also she gotta be careful on meeting her, or any of the other CPUs' counterparts, since she knew that Histoire had a counterpart here, it would be safe to assume that the CPUs also had one.
Though there was a slight problem.
"But wait... if that's the case, then..." Noire bit her lip. It seemed like she realized something very crucial. "There would be two Neptunes... right...?"
Yes, there would be two Neptunes. Her problem was how would she differentiate between the Neptune from this dimension and the one from her dimension?
Well, she couldn't think of any way.
Noire swung her head from left to right. "Let's think about that later. Getting out of here is my first priority."
She continued to wander in the forest. For some reason, she still couldn't get out of this place. When she was about to reach the edge of the forest, she always ended up on a seabed.
"I never knew that I am a directionally-challenged person..." She said as she rubbed the back of her head.
As she got irritated, she turned around and walked back to where she came from, but she didn't realize that herself. Good thing that she was physically fit, so a long distance walking didn't really pose a problem to her.
Noire's journey in the forest continued for a while. It didn't seem like she would be getting out of this place any sooner.
"Haah..." She sighed deeply as she stopped for a bit. If she were going to be honest with herself, she didn't sign up for this. If she knew that she would end up in a place like this, then she wouldn't have taken the liberty of taking this job.
Well, regret is always at the end.
She sat down on a nearby tree looked up to the skies. Despite the leaves of the tree blocking the skies, she could still see some of it. Let's say that she found a place where she could see the skies with minimal obstruction. The place had a clean air, compared to her Lastation back in her dimension. She didn't feel any insecurities about it, though. The advancement of technology was what caused the environment of Lastation to be completely different from this one.
Well, you could also say that she asked for it.
"...?"
Noire noticed something in the skies. Something was floating... or flying. She couldn't quite make a clear view of it as it was too far, but there was something she was sure of. Whatever she was seeing, it was getting closer.
"...!" Noire instinctively escaped the place she was in. Not really sure why she had to do that, but for some reason, her mind told her to not get spotted by it.
Whatever the cost.
With Noire hidden, she had no idea of knowing whether that thing already passed by or not, but when she was about to make a move, a very strong wind suddenly scattered around the area, but not strong enough to damage the trees.
"..."
Noire took a peek to see what was going on. There, with her only one eye, she saw a silhouette several feet away from her.
"...!"
She instinctively went back into hiding and covered her mouth. That silhouette she just saw, there was no mistaking it. She completely recognized that.
"..."
Noire continued to cover her mouth to keep her breath from escaping. Her mind was telling her not to get seen. Whatever she had to do, she must not let herself get discovered.
"..."
She could hear footsteps getting closer, and then it stopped. Even in hiding, Noire felt a very sharp glare towards her direction. She held her breath; this was a very dangerous situation, and even she herself knew that.
Because the danger sensor of her body was ringing wildly. Of course, it was just her instincts.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
"...Must be my imagination." Noire heard a voice. It was a voice of a girl, definitely not hers. And yes, she recognized whose voice was that.
All of a sudden, the strong wind from before disturbed the environment again, but just for a moment.
"...Phwaaah..." Noire let out a huge breath afterward. She wasted no time and picked herself up and ran towards the direction where that person who just left came from. She just hoped that that person came from the city.
As she made a good distance from where she was, she stopped for a bit and tried to catch her breathing. She held it for a few minutes, after all. Her sweat was running down heavily from her forehead.
"That... That was... Blanc... right...?"
Blanc, the CPU of Lowee. Though she was wearing a complete different outfit, Noire was sure that it was Blanc indeed. She never, ever expected that a day would come that she would be afraid of Blanc. Well, partly because she couldn't use any share energy in this dimension, deeming her as just a normal teenage girl.
"A-Anyway, I have to get out of here fast."
With that said, Noire resumed her journey towards the city.
~o~O~o~
UD Planeptune - Guild.
Just outside the guild, a young girl with long lilac hair with a pair of black D-pads attached on it. She was wearing a black, one-piece parka dress that has a purple hood, strings that resembled a plug of a controller, and two huge black and purple pockets. She wasn't wearing any leggings, exposing her fine, long legs, but a gun holster was attached on her left thigh.
"Haah..." She let out a yawn as she stretched her arms up. "If only money grows on trees."
Not a very good virtue, yeah.
From the looks of it, she just accepted a quest from the guild, else complaining about money wouldn't escape from her lips. Sure, the root of most, if not all, evil was money, but that didn't mean it wasn't necessary.
After all, in this age, it would be hard to live without it.
"It's early in the morning and you're already losing motivation." A wing mark suddenly popped out of the girl's pocket. "You're disappointing as ever, Neptune."
Yes, the girl's name was Neptune. Nothing needed to be explained anymore.
"Shut up, Crostie, you're not the one to talk." Neptune replied. Not amused, of course.
