Disclaimer: I only own my stories and my OCs (including SI). Everything else belongs to their respective owners.
Chapter 9 is out, and it's NOT my first expectation. You will see why in the end.
To Guest: Wow, my first guest review, and it's like that. I have to use Google Translate to see what you're trying to say to me. (It detects the language as Spanish, hope it's true). If I read it right, then I have two opposite answers for you.
On one side, if you mean your words truly, then I apologize about my story. You can go away, and stop reading the story, I won't force you. Different people with different tastes, no hard feeling. But, you might want to use more polite words, the words hit me pretty hard.
On the other side, I feel like you're trolling me. You read my story, so you know you have no reasons to use a different language to review my story. And even if you don't have enough English to write one, then you're a coward when you tried to stay anonymous to insult me. I can accept critics, but not insults like yours. Next time, if there's one, use your name or your account to insult me, I will happily accept it. In the meantime, goodbye.
And if my assumption is wrong, and the translate is wrong, then you can send me a translated version of yours. Don't write down if my guess is right.
To RedBurningDragon: I did mention Kirche's father in the first chapter. I think you might have skipped it. Also, it's a hilarious scene to see Julio getting tied up, but then who would do so?
With nothing else to say, enjoy this chapter everyone!
Gamindustri, Schwarz's POV
We really need our father now…
After chasing the duo to a portal, they walked into it, but not without throwing another bunch of monsters at us. We had thought we lost our chance to follow them, but after we defeated them, the portal was still there, so we wasted no time and ran into it, and it led us to another dimension, which we could see tons of floating areas around with very few solid ground to walk on. And there's a big yellow crystal in the middle, which radiated a lot of energy that's similar to Share, from what my sister told us how she felt. We decided to go near it and checked the dungeon nearby. And…we found Big Neptune being chased by this world's Arfoire, who's blasting spells to the poor Neptune. Even though she was in the enemy side, which was our current thought, we hated Arfoire even more, so we helped Neptune defeat the wicked witch. But, when we thought she would just go down, Arfoire actually turned into nothing. Confused at that, we asked Neptune what happened, and this was her answer: Arfoire was resurrected by Kurome, but she's only the delusion of her own past. And the reason the portal was opened because of Neptune herself, and Kurome found out and sent Arfoire to kill her. We decided to forgive Neptune, and returned back for a while to rest. Then the Candidates went around and investigated, and then returned to tell about the CPU's deepest desires. To be honest, it's a bit of surprise. But, considering their personalities, I think it's correct in every way.
Then, we followed Neptune to find Kurome AND Croire with her. And about some shouting from us, Kurome showed us something that we never wanted to see: All of the CPUs were corrupted, their eyes were covered in complete black. Luckily, this corrupted versions of them somehow were weaker than their originals, but still, we had to use nearly all of our power to at least weaken them more for Uzume to use her 'dream power' to create a Share Crystal and snap the CPUs out of the darkness. Then, Uzume turned into her HDD, Orange Heart, and used Sharing Field to assist us in defeating the Dark Green, as we found out there were more than just the first Dark CPU, Dark Purple. After we defeated it, and about to do the same to Kurome and Croire, the former just dropped some shocking information to us, and copies of the Goddesses to fight us and then walked into another portal. Croire stayed behind for some reasons.
Now, we had to separate. I, the Goddesses, big Neptune and Umio, old Makers and the DLC Characters 'are you being lazy here?' Maybe…but I think they're too obvious already stayed behind to deal with them, and more problems, while the others brought the crystal Uzume just made to deal with the Dark Black in Hyperdimension. After we defeated the copies, Croire just told us even more disturbing matters, and this time, we had an extremely hard time to deal with. Apparently if we saved Hyperdimension, Uzume would be gone, but if we didn't do anything, then Hyperdimension would be the same as our old world. Then, Uzume just ran away, and we had to follow her. When she stopped in an empty place, we kept a good distance from her, and Umio walked to her alone to talk with her.
And, after a shenanigan created by both Neptune and the Goddesses, we headed back to the first portal, where the others had already waiting for us. Then we headed straight to Kurome, and attempted to take her down instantly. 'Attempted' was the keyword. When we reached her, she summoned all of the fallen Dark CPUs, and then merged herself with them, creating one Dark Orange. Of course, you know that, with Sharing Field from Uzume and the power of the 'plot', we defeated Dark Orange as well. But then, Kurome had ordered all of the monsters to start heading to the portal that led to Hyperdimension. With the two dimensions being collapsed to each other as well. And then…
This happened…
"Gearsy, I need you to destroy the Share Crystal." This one order was never on my to-do list, and it has a good reason for it.
"ARE YOU CRAZY? You know what happened when the Crystal broke, right? You will die!"
"Yes, I'm very aware of that. But it's the only way…"
"THAT'S NOT THE ONLY WAY! We can prevent the monsters AND the collapse together! Just go with us!"
Nepgear is crying right now. "But…but…why me…"
Uzume: "Your weapon is the only one that can reach it and has enough power to break it. And Gearsy…you have been with me from the beginning, and I want you to be with me till the end. Do you understand?"
Nepgear, sad and hesitate, nods. She then turns into her HDD form, and points her weapon to the big crystal. But, with the amount of pressure and sadness overwhelming her, she drops the weapon and herself to the ground. "No…No…I can't do it…I can't shoot…"
"Nepgear…" Uni walks to her. "Do it. You know the reason she chose you to do so, right?" Nepgear looks at her eyes. "You're her Junior. It may haunt you later, but…you know Uzume will go in peace, knowing you fulfilled her last request." Nepgear then bursts out in tears, and cries out loud.
"Gearsy, now!" "NO! I CAN'T!"
"This is not something I'm proud of…" I mumble to myself. This is where I have to choose. The third option, convincing Uzume to go with us, is out of question now. I have two options: Either wait for her to finish the job, or I do it myself to take her burden. I pick the second one, and raise my gun to the crystal, concentrating my power in one bullet…But when I'm about to pull the trigger, Neptune, now Purple Heart, puts a hand on my shoulder to signal me to stop. When I look into her eyes, I see that she has already prepared for the worst, and she is ready for this. I sigh in frustration, and bring my gun down. Then, Purple Heart helps Purple Sister standing up, and they destroy the crystal together.
"Thanks, you two… Now everyone, return back to Hyperdimension! It needs you all!"
Later
Frustration, anger, sadness, pressure…All of them make me collapse mid-way. Weiss runs back to me, as the others walks behind her.
"Schwarz…please, let it go…"
"Let it go…it's easier saying than doing so Weiss…Do you think our father will proud of our actions?"
"Schwarz…we don't have a choice…He knows that we're not him, we cannot change fates…"
"Future is unpredictable, as our father said before…We had a chance to save her, and we wasted it…Another person, gone, right before us…Neptune…how did you deal with it?"
Neptune doesn't say anything at first, then… "OF COURSE I'm not satisfied with this! We are not having the Happy Ending now. And I'm intend to do anything just to achieve it!"
IF stops her: "Wait a second Nep! You forgot you're still having your own dimension to save? It's true we made a terrible choice, but we need to know what comes first. Right now, we need to…"
"You all go ahead." Nepgear speaks up. "You can join us if you want. I, Neptune and Schwarz will come back to Uzume."
Compa: "Not you too, Ge-Ge!"
Big Neptune shouts: "If little Me is going to save Uzume, then I will come with her! No way I can live with this remorse in my heart!"
Then, I feel a hand waving before me, and T.O's voice can be heard: "Now, if you want to save her, you should come with us. We don't have much time to waste."
I grab the hand without thinking, start standing up and say: "Thank you, T.O. Glad you're with me."
