Pre-Chapter Notes

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas! Once again I must apologize for breaking my 'new chapter every week' rule again.

Between the Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and all the Christmas stuff going on I haven't really had much of a chance to work on this as much I as should have. Hell, one week I even got saddled with damn jury duty which took even more time. To make matters worse, most, of not all, of the stores to one of my work's competitors have closed, so while more business is good it also makes things a lot more hectic. Things seem to finally be calming down a bit and hopefully will continue to do so.

Now I realize I am WAAAAYYY behind my story schedule and I hope to use this down time, however brief, to catch up again. That said, I shall make a new promise: until I am caught up I will be devoting each of my days off from working to writing a new chapter. So from here on I GUARANTEE you guys will be getting at least one chapter a week. Ideally two, but one step at a time.

So let's get on with the show!

Disclaimer

Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Idea Factory, Compile Heart, and all other official parties involved with the series.

I own nothing.

CHAPTER SEVEN

PERFECT PURPLE

"Compa, cancel the tea plans. And let's put the quest on hold while we're at it." Confused, Compa looked at her friend.

"What? Why? Is something wrong, Ze-Ze?"

"I wouldn't say 'wrong', but..." Zeno then lifted his arm and pointed to the ceiling. "...I believe I found something much more important." Still confused, she followed his finger to where he was pointing. When her eyes reached their destination they grew wide with shock as they found...

"Nep-Nep! Ge-Ge!" It was true. Neptune and Nepgear, both in their HDD forms and unconscious, were both stuck on the ceiling of the cavern. They were held in place by the same red crystal that decorated the walls. Just what was that stuff?

"Nice to know we found them," Zenotyne said as he brought himself back to his feet. "But how are we going to get them down? Do you think you can break that stuff off of them with your syringe shots, Compa?" Sadly, Compa shook her head in response.

"I don't think so. That red crystal they're in looks really hard. It would probably take a while before any of it came off."

"Great..." Zeno brought his hand to his chin as he started thinking. There had to be a way to get them down. Maybe if he got close enough he could bash it off with his sword? The question with that plan was how was he going to manage that? Maybe if he used the walls...?

Zeno started taking a few steps back. Compa watched him with a curious expression. What was he going to do? The boy then broke into a full sprint towards the wall that was closest to where the Goddesses were held on the ceiling. Upon reaching it he used his momentum to climb up it as high as he could before kicking himself off towards the girls. He drew his weapon once more and readied himself to strike. Once he felt he was close enough he struck out at the crystal...only to miss. He started falling just before he was in range.

"Aw crap..." Zeno let out a yell as he fell, landing just a little away from where Compa stood. Once the dust cleared she ran over to him and asked if he was all right. Zeno sat back up while holding his head as he answered, "...Yeah, I'll be okay. Just...give me a minute..."

"Did you hit your head, Ze-Ze? I have this great medicine for headaches." Medicine? Zeno rose an eyebrow as he asked that question. Giving her signature pure smile pulled out her syringe. "Yessie. All I have to do is give you an injection and you will be okie-dokie in no time!"

His face briefly paling, Zenotyne quickly rose to his feet forcing a smile. "A-actually, Compa, it doesn't hurt anymore. Nope, all good, I'm fine now. I'm gonna try to get them down again." The boy broke into another sprint for the wall, not giving his friend a chance to respond. He always thought that Compa's weapon being a giant syringe was hilarious, but now that it had been right in front of him made it less so. In the Neptunia universe, there were few things that scared him more than one character in particular and the idea of an injection from that thing was one of them. He actually even felt a little sorry for whatever monster was foolish enough to get close enough to her use it in melee combat.

Zeno repeated his motions from before in another attempt to free the goddesses. Unfortunately, it once again ended in him falling short and landing awkwardly. The fear of Compa's injection driving him, he tried again. And again. And again, but he never could seem to get within reach and it was really starting to irritate him.

"Um, Ze-Ze, maybe you should take a break? You're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing this."

"I can't do that, Compa," the boy said as he sat up from another failed attempt. "They're right there. Right in front of us! I can't just sit here knowing that! There's got to be a way I can get them down..."

"Well... Maybe if you transform again? You jumped pretty high like that when you were fighting the Broken." Use the D-Loader? That could work. But could he use it again so soon? Only one way to find out.

Zenotyne rose to his feet and backed away from Compa for a little space. After taking in a deep breath he rose his left hand up to eye level, the back of his hand facing outward. His hand was half open, as if ready to claw at something, but then he closed it into a tight fist. When he did then the D-Loader's shell started rotating again and exhibited a red glow. He then swung his arm to the side, enveloping himself in a sphere red flames briefly before they dissipated revealing himself in the red garb once more.

He looked at his hand and gripped his fist tightly. He definitely felt stronger while like that, but he couldn't stay like that for long. He looked up at the girls trapped on the ceiling before crouching down and jumping up as high as he could. Sword at the ready, he actually jumped high enough to reach the ceiling and struck out at the crystal with his weapon. The strange gemstone started to crack and break from impact but did not release the girls. Not yet at least. He would only get one strike for every jump but he was willing to work with that.

The boy made another jump and attacked the crystal again. This time it crumbled and relinquished its hold on the younger of the two shortly after impact. As the Goddess fell she reverted from her HDD form. Zeno caught her as she fell before handing her off to Compa. "You take this one, Compa. I still need to get the other one down." Making one last leap he struck at the crystal around Neptune making it shatter and release her. Like her sister before her, she returned to normal as she fell and the boy caught her on the way down. Once they were back on the ground again his D-Loader shut down and he returned to normal as well.

