Gamindustri was finally silent.
The Conquest that Nepgear had started finally came to an end.
The last of 'The Uprising' fell at Nepgear's feet, the blood pooling out with a finality.
It was IF.
The Gehaburn absorbed her essence, breathing softly and happily as it accepted the sacrifice.
Yet, Nepgear wanted to reject it.
Blood stained Nepgear's dress, soul and being.
As the body of her once close friend IF fell, Nepgear felt something die within her.
Why had this happened?
She never knew why, but she had a hunch.
They were trying to destroy the Gehaburn, the only thing connecting Nepgear back to her sister, and the rest of the CPUs.
But then again, she was sure of that fact. How could it not be?
She hadn't done anything to them.
They had.
In truth, and to what she knew subconsciously; the world had already told her the reason.
"She became what she had tried to stop… the Deity of Sin."
Histoire had told 'The Uprising' that on the day that they began to stand up to rise against Nepgear… she, in her glory of 'everything' probably never saw their loss coming.
She also probably never saw the Gehaburn impaling her, and with that, she lost her life.
The being that was once Histoire now lived in the sword, her essence now powering the existence of all… and one.
You can know, but never truly accept. However, she was finally starting to understand that.
She had become the Deity of Sin. Even now, she could feel the fear of what was left of the people empowering her.
It was revolting.
And so, she sought out the rest of the people. To reassure them… she hoped.
However, she never saw their last stand coming either.
They all had to die. They were threatening her existence.
Nepgear sat on her purple throne.
The second-last of Gamindustri had finally fell to her blade.
And now, she was finally alone.
Truly.
The last… of Gamindustri.
Such a title fit her.
She was the last of the CPUs, the last of everything.
She could not even cry.
She had lost the ability to do so the day that her sister had died by her hands.
The essence of everything was in her sword, the Gehaburn.
Long ago, when she still had all of her friends… before the fight against Arfoire… Histoire had said…
"Arfoire used to be a human, with the ability to assimilate powers into her being. In order to protect her loved ones, she took the powers of the CPUs in order to fight. However, the power of the CPUs were not meant for humans, and so she was corrupted… into what you see now. The Deity of Sin. But if you slay her with that sword… she will be gone, forever… but…"
Her essence was in the Gehaburn, and in turn, Nepgear.
Nepgear had truly become the Deity of Sin.
Histoire had been saddened by the fight, but then again… everyone was.
No... it didn't matter anymore.
They had left her.
She had finally decided to do it.
There was nothing left to live for, after all.
She summoned the Gehaburn.
Dark purple rings formed around her right hand.
It was such a beautiful sword, but how it was created was never that way.
It was truly repulsive.
Nepgear closed her eyes, and shifted the blade towards her chest.
She pushed.
A hole was formed within her.
The world formed another.
It twisted and turned, the spine of the world finally reaching its end.
A collapse.
Nepgear's body fell to the ground.
She heard a familiar voice.
"So, in the end, the world had truly ended. Nepgear, my successor... I am sorry."
A voice she had heard many years ago, when she had fought her...
Nepgear smiled.
"It's alright. I'm getting my just desserts. It was my decision… after all."
She fell into the broken abyss.
Dark, it was.
Was there light?
She couldn't tell.
The moment she opened her eyes, she was falling.
Was this the world's way of telling her she could never end her suffering?
The sword was still through her chest.
She closed her eyes, to await the ground.
The ground soon came close, and she felt the impact.
She pulled the sword out of her chest.
There was no evidence of a fall, which was strange within itself.
And the sword…?
Its once foreboding purple light was now a calming blue.
How could it be? There was no way that it could have changed.
No, she felt empowered, by those that came before her.
"The sword never betrays its wielder. The sword only… is a tool for the wielder, and is nothing more, and nothing less."
She smiled once more.
She set the sword back into its unsummoned form, and walked.
This… place… greatly resembled Virtua Forest… but she had destroyed it as it was a base for 'The Uprising'… so why was it here, in pristine condition?
Nepgear ran through all possibilities through her mind.
"The possible reasons for this could be that… time turned back… or I'm in a separate dimension."
She hoped for the former.
If that was so, she could see her sister… her friends again.
If it was the latter...
No, she couldn't think that way.
It was best to be optimistic.
Since it was Virtua Forest, a place she knew like the back of her hand…
She was close… to Planeptune.
As she came to that realization, she knew that she had to move quickly.
Time was of the essence.
She began to run towards her home.
The city she once ruled over stood before her.
Pristine, shining in glory.
No, it wasn't what she ruled over.
It was decrepit.
It was full of pain.
This wasn't hers anymore.
