Hello guys! Time for chapter 6!
I am very sorry that this got delayed. I lost all of my files. That includes all of the soft copies of this fic (good thing I still have it in the site), but the ones that I wasn't able to recover were this chapter and my other upcoming fic, so I had to rewrite everything. Though I pretty much changed most of the contents, but I ain't even mad.
To Author Heart - Ance: [1]Yes, they would appear, but I most probably would just insert them randomly. Because, well, this fic mostly focuses on Neptune's encounters with the other CPUs. [2]I wonder? :) [3] Yes, they do.
To Draen: I originally planned out that there would be less blood but then I asked myself, why not go full violent? Hahaha
To RamzaJinnRuu: Ah, yes, I've noticed that as well as I re-read the chapters. I mostly mistyped them because i and o are damn close in the keyboard. And for some reason, I can't spot some errors in my chapters in MS Word than when I publish it D: But I'll try to keep a close eye for them. And oh, I'm curious about those two authors :)
Anyways, I want to thank everyone who supports this story and my other story, Change The World! Please read it as well :) You won't be disappointed :D
Alright no more chatters, onto the chapter now! Enjoy~
Night time had arrived in Planeptune.
Inside Planeptune's Basilicom, Neptune could be seen in the living room, watching TV, while Histoire and Plutia were in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Neptune wanted to help them but Plutia and Histoire insisted that they would be fine. Well, it was one thing, but the real reason was something else. The last time they let Neptune in the kitchen, the horrors they had witnessed were far more terrifying than an apocalypse. She almost spawned the souls of hell inside the pot, and both Histoire and Plutia wouldn't want to see something like that ever again.
Histoire called Neptune as they finished cooking dinner and served the food on the dining table. Neptune immediately jumped out of the sofa and ran towards the dining room. She could smell the food from a distance, and it smelled pleasant to her nose.
"Mmmhm, looks delicious." Neptune said as she sat down on her chair.
Histoire could just make a smug look. "Well, of course." She said. Plutia just smiled at the two and sat down on her chair as well.
"Thanks for the food!" The three said in unison before they started to eat their food.
Neptune took a spoonful of her food directly to her mouth. "Mm, it is indeed delicious!" She said as she chewed on her food. As she continued to do so, she started to taste something different, and made different expressions.
"What's wrong, Neptune?" Histoire asked. She was somewhat irritated at Neptune for making those expression like there was something awful in the food.
Neptune gulped down the food. "No, no, no, there's nothing wrong with the food." Neptune said as she took another spoonful of food and stared at it. "It's just..."
"It's just...?" Histoire raised an eyebrow.
Neptune shoved the spoon in her mouth once more and gave it another taste. "Tell me, what did you girls used for dinner?"
"Well, some simmered diced meat, green beans, pumpkins, and shredded eggplants for-" Histoire interrupted herself as she heard a loud thud. There, they saw Neptune shaking on the floor, covering her mouth, almost like preventing herself from puking.
"Egg...Eggplants... w...why... urgh..."
Histoire and Plutia stared at each other for a while before turning back to Neptune.
"...Neppy... hates eggplants...?" Plutia asked, in which Histoire could just nod in affirmation.
Hate... would be an understatement. A reaction like that can't be described as just a mere hate. It was like, Neptune despised eggplants from its very roots, or wherever it came from, or whatever they're made of.
Plutia and Histoire brought Neptune to the bathroom. They didn't want to clean the floor with barf so they decided to take her there because it looked like Neptune couldn't hold it any longer. Think of it as an act of... uh, concern? Yeah, that must be it.
As Neptune got out of the bathroom, she looked like she was about to collapse. Histoire and Plutia thought that eggplants were like poison to her, and reminded themselves that eggplants in food were out of the question if Neptune were to eat with them. They escorted Neptune back to her room as it looked like she couldn't even walk straight, less likely act normally. As Neptune fell asleep, Histoire called Plutia to come with her outside.
Plutia followed Histoire to the living room and asked, "...What's up, Histy...?"
"It's about Neptune..."
~o~O~o~
2 o'clock in the morning.
Plutia opened her eyes as she woke up. For her to wake up at a time like this, it looked like a bad omen to her since napping was something she was good at. She slipped out of her bed and searched for the light switch. She then flicked the lights open, and saw that the windows were open.
"...Did I forget to close it...?" Somehow, she couldn't remember. She turned back to the bed, and noticed that Neptune wasn't there.
Oh, by the way, yes, Neptune and Plutia was sharing the same room. It was Plutia's another condition if Neptune were to stay in the Basilicom, and Neptune agreed to it because of... reasons. Besides, she's got nothing to lose anyway.
"...Maybe she went to the toilet..." She mumbled to herself.
But Neptune wasn't there when Plutia arrived. She looked for her in the kitchen, the living room, and the dining room, but she was nowhere to be found.
She's got a bad feeling about this.
She ran back in her room and saw the open windows once more. Putting the pieces together, Plutia had the worst thought of where Neptune could've gone to. Worst that she ran back downstairs to the living room and dialed a number as she picked the phone up. She waited for a few moments before someone picked the call up.
