I'm writing this one now because I feel I should at least give you something more than a prologue. Hope you like it.

The walk back to Planeptune was long and tedious, Neptune's steps feeling like she was going nowhere at all. Her little body grew hungry too, the hot sun seeming to drain her more and more as she walked, and a lust for pudding resting inside of her.

She would have a lot to explain when she got back as well. She was sure nobody would be happy about the fact that she was now unable to run her own nation.

"If only Histy hadn't sent me to work that day…" She said to herself out loud, dragging the heavy sword behind her. "Yeah, that's right. If Histy hadn't sent me to work and let me eat pudding and play games, none of this would have happened. Yeah, it's Histy's fault that I'm stuck in this body. Not mine."

Neptune smiled to herself at her reasoning, holding her head high now that she knew she wasn't at fault.

"Hey, kid. You lost or something?" A voice asked somewhere nearby. Neptune looked over to see a nearby man killing dogoos.

"Nope. I'm going to Planeptune, but I'm pretty tired. How far is it?"

The man gave a confused expression.

"Planeptune? It's a few miles down the road, but what's a kid like you doing so far from home?"

"I...ended up getting into a little issue and had to walk back home. Do you by any chance have any pudding on you?"

"Can't say I do, but you shouldn't be eating junk like that anyways. I do have some cooked eggplant my wonderful wife cooked for me. Would you like to try a bit?"

Neptune tried not to show her disgust, though she failed miserably at doing so.

"I...I think I'd rather starve, thank you."

"O...okay. Good luck on your travels, then, and may Purple Heart bless you."

Continuing forward, she could swear she could taste the eggplant in her mouth, making the journey back that much more miserable.

"Now I need some pudding more than ever. Why couldn't you have conjured me up a pudding stall on the side of the road, and have them give me free pudding because of my absolutely adorable face? Why the eggplant, author?"

Within minutes, she felt the sky grow darker, little raindrops slowly hitting her before growing in intensity. Neptune went into a full sprint and ducked under a nearby tree, the light rain now a downpour.

"Don't you think that was a little much?"

Neptune, abide all of her misfortune, understood that the rain would last a long time and that it would be dangerous to go to Planeptune now.

"Hey, stop making this stuff up. This rain isn't so bad."

The sound of thunder boomed around her, the dark clouds stretching all across the sky.

"Okay, okay. I get the point." She stated pleadingly. "If I'm going to be stuck in the rain, I might as well get some rest."

With that, she put her head onto the ground, slowly dozing off to the sound of the raindrops.

"Hey, kid, you alright there?"

Neptune lazily opened her eyes, the rain having stopped around her and the sky a clear blue. Little drops of water covered her face, probably having gone through the tree, but more importantly….

Nep looked up at the girl, her familiar brown hair and green bow a sigh of relief for her. Iffy looked down on her, breathing a sigh of relief that the little girl was alright.

"Hey, Iffy. How are you doing? Is Planeptune holding up well in my absence?"

The girl tilted her head.

"Sorry, but...do I know you?" Iffy racked her brain, thinking about this. "You look an awful lot like Neptune...are you a fan of her?"

"Iffy, it's-"

"That would make sense, actually. Seeing how much Nep spends online, it would make sense that people would know of me. I'll have to lecture her about that later."

"Iffy, no. It's me, Nep Nep. Your good old hard working, fun loving, helpful CPU."

"Sure you are, kid. Your parents are probably worried about you, so I'll take you home. How does that sound?"

Nep had to seal the deal. If she told her she lived in the Basilicom, she would never believe her. No, she would assume that she doesn't have a home of her own, and it would be off to the orphanage with her. She would be given a name like "Piper" and become no more than a side character. She would have to convince her the only way she knew how.

To Iffy's surprise, Nep stood up, pulling from her pocket a small book, one which Iffy immediately recognized. She felt herself shudder a little.

"Wh-wh-where'd you get that? That's supposed to be locked away…"

"I stole it from your desk and read it before going to sleep. I forgot to put it back before I left."

"That...that book is private. It has all my…" Before she could finish, Nep had already started reading.

"Crimson demons of blood, fall under my command and rise from the earth-"

Iffy's face had gone beet red at this point, snatching the book away from her. It was a full 2 minutes before she could speak again.

"Nep, what have you done this time?" She asked with a sigh. "And you're not off the hook for stealing my stuff."