"I told you to just pick a rank S quest and happily drown in cash, yet you stick with this boring rank B quests."
Neptune snickered a little. "Hah, and get myself killed? You're one hundred years way too early to deceive me, Crostie."
"I am older than you, though, and I'm not happy to say that." Crostie's voice didn't sound motivated as well.
"Then stop provoking me and say something nice once in a while. Aren't you getting tired of doing these things as if it was a routine?"
Now that completely shut Crostie up. She gotta admit it, she never one an argument against Neptune. This girl knew how to push Crostie's buttons, albeit way too much.
"Well, if you don't have any more rebuttals, then let's get this job done." Neptune said and left the guild. "I wanna eat something nice; I know you also want to."
Crostie was speechless. Of course, nobody could turn down good food.
~o~O~o~
UD Planeptune - Forest.
Noire was still in the midst of finding her way out of the forest.
"Just how big is this forest...?" Noire complained particularly to no one. Her feet was killing her already. It was already a few hours since she arrived in this dimension and she still hadn't cleared her first objective: getting out of the forest.
Not too long after that, she finally saw a fence. Along it, there was a fence gate, and it seemed like the entrance/exit of the forest.
"Finally...!" Noire sighed in relief as she got out of the forest. She observed her surroundings for a bit. There were buildings around her, and a very tall one from afar. Technology sure was abundant in this place.
"Hmmm... this might be... Planeptune, I guess...? It would make sense since this is Histoire we're talking about." She said as she entered the city. For some reason, she was getting these weird stares from the citizens as she walked down the streets, and she couldn't be more uncomfortable than she was already.
"..." Noire quickly retreated and headed to a place with no people. She immediately took off her ribbons and tied the whole length of her hair into braids.
"I need a better disguise, but..." She inserted her left hand in her pocket and took something out. "...This is all I have, huh...?"
What she just took was a pair of red glasses. Why did she even need a disguise? It was because of the people. They acted like they just saw a ghost or something. Either way, Noire was aware that she was recognized by the people, and the last thing she needed was get into trouble. Bringing Neptune back home was her top priority.
"...I guess this will do." Noire said as she put on her glasses. Truthfully speaking, she looked different indeed. She just hoped that nobody would recognize her by face. "...Now, how do I find Neptune...?"
Yes, that was her next objective. If she were going to be honest with herself, it wouldn't be simple. Because Noire knew that Neptune was the CPU of Planeptune back in their dimension, it would make sense if she was also a CPU here, though she had no idea of confirming it.
"Only one way to find out..." Noire mumbled to herself, "...To the Basilicom."
Noire looked around for a bit. It wasn't hard for her to find her destination because it stood out way too much. There was a tall infrastructure at the center of the city that beat every building around in height. It saved her from asking for directions because she didn't really like the idea of interacting with the citizens.
After about an hour or so, she arrived at her destination. The city was too big to travel on foot. Noire hoped that she could cool down a bit in there and gather some information.
Noire entered the Basilicom. She felt the breeze and coolness of the place right after entering, and thanked the goddesses for the air conditioner as it was really burning outside. Her eyes ran through the area for a bit but she couldn't recognize what was what.
"...No choice..." Noire gulped as she walked to the reception. She really didn't like this, but it was better than walking aimlessly that might brand her as a suspicious person.
"Excuse me..." She called the receptionist.
The person at the reception turned her attention to Noire. "Hello, how may I assist you?"
Noire gulped a bit. She had an excuse in her mind, but she was debating if she had to use it. The receptionist raised an eyebrow from Noire's sudden silence, which prompted Noire that she had to say something.
"...Which way to the library...?" Noire asked. She hoped that there would be a library in this place, or at least somewhere near this building.
The receptionist pointed to her left. "Go to the corridor in that way and take the elevator three levels up."
"Thank you." Noire bowed and left the reception. She then followed the direction where the receptionist just told her and arrived at her destination.
"...So this is the library." Noire was astonished from the number of books and shelves present in the room. She was glad that there was a library in the Basilicom as she really just gambled her life on it earlier.
The room being so huge was a bit of a problem for her so she asked the librarian for directions to the History section. As she got the directions, she immediately headed to it. Her objective was to find out the CPUs' identity and the names of the nation they were affiliated it and if possible, a map of this world. She needed those information above anything else as she really didn't want to waste too much time, because there was still a possibility that Neptune wouldn't be the CPU of this nation.
She took a few books and carried them to an empty table. Actually, the library was deserted, so she just sat wherever convenient. She then started to read the books that she borrowed and carefully examined those. As far as she remembered, she only took history books to learn more about this world, but judging from the ones she had, it seemed like there were only less significant information.
Though there was one thing sure. The nations' in this dimension had the same names with her dimension.