"Hello, Plutia…? It's two in the morning, you know..."
Plutia was panicking. "Noire! Noire...!" All she could say was Noire's name.
"Calm the heck down, what's wrong?" Noire asked from the other side.
If Plutia could calm herself down, she would've done so ages ago. But she couldn't. "Noire…! Neppy is… Neppy is…!" She said as she tried to catch her breathing. She got it, almost. Yeah, almost.
Afterwards, Plutia heard a thud sound. A sound like an object was dropped.
"Neppy is gone!"
~o~O~o~
Noire couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. She knew that her 'bad feeling' she had could happen, yet she didn't do anything to prevent it. And now, Neptune had gone to somewhere she absolutely must not go.
"-NOIRE!"
She snapped back as heard a scream from the phone she just dropped and panicky looked for it and picked it up. "Y-Yeah?"
"...What are we going to do now...?"
Noire took a deep breath before speaking again. "Meet me at the border where we encountered White Heart. As soon as possible." She said and hung up. She knew what needed to be done.
Neptune must be stopped at all cost, before she takes over.
Noire wasted no time and immediately went out of the Basilicom. Her destination was the Lowee-Lastation border. In no less than ten minutes, she was already at the rendezvous point, but Plutia was nowhere to be found. She understood that, since Planeptune was really far from this place. She waited for a few minutes and Plutia, in her HDD form, Iris Heart, had arrived.
"Let's go, I'll fill you in as we fly to Lowee." Noire said and flew upwards, followed by Plutia.
The Planeptune CPU matched Noire's flying speed side by side. "Why to Lowee?" She asked.
"I am not really sure, but I've just got this feeling that Neptune's target is White Heart." Noire said and bit her lip.
Plutia narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Noire was definitely not telling her everything. "Is there something you're not telling me, Noire?"
Noire bit her lip once more. Well, she promised Plutia that she would tell her everything, but in all honesty, she was still doubting herself if telling her was a good idea, since she didn't have anything to do with Neptune.
But Plutia was a friend. A dear friend, to her and to Neptune. She had every right to know.
"Did you know why I was always against to the idea of Neptune transforming?" Noire asked.
Plutia didn't understand why Noire was asking that now, but she felt that there was something more than what she just knew about the current topic. "Because her personality changes to a bloodthirsty goddess?" Plutia answered.
Well, technically, she was correct. But not really correct.
"I'm not sure if that is the right term, but we'll roll with that." Noire said. "It's not just all. Histoire managed to find out why Neptune acts like that." She continued.
"I'm listening."
Noire took a deep breath before talking again. "Back in her world... Neptune... was cast away." Even though Noire didn't really see it with her eyes unlike Histoire did, it was still a painful thing to remember. Well, technically, the four of them hated each other's guts, that was for sure. But for Neptune's enemies to team up to take her down, wasn't that unfair?
"By whom?" Plutia asked.
Noire shook her head a little, trying to clear her mind. "By 'me', possibly the counterpart of White Heart as well, and another CPU that we didn't know."
Plutia understood what Noire meant. Noire's and White Heart's counterparts, and another unknown CPU. She also learned that, she herself didn't exist in Neptune's world, which kinda made her sad, but that was not the concern. If there was this 'another CPU' that they didn't know, it meant that that CPU should also exist in this world.
And by her existing, meant that there was another nation as well. A nation that they hadn't found yet, or maybe hadn't announced their foundation yet.
"Looks like we'll have to do a thorough research after all of this is resolved." Plutia said.
Noire nodded in agreement. "I couldn't agree more."
~o~O~o~
Lowee's Basilicom.
Inside a certain room, a young (technically) girl was sitting at the kotatsu table placed in the center of the room. She was doing... well, she had a book on her hand, and her eyes were following every single word written on it. Her expression never changed as she flipped the pages of the book, but it wasn't like the book didn't interest her. It was just like, she never really showed her emotions outside except when being pissed off.
It was already past two in the morning, yet she didn't find herself on her bed yet. For some reason, she couldn't sleep. Her mind didn't want to shut down, even though she herself wanted to hit the comfy bed already.
She's got a bad feeling about this.
She shook her head. She must be just overthinking things. Yeah, that must be the reason. Mostly because of the continuous loss of faith of the Lowee Citizens on her. She could remember what Black Heart said to her, and it kept on repeating inside her mind as well.
"Then do something good that will make your people not lose faith on you."
That one sentence struck the very conscience of the girl. She knew what she had done; what she did to drive her people further away from her.
She knew it.
And it hurt her.
What could've gotten into her? What could've happened that made her like this? She wasn't like this before. Lowee stood up for many years and not a single time that something like this happened before.
Or so she thought.
"Damn it...!" She said as she shut her book down and threw it to the door. She seriously didn't want to hear it from that woman. Being lectured about basic stuff, was something she didn't want to find herself in.
But she did.
"..."
