Ram looked as the citizens of Planeptune and Lastation arrived through the portal, the hubbub of the people making it hard to listen to any one conversation. Ram remained next to Histoire, who was talking with the Histoire from this dimension.
"I'm sorry for the short notice." Histoire said, "There's… a problem in our dimension, and evacuating the civilians was the best idea Neptune had."
"It's fine don't worry ( ^∇^)" The smaller Histoire said, "We'll have to move your Lastation citizens to our Lastation, which might take a while though. (~_~;)"
"Um… is Neppy going to be okay…?" Plutia asked drowsily, looking at the portal, "Maybe I should go teach the meanie a lesson..."
"No, Plutia. It's okay. ( ゚д゚)" Her Histoire said, sweat formed on her head, "There should be no need for that. Neptune will be able to do it… Hopefully…( ´ ∀ ` )"
Ram started to jump from foot to foot, she was growing more worried. Would Neptune be able to save her sisters? How long did she have to stay here? Was Neptune okay?
"Ram!" Peashy said. She grabbed Ram's hands, smiling playfully, "Let's play!"
Ram returned a smile, before she shook her head, "Sorry, Peashy... I can't play right now."
"Is Ram okay?" She asked, looking at her with worry, "Worried about Neptuna?"
Ram nodded, tears formed in her eyes.
"Ram shouldn't worry. Neptuna is strong!" Peashy tried to console Ram.
Ram smiled again before her focus was drawn by the two Histoires, "Everyone! I'm sure you're all confused as to why we brought you here, but it's for your own safety. Our dimension has become unsafe. Our Goddess, Purple Heart, has requested the evacuation of all civilians currently residing in Planeptune to this dimension." Histoire called Plutia over, "Moreover, Lastation citizens that have evacuated with us shall be moved to the Lastation of this dimension."
"One last thing..." Small Histoire spoke up, "The nation you currently reside on is Planeptune, ruled by Plutia ( ^∇^)" She gestured to Plutia, who hadn't transformed yet. She waved at the crowds, "I ask that everyone finds a place to stay in the meanwhile, the Basilicom shall be open for any further inquiries! (*^▽^*)"
"Thank you for your patience." The Histoires moved closer to the portal, each one in a different end, "We shall now close the portal to our dimension until further notice. We're sorry for any inconveniences."
The crowds started to move away from the portal, Ram stood behind Histoire.
Neptune should be okay, right?
Both Histoires nodded in agreement, their hands extended.
My sisters should be fine, right?
Both Histoires concentrated, focusing all their strength into closing the portal.
They… They should be okay, RIGHT?!
The portal started to dwindle, its light fading.
No. No. No! No! I have to check, they had to be okay. They had to be!
Ram ran forwards, leaping at the fading portal. Histoire called out her name with worry. The citizens gasped in horror.
The portal slowly collapsed, its light disappeared. The crowd looked in shock at what had happened. Histoire collapsed on the ground, "No… This can't be…! RAM!"
Ram was gone.
Ram woke up in the middle of Planeptune's park. She looked around, no sign of life anywhere. Snow fell gently all around her.
Ram looked straight ahead, the central tower of Planeptune had a small cover of snow. She transformed and flew towards its highest floor, she hoped to see Neptune.
She landed on the terrace, walking slowly towards the window. When she was near it, she put her face close to the window, attempting to look inside.
The Basilicom was a mess. Blood stained one end of it while the other was filled with waves of ice. Neptune's chair and computer were completely destroyed. The glint of gold could be seen in one end of the Basilicom, opposite to the blood stain.
Ram slid the glass door, entering the Basilicom. She examined the blood stain. It had left a big pool around whoever had been injured. She looked around her. She found Blanc's axe on the floor next to the ice.
Ram started to back away from the Basilicom, fear in her eyes. What had happened here?
She looked outside, the dark clouds swirling over Lowee slowly getting faster. Ram had a bad feeling about this.
Against her better judgement, she flew towards Lowee. To confront the source.
The snow storm made it hard for her to fly. As she got closer to Lowee, the worse it got. Soon, the snow turned to hail, hitting Ram on her back and shoulders. Yet, she carried on. She created a shield of ice over her back, protecting her from the hail.
She flew closer to the ground, trying not to attract attention as to avoid Rom learning of her whereabouts. She noticed the citizens of Lowee shambling about, their vision unfocused. They appeared to be under a trance of some kind. They didn't even notice as Ram waved her hand in front of their eyes.
Something was wrong.
Completely and utterly wrong.
Ram hurried towards the Basilicom, the dark clouds swirling faster. It reminded Ram of the lair of one of the final bosses of one of Lowee's games - The Anecdotes of Lunk or something similar.
The guards didn't even bother to look at her as she approached the Basilicom, they had the same look as everyone else in Lowee. Ram pushed open the doors, revealing the terrifying sight that was Lowee's Basilicom. If it could be called a Basilicom anymore.
Blanc's desk had been removed, replaced by an icy throne. The walls and floor were encased in ice and snow, a blue carpet rolled towards the throne and decorating the sides… were the CPUs…
Vert, Noire and Uni were positioned on the right side of the room, each the same distance away from the other. Their forms frozen in the same position as they died.
Neptune, Nepgear and Blanc opposite to the others, their faces looked directly at Ram. Their frozen expressions were calm and hopeful.