Then, the figure chuckles: "Are you being blinded by love that you mistook me with T.O, kid? My heart is breaking apart."
I instantly look up, and face-to-face with my father's smiling face. Why did I know? He's not wearing a black fedora. "DAD?"
Back to the battlefield, Uzume's POV
"Damn, so many of them. I have fought for a while already, but there's no end of them." I speak to myself after I have punched one right back to a group, making them go down. One tries to sneak up behind me, but I backhand it using my megaphone. I shout into the megaphone, creating soundwaves hitting the monsters straight on, leaving dents on the ground. A big humanoid monster swings its left arm to me, I catch it and swing on it for a few rounds to get momentum, then break its arm right before I let it go and kick right into another monster. Another group of monster jump to me from all side, and I have to slam the megaphone to the ground, creating a sound blast that knocks all of them out of me.
"But, if I run now, I will risk them getting to Hyperdimension. For Nepsy, Gearsy, and the others, I won't give up. Dream Combo!" I pocket my megaphone, and start punching all of the monsters in front of me, jump up and do a left hook to the last one, throwing it to the air. "Dream Roar!" Right before I hit the ground, I equip my weapon back and shout, hitting everything under me. I land to the ground, take a quick breath… "Dream Smashing Fist!" I leap myself to the horde, and punch through a few monsters, creating explosions in the process. But the monsters keep pushing to me, and I am forced to use my HDD and my last skill. "Special Dream Combo!" I fly around while blasting soundwaves to the monsters, then use multiple glyphs to apply more strikes to my punches. In the last of the move, I summon two massive glyphs, and I shout in my megaphone, and the glyphs shoot out rays of light to the horde. Many of them are vaporized in that attack, however, more and more still come in. Due to exhaustion, I turn off my HDD and land on the ground, breathing heavily and kneeling.
"No, I can't fall here. But, my legs…they're turning into jelly…My power… is starting to fade away…No, even…if I die here…I will bring all of them with me…"
"UZUME! We have talked about it already, don't raise such death flags like that!"
"Huh? Nepsy?" I feel something flying above me, and when I look up, a massive three-head dragon is on top of me. I would have attacked it, if it didn't raise its mouths and blasts energy lasers to all of the monsters down here. Then Gearsy, Nepsy and big Nepsy jump down from the dragon's back, along with a few more people. A pink hair lady swings her rapier down, and a massive glyph appears on the ground, followed by a tornado blowing up and killing all of the monsters inside it. A smaller pink hair girl raises her wand up, creates a lot of black and purple spears on the air, and throws it to the monsters. The girls with blue hair, their ages are around the pink duo, summon two types of water dragons Aqua's is a Chinese dragon, while Charlotte's is Sylphid look-alike and they start attacking all the monsters on the air, followed by the girl with red hair and her fire phoenixes, exploding the monsters in contact. Weiss and Schwarz, in their transformed forms, are floating on the air and creating multiple glyphs to step on respectively, and attack everything on their sight. IF and Compa are also there, pointing their guns and syringe to the enemies and shoot projectiles to the monsters, but somehow they look older. A guy who looks as old as the ladies, swings his sword and from it, multiple slashes with variety of elements come out and go through the monsters, killing them in the process. Who are they? But more importantly, why did Nepsy and the others come back here?
As they land to the ground, both Nepsy and Gearsy run to me. The others have spread out and push back the monsters. The dragon then shines up, and turns out it's Kuro, or Hybrid Heart in his current form, and he joins with Schwarz and Weiss in attacking airborne monsters.
"Uzume! Are you happy to see us again?" Little Nepsy is the one asking me that, while Gearsy makes me sit on the ground then checks on my wounds and Big Nepsy searches for her medicines.
"You all…why did you come back…what about Hyperdimension?"
Gearsy answers: "Affimojas and Steamax have another ship, they have taken the others back to Zero Dimension to fend off the monsters there. We also have established forces on the other side of the portal to make sure the monsters cannot attack into the nations of Hyperdimension."
Little Nepsy continues: "And we're here because of you, that's why! We're going to greet the Happy Ending together! Also, I think little Schwarz has a little crush on you…"
'I DID NOT! DON'T LISTEN TO MY FATHER LIKE THAT!' I can hear Schwarz's voice in my head, and probably the others can too. Then I blush a bit after Nepsy's words sink in.
"Schwarz…has a…" I almost turn in my dreamy mode when…
'Uzume and Schwarz sitting…' 'DON'T YOU DARE, FATHER!'
"Found it! Uzume, drink this. It will help you for a while." Big Nepsy gives me another of her Nep Bull, and I instantly drink it. The taste is still as bad, but it has its usefulness. My leg starts regaining the feeling, and I try to stand up, but Gearsy holds me down. "Relax, Uzume. You need to rest first. You have fought for a while already." I really want to complain, but, with my current conditions, I can't do anything but to listen to her.
I look at the others. The young girls, they only use magic to fight for them, maybe they're spell casters like Rom and Ram. The adults are holding on their own very well, even better than me. Am I that weak?
'What are you expecting, destroying your own Share Crystal like that? That's your core power, you being weakened is too obvious.'
"Then, how can I be stronger now?"
'Just return with us back to Hyperdimension. We will find a way.'
"Is it even possible?"
'You're talking about me.'
I ask little Nepsy: "What does Kuro mean?"
She smiles: "Just don't worry. He always knows what to do."
"Oh, right. Shouldn't we leave now?"
"Sorry, Uzume. But Kuro left a mission to me." The pink girl walks to the direction of the void. "And it will take a while. So, bear with it, please." And she points her wand to the empty space, then words and runes starts spinning around her, as she is chanting in a language I can't understand at all. Then, a monster suddenly leaps to her, but the guy in blue hair is faster, and he stabs the monster with his katana and pushes the corpse away while it starts vanishing.
"What is she doing?" I ask out loud. Gearsy answers: "She's going to severe the connection of Kurome to the void, so that she won't call out anymore version of Dark CPUs."
"About the others…they are…"
Big Nepsy: "Protecting you. We cannot let you die here alone, ain't we?"
Everyone…Then I blush a bit more when I remember about…
Then I suddenly feel a surge of energy coming from Louise, as she shouts "Dispel!". Then, a light no, not thunder. I checked the anime when Saito and Louise fought Wales, it's thunder, but I'm changing it to light. Zeus' Wrath is not fun, and it's way too stupid to look if you cast thunder in the void shoots out from her wand, and heads straight into the Void.
…
…
"Uh, nothing happened." As soon as I said that, the monsters suddenly run away instead of trying to prey on us anymore. Kuro, Weiss and Schwarz start descending, as the later two turn back to their human form. And the others gather around me.
Kuro speaks: "It works actually. Kurome controlled them to kill you and anyone on their way. However, with the connection between her and the Void being cut, the monsters regained their own control, and due to their own instinct, they ran away." Then he suddenly winks at me. "And you made my son worry a bit too much you know? He just kept talking about…" Then he somehow got shut by Schwarz by covering his hand over his mouth, and Kuro has a piece of mask over his mouth.
"Don't…you…dare, father." Schwarz threatens his father. But, I know what he's about to say, and I see a light pink on Schwarz's face. I blush a bit, and try to hide it.
But, how can I hide it when we have both Nepsy and this guy here?
Little Nepsy now has her troll face on: "Ohhhh… Does this Uzume really have a crush on the little guy? I'm glad you have something to focus on, rather on how to be cool."
"NO! NOTHING LIKE THAT! We just met a while ago, how can I…"
Big Nepsy just has to add fuel to the fire: "It's called love at first sight! It happened rarely, and many have dreamt about that. Maybe with your power…"
"HOW COULD YOU GO TO THAT CONCLUSION?" Then suddenly the violin sound appears, as we look to see Kuro, with Schwarz still covering his mouth somehow, is playing a godforsaken violin with a romantic song. Schwarz, having enough of that, brings Kuro up making him drop the violin, and throws him as far as possible, his face is in the same red as I am in embarrassment.