She noticed something. She didn't hear the sound of the book colliding with the door. She brought her eyes to the direction where she threw her book and saw someone at the door, holding the said object on her hand. She was also holding a dark purple katana, and wearing the suit with the same color.
"Who the fuck are you?" She asked in a hostile tone. She wondered what the hell were the guards doing at late night that this person managed to break inside the Basilicom. She also noticed that this person wasn't having a friendly aura, and so she kept her guard up.
The person at the door grinned. It was a little dark in the room, but she definitely grinned, and the young girl could see it. "...I've finally found you, Blanc."
Blanc shivered. She could feel an intense murderous aura emanating from this person. With that katana on her hand, Blanc couldn't feel anything but danger. But of course, it didn't make her scared.
"You didn't answer the Goddess damn question." Blanc said as she stood up and transformed.
The person pointed her katana to Blanc. "...Purple Heart." Purple Heart introduced. "...But you don't need to remember it, because you're going to die tonight." She said and dashed to Blanc without warning, aiming her neck.
Blanc, in her HDD form, White Heart, barely managed to avoid that attack by bending her body backwards and using the handle of her axe to parry Purple Heart's katana. Blanc's table was shattered into pieces and the floor cracked as their weapons clashed.
'She's too fast...!' Blanc thought to herself and then she spun around along with her weapon to repel her opponent. She then followed Purple Heart and swung her axe towards her, aiming for her lower body, but only to be parried effortlessly by her opponent.
White Heart kept on attacking Purple Heart, not giving her a breathing room. But her attacks were all parried easily. The reason why she didn't stop was because if there was one second that Purple Heart manages to slip under her sight, Blanc's a dead person. She barely dodged Purple Heart's first attack, and she knew that a second one would not end very well.
But if this kept on going, it was her who was going to break first.
She could feel her breathing getting heavier by the second and every time she delivered her attacks. But Purple Heart didn't seem to have broken a sweat yet.
~o~O~o~
Plutia and Noire arrived at Lowee's Basilicom not too long ago. The place was like a castle, and somehow designed like a maze. But they've got no time to waste to explore this area and just floated above the ground. They didn't bother breaking in stealthily because the area was guarded lightly, no, completely unguarded. They could see unconscious people lying on the ground, scattered around the area. It was completely weird, for all of them to be at this state. Plutia dropped down to the ground and checked the vitals of some unconscious guards, and sighed in relief.
"They're just knocked out." Plutia said.
Noire sighed in relief as well after hearing that. "Then we're not yet too late."
"Too late for what?" Plutia asked in confusion.
"To stop Neptune from murdering White Heart."
Plutia didn't say anything in return. Noire wasn't kidding. She herself could see that, and she understood that well. But the reason why Noire wanted to save Lowee's CPU didn't really make sense to her. Well, yeah, it would be better if they had one less competitor, but Noire didn't see that as an opportunity, if that could be called one, that is.
The longer they stayed in the area, the louder they hear the sound of the metals clashing from afar. And it wasn't too long before they arrived at the source of the sound, in which surprisingly didn't surprise the two CPUs.
~o~O~o~
Inside Lowee's Interior Castle, two persons exchanging blows and rooms getting destroyed in the process could be seen. One could tell that they had been going on with whatever they were fighting for for a while now, as a few meters radius around them were already in ruins. They had been clashing their weapons nonstop, and sparks of the metals were flying around them, along with the shock of the impacts destroying the objects around them.
"You're quite the persistent one, aren't 'ya?!" The girl with blue hair, White Heart, wielding a giant axe, said as she spun around and swung her weapon to cut her opponent in half, but her attack was parried by her enemy's katana. "That's not gonna help you, bitch!"
"...!" Her opponent's eyes widened in surprise.
White Heart then gripped on her axe tighter, and placed all of her strength in her arms to deliver a heavy swing. Her opponent then was blown away, colliding with multiple walls as she successfully pushed her away with her axe.
"I'm not done yet!" She said as she gave chase, but in an instant, her opponent disappeared from her sight.
'Where the hell did she go?' White Heart held on her axe defensively. "Come out, Purple... whatever the fuck your name is, don't be a coward!" She provoked.
White Heart knew what kind of position she was in. Her opponent was too fast for her, and one slip up could end her life in an instant. And so, she cleared her mind of everything and focused on her surroundings, trying to predict where Purple Heart would strike.
Something was off. She could feel something coming on her way, but it wasn't a living thing. She observed her surroundings, but she saw nothing but rubble around.
"..."
If it wasn't around her, then it would be...
"...!"
She stomped her foot on the ground and catapulted herself to midair away from the ground. After a few seconds, a huge sword dropped down to where she was previously, and a giant pillar of light appeared, removing everything it touched from its very existence.
White Heart could just stare at the scene in front of her in shock. She would definitely be a goner if she got caught in that. But the bigger problem was, Purple Heart was still nowhere to be found. And before she realized that, she felt a kick from her back and got dropped down to the ground.