"I see, Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox exist here as well." Noire said as she closed the book. Surprisingly, the books were organized too well that it was too inconvenient. If there was a book about nations, only about it was written in there. No significant people were mentioned as they were written in another book.
Noire then closed the book and decided to get another one. She carefully looked for the ones with the information regarding the CPUs, but before she could pick it up, the librarian approached her without Noire noticing.
"Umm, excuse me...?"
Noire jolted a little. "A-Ah, yes?"
"We're closing early. Ms. Histoire is calling the staff for a meeting... so, uhm..."
Noire completely understood that and stacked the books. "Oh, it's completely fine with me. I can come back later."
"Thank you very much. You can leave those books there and I'll take care of it later."
Noire nodded and left the room with the librarian.
~o~O~o~
UD Planeptune - Basilicom.
In a certain room in the Basilicom, a small girl sitting on a tome was floating in front of a shelf. It seemed like she was trying to find something on the shelf as her eyes ran through each book placed in there. But before she could find what she was looking for, she heard a knock on the door.
"Ms. Histoire, it's time." A Basilicom staff just entered the room.
The girl named Histoire retreated from the shelf and approached the person who just entered. "Alright. Gather everyone in the conference room."
The staff just bowed at Histoire and left the room. Histoire sighed as she closed the door. A lot of things had happened in the past few weeks and it didn't look like it'd lessen.
"I just wonder how long will this go on..."
After sighing once more, Histoire left the room and went downstairs. A lot of people had left their posts and were heading to the conference room in the ground floor, so Histoire did the same. The staff greeted Histoire as they saw her, in which she replied with a wave as a sign of acknowledgement.
Histoire finally arrived at the ground floor. A lot of people gathered in there and seemingly heading in two directions. One to the conference room, and the other to the Basilicom exit.
"I guess the civilians are getting evacuated." She didn't particularly order that but it had been like that whenever since a meeting took place.
As Histoire ran her eyes through the people, she noticed a girl from the crowd who was looking at her direction. Their eyes met for a moment, but the girl immediately averted her attention away from Histoire right after she noticed that Histoire was looking at her. The girl then hurriedly left the Basilicom afterward.
"...That was...?"
Histoire then booted up her communication systems and called a certain someone. Not long after that, the call was picked up.
"Hello, Blanc?"
The person named Blanc replied through the call. "What is it, Histoire?"
"We've got a problem."
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Histoire gulped a little and clenched her fists.
"I saw a person who looked like Noire, and she just left the Basilicom."
~o~O~o~
UD Planeptune - City.
"...She didn't recognize me, did she...?"
Noire was running on the streets. She just escaped from the Basilicom after her eyes met Histoire's. Specifically Histoire of this dimension. She was confident in her disguise, but this was Histoire they were talking about.
"What am I going to do now...? I didn't find a single information about Neptune..." She mumbled under her breath. "There goes my luck..."
Noire decided to go to a place with no people. She ended up in an empty alley and tried to catch her breathing for a bit as she was running under the sun. Her fatigue from running out of the forest hadn't subsided yet even when she stayed in the Basilicom.
"..."
Noire tried to sort out her thoughts. It seemed like she wouldn't be able to find anything in Planeptune anymore. The library should contain most, if not all, information she needed, but now that it was inaccessible, she had no choice but to give up on it.
"Maybe I should go to another- MMFPMHPPH?!" All of a sudden, someone grabbed her from behind, covered her mouth, and dragged her further inside the alley.
Noire struggled to break away but her 'kidnapper' was too strong and she couldn't escape. The palm on her mouth was completely glued and the arm ensnaring her lower body was like a snake trapping its prey. In a nutshell, Noire was completely helpless in this situation.
But all of a sudden, she was thrown away.
"Kyaaa-!" Noire fell down to the ground. With how she was treated, her blood rose up to her head and tried to get back at her 'kidnapper'. "Why you-!"
Before she could get close to her attacker, her body instinctively stopped.
Why?
There was a gun pointed at her head. That alone made Noire freeze on the spot.
"Cooled off yet?"
Noire directed her attention to the person who was pointing the gun at her head. Her eyes widened as soon as she got a good look at the said person. She didn't expect her to be the one coming at Noire.
"Nep...tune...?" Noire muttered.
Yes, the person who just 'kidnapped' Noire was named Neptune, but-
"Yes, that's my name, but I'm not the one you're looking for." Neptune replied.
Noire's eyes widened. "Wha-?" She was about to stand up but Neptune pushed the gun further, touching Noire's forehead and pushing Noire down to the ground again. "Eeek-!"
"You stay right there, and answer my questions. Maybe I'll answer some of yours if you cooperate with me."
Noire was speechless. True, the person that was in front of her was indeed Neptune, but her physique was completely different. She looked a lot older if Neptune did age, as her hair was longer and she was taller. She was wearing the same one piece parka dress, but it was dyed in black and purple.