"Well, it turned out that the monster I was sent to fight was just a dogoo, but it had a sort of anti-aging gel inside of it that got all over me, so now I'm stuck like this for a while."

"Nep…."

"Don't worry. It'll only be like this for a couple of years. You'll barely be able to tell the difference."

Reluctantly, Iffy picked up the child Neptune, cradling her in her chest. She looked down at her in her arms. She had to admit that the kid was cute. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all…

"You know, I feel this would be a lot more fun of a position if this were Compa. Then I could innocently press my face into-"

Iffy dropped her onto the ground, the girl landing on the grass with a thud.

"I take that back. I think you should walk." She stated with a somewhat depressive voice. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Back at the basilicom, Histoire was pacing around the room to no end.

"Neptune should have been back by now. It's been 3 days already, so why is she not back? It's not like it's something that should take this long for 4 CPUs to deal with. It would have triggered something, or at least been something noticeable...or maybe it wasn't noticeable and they are in grave danger, or worse…"

Nepgear looked up from her tinkering to meet her eyes.

"I'm as worried as you are, but I'm sure she would have found a way to take care of it." She stated, trying to hide her worried expression. "IF is out there too doing guild work, so she should come across something...I hope…"

Within moments, Nepgear's phone starting ringing, Histoire growing only more worried as a result. Nepgear picked it up within moments.

"Hey there, IF. Did you find anything?"

Histoire's heart dropped further, and she could see Nepgear's did as well. Her expression slowly changed to relief.

"Oh, you found her. That's great." Histoire looked off at Nepgear's face as she grew more and more confused. This time, IF talked a while.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I understand. What happened to Neptune?"

Another long pause, and her face only grew more confused before reaching surprise.

"Oh….Well, I'll have to see the extent, but I'm sure I can do that. It'll be fun." This time, it was Histoire's turn to be confused.

"Yeah, she'll probably lecture her for a few hours, but she couldn't have known this would happen, and I assume the other nations are facing similar problems."

"Nepgear, what is-" She help up a finger, telling her to wait until she was done. Another long pause.

"I see. In any case, this is a big issue, but we can talk about it more when you get back…..oh, you're already in the city….alright, I'll meet you outside the tower in about 5 minutes...see you then." Nepgear hung up, immediately putting Histoire back into panic mode.

"Is she okay? Is she unharmed? What happened to her?"

Nepgear relaxed herself, attempting to comprehend what IF had said.

"She's unharmed, but not exactly okay either. I think it may be better if you see it for yourself."

And with that, Nepgear was out the door, Histoire no less calm than she was before. For many minutes, she continued to pace. What had she meant with her last statement? Finally, however, Nepgear and IF arrived in the door, a little girl in tow.

"That's a cute kid you have there, but where's Neptune?" Histoire asked curiously. IF and Nepgear looked at each other, silently trying to debate how to explain this. Histoire looked at the child, the realization quickly coming to her mind.

"Hey there, Histy. How's it going?" Neptune looked at Histoire, who was now taller than she was, expecting her to shower her with praise about how cute she was.

"How could you do this to yourself? Don't you know that this is incredibly irresponsible to be doing this? How are you going to run a nation like this?"

Neptune only pouted, making Histoire even more furious.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't think you see the scope of just how bad this is. Are you even listening?"

Nepgear piped up.

"I can look after Planeptune in her absence, and seeing that the effects are supposedly temporary…"

"Then that means there has to be a cure or antidote, right? Right?" Histoire asked, now excited at the thought that this may not be so bad.

"No, but it means I finally get to be the older sister I always dreamed of being." Nepgear replied with a look of pure joy on her face.

They're both hopeless…

Many days later…

Neptune rushed to the dinner table as fast as her little legs could take her. She had finished her dinner just as Nepgear had asked of her (aside from the eggplants she had snuck in), and now she was getting the fruit of her efforts.

In front of her chair sat a pudding, just waiting for her. Rushing forward, she jumped into the seat, her head just barely above the table. Nepgear sat down in a spot quite close to her own, something that she found unusual. As she went to dig in, Nepgear opened up the pudding, and Neptune immediately saw what was happening: This was punishment for not eating all her food, being forced to watch her dear sister eat her pudding in front of her.

"Meanie"

Nepgear then pulled out a spoon and grabbed a big piece. She could feel her mouth watering, her body just calling out to eat it. This was too cruel, even for her.

