"So dizzy…" Compa said as IF's motorcycle came to a halt next to the sidewalk. The sweater wearing girl let go of the brunette's waist and stumbled onto the pavement.

IF scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "Sorry about that, Compa. You alright?"

The orange haired girl steadied herself and looked back at her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for getting me here and in one piece...barely." She said, mumbling the last part under her breath.

"Hey! I'll have you now I'm a great driver!" IF retorted, a bit of pride in her voice.

"And that's why you get so many speeding tickets?" Compa smiled as IF flinched, clearly not interested in remembering her last lecture from Histoire. The last time she got one –– or the last one she knew her girlfriend had gotten –– the Planeptune Oracle had hidden her motorcycle's keys to teach her a lesson about obeying traffic laws.

IF averted her attention down the sidewalk, "I haven't gotten a ticket in...a while." She cleared her throat and looked back at Compa, "You won't tell Histoire about today right?"

The orange haired girl laughed, "Well...you did get me here a little early…" She started, staying coy just to toy with her a bit. She had almost caused her to to see her breakfast, so it was only fair. However, Compa wasn't planning on mentioning anything to the fairy like being.

IF's motorcycle was one of her prized possessions and one of the first things she bought with the money she got from fulfilling quests. Plus, she had looked kinda glum every time she went to work on foot that week. The last thing Compa needed to do was to bandage her up if she had gotten injured because she was distracted.

"Exactly. So, as payment for said favor we won't mention today to her...at all." She said, breathing a sigh of relief as her point was made. However, the calm was soon broken by the sudden ring of one of IF's cellphones.

"Still not taking Ge-Ge's offer on an N-Gear?" Compa asked as IF pulled a green cellphone from one of the four device holders around her waist.

IF rolled her eyes, "Fighting monsters and technology don't mix well. I could throw this thing at a brick wall and it wouldn't break; so it works just fine for me." She said as she opened the phone, "Hello?"

While IF talked, Compa looked at the clinic behind her. She had just enough time to organize herself before seeing varying injuries on the different adventurers.

She frowned slightly as the memory of IF bringing Nep-Nep's unconscious body into the Basilicom entered her mind. By the time they had returned, night had begun to set since the goddess of had left rather late that day to take care of the quest.

The dragon's final attack had left a pretty nasty gash on her head with its claw. Normally, such a wound could be fixed in about thirty minutes or so with shares. But Nep-Nep had practically burned off all of her energy in her last attack, not that she had much left anyway according to Histoire.

They had thought she would've been fine after a night's rest. Clearly, they had been wrong. Amnesia wasn't something that could be cured with medicine.

A CPU without her memories was problematic. A CPU without her memories during a time where faith in her was at an all time low was even worse. Histoire would be able to cover for a while with since she could do the administrative duties, but people would start to wonder as more S class quests were left unanswered. She had even heard a few whispers in the halls of the clinic from time to time. Rumors forecasting the purple goddess's "upcoming" death; their proof being the already increasing number of unanswered quests. If they found out something had happened to her...well it could be the final nail in the coffin. And Compa really didn't want to the see Nep-Nep die.

She took a glance back at IF who seemed to be wrapping up her call. The brunette shook her head tiredly. "More quests?" Compa asked.

She nodded, "It never stops and the number of S Rank missions keeps going up. We're running out of people who can even accept those quests because more monsters are going viral more often. And now that Nep's down…" She let out another annoyed sigh.

Most high ranking Guild members were in the clinic or hospital because of various monsters attacks. Despite the love the citizens had for their goddesses, even their faith was tested after constant monster attacks for three years. Everyone had thought that things would get brighter when CPU White Heart signed a peace treaty with Nep-Nep almost a year ago, formally allying the once enemy nations. However, the sun had soon set again as the number of viral monsters in Planeptune continued to increase.

IF looked at Compa, "You...you think she'll remember…"

The brunette's green eyes seem to search in her girlfriend's own orange ones for an answer. Compa looked away, "I...I don't know. Amnesia is tricky…" She was a nurse, not a doctor. From what she knew, the illness was something of a mystery. Sometimes, people recovered and sometimes, they never did.

"I see…" IF cleared her throat, averting her attention to the ground, "Sorry, I didn't mean to...well…" She stumbled on her words, not really sure where to take the conversation anymore. Finally after a little while, she sighed, "I guess I should get going. It'll be another day of all hands on deck. Plus, if you stay out here all day, you'll be late."

"Iffy…" Compa started, before sighing. After living with the girl for the past three years, she had learned when the brunette was attempting to dodge a conversation. However, with several quests in her possible future, it was better not to tear open an emotional dam just yet, "Okay. ...Be safe." Compa said, waving.