"Now, answer this: Why are you here?" Neptune asked.
Noire was confused with that question. She seemed to be unable to utter a single word, but she knew to herself that she had to say something, else her brains will splatter on the ground as Neptune's index finger was touching the trigger.
"It's... it's to... bring you... back..." Noire answered in a lower voice. Her heart was racing; she really didn't expect this development to occur, especially with Neptune pointing a gun at her. Well, she might've not expected this, she also didn't deny the possibility given what they did to her.
Neptune sighed.
"You came all the way here just to bring me back...?" Neptune mumbled, but then she chuckled after that. "...Pretty good decision you made, but like I said earlier, I'm not the one you're looking for."
Again, Noire was confused. "What... does that mean...?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I am born in this world." Neptune replied.
Even after hearing those words, Noire was still confused. Things didn't add up if she was going to put everything what Neptune just said.
"If so... how did you know that you're not the one I'm looking for...?"
Neptune didn't seem to be surprised to hear that. Well, she already knew that Noire would figure it out. "You're Noire, indeed. Your wits are what keeps you alive." She then took her gun back and pulled Noire up.
"I can travel between dimensions. How I do that is none of your concern." Neptune said. "And I know where you came from."
Noire gulped. It seemed like she wouldn't be able to hide anything from Neptune.
"T-Then where's my... our Neptune?! Where is she?!" Noire grabbed Neptune's shoulder and shook her heavily.
Neptune could see panic in Noire's eyes. She was getting desperate, as if her life depended on finding Neptune. Also, she noticed that Noire was about to say "My Neptune".
'It seems like this Noire and that Noire are nothing but the same...'
"Man, I just came back from a quest and here I am, stuck with you." Neptune sighed again. That somehow pissed Noire off, as if she was a big pain in the ass. Well, she was indeed, from Neptune's point of view, at the very least. "Before that, let me ask you one more question."
"Bring it."
Neptune wasn't amused. Noire was already at her wit's end. It seemed like she had no idea what was going on at all. All Neptune could do was sigh once more.
"Are you really sure that you want to know where 'Neptune' is?" Neptune asked in a serious manner.
That somehow made Noire nervous. Neptune's tone was completely different from earlier. She grew conflicted all of a sudden, but if she wouldn't know, what did she came here for?
"I... I am..." Noire answered.
Neptune eyed Noire for a moment before turning around. "I see. Follow me." She then headed back to the main street, with Noire following her from behind without any question.
~o~O~o~
UD - Central Island.
An airship just landed on the Island Terminal. The passengers exited the aircraft as soon as the exits opened. Noire and Neptune were on board as well and they joined the passengers in exiting the airship.
"Where are we...?" Noire asked. The place was completely alien to her.
"Come on, stop staggering. We don't have all day here." Neptune said as she walked away. Noire followed her and pouted. "Don't look at me like that, you're in a hurry, right?"
"Hmph." Noire crossed her arms. Once a Tsun, always a Tsun.
"You'll find out everything soon. And when you do..." Neptune glanced back at Noire. All she saw was Noire's confused look, and it wouldn't be good to confuse her more. "Nevermind. Let's just get to it."
"Now you're making me more curious." Noire said.
Neptune just waved her hand. "You heard me earlier."
Their conversation stopped there and just continued their walk. After a short walk, they arrived at their destination, or so it should be as Neptune stopped walking.
"We're here." Neptune said.
Noire took a good look in front of her. There was a huge infrastructure that looked like a church, occupying more or less thirty hectares of land, and a height of approximately twenty meters.
"What... in the heavens is this building?" Noire was in awe.
"You'll know when we get inside." Neptune then headed for the entrance. "Come on, move your feet."
Noire followed Neptune's lead. The security was a bit tight, but the two managed to get inside safely. Though Noire got weird stares from the guards earlier.
"This way."
Neptune headed to the left corridor. Noire just stayed behind Neptune so she wouldn't get lost. Finally, after a few moments, they arrived at a room with a very large space.
"Whoa..." Noire was surprised with what she saw. Not only the area was large, but there were two statues just ahead of them, with a few people kneeling before it. What was more, she completely recognized the statues. "That's... m-?!"
Neptune quickly covered Noire's mouth with her palm before she could say anything else. "Keep your thoughts to yourself."
Noire nodded as a response and Neptune took her hand back.
The two of them walked closer to the statues. The people were leaving one by one so they managed to get a spot in the front row. Noire and Neptune then sat down on their knees.
"Read the message at the bottom of each statue." Neptune whispered on Noire's ear, which somehow made the ravenette blush a little. "After you do, whatever idea you might gain, do not say anything and just follow my lead."
Noire calmed herself down and nodded in agreement. She then turned to the statue on the left. There was no mistaking it, this statue was built based on her.
'Neptune...'