"GUAAAHHH-!" White Heart groaned in pain as she felt her body crash onto the ground. Purple Heart then dashed towards White Heart with her katana directed towards the Lowee CPU, but it was evaded by White Heart by rolling to the side as Purple Heart attempted to stab her back.
Purple Heart pulled her katana out of the ground and delivered a slash attack to White Heart, who was still on the ground. The goddess of white blocked the attack using her axe's handle.
"...Ngh-!" White Heart struggled as she tried to keep Purple Heart's katana from reaching her neck.
Purple Heart then smirked as she pushed her katana more, closing the gap between her weapon and White Heart's neck. "...So... you're useless when you're not with them, Blanc."
"The fuck's that supposed to mean?" White Heart was at loss. She didn't know what Purple Heart was talking about. Firstly, she was suddenly attacked by this psycho. And now, she was talking nonsense about her somewhat like allying with someone she didn't even know who.
But Purple Heart didn't answer her question and instead had taken White Heart into surprise by grabbing on her axe. "Wha-?!" White Heart panicked as her weapon was taken away from her grips and then got chucked far away from their location.
She tried to use her feet to kick Purple Heart away but the Goddess of Purple knew what she was up to and pinned White Heart down to the ground.
Purple Heart pointed her Katana to White Heart, directly to her neck. She then pushed her weapon down to pierce the neck, but White Heart used both of her hands to grab on the blade and shoved it to the side instead as she ignored the pain when the sharp edge of the katana slid on her palm.
"...Not bad."
The Goddess of Purple let go of her weapon and grabbed White Heart's hand. She then slammed her hands on the ground, resulting to almost breaking White Heart's arms. White Heart groaned in pain as she lost the strength of her arms, but Purple Heart didn't stop there. She summoned two small 32-bit X Blades on both of her hands and stabbed them on White Heart's palms.
"AAAGGGHH-!" White Heart grunted in pain as she felt the blades pierce through her hands. She tried to move her hands but she felt more pain as the blades pierced through her palms were stabbed to the ground as well, locking them in place.
White Heart glared at Purple Heart, who wasn't even intimidated in the slightest. The purple goddess then pulled out her sword from the ground and licked the blunt edge of the blade. "...Are you prepared to die?"
"You bitch...!" White Heart tried to move her hands once more, but intense pain rushed through her whole arm that made her stop as her palm slid through the blade, and it didn't even budge. The blade was completely stuck to the ground and it can't be removed unless someone other than her would.
Purple Heart smirked. "...I guess it would be no fun to kill you immediately." She then pointed her katana to White Heart's right shoulder and stabbed it hard.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH-!" White Heart groaned in pain as she felt the blade pierce through her shoulder.
But it didn't end there. Purple Heart twisted her hands, drilling the katana through White Heart's flesh, and earning a louder cry of pain from her. White Heart winced as Purple Heart kept on drilling her shoulder, which resulted to more blood flowing out as the katana made a hole out of the goddess of white's shoulder. White Heart could slowly feel her consciousness slipping away as her eyes were gaining more and more weight. The pain were so intense that she also started to feel numb from her upper body.
"Haah... Haah..." White Heart's breathing got heavier as Purple Heart continued to drill her katana on her shoulder. Her vision was getting blurry as well, and the pain was not even helping on keeping her awake.
Purple Heart was amused with the reactions she was getting from her victim. Torturing her felt satisfying, but it still wasn't enough. She wanted to hear more of her screams. She then pulled her katana out of White Heart's right shoulder. Blanc sighed in relief as the blade was taken out, but then she felt another stab on her other shoulder.
"AAAAAAGGGHHH-!" She groaned in pain as the blade pierced through her flesh once more. She couldn't take this anymore. She was almost losing consciousness from the torment she was receiving.
Purple Heart mused at White Heart's despair. "...More, Blanc! Scream more! I want to hear more of it!" She said as she drilled her katana to Blanc's shoulder.
Blanc's cries echoed around the area as Purple Heart kept on torturing her. Her tears were sustaining Purple Heart as she was feeling pleasure from her suffering. Blanc's vision was growing dark and her whole body was burning hot. She was trying to keep her consciousness as well as keeping her HDD form active, but it was putting more stress on her body.
But when she was about to faint, she felt the blade got pulled out of her body, which made her eyes shot open. There, she saw a familiar face; a face that she didn't expect to come here. The face of the same woman that she hated for knocking the obvious thing out of her.
Black Heart.
The CPU of Lastation, Black Heart, was in front of her. She was locking swords with Purple Heart.
"...You..." Blanc mustered all of her strength and called the person who just arrived on her aid, or so she thought.
Black Heart didn't even look at her way. "Don't. I didn't come here to save you." She said as she swung her sword, pushing Purple Heart away. "So don't bother thinking that you owe me one." She then flew up and chased Purple Heart.
After a short moment, Iris Heart arrived at Blanc's aid. She didn't say anything and just healed Blanc's wounds after removing the blades pierced through her palms, but they were too deep that she had a hard time closing all of it before Blanc reverted her transformation and fainted. Nevertheless, Iris Heart continued to heal all of the young girl's wounds until no more visible marks could be seen on her body.
