Neptune.

NEPTUNE.

This time, there was no negotiation, no peace talks, no cooldown hugs. Within 15 minutes, Lastation's shares had plummeted and Planeptune's had skyrocketed. There was no coincidence, no "luck". This was theft, and she was going to pay.

Noire flew single-mindedly towards Planeptune's basilicom, with Uni in tow. At her side lay the sword. It was found a week ago, in an excavation site in Southern Lastation. Noire immediately took great interest in it, keeping it on her person at almost all times. Her obsession had worried Uni, but Uni was far too concerned right now with the Planeptune situation to realize she'd brought it with her.

15 mins of flying before Planeptune came into view. Yes. It's time.Noire wordlessly descended towards the balcony, reverting to her human form the moment she touched the ground. Pausing for a fragment of a second, Noire shrugged off any instance of doubt and began marching towards the interior. She seemed... off, to Uni somehow. She'd been angry before, but never like this. Rather than appearing prideful and elegant, she was emanating fury, which was concerning for someone like Noire.

Uni finally caught up with her sister, and de-transformed the moment she hit the ground. Noire was already inside, spewing a torrent of disgust and hatred towards Neptune. As she got closer, it became more and more eligible.

"WE'VE BEEN ALLIES FOR YEARS AND YOU GO AND BETRAY ME LIKE THAT? I TRUSTED YOU NEPTUNE. BUT... but no. You had to go and stab me in the back. It's not like I was enjoying being closer to you, or anythi-"

Nepgear butted in, stepping between the two. She cleared her throat, and straightened her back. It was obvious she was terrified of Noire.

"Noire. Please, please listen to me. We didn't steal your shares. We didn't even KNOW until you came by. So I'm begging you, please listen to reason. Please." The final please was riddled with desperation. It was if she knew conflict was brewing for the first time in years.

She was so incredibly wrong. Noire's facial expression changed from "anger" to "explosive fury" as a result of her actions. In a flash, she'd tossed Nepgear aside and grabbed Neptune by the collar.

Neptune struggled in vain against Noire's vice-like grip. "Whoa whoa Lonely Heart, what's gotten into you? Maybe we should grab some pudding and talk it out, huh?"

Her attempts at joke only made Noire's fuse burn faster. With seeming impunity, Noire tossed Neptune across the room. She paused for a moment. Do it. Let it begin. Taking a deep breathe to prepare, Noire reached for the sword at her hip. It's time Uni saw her hand move for the sword and immediately made a frantic, mad dash towards the room.

Noire drew the sword, shut her eyes, and readied it. Neptune was backed against a wall, frozen with fear and confusion. "Forgive me" Noire whispered into herself.

She lunged forward. The sword connected and impaled it's target, rending muscle, burning flesh and piercing bone.

Noire heard the gasps. She didn't dare open her eyes just yet. The gravity of what she'd done and tried to do had just hit her. She just killed her best friend. Her eternal rival. Her one love. How could she come back from this? How could she repent for such an awful act? Nobody would forgive her. Not Nepgear, not Plutia, not Uzume, not any of the goddesses, candidates, oracles or makers on Earth.

Noire slowly began to open her eyes; she had to face this.

She saw the purple boots, the knee high socks... the schoolgirl outfit... the Planeptune symbol... the... long flowing hair?

Noire's eyes fully open, it dawned on her. Nepgear had taken the blow instead.

She was staring into Noire's eyes. Noire could see the life slowly leave her. To her surprise, Nepgear raised a hand to Noire's face and weakly leaned in closer.

"Don't... don't worry Noire. Better me than someone important, right?" Nepgear gave a pathetic laugh, coughing up a small fragment of blood in the process.

With one last sigh, Nepgear left the world forever.

"No. No. No no no no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO PLEASE NO". The cries came from the right. It was Uni.

Noire ripped the sword from Nepgear and tossed it aside. Collapsing to her knees, she stared at the body before her. The youthful and cheery CPU candidate was devoid of all life, joy and youth. Neptune was collapsed against the wall, expressionless. Colour and life had left her face, making her resemble a corpse in a way.

Uni rushed to Nepgear's side and immediately wrapped her arms around the candidate. Tears in her eyes, she began to beg. "Nepgear please, please come back. Stop fooling around you idiot and get back to me. Please. Please. I can totally live without you, but it'd be so much better if you were here, right? Right? Please come back."
Uni's words became incomprehensible amidst the sound of her sobs, but she managed a few more words before giving up and resigning herself to weeping.

"I can't live without you. Please don't leave me alone in this world."

Nothing. Not a sound or acknowledgement or movement. Nepgear, her Nepgear was gone forever.
Something inside Uni broke at that realisation. Her sobs stopped, her tears ceased to flow. She simply sat there, cradling Nepgear back and forth. The sight before Noire's eyes was enough to shake her back into the real world. Weakly, and with great hesitation, Noire stood up. Unsure of what to do, she reached over towards the sword and reattached it to her hip. She stared at the balcony, contemplating whether or not to leave now.

She'd leave, but not Black Heart. Sighing, Noire turned around and exited the room via the hallway exit. She would walk to Lastation, even if her legs burned doing so.
As she left, she bumped into Histoire in the main hall. The fairy girl was completely unaware of what had just transpired, and thus greeted Noire with a smile. "Hello Noire, how did your talk go?"

Noire had nothing to say. She wasn't worthy of saying anything other than the words lying at the back of her mind: "I'm so sorry Histy."

And with that, Noire left Planeptune's Basilicom, perhaps for the last time.

The walk to Lastation was a solemn one. Civilians in the street whispered amongst themselves about the presence of a goddess in Planeptune and how she looked so unkempt. Noire briefly considered collapsing before them and confessing her sins and begging forgiveness, but there would be no point in that. This road Noire had paved was hers, and she would walk it alone if she had to.

After the 30th mile, just inside the Lastation border, exhaustion caught up with her. Noire collapsed to the ground, her conscience slowly fading. "Please... let this be the end" were the last thoughts to run through her mind before it was silenced.

Poor girl. It's only getting started