The brunette seemed to snap out of her funk for a moment, "Sure thing, Compa. Call me if you need a ride back to the Basilicom after your shift," IF said, as she returned the gesture. She revved the engine of her bike and drove off.

The orange haired girl frowned as she watched IF leave. She really hoped that Ge-Ge finished her item soon. Maybe then things would get better, if only for a while.


Waking up with a stiff neck was not the idle way of greeting the morning.

Nepgear lifted her head up slowly from the desk and rubbed said area. At least she hadn't been drooling. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the room's low level light. She could've sworn she had the main lights on. Then again, she didn't even remember falling asleep last night either. As she stretched, she felt a blanket shift and fall off her body and onto to the ground.

She turned, seeing the purple warm cloth now on the floor. She definitely didn't have that with her last night. Someone must've put it over her, Compa most than likely. IF didn't often come to her lab unless it was an emergency; Neptune would've just carried her to their room as Purple Heart; and Histoire...would've more than likely gotten Neptune to take her back to her room.

The lavender haired girl wore a soft smile as she picked up the blanket from the ground. As she folded it, the grin dropped as she looked at the symbol of Planeptune, a roundish N with a purple-pinkish ring around it. She placed the cloth on a side table and looked back at the various plans she had been drafting for months.

Due to the large volume of quests, the Guild and Neptune had been nearly overcome with keeping various monsters in check. Only a few years ago, the most requests citizens had placed were various fetch quests or simpler tasks. Someone had even asked them to find their pet cat at one point! Now…

Nepgear shook her head as she looked over the sheets of paper in front of her.

Her plan had been relatively simple. If she couldn't kill them, she'd drive them away. Unfortunately, figuring out which ingredients acted as the perfect repellent for the majority of problem creatures had taken significantly longer than she would have hoped. Not only that, but the most potent parts of the recipe were –– of course –– rare items and took time to harvest. The worst part was that the repellent would only temporarily drive the monsters away. It would give them a short break of a few days, week at max.

The lavender haired girl grimaced as she grabbed a few vials from the table. She was almost certain this combination would do the trick but testing it was going to take the most of what she had. Various Guild agents had already confirmed the recipe's potential power; now Nepgear just needed to make sure that the mix wouldn't blow up or do something unsightly.

However, the problem still remained that she only had barely enough material left to do her test. Should it work, she would need more in order to produce it for the other towns. But a new day brought yet another slew of requests. Neptune would be too busy to gather more ingredients.

Realistically, she could go instead, but…

"Please...just...just listen to me…don't..."

She shook her head before she could get lost in her own thoughts. As she came back to her senses, an awful smell caught her attention. When had she opened the vials? More specifically, when had she poured in the remainder of their contents?

As the mix began to bubble over in the beaker it was in, Nepgear's mind settled on one thought as light began appeared from the glass container.

She hit the deck.


"GYYYAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Nepu!" Neptune yelled as a scream (and boom) woke her up from her dream. What a weird space she got dumped in too. A complete dark void with nothing but a whole bunch of doors she couldn't open. If the author was trying to be mysterious, he certainly could've picked a less generic setup.

Deciding not to put any more thought on possible future plot mechanics, she jumped out of bed and headed for the sound.

It had only taken a few minutes to figure out where the scream had come from. Neptune gagged and pinched her nose as she walked closer to the source. It also helped that there was this awful smell that lead her straight to it. The door had been swung wide open and hovering in front of it was Histoire. The small fairy like being was pinching her nose and attempting not to breathe the noxious fumes that were coming out of the room.

"Nepgear, are you alright?" She asked, in a nasally voice.

A few more coughs were heard before a purple haired girl emerged from the smoking room. Like Neptune, she had lavender hair (though hers was much longer, going to the middle of her back unlike Neptune's that stopped at shoulder length) and purple eyes. In place of Neptune's white hoodie and blue striped knee socks, Nepgear wore a slightly crumpled white uniform that went down to mid thigh and purple striped knee socks.

Histoire floated behind her and gently patted her back as the trio walked away from the room. As she gathered herself, Nepgear turned to the other two, "Sorry about that. I got a little distracted and well..."

"I suppose the repellent is in its completion stages from the smell of things," The blond haired construct asked as the purplette nodded.

"Yes, I'm just finishing the last tests. Though a smaller amount should be less...explosive. Once I do that, we can send it to the other towns and drive the monsters away for a while," Nepgear explained, a small but proud smile on her face.

