Of White and Green, Black and Purple
Chapter 1
Peace. The one word that had always eluded Gameindustri since time immemorial, and for good reason. For with people, come governance. And with governance came establishments. And from establishments rose leaders. And naturally, with leaders and establishments came politics, competition and conflict.
Gameindustri was no exception. For centuries, war raged across the land as the Hearts of each continent attempted to suppress the opposition and claim both additional Shares and supremacy over the world as the True Goddess. Petty squabbles escalating into full-scale conflicts occurred so frequently that any disagreement which was successfully resolved via negotiation always took precedence on the news networks over yet another declaration of war.
And yet, the hope for peace among the continents had never dimmed, not even in the darkest of hours when the wars took a brutal turn for the worse. For as impossible as it may seem, it was an open secret among Gamindustri that all four perpetrators of the conflict were actually very close friends who were seldom seen in public without the company of each other, even when locked in combat with each other on the battlefield.
In short, it was a battle of egos among four goddesses, each with a sense of entitlement greater than that of the universe. Which obviously did not sit well with the war-weary civilians of each Heart's country. And finally, having been pushed to the limits of their patience, enough brave citizens were able to gather up sufficient support from the general populace to issue a public ultimatum to the goddesses, using the source of their powers as the ultimate bargaining chip: to get their goddess rears in gear and work towards an everlasting peace, or lose all their faith (and corresponding capital and global Shares) in a heartbeat. As it turned out, it did produce the desired results: faced with the very real possibility of losing their countries and having their powers forcibly stripped from them over the lack of faith, all four Hearts eventually agreed to accede to the peoples' demands and actively discuss a feasible peace treaty like the friends that they have always been.
As would be expected of such a significant undertaking, to say that the talks were extremely passionate and emotionally-charged would be the biggest understatement for all time. Arguments were raged, threats were made, insults over chest sizes, work ethics and technological superiority were traded and furniture was flung out of the windows on a near daily basis, but eventually the Hearts came through, and a suitable peace treaty that managed to satisfy all four warring countries was born. A treaty that would outlaw the act of seizing shares by military force and encourage intense yet friendly rivalries among the various nations for the greater good of every civilian in Gamindistri. And this groundbreaking announcement was to be made at Planeptune's Sanctuary, where it would be broadcast live to every being that lived and breathed in Gamindustri.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Although the Hearts would soon learn in due time that there will still be conflicts to deal with even in times of peace. Conflicts that no treaty or agreement will ever be able to peacefully resolve.
Especially where oversized egos, tsundere tendencies and typical girl insecurities were concerned.
Lowee. The Land of White Serenity, or more commonly known as the Land of Snow among the non-natives, was a textbook example of an ideal country for one to raise a family or retire in. With its slower pace of life, Lowee's citizens were regarded as the friendliest in all of Gamindistri, seldom seen without a smile on their faces and always ready to strike up a conversation with anyone keen on returning the gesture. The fact that snow covered the country all year round gave it an air of serenity (hence its name) which in turn made for very picturesque environments and scenic views.
Situated at the northernmost part of Lowee was its Sanctuary, which had served as the home and office of the country's ruler and goddess ever since its founding. Built to resemble a grand castle, the Sanctuary exuded an air of mysticism that, coupled with the fairytale-like atmosphere , captivated both natives and foreigners alike, although the locals knew better than to loiter around the Sanctuary if they did not have any official business with its Goddess, especially if they valued their lives. Except that their fear had nothing to do with the security guards that kept a close watch on the Sanctuary's parameter and compounds, and more to do with the very real possibility of having some random, heavy object unceremoniously dropped on their heads from the Sanctuary's top level while minding their own business.
Like the computer that had just smashed itself through a window on the Sanctuary's top level and was now hurtling towards its untimely demise on the icy concrete floor some 50 meters below, complete with a scream of rage from the last owner it will ever serve.
"WHO THE **** DOES SAGGY BREASTS THINK SHE IS, CALLING ME FLAT-CHESTED IN AN OFFICIAL EMAIL?! I'LL SMASH THOSE LUMPS OF FAT RIGHT BACK WHERE THEY CAME FROM! MINA! GET THAT PATHETIC SLUT OF A GODDESS ON THE PHONE RIGHT NOW, YOU HEAR ME?! AND FIND A REPLACEMENT COMPUTER FOR ME RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"Yes, Blanc-sama!"
"THE REST OF YOU GET YOUR SORRY ASSES BACK TO WORK!"
Yep, it was just a normal day in Lowee after all.
To say that Blanc was in a very, very foul mood that day would probably be the understatement of the century. As things currently stood, she was already up to her neck over having to deal with the less-than-acceptable reception of the new hardware that Lowee recently unleashed upon Gameindustri for sale. After all, there was just no conceivable reason for it to flop as badly as it was right now. Not when it had been painstakingly designed from ground up with customer feedback in mind; haven't they been begging for a new console that allowed multiplayer linkup between itself and Lowee's existing handheld consoles, was portable enough to support battery-powered gameplay and still have the processing power of a traditional, always-plugged-in console, for the past seven years? How could they not see that the Lo U was supposed to be every bit their console as much as it was supposed to be Lowee's?
Letting out a long sigh, Blanc stood up and headed for the door. This will not do; the day had barely started and she was already starting to feel fatigued. Of all the fallouts caused by poor hardware launches over Lowee's long history, the Lo U was quickly shaping up as the prime contender to dethrone the failed L64 as the country's worst ever flop. Makers were releasing public statements left and right declaring that they were extremely unlikely to ever support the Lo U in its current state, and would rather focus their development efforts on the Lastation 4 or LB One. Heck, even her sisters' 3 Dee-Ess was doing a much stellar job at competing against Uni's LSV.