Yes, that was a statue of Neptune. Specifically in her HDD form. She stared at it in awe, wondering what had happened for a statue to be built, but nothing came to her mind.
"..."
Her eyes then switched to the other statue. Now this one was something she didn't recognize at first, but after getting a good look of it closely, she realized whose statue it was.
'That's... me, right...?'
Yes, that was a statue of Noire, indeed. But the outfit was completely different from hers. She just recognized it by face. Well, nobody should ever forget his or her own face.
Remembering what Neptune just said to her earlier, she turned her attention at the bottom of the statue. There were carvings on a stone plate attached below the statue's feet. Noire read what the message said using her mind.
'In memory of Lastation's CPU, Black Heart, who lost her life to prevent a war from breaking out.'
"...!"
Noire's heartbeat stopped for a moment after reading the message. She covered her mouth using both of her hands to prevent her gasps from escaping. Neptune opened her right eye and gazed at Noire and noticed that the ravenette was barely holding it in. She bet that Noire wasn't done reading the other message yet, whichever she read first, so Neptune stayed still.
Going back to Noire, she slowly tried to calm her breathing. That realization was too much for her to bear. It wasn't her who died, but still, she felt that a part of her passed into oblivion.
"Haah..." As soon as she regained her breathing, she slowly lowered her hands. It took her a little bit more time to calm herself down, though.
She was about to turn to the other message when she realized something. If there was a statue of her in this place, with a message below it that 'she' died, that could only mean...
'...No... please... no way...'
Noire unconsciously turned her eyes to the other message, below Neptune's statue. There, even though she didn't want to read it, she couldn't take her eyes off it because of her desire to know.
'In memory of Planeptune's Second CPU, Purple Heart, who lost her life to prevent a war from breaking out.'
That completely took Noire's breath away.
'Neptune...!'
Her tears started to escape her eyes. Neptune noticed that and quickly pulled her up and went to the other side of the room to avoid disturbing the other devotees. Noire looked like a complete wreck, as if her mind was broken already. But still, she hadn't learned the truth yet.
"Do you really believe those messages?" Neptune asked.
That question confused Noire. She turned her attention back to Neptune who was staring at the statues from afar. "What... do you mean...?"
"It's a fact that they indeed stopped a war, but the cause of their deaths was not because of it."
Noire gasped. That was something that she didn't expect, as it looked like the truth was hidden to the public. If that was the case, then it must be something very serious.
"Do you want to know?" Neptuned asked.
That was a very heavy question for Noire. She wanted to know, at the same time, she didn't want to. She was conflicted. The plan was to bring Neptune back, but if she couldn't, then what was the point? What was the point in knowing how she died when it wouldn't save her world?
Yes, at the very least, she HAD to know.
Noire nodded unconsciously why her eyes were shaking. Neptune wasn't sure if she should tell her about it, but not telling her would be just keeping Noire in her comfort zone. And that wasn't Neptune's objective.
"When 'Neptune' arrived in this dimension, she lost her memories from her home." Neptune started to talk about the past. Noire just listened to her without saying anything. "I don't know what caused it, but I'm sure it had something to do with the time before she was transported here."
Noire's heart started to race. If what Neptune said was true, then the reason why 'Neptune' lost her memories was Noire herself.
"Why do I know that 'Neptune' came from your dimension? Because I've been there a lot of times already and observed you unintentionally." Neptune said as she just waved her hands like it was a matter of fact. "Anyway, that was just my speculation before 'Neptune' became a CPU, because when she arrived here, she lost all her powers."
"I returned here from my dimensional hopping when she became a CPU." Neptune said. "She kind of interested me, so I decided to look into her."
Noire was still silent. There was no point of her in butting in so she just let Neptune do her thing, though she wasn't sure if she could handle the truth well.
"A lot of things happened after that. I obtained these information secondhand, and that's how I learned that she was strongly unstable when she recovered her powers."
At that point, Noire managed to ask a question. "Recovered her powers...?"
"Yes, that's correct." Neptune nodded in agreement. "CPUs in this dimension aren't naturally born. They were originally human. Neptune used the same thing that turns a human into a CPU, and that's how she recovered her powers. Whatever that thing could be is completely irrelevant."
Neptune continued her talk. "When she recovered her powers, it seemed like fragments of her memories also returned, but only in certain situations."
"Her past memories one by one resurfaced when she met the other CPUs." Neptune said. "And care to guess what happened next whenever she remembered her old memories?"
Noire swung her head. That was expected by Neptune, of course.
"She attacked them. Now, I'm sure you could guess why."
Noire's chest tightened. If 'Neptune' attacked the other CPUs when she remembered her old memories, then it would only mean one thing.
"Neptune... hated us... right...?" Noire answered.
Neptune nodded, but her talk didn't stop there. "That's correct, but still, she managed to regained herself, thanks to a certain someone."