Then he turns back to me, both his hands in front of him as he bows to me apologetically: "I'm sorry about my father. Sometimes he just goes overboard like that."
"It…It didn't cause any real harm…" Physically. I'm so embarrassed right now! Seriously, this is even more embarrassed when I took a naked shower with Nepsy and Gearsy! I decide to stand up and walk out of the circle as I shout out. "ALL RIGHT! I'm good now! But we need to return back to Zero Dimension. The good monsters are in danger."
"Don't worry about it." Kuro stands up, completely fine, and turns to me. "Right now, Umio probably have evacuated everyone to Hyperdimension already. I have ordered the ASIC to protect them as well."
"I see…That's good then…" Then my vision suddenly blurs, and I collapse to the ground, the world around me turns black…
Later…
When I open my eyes, I see a metallic roof in front of me. Or more likely above me, since I'm in a lying position. The light on it is not helping my current headache as I put my hand in front of me to block the light.
"Urgh… This is annoying…"
"Oh Uzume! You're up! How do you feel now?" Compa, preparing something on the table, turns to me in a surprise, as she pulls her chair closer to me.
"I'm…fine…Just a bit dazed because of the light…"
"That's good. Do you think you can sit up?" I try to, and succeed. I put my legs out of the bed and sit on the edge, as I look at Compa. "May I ask what happened to me?"
"From what I heard from Kuro, you passed out due to exhaustion, even big Nep-nep's medicine can't keep you up for long. Then, he took you and his group to this ship, which is owned by Affimojas and Steamax. And Schwarz just…" She snickers. What's so funny? "He picked you up, and carried you like a bride to my group and asked for help. His face showed a lot of concern to you. Then, we fixed you up a bit and put you in this room." My face heats up again. Why would Schwarz be the person to do that? Aren't there more people with him?
"Then, where are the others?"
"They have separated in this ship already. But currently, Kuro and his group are in the main hall and they are discussing about the next plan. Some more are in it too. Schwarz is on top of the ship, Weiss is in her room with her mother and her aunt. And…"
"Schwarz is there? Why?" A silence. Why did I ask about him like that?
"He's really worried about you. After we made sure you're okay, he just went there and stayed there until now."
"How long have I been out?"
"It's just an hour max."
"Thank you. I'm going out now. And thanks for watching after me."
"Bye Uzume!" She waves goodbye to me.
I walk out of the door, then walk around a bit, and realize: I never asked her the way to the upper floor. As I wander aimlessly around trying to find a sign, I stumble into someone…
"Oh, Uzume. You shouldn't walk around this early."
"I'm sorry about… Compa?" The person before me is definitely Compa, however this one is like ten years older than the previous Compa. And her clothes look a bit old too.
"Is something wrong, Uzume?"
"It's that…I just saw you in the room I woke up, and you're way younger."
She giggles. "I see. You have met the past me." Past…me? "I will have to introduce myself, don't I? My name is also Compa, however, I'm Kuro's wife. Please to meet you, Uzume."
Kuro's wife…The information sinks in a few moments after…And I remember…about Schwarz and Weiss talking about…
…
"WHAT? YOU'RE WEISS' MOTHER?" I don't even bother to cover my dreamy voice. This is too shock to me.
"Yes, I am." She giggles. Her voice and her gestures are the same with the Compa I knew before. "My daughter has told you about us, right?"
"Yes, I did. But meeting you still made Uzume so shocked. So you and IF are Kuro's lovey-dovey?"
"Yes. And you might want to change your voice back."
"Oh. *Cough* Thank you."
"You are welcome. By the way, why are you walking around like that?"
I sweat a bit. "I'm just…wandering and admiring this ship…"
"You're trying to find where Schwarz is, right?"
I sweat even more. "How…Why…"
She smiles. "Don't worry. Let me lead you there." And due to my own shock, she just grabs my hand and pulls me to a stair. "This will head you directly to him. Just go up, you will meet him there." Then she just walks away before I could even say my thank to her.
I walk on the stair, and true to her words, Schwarz is indeed here outside the ship, he's watching at the portal that the ship's head is facing the opposite way. He probably heard my footsteps, as he turns at me in surprise. "Uzume?" He runs to me, and checks my right arm with his hands. "Are you alright now?"
"I'm fine, thanks to you all." I blush a bit at what he's doing, and the reason why I'm here.
"That's good. Now, why are you up here anyway?"
"It's…" I hesitate a bit. Should I tell him the truth? If it comes out, my cool meter might decrease a bit.
Schwarz probably notices something, as he takes his hands back. "Uzume, do you want to watch with me to the scene around from up here? Of course, I won't force you if you don't want to."
"I…Yes, I'd like to do so." He smiles, and picks up my right hand with his left, and gently pulls me to the place he just walks. From there, we can see Zero Dimension from up here. Many places have been in ruin, but we also can see some places with many green trees, and even the Sakura Tree areas as well. The world is not exactly in its worst shape.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Schwarz points his finger to the Sakura trees. "Even in this world, things are still running by their own nature, uninterrupted by the outcomes of this world." I only nod in silence. Why did I act like this around him? Is it because of all the teasing from them? Or is there something else? Is it…love that big Nepsy told me? It's impossible…isn't it?
"Hey, Schwarz." He looks at me, as I look back at me. "Why did you care so much about me? We just met, right? And earlier, Compa told me you carried me in here, just to make sure I'm fine. I'm appreciated of it, of course, but…I want to know your reasons."
He is about to say when I interrupt him. "And please don't say 'it's a good thing to do'. Even Weiss' mother giggled at that, so I'm sure there's something else."
He looks at my eyes, then turns away and sighs. "I believe that…you reminded me of myself, and my mother…" He sits down, and I follow him. "Not your appearance, mind you. It's your…determination to protect everyone with your everything. You…" He stops a bit… "My mother is a caring person. She would protect everyone without even caring about herself first. That's what all of us love her about. I always look up to her in that way, and always try my best to be like her."
"If she's the same with the younger IF, then she is as cool as her, even more, right?"
Schwarz chuckles: "You can say so. Then…" He stops smiling. "…Did Neptune and Nepgear tell you about our past?"
"They only told me you come from the future, a bad one isn't it?" I heard that, they came from the future that Nepsy and Gearsy made a wrong decision, and the world just went down, like this one. I didn't know how bad it was, though.
Schwarz nods. "Yes. That future. One day, all of the monsters rose up, and started slaying everything on sight. All nations turned to ruin that day. In the end, only my family was left, and we pushed through the monsters to get to the person who's responsible to all of that. Histoire had to turn back to her original self to survive, and that's my father's order. However, when we reached to the door between us and her, the monsters had already behind us. My father tried to defend us all so that we could go through it. But then…" He bites his lips. He stays silence for a full minute. Then… "My mother and aunt Compa suddenly pulled him back and closed the door right between us and them, and it blocked us from going back. My father tried to open it, but he didn't allow it…" That last part makes him look scary for a bit. And he? Who is he? "At that point, we had believed that they're gone. In the end, only I, Weiss and my father were the last survivors. We rushed towards the last room and faced the culprit of everything." Then he chuckles dryly. "From that last fight, I have changed…"
"How much, may I ask?" "Remember my transformation?" I nod. That looks cool, but terrifying at the same time. "It's from that time. Before that, I never knew I have my father's Dark power. Anyway, when we faced her, I looked at my father's eyes, and… you know what was in his eyes? Hesitation."