Neptune cocked her head, "Wait...so you mean this scenario's already over?! But...but...I haven't done anything yet! We've barely introduced everyone! What the heck, author?!" She yelled to no one in particular.

Silence entered the room and took a front row seat on the couch while eating a large popcorn.

"Uh...are you okay, sis?" Nepgear asked, confused by Neptune's actions.

'Wait...sis? Oh...right.' Neptune's eyes darted to Histoire's and the Oracle sighed.

"Nepgear, there's...something I need to discuss with you." She started as the now worried eyes of the taller girl met hers, "Yesterday, Neptune was injured by a Viral Ancient Dragon." She paused, taking a breath, "More than likely, due to her low shares, the damage she took yesterday seems to have given her amnesia. She...she doesn't remember anything about her time as CPU. ...Or any of us."

Histoire turned to the shorter purplette, "Neptune, this is Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune and your younger sister."

The taller sister looked between her and Histoire, as if waiting for a punch line. When she didn't get one, she turned her back to the smaller girl, "You...you don't know me?"

"Sorry, Nepgear. But if Histy didn't tell me about ya last night, I wouldn't even know your name," Neptune said plainly. Realizing how bad that sounded, she quickly tried to recover the conversation, "But hey, it's not like I'll forget forever. After all, just imagine how complicated that would be if I never remembered anything for the whole story!"

Despite the wide friendly smile on her face, she was mentally freaking out. Not only had she forgotten her sister, she had forgotten her younger sister. Being the amazing protagonist she was, Nepgear probably looked up to her a lot. ...Either that, or maybe she was a terrible older sister who treated her junior like trash. It wasn't like she had any recollection to prove any of her theories.

Nepgear looked at her. Her eyes confused Neptune even more so that how she already felt. Unlike IF's and Compa's, that were more clear, Nepgear's seemed to be conflicted and thus making it hard to get a read.

Eventually, she broke contact and turned back to Histoire, "We're out of materials. I'll need more to finish the tests and start making more." She said, her voice surprisingly even.

"Oh...I see." Histoire frowned, "I suppose we will have to put in a request to the Guild considering our...current options."

...And now Neptune was really freaking out. Why were they just skipping over this totally nonchalant reaction?! Was their relationship that bad that Nepgear didn't care that Neptune didn't remember her? There had to be a way she could find out! Or at least start making an improvement in this apparent Level -1 Lily Rank relationship!

"Hey! Why don't Nepgear and me go get the materials? It can't be that hard." Neptune said, an idea suddenly forming. Due to her head being turned in a different direction, she failed to see Nepgear flinch. "Yeah. We go complete the quest, finish this repellent, and then end this chapter with our victory in the sunset!"

Histoire facepalmed as she shook her head, "Neptune, I do not think it is wise for you to go back out into the dungeons so soon. You may have healed from any physical damage, but we do not know the extent of your amnesia. It is possible that you still remember how to fight due to muscle memory, but we don't need to risk having you or Nepgear harmed again.

"Come on, Histy. Sure, I may be a level 1 newbie right now, but Nepgear's totally ready for a battle right? I can just hang back and pick off the little guys and she can take on the big stuff." Neptune reasoned. It was possible the Nepgear wasn't talking because Histoire was around. If they took a quest, they could get out of the Basilicom and maybe then she could get some info.

"I…" Histoire cleared her throat and seemed to be avoiding the taller purplette's eyes, "I do not doubt Nepgear's ability. I am merely worried that sending both of you out there is a large risk we do not need to take. Thankfully, we didn't lose any shares last night, but both of you still have extremely low amounts. The last thing we need right now is the worst outcome, especially when that event is entirely preventable."

Neptune pouted. She had a feeling that there was something else to that last statement, "Histy, you said last night that the Guild is already stretched thin. If we can just do this fetch quest, we won't have to bother them."

"Need I remind you that not enlisting the Guild's help was possibly a large reason for our current predicament." Histoire huffed, beginning to get annoyed.

"But...but!" Neptune started, only to be cut off by Histoire's glare. The girl sighed, feeling her hope fade away. Maybe this was for the better. She was just going to have to find another way to either remember or get someone to talk.

"Maybe…" Neptune's head spun to see Nepgear's, "That's not a bad idea. Most of the items are in far away dungeons, so the Guild can handle those. But the Metal Goo item is close by and all the S class monsters in that dungeon stay in the back while the item spawns in the middle part."

"Nepgear…" Histoire said, seemingly stunned. The blonde haired girl seemed...conflicted. Though this was different to Nepgear's expression. Histoire's seemed to be much more...emotional?