Noire couldn't guess who that was, and Neptune could see that right away by just looking at her face.
"It was thanks to 'Noire'."
Now that completely took Noire aback. Despite saying Noire's name, Noire knew that Neptune wasn't talking about her. She was talking about her counterpart in this dimension.
"I'm not going to tell the whole story, so I'll just skip to the time when I personally met 'Noire'." Neptune continued. "It was the time indeed when a war was about to break out. A war of three allied nations, Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, against Leanbox."
Noire was surprised with that. A three against one war again? She couldn't quite imagine how things escalated to that situation.
"No need to know how the situation ended up on it, but do remember this that at that moment, Neptune already met Blanc, and her mental state grew worse. 'Noire' managed to quell the rampaging 'Neptune' which saved Blanc. And that's how the three nations became allies."
Noire was still silent. It seemed like the story was about to reach its climax.
"I personally met 'Noire' when 'Neptune' launched an assault to Leanbox alone. That time, 'Neptune' was on a mad rampage, and 'Noire' was badly injured, but still, she wanted to stop 'Neptune'." Neptune said, though Noire didn't quite get why her counterpart would want to stop 'Neptune' when launching an attack alone to a nation was practically suicide. Neptune knew what Noire was thinking, so she gave her some enlightenment.
"Don't be so confused. In this dimension, 'Neptune' is like a walking calamity. Lowee was almost leveled to the ground when she went berserk."
That was completely unexpected for Noire. It seemed like when Neptune became a CPU here, she regained new powers aside from her old ones.
"So... all the information you got from 'Neptune'... was from my counterpart here...?" Noire asked.
Neptune nodded. "Yes. I learned all of them when I gave her a ride to Leanbox. Whatever happened after that, I do not know."
"But there's one thing for sure. Both of them didn't die because of preventing some war. Because from how 'Noire' worded it, 'Neptune' could completely overpower the CPU of Leanbox."
Noire grew cold all of a sudden. "How... do you know that...?"
Neptune exhaled a little as she leaned her forehead on her palm, as if she was regretting something. "Because I'm the one who pushed 'Noire' into doing that."
"What's... 'that'...?"
Neptune composed herself back. "End Neptune's suffering, that's all."
Noire froze in the spot. But Neptune didn't stop there. It was the last and the most crucial truth to reveal.
"From how things ended, I can only say that 'Noire' indeed ended Neptune's suffering... by killing her... which most likely cost her her own life as well."
Noire's heart stopped for a moment. Even if she hadn't learned the previous events, just by knowing what Neptune recently said made her realize that all of these happened because of them. Yes, she, Blanc, and Vert, back when they teamed up against Neptune. After hearing all of those, Noire wasn't sure of what to do anymore. Now that 'Neptune' was gone, her dimension wouldn't be saved from the threat they were facing.
Neptune stopped there. That was everything she wanted to tell Noire. And from the looks of it, Noire couldn't take it all. She must've felt guilty with their actions that escalated into something they never expected. Their own selfishness resulted into endangering another dimension and losing Neptune herself.
How would she tell Histoire about this when she get home? Noire wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure herself if she should go back because it was pointless, but it would not be a good idea to stay here just to save herself from the danger her dimension was facing. She was a CPU, and she had to do everything she could to save her world. But at that moment, she lost all her energy to do so.
Neptune could see how broken Noire was after hearing the truth. Well, Noire asked for it; Neptune had no reason to feel guilty about it.
She planned for Noire to pull herself together but it seemed like time wasn't on her side.
"Neptune, the CPUs are here." A wing mark suddenly popped out of Neptune's pocket.
Neptune clicked her tongue. It seemed like they got a wind on the info of Noire being in this dimension. Only one person could do that. "Histoire, huh...?"
"What are you going to do?"
Neptune turned to Noire, who was still like a broken machine leaning her back on the wall. "What else, drag this weight out of here. I'm not evil enough to let the innocent people in here get caught with whatever stuff she wants to do."
The wing mark didn't say anything and just returned back inside Neptune's pocket. Neptune then turned to Noire and picked her up. "Someone's after your life. We better get you out of here." She pulled her arm but Noire just stood still. "What's wrong with you?"
Noire rose her head a little. Neptune could see a smile on her face, but that smile wasn't a happy one. It was a smile of despair.
"...Haa... what's the point... I don't know anymore..." Her eyes looked like from someone who already gave up on living, and Neptune could clearly see that.
Which made her blood boil.
Neptune let go of Noire's arm and slapped her face. The sound of the slap echoed inside the room, and the other devotees heard that which made them turn their attention to them. Noire fell down on the ground while touching the cheek Neptune slapped.
"If you plan on dying, return where you came from and kill yourself there." Neptune said as she gritted her teeth. "I am not letting you sully this world with your filthy blood."