I blink. "Hesitation?" He nods. "I don't understand. The culprit was right in front of you all right? The one who's responsible for all of the citizens' lost, especially his love ones. Well, now you know they're still alive, but back then, why did he hesitate?"
"Because the culprit was none other than Nepgear, or Corrupted Heart as everyone in that time dubbed her."
Gearsy? I instantly stand up and shout to him: "Impossible! You know Gearsy, right? How could a good girl like her could cause all of the distress in your world?"
"Sit down please, Uzume." I reluctantly do so. There has to be some misunderstanding here. He continues his story. "Yes, I have acted the same when I heard about her the first time. She had been my mother and aunt Compa's best friend. But they never told me what happened to her. Only when I saw her in person, and through my father's questions to her, did I understand more. If you have heard from the Nep sisters, we have helped rescuing the CPUs from their capture, the Deity of Sins, and defeated her. But, in our past, Nepgear…made a mistake, causing all the other CPUs to…vanish, and she alone defeated DoS. Then, she ran away, thinking if she's not there, people would have a better life. But then, she suddenly came back, controlling the monsters for some reasons."
"But…controlling the monsters…did us CPUs have that power?"
"That was our question as well. But, we didn't care much about it. All we knew that: The last CPU came back, and she was our enemy. And in that moment, I wanted to hear her reasons. And…she just attacked us without a word, forcing my father to fight her to protect us. He could have easily overwhelmed her, but he held back to try and talk sense to her. Then, she drew the last straw…"
"The last straw?" I ask him. He lowers his head, his hair covering his eyes, that I can't see how they look like. Then...
"She tried to stab Weiss after she swatted my father away." I gasp. "Yes, you heard it right. In that moment, I did what I could only think at that time: protect my sister at all cost. So, I jumped right in between them and took the hit." He then unbuttons his shirt, which I blush while seeing it, and shows the scar at his right chest. It's not very big, since that time he's just a child. "I had believed I died there, but, my father's power finally kicked in, and I was saved. Of course, only after the fight we found out about that. My father, after seeing that, snapped, and basically used brute force to beat Corrupted Heart up, and in the last moment, used Gehaburn, the sword you saw him wielding on his left hand, and stabbed her."
A little silence for me to swallow the story. The Gearsy they fought, and the Gearsy we know now…they can't be the same person, right?
"She…This Gearsy…She's not the same like ours, right? She's an imposter, right?" I cannot accept that truth, no matter what.
"No. No matter how you looked at her, it's Nepgear we knew. But…After my father found out my and Weiss' power, he walked up to Corrupted Heart to pull out the sword, before he found out she's still alive. He started asking her questions again, and this time, she talked."
"She did then? What did she say?"
"She told us why she did all of them. And because of that, I had complex feelings towards her."
"Complex? How so?"
"The person we thought had fought the whole time was not the person we expected. Apparently Gehaburn is a cursed sword, and it will manipulate the mind of the user, if the user doesn't have experience with the Darkness."
Now it makes sense. "You're saying…the sword controlled her mind?"
"To one part. The first time, she was pushed by it, but later…she was controlled by the Deity of Sins, who was sealed into the sword instead of vanished, and made everything even worse. That explained why everything happened after she suddenly went in hiding. Once we knew the truth, my father forgave her completely, but we didn't. Only when we spent more time here, have we done the same thing. Now, we're friends."
"I see…" It seems Kuro forgives everyone pretty easily, no matter what. But then… "Then how can your father wield the sword with no problems?"
"My father has been exposed to Darkness for a while, also he has seen more disturbing stuffs in his life, so the sword can't control him."
"What happened to Nepgear after that?"
"I and Weiss don't know, really. He just took us back to Planeptune's Basilicom, and then went off, saying he was going to find the remain citizens. The worst part here is: He never found another survivor, however, he faked it to raise us for 7 years before we teleported to this Hyperdimension."
"Why that long?"
"He doesn't want to lose us, like he nearly did in the Last Battle, so he faked the whole world and taught us basic knowledge, and also trained us to use his power."
"Faked the whole world?"
"He made it look like there were still survivors. Then, he made them slowly dying until there's no one left after 7 years. We didn't know that until before we created Share Blade, the sword my father wields on his right hand."
"Wait. If he's that powerful, then why didn't he…"
"Save the world by himself? He never wants to be the center of attention. Also, if he did so, the people might forget the CPUs, and… you know what could happen."
I nod. The nightmare for all CPUs is when everyone forgets about them.
He suddenly says: "Back to the matter before. You remembered when you asked Nepgear to shoot down your Share Crystal?" I nod. "Your action was the same like mine and my mother's. She tried to protect us, so that we could fight the culprit with no problems. I risked my life so my sister can live. And you, you destroyed your own power to help us protect our world. For that, I'm very grateful…but I'm also angry at you." He says that, but his eyes show none of it. "If we stayed for a bit longer, maybe my father would have arrived and stopped your plan, and we could have found another way to protect both worlds."
I could do nothing but to turn my head away. Yes, it's a foolish plan. But, if Kuro never came, then we didn't really have another choice. Also, a CPU's duty is to protect everyone. If I didn't do that, then…
"By the way, why did you come here anyway?" My face heats up again, and I let out a small yelp. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing is wrong." I try to deny it, but he catches up with my expression, as he sighs. "Father, if you behind this…"
I interrupt him: "No, no, no. I came here on my own will. He didn't…"
"Then my father is definitely the culprit. Tell me, do you still have your mind in my father's and Neptune's joke?"
My face is red from embarrassment, and I couldn't hide my dreamy voice: "Uzume…Uzume do not think about it…Uzume…"
"Your face says otherwise, Uzume." Then he smiles, and a faint of pink appears on his face. "I suppose his joke has some truth in it."
"Eh?" I don't really understand why he said that.
"Maybe he realized that, our motivation, our actions are the same, so he tried to ship us together. He's a shipper, mind you."
I'm even redder now. "How…How old is Kuro now?"
He shrugs. "He's over 60 years old, technically. But, if you count his personality, then I would say he's just a teenager."
An awkward moment occurs as I move left and right in my place. Me and Schwarz, being a couple… Then Schwarz suddenly puts his hand on my right hand. I yelp in surprise, as I look at him, his eyes show sadness.
"Uzume, promise me that, you would come back to Hyperdimension with me…no, with us. I cannot see another person I care die again, especially what condition you are in now."
I frown this time. He knew. "What are you talking about?"
"My father told us. After shooting down the Share Crystal, you're basically dead. But, there's still a chance for you to be alive again. So, please. Everyone also doesn't want to see you go."
I look down to my hand, which is held by Schwarz. I know that much, my friends want me to come with them. But, between that and the danger that's still clinging out there…
"I…I will try…I can't say anything about future…" He nods at my answer, though he looks a bit sad.
We then look at the surrounding again, then… "Shall we head inside, Uzume?" "Yeah, we should." We stand up and walk back, without noticing our hands are still in each other…
In the main deck
"OH! You two have moved on already? Congratulation!" Both Nepsy shout with excitement. The others are snickering as well. When Kuro sees our confused faces, he just chuckles and points down to the culprit. I and Schwarz immediately release each other, and turn away in embarrassment.
"PLEASE, just forget about it."
"I have a question though." We look back at Kuro, who is waving a picture in front of us. The picture is…US, the position shows that it just took a few seconds ago, and somehow we're wearing WEDDING OUTFITS. "When can I have grandchildren?"
The next minute is me and Schwarz chasing Kuro around the room, trying to take the picture from his hand. I don't care much about the laughter around us, all I'm focusing now is to get rid of that embarrassing picture!
But then, when I glance out of the window, I see something that I don't want to see now.