After a few moments she sighed, "Please, both of you...don't bite off more than you can chew. Go there, get as much of the item as you can, and get out." She shook her head, "I would accompany you, but someone does need to stay to make sure things are still in order."

The two lavender haired girls nodded. Neptune flashed Nepgear a smirk, "Welcome to the party, Nepgear!"


Neptune took it back. This was officially the worst idea she had come up with in the past twenty four hours.

They weren't doing anything! Well, to be more exact, Neptune hadn't been able to get much out of her in terms of their relationship. And that was just doing so much good for her psyche at the moment. She had tried all the tips outta the –– unofficial and nonexistent –– Amnesiac's Guide for Talking to Forgotten Sisters and Nepgear hadn't even budged.

She raised her katana and struck down the Delinquent Cat. The small bipedal cat monster growled –– almost adorably so –– as it disappeared in a flurry of pixels. Luckily, Histoire's assumption had been right and Neptune's body moved without thought, striking down opponent after opponent with the help of Nepgear.

The shorter purplette sighed as she parked herself on the soft grass in the Ortan Fields. According to Nepgear, the item they were looking for randomly spawned in this area. So, of course, that involved playing a waiting game and fighting the monsters that keep on reviving themselves to attack them.

Apparently, Gamindustri's creatures were in tune with some cosmic force within the dungeons that allowed them to come back from the grave. Hence why they disappeared into pixels when they died. At least, that's what some Loweean researchers had said. According to them, this process would hiccup every time a monster was reborn. This made little blue item boxes appear with various goodies in it whenever one was recreated.

And that was what they were waiting on. The item box could produce many things: weapons, maps for deeper sections of the dungeon, or just parts of monsters which could be used as ingredients for other stuff. However it had a blasted wait time of ten minutes every time it was used and was completely random.

"GAAAAHHHH! I'm gonna kill *****501 for putting game mechanics in a nepping story! Who asked for this?! No one! No one I tell you!" Neptune groaned, screaming out into the heavens.

Nepgear rose an eyebrow, "Uh...Neptune, who's *****501?" She said, actually sounding concerned for the lavender haired girl.

"Huh? Why'd you say the asterisks? His name is ***** ...Wait a second. Oh great! Now he's censoring me for comedic effect! When I find a way out of this story, I'll show you what for!" She yelled, before realizing Nepgear's very confused face, "Heh...uh...there's a guy who's sorta... You know...I'm just going to stop here. Clearly you're not in the loop."

Neptune wasn't sure why she was the only one aware of the writer in this fictional space, but it was clearly not something that was normal in this dimension. She looked glumly at the ground, "How much longer before this item spawns? We've been here for almost two hours."

"I'm not quite sure. It has a 20% chance of appearing so I figured we should've seen it by now." Nepgear said, as she opened up her N-Gear and pressed a few buttons on the display.

The shorter lavender haired girl flopped onto her back, "I would send a formal complaint to the author, but I won't bother. Clearly he's doing his own thing."

"Right...are you sure you're okay?" Nepgear asked, more than likely thinking her sister was in some need of a psychological help.

"Yeah, just annoyed. Don't worry, I won't break the 4th wall anymore." At least, not out loud, she thought. Her sword disappeared in a flurry of pixels as she sat up. The waiting wasn't the only thing she was annoyed by. She had thought Histy's lecture would've helped with understanding the world, but even with that she was still missing gaps. That fact alone had been eating at her since meeting Nepgear. Just who was she before all of this?

She sighed. After this morning she had been unsure on how to ask this, but dancing around the subject wasn't getting her anywhere, "Hey Nepgear, question for ya."

Nepgear blinked. The girl had taken a seat a few feet away from the other, "Yes?"

"Was I a good sister?" She asked. There she said it.

"You…" Nepgear looked to the side, breaking contact. Several flags were being raised in Neptune's mind, "You did the best you could."

Neptune internally screamed, 'That's not a confirmation of anything!' What did she do or not do? And why was Nepgear being so tight lipped about it? The hell was the author doing with this plot?!

A strange noise sounded, signaling the creation of the item box. Nepgear got up from her place on the ground and walked over to it, "Hey, it's the Metal Goo! And a lot of it too. I think we should have all we need with this." She said, as she dumped the items into her inventory space.

While it disappeared into pixels, Neptune face planted on the ground...and externally screamed.

As she picked herself up from the ground, Nepgear walked past her and stopped, "Nep...sis." She turned around and looked Neptune in her eyes, "You...you weren't a bad sister. You loved me and took care of me. Just like you do for everyone. But, I...I think you were just scared."