Noire turned her eyes to Neptune. Her body shivered as she saw the look Neptune had on her face. It looked so threatening that even made Noire fear for her life despite giving up on living earlier.
It was a look that could give a punishment worse than death.
"...It seems you understand. Now get up and we're leaving. You don't want to drag these people in your problems, right?"
Noire took a look at the people near the statues. They were having confused looks as they stared at them.
"..."
Without any more hesitations, Noire stood up. "...Let's go."
Neptune nodded and headed to the emergency exit of the building with Noire. Not long after that, they got out of the building and met a forest.
"How do you plan on going back to your dimension?"
Noire showed Neptune her PDA. There was a program running in the device and Neptune could see a lot of commands getting executed in there along with a completion progress. "...I have a program that will take me back to my dimension. It's already preparing, and should be done in a few minutes."
Neptune sighed in relief. At the very least, this girl came prepared. "Good, then let's go further inside the forest. We're going to buy you some-"
Out of nowhere, Neptune materialized twin blades from her hands. That action confused Noire but all of a sudden, something dropped down from the sky from behind. Neptune instinctively used her twin blades to suppress the impact but it was too much for her to handle, and both her and Noire were blown away.
"Ugh..." Both of them grunted in pain as their backs crashed and slid on the ground from the impact. Neptune didn't waste any time and recovered from her fall immediately. Noire tried to stand up but it seemed like it was hard for her to do so and just managed to get up on her knees.
Attacking them out of nowhere, Neptune was sure who did that. Not waiting for the dust to clear up, Neptune took out her gun and fired six bullets in front of her, but all of those were repelled as she heard it clashing on something metallic.
Neptune clicked her tongue. "Noire, how long will it take for your program to activate?"
Rubbing her eye, Noire took a look at her PDA. "...More or less five minutes."
"Then start running. I'll hold her off." Neptune said.
Noire didn't say anything and just complied with her order. She wouldn't hear the end of it if she complained again as Neptune already did a lot for her. Also, she would just be a dead weight for her because she couldn't feel the power of the shares in this dimension.
As soon as Noire disappeared, Neptune sighed. "Good grief, what am I doing..."
"Yes, what are you doing, indeed." A voice suddenly spoke. After a few moments, the dust cleared up, showing a girl wearing a white and red battlesuit with an axe leaning on her shoulders.
"...Blanc."
Yes, it was Blanc, or in her current form, White Heart. She was the CPU of Lowee, and currently acting as Lastation's CPU as well. It seemed like she wasn't in a good mood. Well, nobody would attack anybody if they were in a good mood.
"Why do you look like Neptune?" Blanc asked in an angry tone.
Neptune gulped. Of all CPUs, Blanc wasn't the one she wanted to face head-on. Well, there were only two active CPUs in this dimension, and Neptune wouldn't want to have something to do with them. Bad luck she had today. If only she left Noire alone.
"Because I am Neptune, technically."
In an instant, Blanc slammed the ground using her axe, then a medium-sized boulder floated and she hit it with the same weapon, creating a ricochet of rocks heading towards Neptune.
"...!"
Of course, Neptune didn't back down. She quickly sliced the rocks that would hit her using her twin blades, not letting a single pebble reach her.
"Not bad, I'd say." Blanc said as she rested her axe on her shoulder. "You do know her identity, don't you?"
"I do, and I'm not helping her do something fishy, I swear." Neptune said as she raised both of her arms after letting go of her weapons.
Blanc narrowed her eyes. "That's fishy."
Neptune popped a nerve, but she gotta stay calm, else this walking rage would plummet her down to the ground. This CPU knew nothing about holding back, after all.
"Hey, I know that you're just messing with me, but I'm telling the truth." Neptune said as she sighed and lowered her arms. "That girl is looking for 'Neptune', so I just showed her the way."
Blanc eyed Neptune for a moment. Didn't look like she was lying, was what Blanc had in mind. "That so? But why are you running away from us?"
"Mind if I ask who attacked us without a warning?"
Blanc was silent. Neptune had a point. She could say that they shouldn't have ran away in the first place, but she knew that Neptune would come up with another refute so she just kept her mouth shut.
"Whatever, I've lost interest." Blanc said as she dematerialized her weapon and undid her transformation. "I'll let Plutia handle this."
Neptune gasped a little. "Oh, yeah, you said 'us' earlier." She said and then turned around. She folded her palms and whispered, "May you survive the punishment, Noire."
Be it like that, Blanc knew that Neptune was just being sarcastic. She and Neptune knew what Plutia would do in this situation, after all. And nobody would want to be on the receiving end of it.
Not even Blanc herself.
~o~O~o~
UD Central Island - Forest Depths.
Noire was running away from the shrine. The program in her PDA should be done by more or less a three minutes, but she couldn't let her guard down yet. Not until she made it back to her own dimension.