Perhaps the time has come to seriously consider entrusting Rom and Ram with the reins to Lowee's government.
With that thought in mind, Blanc threw open the heavy doors to her private office only to to met by the sight of her loyal Oracle, mobile phone in hand. "Blanc-sama, as per your orders, I have successfully contacted Vert. Is there anything you would like me to inform her about, or would you prefer to speak to her direc..."
Blanc just waved her off, not even waiting for the Oracle to finish with her speech. "Tell Boobzilla that I am imposing an embargo on the upcoming LB One and its games until a satisfactory private apology is made. Window for negotiation is 15 minutes and started 10 minutes ago." Without waiting for an acknowledgment from Mina, Blanc turned back and shut the doors to the office, silently cursing how a certain 'Thunder Tits' was the reason her only chance to cool down before having to deal with more work was thrown out the window in an instant. Although it would be interesting to see if Vert took her threat seriously. Not that she had any intention of carrying it out, but if push comes to shove Lowee could justify its actions by claiming that Leanbox chose to spurn her offer for negotiations. Even if said 'offer' was totally ludicrous considering how it took at least seven minutes for a Goddess to fly over from Leanbox to Lowee at maximum speed. But the civilians did not need to know that, of course.
Deciding that there was nothing else to do but wait, Lowee's goddess slowly made her way back to her desk and picked up a document from her 'In' tray. Since it was only a matter of minutes before Vert made her grand entry, Blanc figured that she might as well attempt to clear at least a couple of trivial issues before then, since there was only one way the 'negotiations' with Leanbox's goddess would play out, and it was almost definitely going to involve squabbling all the way till evening, if she got lucky. Anything earlier would be nothing short of a mega bonus.
However, all it took was an uneventful 15 minutes for Blanc's rage to return in full force. So Saggy Breasts was not going to take her threat seriously, was she? Well, that was just too bad; if that was how Leanbox is going to play, Lowee will just have the show the whole of Gamindustri that it was not to be trifled with. After all, it was at one point of time the most powerful nation of Gamindustri, and the reason Planeptune's console development efforts were officially killed after the release of the Neptune.
Killed by Lowee, no less.
Perhaps the time was right to show the other nations a thing or two about the true capabilities of Lowee. Sure, the current Lowee is nowhere as large as the Lowee of the past, having lost more than 60% of its landmass to the other nations during the wars and its global shares dwindle down to last place at a mere 19%, but Blanc will be damned if she didn't have any triumph cards to play if the going got rough. That embargo will definitely make an example out of Leanbox.
That thought did not last long though, for an angry burst of green suddenly burst in and crashed into her office via the broken window before Blanc could reach for the telephone to convey her orders. True enough, standing before Blanc was the goddess of Leanbox herself, wearing a scowl on her face that would have shattered stone. Not that Blanc cared in the least; this was payback time.
"You're late," the goddess of Lowee mumbled in her characteristic monotone. "Window's closed already. You have no business in Lowee now, so please leave..."
The only response she got was Vert slamming her hand down on the desk, sending documents and stationery flying everywhere. "Leanbox will not take this act of hostility lying down," she hissed, her face inches away from Blanc's. "I hereby demand, in the name of Leanbox's goddess Green Heart, that the trade embargo be lifted,; non-compliance will be interpreted as a declaration of war and swift retaliation can be expected."
"If that's your way of compelling me to lift the embargo, 'total failure' does not even begin to describe your actions," Blanc responded softly while she bent down to pick up a pen that got swept off onto the floor, courtesy of Vert's outburst. "Inter-country requests are not made by crashing into an office and making demands like what a certain someone is doing right now. Follow the proper procedures and maybe we can talk. If there's nothing else..." Standing up and packing some sheets of papers into a clear folder, Blanc walked past Leanbox's goddess without turning back. "...I got enough crap on my hands to deal with, so please don't add on to my workload. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to see someone...oomph!"
*CRASH*
"My my, aren't we a little clumsy today, Blanc?" came the patronizing voice from Vert, who was obviously taking delight in watching how the diminutive goddess was careless enough to trip over a well-placed heel and crash heavily on the floor face first, and in the process scatter even more documents all over the already messy office. "That's no good, little girls should be watching their their development at this age. Don't you know that such trauma to the chest has been discovered to have an adverse impact breast growth? Tsk, I'd have expected the goddess of Lowee herself to at least know how to take care of herself."
"You...you..." Growling dangerously with an ominous orange aura flaring about her, Blanc slowly picked herself up off the floor and advanced towards the goddess of Leanbox, hammer in hand and eyes shining blood red. "I WILL SHOW YOU GROWTH, YOU GODDAMNED SAGGY LUMPS OF FAT! RRAAGHH!"
Approximately 20 minutes later...
"Oei, Vert."
"What is it?"
"Can you tell me what the eff have we been fighting over for the past 20 minutes?"
"Hmm..." the goddess of Leanbox paused. "That's...a good question. I don't know, but I have the faintest feeling that I'm kind of forgetting something really important."
"WELL IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER CAN YOU AT LEAST GET YOUR HANDS AND FAT ASS OFF MY CHEST BEFORE YOU SUFFOCATE ME, YOU BITCH?!"
Meanwhile, over at Planeptune...
"What do you mean, Vert's not in?!" came a tiny but indignant voice from within the depths of Planeptune's Sanctuary. "We were supposed to have that conference call 30 minutes ago! * . * "
Author's note: Some of you may have realized that the terms used in this story differ from the official English localization, most notably the use of 'Sanctuary' instead of Basilicom. This is because the actual Japanese term used for the Basilicom can be loosely translated to mean 'Sanctuary', which gives the place a more 'religious' feel in line with the idea of goddess worshiping and such.