Neptune raised an eyebrow. At least she was getting somewhere now, "Scared? Of what?"

Nepgear shook her head, "Bad memories…"

"...That's...ominous." Neptune remarked, her nerves not exactly calmed by that statement. Well, at least she wasn't a horrible sister.

"I suppose it was kinda scary the way I phrased that," Nepgear said. She looked down at the ground for a few moments. After a minute, she quickly bowed, "I...I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ignore you! It's just that…" She trailed off.

"Bad memories?" Neptune asked, guessing a trend.

"Yeah…" she said, straightening, "I...can we restart?"

It wasn't a complete answer, but it was a start. Nepgear clearly wasn't interested in living in the past, at least for now.

Neptune smiled brightly, "Sure thing, Nepgear." She could find her answers later. From the sound of things, their relationship was stable but rocky. Now, she had a chance to get rid of the rocks. She extended a hand, "Hiya! I'm Neptune, the protagonist of protagonists, and more importantly, your awesome older sister!"

She still wanted to fill in the gaps of her memory, but for now making new moments was just as fulfilling.

Nepgear shook her hand, "Hi, I'm Nepgear. It's nice to meet you, sis."

"Come on, let's get outta here. I need a nap after all this fighting." Neptune said, leading the way.

Nepgear smiled, following beside her.


"How soon before we can share the repellent with the other towns?" Histoire asked, as she floated next to Nepgear.

Nepgear put in the last drop from the vial. The combination made a tiny poof, releasing a tiny bit of foul smelling gas into the air. Luckily, unlike this morning, the vomit inducing scent quickly dissipated. She capped the metallic small orb, "We can have the Guild distribute these things by tomorrow morning if I work through the night. The towns should already have the repellent launcher."

Histoire nodded. If it was one thing Nepgear was good at, it was building machines. Though her recent ventures in some of these item creation recipies had only started after Neptune and her had to ban the Nepgeardam from being made. To this day, the blonde haired being was unsure why the CPU Candidate had thought that a massive fighting robot was a good idea.

"Hopefully this will put the residents at ease for a while and we'll be able to boost our shares once again. I'm certain the Guild will enjoy this respite as well. Excellent work, Nepgear," Histoire praised.

A light blush appeared on Nepgear's face, "Oh, this wasn't…"

"Nepgear, just take the compliment." Histoire mentioned, preferring to not play the bashful game, "So, I noticed that you were on better terms with Neptune when you both came in. I won't ask about your reasoning for your stoic behavior this morning." She said, already having a pretty good idea why the lavender haired girl had acted in such a manner.

Once they had come back, Neptune had retired to her temporary room to rest and the Guild had sent someone to deliver the items Histoire had requested.

Nepgear paused as she put the monster repellent ball on the table, "Do...do you think she'll go back to the way she was if she remembers?"

Histoire gave a sigh, "I do not know. I suppose we will just have to wait and see. There is still the possibility that she could never remember." Looking at the amount of repellent orbs she had to make, the blonde haired being headed for the door of Nepgear's workshop, "Well, I will get out of your hair for tonight. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can rest."

"Alright then, good night Histoire." Nepgear said.

"You as well, Nepgear."

As she left, Histoire looked out of the window at the city around the Basilicom. She let out a breath, hoping it would be enough to release the sense of dread that was building inside of her. Would it really be better if she remembered? She distinctly remembered several occasions that the Planeptune Goddess had wanted to forget. In some way, one could say that she got what she wished for in that regard. But how long could they hang out without her memories. She did need to resume her role soon and retraining her would take quite some time.

The blonde haired being shook her head. It would be better to not spend all of her energy trying to process the endless results. For now, things were looking up. They would just need to deal with the trials as they come.

She looked outside at the brightly lit city for a brief moment before floating towards her room for the night.


"Huh...no more shares? Guess the last loyal ones are just that stubborn. Well, no use sticking around this place then. ...It's been a while since I checked on her. I wonder how Lowee is doing?"


AN: Thanks so much for the follows, favs, and reviews! I honestly wasn't expecting that response for only having the prologue out. Anyway, I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. I wanted to have it out sooner, but I just had my college graduation recently so I was tied up for a while.

Results of poll are in. This story's update schedule will be as I create the chapters. So, expect the next chapter in June. Hopefully it won't take another whole month to get it out. I post progress reports to my Twitter, so if you really want to know or have an idea of how the plot is coming along (or even just to talk), you can find the link in my FFN profile.

Don't forget to leave your thoughts and reactions in the review box and have a great day!