Instead, however, she brought it towards Neptune's mouth, the little piece sitting in front of her eyes.

"Say ahhhh"

Neptune turned her head away. She was not about to be spoon fed from her sister.

"Ahhhh. Open wide."

Neptune kept her head turned, though resistance was difficult.

"Such a shame. If you don't want it, I guess I'll have to eat it myself."

Reluctantly, she turned back, the spoon still facing her. She had no choice. With an embarrassed look, she opened her mouth to let the spoon in, the pudding slowly filling her mouth. It oddly tasted much better than any other she had. Was it the regression?

Nepgear went in for another spoonful, this time Neptune happily accepting it. Nepgear's face lit up as she swallowed the pudding, Neptune reaching for more. As she ate another spoonful, Neptune felt a hand over her head, her face turning bright red. She went to call for her to stop, but she let Nepgear continue to pat her on the head as she continued to eat.

On another day a few weeks later, Neptune and Nepgear found themselves outside a nearby movie theater after going clothes shopping. She had picked out a kids shirt with the words "Praise Purple" written on it, directly above a somewhat crude picture of her CPU form.

"Remind me when I get back to normal to get this changed. There's no way I looked like this. My head is all wrong." Neptune pouted, still looking down at it.

"If you're just going to complain, why did you buy it?"

"Because I like it, that's why."

While trying comprehend her logic, Nepgear looked to the movie theater. Before she could speak, Neptune rushed off to one of the posters.

"This is that hit horror movie that everyone is talking about, Black Death 4. It's supposed to be amazing. Can we see it? Can we?" She pleaded, going to the full on puppy eyes.

"Alright, alright. I'll go get us tickets." She responded, though reluctantly. She slowly walking to the ticket counter.

"2 tickets for Black Death 4, please." She asked. The man shot Neptune a look before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let the kid in there. Would go against my moral code."

"See Neptune? He won't let us in. You're too young. Now, let's head back before-" Nepgear turned to leave, Neptune grabbing hold. She looked down to see her genuinely sad.

"We can go see a different movie, one less...bloody, perhaps. Maybe I'll get it for you as a present when it comes on DVD."

Neptune reluctantly nodded, prompting Nepgear to go back to the counter.

"What other movies do you have?" Nepgear asked. The man looked at a nearby schedule before showing it to her.

"We have Our Name, Blade Art Online's latest movie, and No Life No Game: Null."

"Do you really have to call them by those names? We already know what you're really talking about." Nepgear asked with a sigh

Neptune tugged at her sleeve, pointing towards the last one.

"Alright, then. 2 tickets for NLNG, please." Neptune blurted out excitedly.

The man handed them both the tickets, giving Nepgear an odd look on her way in. Neptune quickly went for the popcorn upon entry, ordering herself the biggest size they had. However, she struggled to pick it up off the counter from its weight.

"Can you carry this for me?" She asked pleadingly. Nepgear picked up the bag, quickly realizing it really was heavy.

"Couldn't you have ordered a size smaller? Are you sure you'll finish all this?"

Neptune nodded without hesitation, taking little pieces to snack on as they made their way to the theater. Eventually, they decided to sit in the middle to get the best view.

.

.

.

As they watched, Nepgear had to admire the use of robotics, to the point that she lost track and started thinking about building one of her own. Robots really would make doing things around so much easier, and could lighten the load on Histoire. An explosion on-screen shook the theater, to the point that even Nepgear felt it. She looked to her side to see Neptune clutching to her, eyes turned.

"Did the explosion scare you?"

Neptune did as best she could to nod with her face pressed against her sleeve.

"Alright, I'll let you know when the scary stuff is over."

Many minutes later, the scene transitioned, prompting Nepgear to remember to wake to talk to her.

"Hey, Neptune. The scary part is over. You can open your eyes."

What she found was Neptune fast asleep beside her, popcorn in hand, softly breathing. Deciding it would be best not to wake her, she continued the movie on her own, Neptune's soft rhythmic sounds and movements in the background.

Another year passed, and this time, Neptune was alone at the arcade. The lights buzzed around her as she looked at her favorite racing game. In truth, it felt good to see these games through childlike eyes, everything appearing so much better than she remembered. As she put in her token to start playing, she felt a shove out of her chair.