She wasn't a part of this Planeptune.
She knew what was to be done.
As she turned back, she knew.
She didn't belong here.
She laughed in the silence.
The LAN Castle awaited her.
"Neptune! Why are you just sitting around and just doing nothing?! Planeptune is at its' all time low of 9% Shares!" Histoire shouted as loud as her vocal chords allowed.
"Eehhh… 9% is still better than nothing, right? I mean, it's still something…" Neptune remarked, her voice as low as it could get.
Out of all the goddesses, she was the only one who didn't get a CPU Candidate for a sister. She wished for one, but it could never happen.
"This is why I wish we had extra hands… if only if we had a CPU Candidate to share the workload with..." Histoire spoke, saddened at the sudden remembrance.
Neptune just couldn't find it in herself reply to that.
Ever since the rise in popularity of all of the other lands all those years ago, their shares inflated, and in turn… they birthed CPU Candidates.
Lowee got Rom and Ram.
Lastation got Uni.
Leanbox got Ciel.
And of course, Planeptune gained nothing.
Rom and Ram were cute in their own way, but they weren't exactly what Neptune looked for in little sisters.
Uni looked up to her sister as some kind of omnipotent being of sorts, and it irked her.
Ciel… was just mysterious, in a sense.
She had blonde hair just like Vert, but she was a little more… subdued than Vert… in terms of 'size' and pretty much everything else.
No matter what, she knew that it still wasn't what she wanted.
What she wanted was a sister she could dote on, and one that she could depend on as well. After all the other CPUs acquired sisters, and she... didn't.
They picked on her relentlessly on that fact.
And with time, she fell into depression.
With that depression her shares fell. She tried her utmost best to keep them up, but since she didn't have an extra pair of hands…
No matter what they tried or how much time they worked, it was difficult to manage the workload that had been placed upon them daily.
Histoire was a big help, but the stress would get to her head quickly.
Neptune always felt that, no matter what, the turmoil within her mind would never cease.
And so, with those thoughts, she stopped and awaited her end.
It just wasn't worth it any longer.
It just wasn't.
...It wasn't worth it.
Nepgear sat down in the end of the dungeon.
The LAN Castle was just as she remembered, the monsters and all.
She supposed it was counter-productive, what with Planeptune being so close by.
Some adventurer would probably come here and try to find some item, find her and think she was some damsel in distress… damn, she could actually see that happening.
She would probably kill him or her, though.
They would then file some 'missing person' case and send it to the Basilicom.
She sighed.
Why did she think that this was a good idea?
Days passed.
Her eyes seemed to rot with time.
Life didn't seem to be worth it.
She worked hard, and what?
12% Shares.
Leanbox had 28%, Lastation had 34% and Lowee had 26%.
It just wasn't fair.
Today's job was to search for something within the LAN Castle.
Some Magic Fragment, nothing too much.
It seemed to be easy.
Just like how failing at something was.
Nepgear's eyes narrowed.
Her senses had picked up on a familiar presence.
"The time has come, I suppose."
She picked herself up from the floor.
In a flurry of azure binary codes, she summoned the sword.
She didn't know what to name it.
It was no longer a sword that existed upon the power of the CPUs.
It now existed within the concept and power to protect…
The blue light breathed life into the room.
Thinking for a while, she finally came up with a name.
"The Sauvegarder. A good name for a good sword."
She wielded the now newly named Sauvegarder in her right hand, and waited.
Neptune hunched back even further. The item seemed to be in the deepest part of the LAN Castle.
In another flurry of purple binary codes, her katana was summoned.
"Why did I take this job…?"
Her level was labeled as 249, so the monsters were easy pickings.
"It's just," Neptune sighed, "not worth it, is it?"
She slaughtered the Ancient Dragon in one stroke of her blade.
"I wanted something, worked for it as hard as I could."
The Cat Knights fell in one quick blade swipe.
"And why, why didn't I get it?"
She stopped, and glared at the violet-haired girl that had an azure-beam-sword held in her right hand.
She wore a sailor-dress, with her nation's logo on it. She also wore pink and white stockings.
Neptune's katana was now pointed at the girl.
"Who are you?" She asked with a damning stare, the fiery rage that she had festered within her heart towards the world finally reaching its peak.
Neptune definitely wasn't what she thought she would be.
She still did have her hoodie and two D-Clips, but…
Her eyes spoke of depression, and her form was just hunched over.
The state of her katana, worn and weary…
It told her of the relentless struggle this Neptune had gone through.
This was truly different, and Nepgear was ready for it.
She began to speak.
"I am Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune."
Neptune's eyes widened in shock.
A smile formed on Nepgear's face.