"Ah-!"
She tripped down while running. She hurriedly picked herself up but as soon as she did so, she saw the trees around her was cut in half. She turned around to see who just did that and saw a woman floating in mid-air. She had an iris-blue hair and magenta-colored eyes. Her outfit consisted of a black, one-piece bodysuit with high heels accompanied by a set of matching earrings and a choker. On her right hand was somewhat like a sword but the blade was not like of a sword's.
Noire could feel a very threatening aura from the woman above. It was nothing like Blanc's, nor any other enemy she had encountered. Her mind and guts were screaming that she should flee at once, but even so, the intimidating aura of that woman made her freeze on the spot.
"...Who... are you...?" Despite Noire getting paralyzed, she managed to ask a question.
The woman above just narrowed her eyes as she stared at Noire like a pest. "Me...?"
Noire slowly crawled backwards from fear.
"I have no name..." The woman then grinned at Noire evilly. "I am but two days old."
Noire's crawling gradually became a little faster. She could feel the danger levels going off the charts. She had to escape at once, but the program wasn't prepared yet. It needed about a minute more.
"Just kidding."
Noire ignored all the pain in her body and pulled herself up. She started to run without looking back.
"You can call me Iris Heart."
The woman named Iris Heart then swung her sword downwards. The sword extended at a very fast speed, reaching Noire's ground in an instant, blowing Noire away from the impact as it destroyed the terrain.
"AAAAHHH-!" Noire held her PDA on her chest to protect it as her back crashed on the ground. She could feel a very sharp pain from her back, but that wasn't her concern right now. The program just finished loading and it was ready to be executed now.
Without a second thought, Noire pressed the confirm button and a pillar of light suddenly dropped down on her body. As she was getting transported, there was only one thing that she had in mind.
'Neptune... I'm sorry...! I'm really sorry...!'
~o~O~o~
SD Planeptune - Basilicom. Present time.
Noire told everything she went through after her dimensional travelling. With everything she told, Histoire confirmed that there was indeed a time dilation between the two dimensions. But of course, that wasn't the real concern of hers.
"What... the hell...?" Blanc fell down on her knees, so did Vert, who was already tearing up. "The fuck's gonna happen to us now?!"
The CPUs weren't in the right shape. Histoire could see this much. Even she herself knew how it hurt after learning that Neptune's gone. The four CPUs were needed to activate the ruins that would lead to Celestia using the four sacred treasures. Now that Neptune was gone, it would be impossible to do that with just three CPUs.
It seemed like the CPUs had no idea what to do, and their situation just went down to the bottom. Something must be done at once.
"Blanc, Noire, Vert. You three should return to your respective nations for now." Histoire suggested. The three CPUs had this confused looks on their faces.
"What's going to happen to us?" Vert asked.
Histoire didn't have a direct answer to that question and just swung her head. "For now, keep your nations safe. I'll figure something out and contact you later."
The three CPUs didn't say anything and just complied with Histoire's request. They wouldn't be able to suggest anything anyway so they just let Histoire do what she wanted. At the very least, they could put their trust on her with regards to these things and at the same time do their do duties as a CPU.
As soon as the CPUs left, Histoire sighed. Their situation might've had become worse, but she already knew the possibility of this happening.
Histoire left the room and headed towards her office. As soon as she entered her destination room, she levitated to the bookshelf and pushed a book inward. All of a sudden, the bookshelf moved sideward and a hidden passageway appeared. She didn't think twice and entered the dark corridor. After a short while, she arrived at a dark room, with only the screens of multiple terminals and a floating crystal above the tube lighting the place.
"..."
In front of Histoire was a large tube filled with liquid, but no ordinary one. Inside the tube, there was a girl with several electrodes and smaller tubes attached to her body. There were running lights in the smaller tubes which seemed to be going inside the girl's body, and they were originating from the crystal on top of the tube. Whatever that crystal was, or whatever was in this room, only Histoire knew.
Histoire stared at the girl. She was completely naked, with the only distinguishing feature she had was the long lilac hair of hers. Nothing else. The look Histoire had in her face as she stared at the girl was a mixture of pity and regret.
"I'm sorry... it really isn't my intention to do this..." Histoire mumbled under her breath as she continuously apologized, particularly to the girl in front of her.
"Forgive me, but you're the only one who can save us..."
Aaaaand, there's that!
I said that I did this on a whim, but it took longer to finish, yeah. Thank you, real life.
Anyway, I don't know what I should do next. My time is slowly getting disappearing woooooo Goddess knows when will the next story gets uploaded.
Jokes aside, please tell me if there are mistakes so I can fix it immediately. I do proofread this myself but sometimes I miss errors. My eyes aren't sharp, as far as I know.
How do you like the short sequel guys? Drop your impressions :)
Until next time, see ya guys~