A group of older kids had pushed her out of the way, additionally stealing the game she had just paid for. They looked to be about 2 years older than she was now, and she could have easily dealt with this if she were normal, but she had to do it the only other way she knew how.

"Excuse me, but I think you took my game. Can I play this one?" Maybe they would be respectable.

"Sure you can, right after we spend all our money here. The boy dumped a pile of change onto the nearby table. "Besides, this game isn't for kids like you, so why don't you go try something more...age appropriate?"

Alright, that tactic failed. She thought to call Nepgear, but decided a better idea.

"One game."

The boy looked at her with a confused glare.

"One game. Me against you. If I win, you buy me the biggest prize they have at the counter, and let me play my game."

The boy considered this among his friends, each one offering their own thoughts.

"Alright. I'll take that offer." The boy stated. "If we win, though, you leave this arcade for good."

Neptune was taken aback. Normally, she wouldn't accept, but now it was personal.

"Deal."

The boys handed them both a steering wheel controller, the race track selection appearing for both of them.

"We'll go on the hardest track, unless you're a wuss, of course." Neptune grew into her competitive mode, immediately choosing the most difficult course. As the race started, she felt her controller, which seemed oddly lighter than she remembered it.

"3...2...1...GO!"

She moved to go forward, but nothing happened. Her character simply sat there unmoving. The two voices behind her laughed, holding 2 batteries in their hands.

"You're really bad at this, aren't you?" Neptune reached to grab them, the two holding it high above her reach. Meanwhile, the other boy sped ahead of her along with the rest of the players. Eventually, she kicked him in the leg, sending him to the ground and stealing back the batteries before putting them into the controller. She started to move ahead before realizing that the other boy had no idea how to play the game at all. She quickly overtook him, putting her far ahead of him within moments. As she drove, she thought about how this victory didn't seem right, and that maybe she should help him do better.

"I'm gonna spit on your prize, you know that? All of us will, you dumb kid." He stated through slightly teary eyes.

The thought of helping him dashed away from Neptune's mind faster than she dashed into him, sending him off the edge. She felt herself laugh even more as she continued the race and eventually finishing first.

"I believe you owe me something?"

The boy got up, his eyes now in tears.

"I had my fingers crossed that whole time. I don't have to do anything for you."

Neptune looked off at the toy, a giant purple stuffed elephant hanging above the counter. She wasn't going away without that prize. Then, an idea struck her.

"You know, my sister works for Purple Heart. You wouldn't want the goddess to be mad at you, would you?"

This shut them up for a moment, the boys starting to sweat.

"Y-you're bluffing, kid. There's no way that's true."

Neptune pulled out her phone, pretending to turn it on and make a call.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm making the call now."

"Okay okay. We'll buy you the toy. Just please don't get us into that kind of trouble." The boys approached the counter, pooling all their tickets into the machine.

"The purple elephant, right?"

Neptune nodded, a sense of pride over her face.

The boys nodded to each other, looking at the counter worker.

"One...purple elephant for the dumb kid over there."

The man at the counter handed her the elephant, something that she quickly realized was too big to carry. Neptune looked back and fed the rest of her own tickets to them, handing them the slip. The boy smiled, running back to the game and prompting Neptune's memory about the other part of her deal before she looked back at the massive elephant in her arms that was bigger than she was.

"I'll let them have this one." She thought to herself as she attempted to call Nepgear.

"Hey, do you by any chance have any robots that can carry things? Really big things?"

Nepgear walked in on Neptune playing games one day, sword in hand. She knew it was irresponsible and that she might not be ready, but she would have to work eventually.

The girl was now 12 years old in human years, playing on one on Planeptune's consoles and sitting on a half destroyed elephant stuffed animal turned beanbag chair.

"Hey, Neptune? I was going to go out on a quest today and I wanted to know if you wanted to come…"

To her surprise, Neptune paused her game and picked up a nearby wooden sword.

"Sounds good. Where are we going?"

Nepgear was in shock at the fact that Neptune had actually paused her game and agreed to work that it took her a moment to comprehend her thoughts.

"Just to the nearby forest to kill some low level mobs that have been causing a little trouble." She explained. "Why are you so eager to work?"

"Well, if I keep doing this, Histy will get mad at me for no reason again."

"I get mad at you because all you do is freeload. Now, go be useful." Histy yelled from the other room. It then occurred to Nepgear that Histoire was an actual authority figure to her.