~o~O~o~
"...Noire~"
Noire was just there, floating few meters away from Neptune, in her HDD form, Purple Heart. From her perspective, it didn't look like Neptune was having a friendly aura around her, and so she held on her sword tightly.
"...Perfect timing. I'd play with you before I finish Blanc off." Neptune said playfully as she readied her katana. "...You better get ready."
But Noire didn't budge nor said a single word, which somehow unnerved the purple goddess. She didn't know what Noire was thinking, or even if she had a plan in her mind.
"..." Neptune just glared at Noire.
Noire still didn't move an inch. Neptune was growing impatient but when she was about to move, Noire opened her mouth.
"Come at me, Neptune." She said.
Neptune then didn't waste a single second and dashed towards Noire. She aimed her katana at Noire's abdomen. As she got closer, Noire spun around in a split second and did an uppercut slash which was aimed at Neptune's katana. Neptune was surprised as she saw her weapon flew up to the skies, unable to process what just happened.
"...What..." Neptune could just stare at Noire's eyes as her katana landed to the ground. Noire was just doing the same as well, not attempting to attack her or anything. "...Why, you're not going to attack?"
But Noire didn't say a word. Neptune took this as an opportunity and retreated back to get her weapon. She had expected Noire to follow her but no, she just stayed at her position, even after she retrieved her katana. Neptune dashed once more to Noire, with her katana's tip aimed at Noire's heart, but as she got closer, Noire ducked in a heartbeat, stepping sidewards and slammed her sword downward, colliding with Neptune's weapon, intentionally disarming the purple goddess.
Neptune stopped as she found her weapon on the ground. She had no idea what was going on. She definitely could see Noire's movements, but she couldn't understand it. No, that wasn't right. Her mind could not process Noire's movements at all, despite it being clear as just a plain move. Noire stepped back a bit, gaining a little distance from the purple goddess. She couldn't take the risk of hurting Neptune, not in the slightest bit. Whatever she must do to stop her, she would not give her a single injury.
"If you're still raring to go, come at me then, Neptune. I'll welcome you with open arms."
~o~O~o~
"..."
Blanc opened slowly opened her eyes as she regained her consciousness. She could feel that she was leaning on something soft. As she regained her vision, she saw an unfamiliar face. There, a woman with dark purple hair, and violet eyes, staring at her with a smile on her face. She then realized that she was lying on this person's lap, which made her blush a little.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
Blanc could not say anything. It seemed like her voice wasn't working properly yet. But she could feel less pain now, and she could move her arms properly. She then nodded as a reply.
"I'll take that as a yes." The woman said. "I'm Iris Heart, the CPU of Planeptune." Iris Heart introduced.
With that statement, Blanc's eyes shot wide and she instantly rose up, but she felt an intense feeling of pain rush up on her upper body as she did so, which made her wince. "Don't attempt to move rashly, I may have closed your wounds, but you still would feel the pain." Iris Heart said. "Don't worry, I have nothing against you."
Blanc wasn't sure if she could believe what Iris Heart just said, but she didn't have the strength to ask, and so she just assumed that she was telling the truth.
"But... can you do me a favor?" Iris Heart asked.
Blanc turned to her. She then saw a serious expression from Iris Heart. Blanc nodded, implying that she was ready to listen to her request.
Iris Heart pointed towards something... or someone. Blanc turned her attention to where she was pointing and saw Noire, with Neptune constantly attacking her and every time she did, she always got her weapon disarmed from her. Blanc wondered what in Gamindustri was going on, and her thoughts were completely readable to Iris Heart.
"I want you to understand that... Neppy didn't mean to do everything she did to you." Iris Heart said with an expression of pity as she stared at Neptune from afar. But it didn't make sense to Blanc. She didn't who this Neppy was but she could only assume that it was Purple Heart because she was trying to defend her.
"...W-What do... you mean...?" Blanc asked as she finally recovered her voice, but it still had cracks that made her stutter a bit.
Iris Heart grabbed Blanc's hands, which made the young girl shiver a bit. Despite her calm and worrisome composure, there was something that Blanc could feel from her, and it didn't look like a pleasant one. But she didn't dare to find out.
"That girl... she is not who who she is right now..." Iris Heart paused. "No, that isn't correct. She is who she used to be right now."
Blanc tilted her head in confusion. She still couldn't get what Iris Heart was saying, and the more she talked, the less sense she could make from her words. "...I'm not sure if I follow..."
Iris Heart sighed. Looks like she'd do all the talking. "Long story short, Neppy is not from this world." She said. "When she arrived here, she had lost her memories. She recovered them when she became a CPU fifteen years ago."
"...Fifteen years ago?!" Blanc was surprised. It was new to her. She only knew that there was one nation founded that time, and that means one CPU had been inaugurated. But to think that there were actually two CPUs, it came like a wrecking ball to Blanc. "...How have I not heard of that?"