"Yippee! You got them down, Ze-Ze! You're amazing!" The boy blushed a little at Compa's compliments as he shook his head.

"Nah, it was the D-Loader that made it doable. I'm not really that great. But more importantly, we should get these two back to Planeptune. Can you carry Nepgear, Compa? I'll take Neptune." Compa nodded to Zeno's request as he shuffled the goddess onto his back. "And let's try to avoid the monsters on the way out. I don't think I'm in much shape for a fight right now." As they started out Zeno noticed a small fragment of the red gem next to his foot. Something about it kept bothering him so he picked it up and put it away in his pocket. Maybe he'd ask Histoire about it later, but right now the Goddesses were the biggest priority.

Next stop: Planeptune.

The sun shined in through the window onto the bed. The person under the covers struggled to try to hide from the rays of light but ultimately gave in. The person sat up, tossing the covers off, revealing themselves to be a groggy Zenotyne. The boy let out a big yawn as he slowly brought himself out of bed and slowly walked to the restroom to brush his teeth.

After returning to Planeptune with Neptune and Nepgear, Histoire gave him a proper room on the Basilicom's top floor alongside the Goddesses. It was still mostly empty as he didn't have anything to put in it yet, but at least it had the basic amenities. Once the Goddesses were put to bed he went to bed himself. He was pretty wiped from the fight and carrying Neptune around yesterday. Hopefully, they would be feeling better today.

After freshening up some he started to make his way to the main room when he caught a whiff of something. Something tasty. Had someone been cooking? Once Zeno stepping inside he saw Compa in the kitchen with an apron on. She saw him enter and greeted him with a big smile.

"Good morning, Ze-Ze. I hope you slept well. Everyone else has already started eating, so go wash your hands and help yourself." Zeno obliged her and afterward made his way to the dining area. There he was greeted by a very welcome sight. IF was there, her arm no longer in a sling though it appeared she was still trying to not move it too much, alongside an already conscious Neptune and Nepgear. IF and Nepgear were taking their time eating their meals while Neptune was practically inhaling hers. IF was the first of the three to notice him.

"Hey, 'morning there, Zeno. Nice to see you up. I was a little worried you were going to sleep in."

"Hewah! Hohhs hih hohin!" Said Neptune with a stuffed face as she raised an arm excitedly. She was probably saying 'hi', but it was hard to understand her with her mouth so full.

"Nep, if you're gonna talk at least stop stuffing your face enough to swallow your food." Nep gave IF a blank stare for a moment before making a big gulp of her food and washing it down with her drink.

"Phwahh! Whoops. Sorry dorry, Iffy. But Compa's food is so delish I just don't wanna stop, ya know?" Yeah, that's typical Neptune alright. Heck, when they were bringing her and Nepgear back she started mumbling something about pudding. She also drooled a little on his back, but that was a small price to pay to get them home. Well, best to get introductions out of the way.

"Nice to see you two up and about already. I'm Zenotyne. Nice you meet you."

"Oh yes. It's nice to meet you, too." As Nepgear spoke she rose out of her seat and gave Zeno a polite bow. "My name is Nepgear, Planeptunes' CPU Candidate."

"And I'm Neptune! CPU for Planeptune and the best one in all of Gamindustri!" Neptune always did have a tendency to overexaggerate. Neptune hopped out of her seat and dashed over to Zeno. She then started to look him up and down. Was she sizing him up for something? "Sooo YOU'RE the big studmuffin that saved my sister and me, huh? I mean, I'm grateful for what you did and stuff, but don't go thinkin' that means I'm gonna fall for you or something. Ol' Nep ain't THAT cheap a date!"

Zeno could only chuckle a little at her proclamation. Neptune may rarely ever be serious outside her HDD form, but Zenotyne always found her dorky antics entertaining. "A pleasure. So, what's on the menu this morning?"

"Compa made pancakes for us today," Nepgear responded. "There's also eggs, sausage, and a few other things. She wanted to make sure we eat healthy and get our strength back, so she made a lot for us."

"Too much, I'd say," IF interjected. "She spoils you guys. Honestly, if you two weren't CPUs I'm pretty sure Nep would be a giant beach ball right now."

"Ha! You can't fool me, Iffy! You're just jealous of my perfect figure!"

"Yeah, sure. Sit back down already. Your food's gonna get cold." At IF's statement, Neptune wasted no time going back to her seat and stuffing her face like a chipmunk. Zeno took his own seat at the table and started loading up his plate with food. Before long Compa arrived with another serving and took her own seat to join the rest of the group.

At last the whole Planeptune group was back together. Neptune and Nepgear likely still needed some time to rest, but it would be a spirit lifter for the people to know their CPUs were back. And if Zeno found them, maybe he could find the others as well? Things were now looking better than they have been for a while in Planeptune and, hopefully, he could extend this fortune out to the rest of Gamindustri.

Just what awaited them in the future? Only time will tell.

God it took WAAAYYY too long to get this out. But now that the "main character" has arrived things should be more entertaining.

Unfortunately, I only have one day off this week so just this one chapter will have to do this time around but I WILL catch up. All I ask for is a little patience.

Until then I'll see you guys next time! Zeno out!