"Come on, let's get going before she goes full pissty again." Neptune whispered, running out the door towards the city streets.

.

.

.

The forest was a short walk from Planeptune, just along the outskirts. The mobs were low leveled and perfect for her to fight.

"Alright. Our job is to kill 5 dogoos. Do you think you can take that?" Nepgear asked.

Neptune readied her sword. "Of course I can take them. I'll show them what I've got."

With a nod, the two made their way into the forest, the atmosphere almost tranquil. The sky was a bright blue, the temperature was perfect, the birds were chirping...and Neptune's battle cries echoed across the forest as she swung her sword wildly.

"I've been itching for so many years to take down a dogoo and get revenge for what happened all those years ago." Neptune stated confidently. "I'll take them all down."

Nepgear thought to herself about whether to ask her what was on her mind, but eventually, she gave in.

"Neptune….do you regret these past few years at all?"

Neptune looked her in the eyes, giving off the impression of a smile.

"I mean, it sucks that I wasn't able to do a lot that I could in my CPU form, but I've had a lot of fun. I don't regret the fun times we've had with each other."

Nepgear felt a tear in her eye.

"Neptune, that's so-"

"Hey, it's a dogoo. I'm gonna go and cut it to pieces. Don't wait up." Neptune said as she ran off. Nepgear let herself smile as she followed her towards the dogoo. Her fighting skills were rusty, her "slashes" being more just banging them over the head wildly. Eventually, she took it down, dropping a small amount of gel in the process. This continued over the next hour before they finally took down the last of the dogoos.

"That was fun. We did it, didn't we?" Neptune jumped into the air excitedly, the ground weak below her. Nepgear went to warn her, but the ground broke off and Neptune tumbled her way down a hill. Without thinking, Nepgear activated HDD and rushed down to her, Neptune grabbing her leg in pain.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?"

Neptune got up slowly, managing to stand after a few seconds.

"I'm okay…" She responded with a wince. "But my leg really hurts."

Nepgear took a look at her leg. Thankfully, there was no blood, but there was obvious damage.

"I'll call Compa and let her know you're hurt. Can you walk?"

She began to walk, but it looked to be more of a limp.

"Is it alright if I hold your hand on the way there? I'm not sure I can get there alone." Nepgear grabbed her hand, the two slowly walking to the exit of the forest, and despite the pain, the moment felt perfect.

"I'll beat you this time, dear sister. I won't lose." Nepgear's determination stretched throughout the air of the room, practically filling the entire space.

"Alright, alright. One more game. Loser has to get the other whatever they want." Neptune responded joyfully.

The game was the latest fighting game, the two having played non-stop for the past 12 hours. Neptune unleashed a secret combo on Nepgear, taking her down within the first 30 seconds.

"How did you do that?"

"It's simple: The combos in this game are the same as they were in the last one. All you have to do is memorize them and the rest is muscle memory. Now, I'll have a nice, cold pudding to celebrate my victory."

Nepgear turned and walked into the kitchen, leaving Neptune alone in the room. As she went to select her next character, she felt something change within her. Neptune knew what it meant, but she needed to test it.

In a flash of light, she felt herself transform, power locked away for 10 years resurfacing. She felt her body age further, the familiar feeling of HDD overcoming her.

"Neptune, I got you the pudding but it wasn't…" Nepgear stopped mid-sentence, looking at Purple Heart in the center of the room.

"...cold..."

Neptune noticed her, transforming back to her normal form.

"Guess I forgot my own age, didn't I? It's good to be back to normal, though, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Nepgear responded reluctantly before sitting down next to her.

"Hey, you okay there?"

Nepgear looked up at her with depressed eyes.

"Yeah, it's just that I had so much fun taking care of you, but now you can take care of yourself. It's going to take some getting used to." She responded. "Anyways, here's your pudding cup."

Neptune thought about this for a moment, thinking about what to say, but eventually, she made a decision.

"Actually, as an extra punishment for your loss, I'll ask that you feed it to me directly." She demanded with a wink.

Nepgear instantly filled with joy, opening the pudding cup and grabbing a nearby spoon.

"Open wide and say Ahhhh." She asked with a smile over her face and holding back tears. "I won't lose next time, you know."

Neptune gladly accepted the offering.

And that's the end of this one. As I said, more updates will likely be slower, but I gave this one to you early so you have an idea of what's to come. In any case, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy it.

Until next time...