"Because Neppy did not create a nation for herself. She is staying with me in Planeptune." Iris Heart said. "But that's not our concern right now. Our problem is that her memories most probably involve you."
Blanc raised an eyebrow. She could think a thing or two about what Iris Heart was saying. "...So in other words... I-" She paused.
"You guessed it right. You also exist in the world where she came from." Iris Heart said.
That made sense to Blanc. Because Purple Heart... knew her name on their first encounter. But what she didn't understand was why Purple Heart suddenly wanted to take her life so bad. She wondered what 'she' had done to Purple Heart back in her world. And yet again, she could only think of a single thing.
"She was cast away, by Noire's counterpart... or you might know her as Black Heart, your counterpart as well, and another CPU that we don't know." Iris Heart said as she let go of Blanc's hands. "Fret not, I am not that CPU, because Neppy... Purple Heart did not recognize me at all."
So that was the reason why Purple Heart wanted to take her head, was what Blanc thought. It would make sense, really. If 'she' had done something bad to Purple Heart before, it would be normal for her to exact revenge on Blanc. "... So this Purple Heart cannot distinguish her world from this world?"
Iris Heart swung her head. She somehow looked guilty in Blanc's eyes, and wondered why. "No... it's not like that. Purple Heart... or Neptune does not even know that she isn't in her world."
"Why, you didn't tell her?" Blanc asked.
Iris Heart bit her lip. "We're afraid that Neppy would feel like she didn't belong in this world. And we're afraid what could happen if she really would feel like that once she finds out, that's why we're hiding it from her for fifteen years and counting. And we didn't know who should we tell... if Neppy... or Purple Heart."
Blanc was at loss of words. She didn't know why Iris Heart was separating 'Neptune' and 'Purple Heart', but she didn't bother asking. To her, it was completely their fault why Purple Heart was acting like that, and if they should've told her the truth, she wouldn't have been attacked tonight. But she wasn't so heartless to blame them about her dilemma right now. Iris Heart and her friends did it to keep Neptune from feeling isolated, which could offer up many troubles if she did know that she wasn't from this world.
"I understand. But seriously, you have to tell her that. She has every right to know." Blanc said. "You must tell her that or it could go worse."
"I know... I know that. I plan to tell her everything after all of these are resolved." Iris Heart said as she bit her lip. "But for now, I ask of you. Please bring Neppy back. You guys are the only ones who can do that."
Blanc stood up and transformed. "I'll see what I can do." She said and flew up to the skies.
Iris Heart could just stare at her and wish her good luck.
~o~O~o~
"...Kuh-!" Purple Heart got pushed away as her katana got disarmed from her and flew up to the skies when her attacked got countered by Black Heart. It had been going on like that for a while now, and she could not even land a single hit to her. She knew that Black Heart wanted to break her morale, but she was far too naive if she would believe that she could break her.
"You're done yet?" Black Heart asked as she stared at Purple Heart, who just retreated to recover her weapon. "I guess not. Well the-" She interrupted herself as she felt that someone was coming on her way. She looked behind her and saw White Heart flying towards her direction.
"Are you feeling better?" Black Heart asked as White Heart arrived near her.
White Heart sighed and scratched her head. "Yeah, and thanks to you idiotic duo, I got dragged into something I wished I didn't." She said.
Black Heart assumed that Plutia told her about everything. She wondered what the hell Plutia was thinking for telling her about Neptune's condition, but this wasn't the time for thinking about that. Bringing Neptune back was the top priority.
"So, I guess I need not to say anything to you anymore." Black Heart said as she turned back to Neptune.
"You guys should owe me a whole lot for this thing." White Heart said as she turned to Purple Heart as well. "But, I guess we're even now."
Noire could've sworn that she told her that she didn't come here to save her, but oh well, she didn't have the energy to argue with her.
Purple Heart didn't seem to be pleased with what she was seeing. "...So, teaming up against me again, huh? What a bunch of cowards." Purple Heart said, but Black Heart and White Heart did not say anything as they just stared at her, seemingly in sync together, like they know what the other was thinking. "...But don't think that it would be the same as before."
"Bring it on then, Neptune."
"Come at me, Purple Heart."
Purple Heart readied her weapon. "...Don't say I didn't warn you!" She then dashed towards the two.
But still, Black Heart and White Heart did not move a single bit. She tried to circle around them but the two were just following her with their eyes.
It was like, they were playing with her.
With that thought, she had grown more angry at them and dashed to the at the front. She was expecting that her attack would be countered once again but then as she was few feet from the two, they threw their weapon forward, surprising her.
"Wha-?" Purple Heart was staggered with their sudden actions. And after a short while, Black Heart and White Heart dashed to her.
She let her guard down. She thought that she had predicted their move, but she didn't. In the end, history would repeat itself, was what she thought at that time. The distance between them were too small for her to block or evade whatever attack they were about throw.
She closed her eyes and waited for a strike to her body. But she felt no pain at all and instead, she felt something wrapped around her. She opened her eyes and saw that her opponents were very close to her, and she could feel herself in their arms.