Ram fell on her knees, Neptune… and Blanc… They had both died. They were both frozen… tears started streaming down Ram's face.
Ram was pulled back into reality when Rom clapped. She looked straight ahead, noticing Rom sitting on her icy throne. Her staff rested on her lap. She smiled wryly at Ram, "Look who came to see my throne room..." She said coldly.
"Rom… what… have you done?" Ram said, standing up, "Blanc… and Nepgear… and Neptune… and everyone else… What… Why…?"
"Isn't it obvious, Ram?" Rom said, standing up from her throne. She spun her staff a few times, "They're perfect now… They will never fade… They will always exist…"
"You're nuts, Rom!" Ram yelled, summoning her own staff.
"That… really hurts, you know Ram." Rom said, mild irritation on her face, "I thought you'd understand..." Rom's body was enveloped in a white light as she activated her HDD. She looked at Ram with pity, "I wish you could understand..." She fired an ice beam at Ram.
Ram fired her own beam, "Rom… Why would you ever do this?" She fired her own ice beam, "Rom, what's gotten into you?"
Rom shook her head, "You wouldn't understand." She said as she blocked the ice beam.
Ram ran towards the closest frozen statue - Blanc. She started to slap her face gently, "Come on Blanc. Wake up…!" She tried healing her, only to fail, "My healing magic was never as good as Rom's…!" She jumped to the side as Rom fired an ice beam at her.
"Don't. Touch. My. Statues!" Rom hissed furiously, firing more beams of ice at Ram.
"Eek!" Ram slipped on the ice, the beams of ice passed above her head. The tip of her hair frosted over.
I… have to do something…
Rom started to spin her staff, a small tornado of ice formed in front of her. She smiled, "Please Ram... join my collection!" She said as she sent the tornado after Ram.
Maybe... Yes that could work...!
Ram jumped to the side, avoiding the tornado. Just as she did, she noticed that it started chasing her.
If I can just get close enough…!
Ram flew around, avoiding the tornado and more attacks from Rom.
Please let this work…!
She was almost next to Rom. Rom getting more and more frustrated as she missed her attacks, "Stay still!" She yelled.
Almost…!
Rom sent another beam of ice towards Ram. She flew under it.
Almost!
Rom was within arm's reach. Rom looked in confusion as Ram dropped her staff. Her arms reached out towards Rom.
Gotcha!
Ram crashed into Rom, sending them both tumbling down into the snow around the Basilicom, "Rom! Rom! Wake up! It's me, Ram!" She cried as she hugged her sister, "Please. Wake up. I miss you, Rom. I miss you so much!"
"Ram…?" Rom muttered, her arms falling to her side, "What…?"
"Rom! Please! Say it's you…!" Ram hugged harder, tears streamed down her face, "Please..."
"Ram… I..." Rom muttered, tears formed on her face, "I.. I'm sorry."
"Rom!" Ram hugged even harder, "You're… back..."
"Ram… breath… can't breathe." Rom said, gasping for breath.
"Sorry…" Ram said, leaning back from her sister. "I'm just so happy that you're back..." She smiled warmly, tears streamed down her face.
"Ram… I..." Rom looked around her. She looked sorrowfully as she looked at the statues, "What… I..."
"You… did this... Rom..." Ram said shyly, "I… missed you..." Ram started to tear up again.
"I'm sorry..." Rom muttered, her head down, "I'm so sorry..." Tears started falling off her face.
"It's okay Rom." Ram smiled, "You're back. That's all that matters."
"I'm sorry..." Rom repeated.
"Don't beat yourself up, dummy." Ram said happily. She smiled again.
Rom pointed her staff at Ram, freezing her, "... That you're such an idiot." Rom said, a smirk on her face.
She stood up, examining her new statue, "I missed you too, Ram." She said as she brought her face close to her sister's.
Huh? Where am I?
Hey! Look who finally decided to join us.
Blanc…? Is it… really you?
Yeah. Look, Ram. Whatever I said before… I'm sorry. I wasn't myself…
It's okay Blanc… I'm just happy to see you…!
Aww, don't cry. You were strong… Even after everything that happened…
I… I couldn't save Rom…
She was beyond saving, Ram. Don't beat yourself over it.
I'm sorry Blanc… I'm… Waaaah… I didn't want… I didn't want to die…
None of us did, Ram. Hey, come on. Stop crying, for goodness' sake. Grab my hand, they're waiting for us.
O... okay…
Rom sighed. She stared at her statues. She had worked so hard for them… and she was so happy to have obtained them, but why did she feel empty? Was there something missing?
There couldn't be. She froze everyone, each one of her… friends…
There was that word again. 'Friends'. She couldn't stop thinking about that. Were they really her friends? They had opposed so much to the idea of her freezing them… even when it was for their best.
Rom shook her head, there was no way freezing them was wrong. After all, who didn't want to exist forever...? They would remain here for eternity, their beautiful faces permanently frozen in time.
Rom remembered. There was something that was missing.
No… Not something, someone.
When she visited Planeptune, Histoire was missing. She should've been there, yet she couldn't find her.
And the portal to Ultradimension was gone as well…
Rom approached her Neptune statue, "Quite clever… Neptune… Sacrificing yourself to keep Histoire and the others away..." Rom gave her a thin smile, "Maybe I'll wait until they open the portal again..."
She admired her collection, "The other CPUs would be great decoration as well..."
*************************The End. For now...*****************************