"Kurome. The other me…"
The laughter dies down instantly. Schwarz looks at the direction I'm looking. "No way. That's her… How?"
"She's not that easy to defeat kids." Both of us look at Kuro, who has put the picture somewhere else, and looks out. "We might have severed her connection to the Void, doesn't mean she will vanish. Since this world is filled with negative energy, and since you…" He looks at me. "Are still here, none of you will go. You two are two sides of the same coin."
"Father…" Schwarz looks at him dangerously. "Don't you dare tell us to…"
"Does my face look like I'm sacrificing her?" He smirks back at Schwarz. "Of course, you won't see her for a while, but she won't die, I promise you. Besides…" He suddenly wraps his arm around Schwarz neck and uses his other hand to mess Schwarz's hair. "I want to see how my grandkids look like, okay? No way I'm letting the opportunity go away." Both of us are resembling tomatoes now, as Schwarz tries to get out of his father's arm-lock.
"On serious note…" Kuro suddenly releases Schwarz, making him fall to the ground. "Affimojas, can you land us there? We will take the rest of the way by ourselves." He points to a place on the map, which we assumed before it's the ruined Planeptune.
Affimojas: "Of course. Be careful down there."
Kuro: "Thanks. After we land, make sure you get out of this dimension and destroy the portal. I will open another one for us." Affimojas gives him a thumb-up.
The party, which consists of all CPUs, Kuro's family, the otherworld's group and the Gold Third, has started heading towards the energy's presence which we assumed it's from Kurome. The daydream event is in the middle of the travel. And when we reach an empty area, Kurome is already standing there, waiting for us.
"Even after all that fight, you're still here. You're so tenacious."
Kurome smirks: "And you don't seem to be surprised."
"I was, at first, but Kuro here confirmed it for me."
She looks at Kuro, then back to me. "Then, he must know about the way to completely kill me."
Kuro speaks up: "Doesn't mean I'm going to use it. You think I'm going to let a good person die on my watch? Nuh-uh."
Kurome: "Then, you know I will come back no matter what? Right now, our main body is already stained with darkness. If you kill me now, I would come back in the future. All your hard work to stop me will be fruitless."
"So?" She turns back to me. "You forgot that, when our Share Crystal was destroyed, our sealed body is dying, right? We're now just ghosts of our former selves. If we defeat you now, you won't come back again."
That causes all of my friends to gasp in surprise. Little Nepsy asks first: "No way! You're lying! Aren't you still hanging your life with the Sharicites you're holding?"
I turn back to look at her. "I didn't get affected by the energy of Sharicites when I used them for the Sharing Field. The only possible reason is that…I am now just pieces separated from the real me. I'm…sorry for keeping that until now."
Everyone looks down now. I sigh, and turn back to Kurome, who looks furious now. "Now, let us finish this fight, shall we? And I'm not planning to make myself look even worse, since I have made a promise already."
Kurome shouts in anger: "NO, NO, NO! I WON'T ACCEPT THIS! I WILL NEVER!" Then, she transforms into Dark Orange, and roars with her might to the sky, causing mini shockwaves to us.
I sigh. "I seriously hope I could deal with you alone, but now… all right you guys, I will active my last Sharing Field now…"
"Please don't Uzume." I turn to Schwarz. He looks like he's about to cry now. "You promised me, right? You would come back with us."
I smile sadly. "I'm sorry. I did say I will try, but at this rate…I can't keep that promise anymore. Please accept my apology."
"Father…" He turns to his father. "Please…please tell her this is NOT the Happy Ending, please tell her and everyone here it's not."
Kuro says, no humor in his voice: "Sorry, kid. We're walking to that ending now."
"Why…" His tears are running on his face now. I almost cry too, but I hold it back as I hug him. "Please don't cry, Schwarz. I might not be physically with you all, but I will always be in your heart. I'm the CPU of the past, and I shouldn't intercept the present and the future of our world. With this action, I will fulfill my role as a CPU: protect the world from the dangers." I feel his body shaking now, his tears flowing on my shoulder. About a few moments, I release him and look to Nepsy and Gearsy. "I want to say my thank to you two. I was so happy when I met you for the first time, and even more when you came back for me when I asked you to leave. Now, I will make sure your help won't go to waste. Transform!" I changed into Orange Heart, and raise up the console on my left hand. "Now, witness me everyone, as this will be the last time you will see me doing this. Sharing Field, activate!"
You can skip this rant and imagine the fight by yourself.
Sorry, not being a d**k here, but I'm not going to write out a fight, which actions are too various. Like, with the numerous skills AND combos, and especially with the game with combo sets that don't really connect with each other, how can you pull the actions out? Of course, doesn't mean I'm not going to not write any. I will try to write some specific ones.
"No…NO! I'm disappearing…Why…Why does the world insist in rejecting me? No, I will not…AAHH!" The Dark Orange, with Kurome inside, bursts into thousands of pieces and fades away. The Sharing Field is deactivated as well.
We look at the dark sky now. Everything…is done, now Zero and Heart Dimension will disappear, along with me in it.
"Uzume, just…go with us, please."
"You know I can't, Schwarz. Even if I could run back to Hyperdimension, I would just vanish. I don't want you to see me disappearing."
Umio swims to me, and says apologetically: "I'm sorry, Uzume. In the end, you still protect us, and yet, we can't save you in return…"
"Don't worry about it, Umio. You all remembering me is more than I could ask for." I turn to Kuro, who is having a neutral look now. "Kuro, open a portal so that everyone can get out of here." He only nods and does so.
After everyone has walked into the portal, only Kuro and Schwarz is staying behind. "You guys should go now."
Schwarz looks at me; tears are still in his eyes. Then he turns to his father: "Can't I stay here with her?"
"Sorry, kid. Your mother would kill me if I let that happen. I'm going to leave you two for a while, then you head back."
Schwarz: "What about you?"
Kuro: "Like I said. Need to make sure you're safe." Then he walks a bit far from us.
Now, I and Schwarz look at each other's eyes. No words have been exchanged…
…
"I guess, it's our goodbye now."
"I'm regretting I haven't met you sooner."
I smile sadly. "You don't even know I existed in the first place. But then again, I'm too old for you, right?"
He just pouts: "Don't joke like that, okay?"
I giggle a bit. "Hehe, sorry. Oh, right." I take out my Visual Radio and give it to him. "I think you should hold it. Please, always remember me, okay?"
He takes it with both his hands. "I would never forget you, Uzume. Never."
Another silence…
"You two lovebirds have done yet?" Kuro suddenly puts his hands on our shoulder, he suddenly becomes cheerfully for some reasons.
Schwarz frowns a bit. "We may have acknowledged our feelings now, doesn't mean you're not responsible for breaking it."
Kuro: "Of course, I won't be. Sorry for the bumpy ride." Then he suddenly pushes Schwarz, hard, right through the portal. He doesn't notice my shocked face, as he watches Schwarz standing up, surprise written on his face.
Schwarz: "What are you doing, Father?"
Kuro: "Protecting your girlfriend. Now, go back to Histy, prepare the ritual, and pray for your Uzume to come back with you."
Schwarz: "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU…" We couldn't hear the last part, as the portal suddenly shutdowns.
Kuro puts his hand out of my shoulder. "Now, to the final fight…"
"Wait a second!" Kuro turns to me. "What is your plan?"
"Didn't I say it already? Protect you from Kurome, and wait for the others to bring you back."
"Protect me from…who?" I heard his words clearly, but we just…
He points a finger to something behind me, and when I turn back, I'm shocked to see Kurome, though she's having some square patterns around her, and sometimes her image flicks.
"HOW?"
