DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia.

WARNING: This story contains Character Death.

Enjoy...?

For centuries I fought against the other three goddesses in Celestia as we tried to take each other's Shares by force. I held my ground against the persistent Black Heart, danced with Green Heart's quick thrusts, and withstood White Heart's sheer tenacity time after time; but, no matter how hard I fought, I could never overcome any one of them. Likewise, none of them could overcome me. At times, our power would weaken as our Shares dropped, so we would depart from Celestia and to our nations to restore our Shares. As soon as our power was strong once more, we would return and continue our battles, which had become known to our citizens as The Console Wars.

It was a never-ending stalemate.

Futile, in and of itself.

So why did we continue to fight with one another?

I found myself asking that question often.

What was the point to all of this? Why couldn't we just set aside our differences and become friends? Was taking each other's Shares, or becoming the one true goddess, so important? No, it wasn't, at least not to me, not anymore...

So I tried to talk it out with the other goddesses, but they didn't listen. They just laughed, and so we continued to fight.

Eventually, I had had enough.

Even though my power was still strong, and my Shares were still high, I returned to Planeptune. I made my nation my home, and I did not return to Celestia. Eventually, they came looking for me, and demanded that I return to Celestia or they would be forced to work together to defeat me once and for all. I refused, and so they attacked.

It was all I could do to defend myself, but all the time I had spent in Planeptune had raised my Shares high enough to stand my ground. With the help of my trusted guards, the goddesses were forced to retreat. They each went back to their own nation to raise their Shares, but their temporary alliance with one another did not last long. They turned on each other just weeks later, and I didn't hear from them again.

Years later, an uneasy peace had settled over me as I abided my time between keeping my Shares high, playing video games, and eating the one thing that gave me peace of mind.

Pudding.

Delicious pudding.

Whenever I had that wonderful snack, I could think clearly. Sometimes I wondered what the other goddesses were up to, but there were mixed rumors of them battling in Celestia, or raising their Shares in their nations. Sometimes there were even rumors of war brewing, but such rumors came and went. I never did believe that the other goddesses would ever drag their nations into the Console Wars with them, so I didn't pay much heed to such rumors.

Eventually, when five years had past, she came to see me.

Black Heart, or Noire (I think that was her name), found me in the middle of an open field after I had finished taking care of some monsters. She landed gracefully, and the look on her face didn't give any indication that she had just dropped by for a social call.

"Neptune." She said, glaring at me.
"Nowa." I said back.
"It's Noire!" She yelled, annoyed.
"Oh, right, sorry." I apologized, awkwardly laughing. "So, um, what brings you over to Planeptune today, Noire?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Noire asked as she raised her sword. "I've come to defeat you once and for all."
I sighed, sad. "Didn't you already try that with Bert and Vlanc?"
"That was five years ago. I've become much stronger since then; in fact, I plan on dealing with those two idiots after I gut you."
I took a step forward, swinging my fists down. "Noire! We don't have to fight! I don't want anything to do with the Console Wars anymore!"

For one moment, I caught a flash of anger and... loneliness (?) in her eyes, but the next moment it was replaced with her signature determination. "Neptune, as one of the four goddesses, you can't escape this. You can't!" With that last cry, she attacked.

Our blades clashed as we danced around each other, the ground tearing asunder as we unleashed our power. Noire was right. She had grown much stronger; as strong as me, in fact. If I wasn't careful, I could very well lose this battle. Despite that, I still tried to reach out for her. "Listen to me, Noire! You don't have to do this! We could be friends! All of the goddesses could, if only we would sit down and talk for once!"

"Ever the dreamer, aren't you, Neptune?" Noire said as our blades locked against each other's. "It's too late for that! All we know how to do is to fight!"
"It doesn't have to stay that way! We can change! Just give it a chance!"

We pulled back to recover, and as we did it seemed like Noire was actually giving what I said some thought; but, whatever hope I had was quickly crushed. "No, we can't." Was all she said before coming at me with her most powerful attack.

We'd been fighting for hours now, so we were both getting tired. Noire wanted to put an end to it, so she was putting everything she had left in that one attack. In my current state, would I be able to withstand it?

In the next moment, she launched herself at me, and I was sent flying. My sword fell from my hand, but I landed back on my feet, skidding to a stop in the dirt, but I dropped to my knee. I didn't have the strength to stand.

Noire really was powerful.

She stood above me, her sword raised.

If any of us were good enough to be the one true goddess...

"This is it, Neptune." Noire said, a single tear running down her cheek. "Goodbye."

It was her.

"Hyaaaa!"

Just as Noire brought her sword down, a flash of steel knocked it back, forcing the goddess back in surprise as a young girl stood before me. "Purple Heart, are you alright!?" The brunette asked, looking back at me with a worried look on her face. I didn't know who she was, but I could tell that she was an adventurer from her attire and manner.

Had one of my followers come to my rescue?

If they were willing to stand up against a goddess, for me...

Then I couldn't allow myself to be beaten.

Finding my strength, I grabbed my sword and rose to my feet.

Noire glared at us as she readied herself for round two. "I'm not running. Not this time." She said before coming at us, but together we managed to hold our ground. Noire became increasingly frustrated, her attacks becoming more ferocious but more reckless at the same time. Even then, it was hard to keep up with her. The adventurer, although highly skilled, was no goddess, and I was at my limits. Finally, an opportunity showed itself after Noire had just sent the brunette to the ground.

She had left herself wide open.

My sword sang as it cut through her flesh, Noire's eyes widening as her blood was shed. There was a deep cut in her side, and blood gushed out. She dropped her sword, and then dropped to the ground, involuntarily transforming back into her human form. Transforming back myself, I approached her and knelt down by her side.

"It... didn't have to be like this..." I muttered, tears running down my cheeks as I looked down at Noire.
"This was... how it was always meant to end..." Noire said as she slipped off a black ring that was on her finger. "It was either me or you... and you won..." She placed the ring into Neptune's hand. "Take this... and keep it with you... OK?"

I nodded, confused, but I didn't ask why. "OK..."
She gave me a weak smile. "You know... Neptune, I..." Her hand reached up and touched my tear-stained cheek. "I... was always jealous... of you. You're the only one... who walked away... from all of this. I... I wished... I had... that kind of strength. I-I'm... sorry..."

With those last few words, Noire's hand went limp. I held her hand in my own, sobbing.

"Noire... I always thought... I always knew... that we could have been the best of friends. Wh-what I'm trying to say is... I-I'm going to... miss you..."

Several minutes passed by before I finally stood up, having shed my final tears for the girl that could have been my best friend. "Thank you... for saving me, Miss...?" I said, turning towards the adventurer that had saved my life, only to find the end of a pistol pointed at me.

"It's IF."

A gunshot rang out, and several moments passed before I realized that I had been shot. Stumbling back, I found myself at the cliff edge that Noire and I had ended up at in our fight. Then, in my daze, I remembered something.

"That's right... you just called me 'Purple Heart'..." I muttered, as everyone I knew either called me Lady Purple Heart or some horrible mispronunciation of Lady 'Neptune'.

The girl, IF, didn't look like a cold-blooded killer. I could see her hesitance, her uncertainty, in her eyes, but she wasn't going to leave the job unfinished. "I'm a follower of Lady Green Heart."

Another gunshot, and I fell off of the cliff and down into the water.