"...What..."
She didn't know why, but she was starting to lose her strength. As she finally lost her strength, she unconsciously let go of her katana and it fell down to the ground. Once again, she didn't know why, but she felt comfortable from their embrace.
"..."
Purple Heart's memories started to get overlapped by another memory the more she stayed with them. Her mind was getting conflicted, as various images started to mix in her head.
"..."
And then finally...
"...Noire...?" Purple Heart muttered.
Black Heart's eyes widened as she heard Purple Heart call her name. "Neptune?!" She said as she looked at Purple Heart's face, whose eyes were filled with tears. "Neptune!" She then hugged her tighter.
Blanc then let go of Neptune, to give them some personal space as she really felt out of place there. Looks like all's well now.
Or so she thought.
As Noire let go of Neptune, the purplette saw Blanc beside them and in an instant, she pushed Noire away and grabbed Blanc by her neck.
"Wha-?! Neptune?!" Noire was surprised as she got pushed away. She then saw Neptune choking Blanc. "Neptune, stop-!"
Noire was about to pull Neptune away from Blanc but she stopped as she saw Blanc's hand gestured her hand to stop the Lastation CPU. She didn't understand why would Blanc stop her from saving her, but nonetheless she complied with her request.
~o~O~o~
Blanc knew that she was being choked to death. She knew it, but she did not do anything to stop it. This was an opportunity for her as well. She knew that just bringing Neptune back would not solve anything. She had to do it, for Neptune and for herself.
She hoped to herself that she would hold out.
"...You k-know... I won't... be delusional... for you to... believe me... if I say t-that... it wasn't... me-" Blanc stuttered as the chokes were getting tighter, almost destroying her neck, but she couldn't care less.
Neptune just gritted her teeth as she glared at Blanc and choked her tighter. Noire was about to intervene once more but Blanc signaled her to stop.
"...Kill me... right now... if that is... your wish..." Blanc said between her chokes. She couldn't breathe anymore, and the pain from Neptune's grips wasn't helping at all. "...B-But... I can... guarantee you... you... won't be satisfied... if you... do..."
With that said, Neptune's grips on Blanc's neck loosened and eventually let go of her. Blanc coughed hard and tried to catch her breathing, while Neptune was holding her head, groaning.
"Waaaaaaaahhhhhhh-!"
Noire was about to move to Neptune and give her a hug, but Blanc beat her to it first, so she stopped and let her have Neptune for now. Though she felt a slight pain in her chest as she stared at them, in which she didn't know why. She just gripped on it, hoping that it would ease the pain, but it didn't.
Blanc caressed Neptune's hair as the purple goddess cries continued. She hadn't had the slightest idea about what she should say to her, so she just kept her mouth shut. Though to her, it was a little soothing when someone was close to her. She never had anyone who were personally close to her, and so having Neptune in her arms was somewhat... blissful.
After a few minutes, Neptune's cries finally died down, reverted her transformation, and fell asleep. Blanc slowly levitated towards Noire and gave Neptune to her. Noire then carried Neptune on her arms back to where Iris Heart was staying, which made her sighed in relief as she learned that Neptune's safe and sound... and Blanc as well, of course.
Well, in any case, they could proudly say that this had ended well, if not peacefully.
~o~O~o~
After that incident in Lowee, Neptune had been unconscious for a while. During her sleep, Noire and Plutia bailed out of Lowee and went back to Planeptune to keep Neptune safe. Noire requested Plutia to never leave her side until she comes back, as she knew Neptune would look for either the three of them when she wakes up.
And, five days have passed.
Lowee's Basilicom was back in its perfect condition. With the help of Lastation, of course. Noire had lent Blanc some of her laborers to hasten the repairs of her Basilicom, of course, out of goodwill. It should be Planeptune's responsibility for the damage they caused to Lowee, because Neptune was considered as a Planeptune CPU, but Noire took it as an opportunity to build a good relationship with Lowee. In any case, she didn't think Planeptune could offer some nice services anyway.
And now, a good trading policy has been established between Lastation and Lowee. Blanc had also dismissed the Seven Sages (though she hadn't met all of them yet) out of her Basilicom for good, because Noire knew about them and Blanc learned that there was more than meets the eye on them. So, she placed her trust on Noire instead.
After everything was good, Noire and Blanc set forth to Planeptune to visit Neptune and Plutia. Noire hadn't seen both of them for days, and she admitted to herself that she missed them. As for Blanc, well, let's just say, she wanted to check up on Neptune.
As they arrived in front of Planeptune's Basilicom, they wasted no second and immediately headed to Plutia's room, with Noire leading the way. It was Blanc's first time in somebody else's Basilicom, and it kinda made her anxious. Noire knocked on the door twice before opening it slowly. "...Neptune...? Plutia...?"
Before Noire could fully open the door, it was already blasted open by someone and she got tackled to the ground, which surprised both Blanc and Noire herself.
"Noire...!"