"She did say before, right? As long as there's negative energy, she would come back no matter what. Now, since both of you, even if you're ghosts now, are still here, this dimension will still exist, albeit it's falling apart now."
"Then how can we…"
"Fight for your control." Huh? "Fight your own self. Prove you're worthy to exist. With the combination of everyone praying for you, you have a high chance to come back. And…" He turns into Hybrid Heart. "I'm here to make sure it happens."
Back to Hyperdimension, Schwarz's POV
What…the bloody hell…just happened? Don't tell me… You unholy bastard…
"Schwarz, you're okay?" Weiss picks me up, and notices Uzume's Radio on my hand. "Is that…Uzume's Radio?"
"Yes." I wipe my tears away. I turn to everyone. "We need to go to Histy's place now. She holds the key for Uzume's revival."
Neptune shouts in surprise: "How could it be possible? Uzume herself said that her main body died, right?"
I think back to what she said before. "Our sealed body is dying…Her body is still alive, barely! If we're fast enough, we still have a chance for it!"
Big Neptune nods, and she's about to ask Croire to teleport us when… "World Door." After two simple words, a door-like opens before us. Louise waves her hand: "Come on. If you really want her back, then we shouldn't waste time standing here." We nod at her words, and we walk through the portal.
… And we immediately greet Histy, Histoire and Arfoire in the meeting room of Planeptune's Basilicom.
Histy says in surprise: "Oh, hello everyone! When did you…"
"What are you three doing?" I interrupt her. Right now, we're seeing them preparing the parts of the console Kurome tried to steal before.
"Oh, this?" Arfoire points to the console. I nod. "It's Kuro's plan to revive Uzume."
Revive…Uzume…Those words ring in my head like a church bell.
"We…we can do that?"
Histoire looks at me curiously: "Of course we can…Didn't your father tell you already?"
"No…He never told us once."
"Oh my, oh my. Kuro surely is a naughty boy, trying to hide such things to you all." That creepy voice… We turn to see a pink mech suit. Only one person would wear that.
"ANONYDEATH? How could you be here? I thought my father locked the portal connecting our world."
"He just opened it when he returned to see you all. He asked me to check if I could increase the chance to save the old CPU…" He immediately shuts up when I point the Barrett right to his chin in point blank.
"Don't…you dare call her that." I threaten him. It's a meaningless threat, since we know Anonydeath is not that easy to be scared. He's an infamous hacker for a reason.
"It seems I have angered you. Sorry my friend."
I pull the gun away. "It's okay. Just don't do that again."
He nods, and continues: "He asked me to save her, in exchange for the device. Though, I'm not very interested in the device, I'm intruded by the fact just a small device can be a seal for something so important. So I decided to honor his request. He did give me some chances to wander around Research Land, after all."
I nod. Anonydeath is not a bad person, it just…I heard from both Noire how creepy he is sometimes.
I suddenly remember, I pull out the Visual Radio. "Can you connect it to the console?"
Anonydeath picks it up. "It's from the CPU, right?" I nod. "Then it's perfect. Kuro told us about it too. With this, we have even higher chance to save her." He plugs it to the main seal.
Histy speaks: "Now, after I release the seal, all we could do is pray for Uzume. Only she can escape the seal by herself."
Now I know why father just kept silence all the time. He just doesn't want to spoil the happiness.
Everyone starts praying for Uzume, and I did too, as I fold my hands together and put it right on my chest, close my eyes...
'Please, I beg of you, Uzume. Defeat your inner Darkness, and return back to us…
… back to me.'
The Void, Uzume's POV
"So that's your plan? Release the seal for me to return?"
"Nah, someone beats me to it already. I just copied their method. Of course, I won't earn anything from it."
"You won't, sir. You won't."
"ARGH! WHY WON'T YOU ALL DIE?"
"The fact we're already dead doesn't tell you much? Seriously, you're not going anywhere now."
Right now, I and Kurome are fighting against each other, trying to take control of the original's body to ourselves, with Kuro on my side. He said that he only helps me a bit, and I understand why after he explained to me the reason: If he was to fight Kurome directly, my body might register him as well, and it won't be a fun experience. And he helps me by…distracting Kurome, a lot, and deflects her attacks with his bullets, which only staggers her without doing any damage. By now, Kurome is NOT having a good time.
Kurome: "I will not…let you…stand in my way…"
Kuro: "Even if we don't, the other CPUs, the citizens, and my own land will have a way to deal with you. I'm here just to make it quicker. And need I remind you I have my old citizens back, and I have opened the portal connecting Hyperdimension and Ultradimension back? We have plenty of force to fight you."
Then, I hear his prayer…now I definitely have to go back.
I raise my fist. "Sorry Kurome. It's time for you to go." I prepare my attack, as I focus all of my power in this shot.
Kurome did the same thing. "We will see…if your happiness…and my hatred… WHICH IS STRONGER?" We both leap forward and punch right into the other's attack, creating a mini-shockwave around us. Then, the world turns white to me.
…
When I open my eyes, I see everyone looking at me with nervousness, probably feeling I could be Kurome. Well, let's break down the moment.
"Sorry for keeping all of you waiting, everyone! Uzume Tennouboshi has revived!"
"Uzume! / Uzume, you're back!" Little Nepsy and Gearsy jump right on me, making me nearly fall to the ground. They hug me with their might, and they're laughing in happiness.
"Hello again, you two. Nice to see you're still the same, even though it's just a few moments." When I look at everyone's else, I see all familiar faces, except three people standing next to small Histy. One of them looks exactly like Histoire, except she's as tall as little Nepsy. The woman next to her has silver hair, and for some reasons I feel something familiar from her. And the last one is a pink robot…Okay?
Everyone starts getting closer to me. Umio speaks first: "Uzume…Thank goodness. We're glad you have come back."
Big Nepsy: "I nearly thought Kurome was the one revived. But nope, you're here with us now!"
"Thanks to everyone I could return here safely. I'm truly at home now."
Weiss suddenly giggles: "Well, how about you have a word with him now?" Weiss stands aside, and Schwarz walks to me, his eyes are filled with tears again, and happiness.
"Uzume, you're back…"
"Yes, I'm back. It seems I have kept my promise with you successfully, don't I?"
"You do, Uzume, you do." Then he hugs me, and I hug him back, now I'm crying now. "Welcome back, Uzume." We're like that for a while. Then he pulls his face in front of mine, and I can see he's red for some reasons. "I know I might regret it later, but…during the time I travel with you, I have developed some feelings for you, and…I think now it's the best time to tell you." He takes a deep breath, then… "I love you, Uzume. Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
I was shocked at first, but then smile. Even though we just have a short time with each other, I can see that he truly cares about me, and would do anything just to keep me safe. He even tried to pull me back from the nearly inevitable. So, my answer?
"Of course, mister. You have earned yourself a cool girl for your life." He smiles, then our lips meet. I hear whispers and cheers around me, but I don't really care much. After a few seconds, our lips depart, and we hug each other again.
After a while, we release the hug, and Schwarz suddenly asks: "By the way, where's my father?"
I blink. Oh, right… "Eh, I…don't know actually. Right before I was here, I had just delivered my last attack. I'm not sure what happened after that."
He sighs. "What are you doing father?"
The Void, a moment before…, Kuro's POV
"Beautiful, isn't it Creator? And unpredictable…"
Even myself is surprised by that. Like, I thought it would go normally, and this happens.
"We have everything in our camera now, should we leave this place?"
Don't you want some more words to Kurome?
"Oh, right. Sorry Kurome for…"
"Don't be. You guys has won. You are more powerful than me. I guess this is my fate after all."
After that attack, the world just collapsed, and currently, only one ground remains in the middle of the nowhere, and I and Kurome are sitting on it. Kurome, now severed her connection from the hatred, just sits there, emotionlessly. Only the appearance, though.
"…Why do you want to come back? No, that's a stupid question. Why do you want to bring ruin to the people you never know?"
"You know how betrayed feels like, right?"
"You're talking about human here. They are unpredictable, always curious, but also scared easily. I'm also talking about myself, too. And you."
"I guess so. Doesn't mean I am not happy to know about that."
"I know. Now, I really don't want to do so, but I have to confine you here. I cannot let you ruin another world like Zero Dimension."
"I don't care about it." She lowers her head, keeping her legs near her. I can't blame it. Kurome has a part of Uzume. They are the same person, after all. She knows that people won't accept her, but she still hopes that…someone might… A girl can dream, and I respect that.
"Look, Kurome." I sit next to her. "You know you couldn't go out now without being attacked, right? But, I will try to give you a second chance. If I see something that might fit you, then I will let you out, and have you doing your own things, of course no bad things. Is that a good deal?"
"You…mean it? You know what I have done." She looks at me in disbelief.
"Because you thought the people you protected have betrayed you. Now, through this…" I open a few screens. "Through Uzume's eyes, you will see that all you have thought before are wrong. And if you want to have a change, then…" I leave the words hanging up.
Kurome turns silence after that. I stand up. "It's time for me to leave. If you want to talk to me, just call my name. I will be here." I gather my power on my hand…
"Why?" I stop and look at Kurome, who's looking at me now. "Why through all of this? What are you trying to imply here?"
I turn silent to pick the right words. Then: "Now, I never think that everything is good or bad entirely. I just look at what's better and what's worse, and I will pick the better side. Even though you want to destroy Hyperdimension, it's just because you're mistreated. I want to show you that, there are still more better things to do."
She turns away from me. "I will…think about it. Thank you." I smile, walk near her and rubs her hair. She looks at me in annoyance. "What are you doing?"
"Just want to see your cute side for a while. If you're lucky enough, maybe you might get the name 'Uzume' back."
She blushes and turns away. "Don't get used to that."
I smile. "I still can dream. You do, too." Then, my power activates…
And I am right behind Schwarz. "Tying up loose end, kid." That causes him to jump in surprise and hug Uzume. "Gah! Dad, don't do that!"
I hold my hands up in surrender gesture. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway, congratulation on your confession." He blushes hard. "You really think I wouldn't know? I'm your father after all."
Wanda interrupts me: "What did you do before you went back here, Kuro? 'Tying up loose end' is not a good answer."
I shrug. "Just give some talk to Kurome." Now I receive glares and surprise looks to me.
Iffy (and we're going to call her girlfriend Compy) asks me: "Wait a damn minute mister. How the hell could she still be alive? Uzume is right here."
"I disconnected their connections already. Now, Kurome is her own individual."
Compy asks in worry: "But, what do you want from her?"
"Just give her some time to think. Maybe I will give her a normal life in Research Land. Well, maybe I will let someone change her outfits to not look similar to Uzume."
Aqua: "In the meantime, she won't be our problem?"
"Not anymore. Now, after everything…Oh, right, thank you Anonydeath for your help."
The hacker just says: "Don't need to thank me, it's my own enjoyment to do. And, the Planeptune Goddesses are eager to see your friends."
"Then why didn't you lead them here?"
"You know how slow the purple girl is, right? Also, the small Oracle is still shouting at her to do her work." I have to hold a laugh when I hear that. Seriously, Plutia is still Plutia.
Kirche suddenly asks me: "I know you two are having a good talk, but can you introduce him to us? Because we have no idea who he is." The others nod as well. Ah, right, they don't know about Ultradimension.
I start the introduction: "Girls, meet Anonydeath, a famous hacker in Ultradimension. Ultradimension is just another Hyperdimension, with some differences, don't need to think much. He… what to say? He's not exactly a bad guy, but…he thinks that he's actually a maiden at heart."
"Now, now, Kuro. I'm always a pure maiden. What did I do for you to say 'I think'?" He suddenly changes to his high-pitch voice, which makes the girls cringe a bit.
I continue: "Now, Anonydeath. The girl just asked you is Kirche Zerbst, the duo with pink hair are Karin and Louise Valliere, and the duo with blue hair are Marietta and Charlotte Orleans. The adults, along with Kirche's father, are my old citizens, and the young ladies are their children."
Now that gets his attention. "Oh? The old citizens I see. Is there someone else?"
I nod. "Yes, a few more. But they're needed to protect the other world. We can't just all go back."
I look at my watch, and it's a bit late already. "You know, let's rest first. We had a long day already. I'm going to prepare an announcement to everyone. You girls can do anything you want now. See you later."
Adam's POV
"Announcing so soon? Why not letting people rest for a few days before that?"
Kuro: "Just some small preparation, nothing much." Then he just straight up disappears before us. I sigh.
"Well, that's that. Now, let us…"
"Throw a party for our victory!" Both Neptune shout out of nowhere, and soon everyone starts agreeing with them. "It's been a while since we have gathered in one place like this, let us celebrate for the whole night!" "YEAH!"
If this is an election, I have lost instantly.
Louise notices my face, and speaks to me: "Why don't you join with us? It'll be fun."
I smile to her: "I would love to. But, my family…"
"Papa!" I look to the voice's direction, and see Hiro being in Falcom's arm. I smile, walk to him and pick him up.
"Ah, my boy! How have you been when I have gone?"
"We're good, Papa!"
I smile, he's still energetic as usual. Then I turn to Falcom. "Why are you two here? I'm appreciated that you're here, but…"
"Kuro sent me an invitation here. You're going to stay here for the party right?"
… "The party…is just decided a few seconds ago. I don't even know anything about it."
We both look at each other in confusion. Then, Hiro speaks: "Mister Kuro invited us a few hours ago, saying that, if we saw a big ship coming to Planeptune's city, then we should go here instantly."
Kuro…how…I decide to facepalm, to remember that it's Kuro.
"Kuro…" I mutter the only word I could think of.
Falcom smiles in sympathy: "We all sure have a lot of hard time with him."
"We are, Falcom. Since Kuro already knew beforehand, I would say we all stay here and enjoy the party with each other."
At night
"And I nearly regretted that decision now."
Schwarz: "Not just you. All three of us do."
Brave: "But then, what do we expect? This is the girls we're talking about."
Anonydeath: "You sure are having quite a hard time with your girls."
"Like you don't…Wait, you don't actually. Why don't you try to move on with Rei?"
Anonydeath: "While she sure has her charms, she's…not exactly my type."
Right now, we're standing in the balcony, trying to cool our minds after the party. The girls sure know how to throw one with full success.
Brave asks me: "What are you going to do next? Returning to Halkeginia?"
"Until Gamindustri is in danger again, or we have done enough in there, I will be there for a while."
Schwarz: "It seems my and Weiss' mothers will stay here. Next time you get back, you should bring back more of our friends."
"Of course. Kuro would do it for sure."
Anonydeath: "Did he tell us not to go with you?"
"You want to go with us?"
Anonydeath: "Not exactly. But…considering the Goddesses, especially Neptune, would like to see how the other universes work, mostly the ones that's not Gamindustri, I think Kuro has to be careful."
I deadpan: "When was the last time he was careful?"
Everyone starts thinking about it. Then…
"Yeah, you're right." "No argument here." "The same."
I then look around. "Seriously, did he just leave us with the girls like that?"
Schwarz chuckles: "Maybe he's still not used to it, when it comes to girls' party, especially when our mothers are around."
A little silence.
Brave: "I heard the human wars are pretty bad, right? Then why didn't it happen here?"
"Maybe the Goddesses don't allow it, or…this world doesn't have the same problems with Earth-like universes."