That voice made Noire's worries go away. It has been days since she last heard her voice, and it gave her a pleasant feeling. "How are you, Neptune?" Noire asked as she caressed Neptune's hair. Blanc just stood there, doing nothing.
"I've missed you, Noire!" Neptune said as she cuddled on Noire's chest.
Noire sighed. "Come on, I haven't been gone for that long, you know." Noire said as she pulled Neptune up and sat up as well.
"But me and Plutie feels lonely without you here!"
Noire blushed a little after hearing that. Oh, how long she had wished that someone would say that to her. But no, this wasn't the time for daydreaming! "R-Really...? I-"
Blanc coughed to get their attention. Too much unnecessary PDA was displayed in front of her, and her eyes can't stand it. And also... she wanted to talk to Neptune. She wanted to clear everything before anything else.
"...Blanc..." Neptune called as she turned to the Lowee CPU. Noire broke away from Neptune and went inside the room to give the two some space as she knew Blanc wanted to talk to Neptune alone.
Blanc then sat down in front of Neptune and waited for her to talk. Blanc thought that it would be a bad start if she would initiate the talk, since despite she wanted to speak with her, she didn't know what to say to her exactly.
"..."
But Neptune did not talk. They were wasting precious time there by just staring at each other's eyes.
Blanc sighed. "Okay. I want you to be fairly honest with me." She said as she sat up straight. "What did I do wrong? I will apologize if I did something."
That question surprised Neptune. It was so direct that she found herself nervous all of a sudden. But the answer to her question? She couldn't find it.
"I... don't know... I can't remember..." Neptune said. "I just... had this urge before... when I saw you..."
Blanc could somehow get the gist of Neptune's condition. If she were to guess it right, Neptune and Purple Heart's memories weren't shared, but either of them can interfere with the other. That would explain why she stopped attacking them when she and Noire hugged her that time.
"But why are you not attacking me right now?" Blanc asked boldly. That was a dangerous question, really.
Neptune did not say a word. She wondered why, indeed. She didn't feel that urge right now, even if Blanc was already in front of her. She just swung her head in disagreement, which made Blanc sigh in disappointment.
Well, there was no use in prying when the subject herself couldn't give answers.
~o~O~o~
Noire closed the door as she got inside Plutia's room. There, she saw Plutia at the bed, with Histoire beside her.
"Where is Neptune and Blanc?" Histoire asked as she only saw Noire enter the room.
Noire just pointed her thumb at the door. "I gave them some personal space. Seems like they want to talk to each other."
"Perfect. Noire, please lock the door for a moment. I want neither of them to hear what I am about to say." Histoire said.
Noire complied with her request and locked the door. She wondered why in good Gamindustri Histoire didn't want them to hear it. Well, she could understand if it was only Blanc, but Neptune as well? Either way, she kept her mouth shut and waited for Histoire to talk.
"I have a bad news and a good news for you, which one would you like to hear first?" Histoire asked as she made a V sign with her fingers.
Now that was something not really reassuring. "Surprise me." Noire said.
"Good news it is, then." Histoire said as she sighed. "It seems like Neptune and Purple Heart do not share the same memories."
Noire raised an eyebrow after hearing that. It didn't make sense to her, because judging from her past observations, what Histoire said was the complete opposite. "Are you sure about that, Histoire?"
"Yes. I am 100% positive." Histoire said. She wondered why Noire was so doubtful of her, until she realized that she hadn't said everything yet. "Oh, I see now why you asked that."
"Either of them can interfere with the other, but it puts a strain in her mind because... the host's memories were constantly getting overlapped every time an interference happens." Histoire explained.
Noire made an 'Ah' expression as she heard Histoire's answer. That made sense to her now. What Histoire just said was accurate, as it explained why 'Neptune' can talk to Noire in her HDD form, and that certain night as well. Noire seriously wanted to forget that incident, as it just gave her nothing but nightmare.
That also would disprove Noire's hypothesis before that Neptune knew that she and the Noire in her memories were two different people. It was just, Neptune's memories resurfaced, which contained the memories of her in this dimension.
She then nodded in affirmation as she confirmed the facts true.
"And the bad news is?" Noire asked.
Histoire tapped Plutia's shoulder and then looked at Noire in the eyes. "I've discovered that there was really a hidden nation, and also, a CPU governing it."
Noire's eyes widened. Plutia didn't seem to be surprised as she might've known it already.
But Noire didn't understand why would that be a bad thing. "Why is that a bad thing?" She asked.
"..."
"What..." was the only word Noire could say after hearing Histoire's answer.
There we go! Chapter 6!
Whoa, that was fairly long, if I may say. I didn't really intend to lengthen it but, I dunno, it just happened like that. Can't do jack about it, lol.
Anyways, that's it for Blanc's Arc! Next is Vert's Arc!
What do you guys think of the story right now? Please drop your comments and reactions! It would really help me improve my writing!
And if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me! Though if it didn't get answered by me, your question could spoil the future chapters, so that's that!
Until next time, see ya guys! HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!