Anonydeath: "If you have to choose, then which one you want to pick? Here, or Earth?"
"It's a hard decision. You know why."
Anonydeath nods: "I understand. I won't push it."
Schwarz suddenly asks: "About the old citizens…can you help us guiding them around?"
"Oh? A little travel around Gamindustri? Won't be a problem to me, but won't it affect our current problems?"
"Not exactly." Suddenly a screen pops up before us, and Kuro is looking at us now. "Since 1 week here is just 2 days there, it won't be a problem."
"Many things can happen in two days."
Kuro: "We still can act fast enough."
Brave asks: "Are there any good warriors in Halkeginia? I want to spar with them."
Kuro: "Hmm…the only truly powerful warriors I can think of are the Elite Hunters from my world. Other than that, none comes in my mind now. Oh, maybe Nisa."
I raise my eyebrows. "Nisa? Who is she?"
Kuro: "Just think of her as a replacement for Falcom. Like I said before, you're not in the original Gamindustri. Nisa was, but then stopped appearing in the later, replaced by Falcom. That's why the old Makers actually didn't know about Falcom."
Anonydeath: "Hey, are you going to disconnect Gamindustri and Halkeginia, or…"
Kuro: "I think I will connect them, but I won't open any portals from any places. Only some, so that none walks through it accidentally."
"Are you going to bring anyone from here with us?"
Kuro: "Uh…Plutia?"
Schwarz deadpans: "Who are you trying to scare?"
Kuro: "First: Julio. Second: The Pope."
"You have something against them?"
Kuro: "You know about Julio already, right?" I nod. That guy's determined. "The Pope, many people thought that he's Brimir reincarnated, because of his actions. Let us see how he reacts to a Goddess who can scare him without any spells."
"What about the human-elf war?"
Kuro: "We could be the ambassadors: If the elves don't want to be friends with the people in Halkeginia, then we could be theirs."
Brave nods. "It could happen. In here, there are too many types of civilians. Another race won't be a problem."
Kuro: "Exactly. And also, I could expand the world with no problem, as well."
"But then, if they don't agree on both terms?"
Kuro: "That's their choices. But I really hope they pick either one of them."
Then I remember something: "Why didn't you join the party with us?"
Kuro: "Preparing for the war."
Brave: "That's… a bit dark from you."
Kuro: "I feel like it's going to be one-side, since I'm asking Alarak for this."
… "Do you even THINK about the consequences when you asked them for help?"
Kuro: "I'm aware of that. That's why I'm talking with him about the terms of killing."
… "Like?"
Kuro: "Most likely that: Don't use his ULTIMATE on the NORMAL soldiers. And DON'T take prisoners."
"That…I think the first one is okay, but the second one…"
Kuro: "Let the Halkeginia do that, his army won't interfere. He's only assisting."
Schwarz: "I hope you don't forget something."
Kuro: "Currently, no. At least, we think so. You guys should take a rest now. See you tomorrow." We nod, as the screen flicks off. Time to hit the bed.
The next morning
"Feeling tired yet, Schwarz?"
"Yes. You?"
"Yep. Kuro?"
"Mentally exhausted."
Right now, the girls are all wandering around, amazed at what they're seeing. Can't blame them, their era is not as advanced as this world. But if there's one thing that never changes, it is: Girls are the same, no matter what, when it comes to shopping. Currently, they're dragging us to wherever catches their attentions. We're not in any positions to decline them. And not only the Halkeginia girls. The others have joined mid-way as well, and… if you go out with girls, you know the problems.
And the most troublesome problem? They are in a bikini shop, which means…
"Are you three the lucky guys to go with these pretty girls?" The shopkeeper asks us with her cheerful smile. "And I thought mister Kuro here would change into…"
Kuro: "Please, not this time. I would get killed by the others if I do so."
"Sure you do." She giggles. "Do you need something else, or you're going to wait here?"
"Maybe the later. We don't really want to interrupt their fun."
"It's your choice, sirs. Have a nice day!" Then she just walks away to help the girls picking their favorite.
Schwarz looks at his father. "Do you think the Creator will write this down?"
Kuro: "Obviously. This is a Neptunia crossover. These scenes have to be there."
"Can we skip this scene, please? I may help you guide them around, but waiting for them to shopping for too long is too much for me."
I will skip, but not before THIS.
"After…oh my God." Right now, the shopkeeper thinks it's a good idea for the girls to stand in a line right in front of us, in their new swimsuits. Should I write down this one? 'My mental is not going to handle this, stop!' Nope, too late! 'God damn it!' You should stop right there. The guys' minds are not handling it too well. Oh come on! Don't ruin the fun like that. That's it. I'm doing this for them. Oh don't you…
Skipping to the end of the week…
"Thank you, T.O. I don't think I can handle it."
Of course. The Creator sometimes tries to go overboard like that. But still, it still happens in the original, just in different way.
"At least it won't go to public. Otherwise, my friends would tease me in no end."
Sometimes, being famous pays a price. Kuro knows that, so he tries to avoid being the main focus as much as possible.
"And we know why…"
"Hey Adam! It's time to go!"
"On it!"
Right now, Louise has created another World Door for us. Her skills are improving a lot, and according to both Wanda/Karin and Mina, her mana pool is vast, that's why she can use more magic than any of her friends. Though, she still needs me to be her shield, some of her spells take a bit long to cast and she's vulnerable during that.
"My boy, better be good when I'm gone again, okay?"
"OF COURSE, Papa! I won't let you down!"
I smile, rub his hair, and look at Falcom. "Sorry Falcom, once we're done, I will come back to you."
She smiles, understandingly: "I know. We will wait, just be careful."
"I will."
"And…" She giggles. "If you can, try to help Louise with her…feeling towards you."
"Oh… yyeeaahh…" I say with uncertain. During this week, Louise does envelope more feelings to me, and I know she's in that age. But, to me, I feel so wrong for so many levels…If I was just only 18, maybe I could accept her, but now…
"Don't want to interrupt you two, but we need to go back now, the spell won't last forever." Kuro walks behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder.
I turn my head to him. "Of course. Wait a second." Then back to Falcom. "I will see you again."
"Be safe out there, okay?" "I will."
Halkeginia, Tristain's Academy of Magic
"You've returned!" We meet Colbert when we walk out of the spell. "Quick! You have to follow me now!"
Kuro raises an eyebrow: "It's just two days, what could happen?"
Colbert: "Julio has sent a message to Romalia, and the Pope himself is here to 'deal with the elves'."
He has a tick mark on his head. "Did Julio do anything to the girls?"
Colbert: "Because he couldn't do anything, he sent the message."
Kuro groans in frustration. "How could he send a message that fast? The familiar rune?" He then looks at Aqua and Wanda. "Can you two back me up, please? Your names are well known in the noble's society."
Wanda nods but warns him. "The Pope's position is extremely high, so you have to be careful."
Kuro: "You think so? That guy's dead in the original, so I wouldn't think much about it."
Colbert asks him in surprise: "The Pope…died?"
Kuro waves his hand. "Something I knew, don't think about it much. Now, let us meet the Pope and his familiar."
Chapter 9 end!
So Uzume and Schwarz now is a couple. You guys didn't see that one coming, right?
And I DIDN'T EITHER! I'm being serious here, before I wrote the begin of True Ending, I had ZERO inentions for them to come close to each other. But then, while I was writing this chapter, I was also watching Senpai Blade's Megadimension Playthrough (His waifu is Uzume), and then this chapter came out like this. So...yeah...Kuro might have grandkids very soon.
The Pope...I might have to ask Kuro to kill him first, since I guess Sasha is going to do so.
And...The Goddesses might come to Halkeginia...See you all in the next chapters!
