Author's Note
Hey guys! Welcome back to another chapter of LITOW. I'm sure this chapter has some memorable scenes that we all know and love with a little tweaking to fit the story, but that's only in the beginning half of the story. With that said, enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: Once again, I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia or the characters and some of the lines/scenes. HDN belongs to Idea Factory and Complie Heart. Bless them for creating HDN or this fanfic will never be.
Celestia, Gamindustri
Place: Celestia
Date: ???
Time: ???
Purple Heart blinked. She shook her head trying to get rid of the exhaustion in her eyes. She heavily breathed as she gripped her sword. Why am I so tired…? She glared down at her weapon and questioned herself, What am I even doing?
"You're all so stubborn, why don't you give up now?"
Purple Heart flinched and looked up to see an enemy goddess standing before her with her own sword in hand. It was Black Heart. That's right. Looking around, she saw Green Heart and White heart as well. Purple Heart remembered, I'm in Celesia… fighting for the title of True Goddess in order to protect my people. Having the determination back and having a clear motive, she replied, "Ridiculous. We've been fighting for hundreds of years, why give up now?"
"You took the words right out of my mouth. I won't let any of you take the title of the True Goddess!" said the goddess in white.
Green Heart sighed, "How long are we going to put up with this farce?"
"Well then, do us a favour and die!" White Heart charged at the Green CPU, but her attack was easily repelled.
"My, such barbaric manners. I have matters to fulfill in the future, unlike you."
White Heart bellowed, "Shut your trap! I hate it when you talk high n' mighty, Thunder Tits!"
Green Heart felt a nerve pop after hearing the remark from the White goddess. "Huh?! Breasts are a symbol of maturity and fertility, qualities befitting a goddess!" She narrowed her eyes and smirked as she stared at a certain part of the White CPU's body. "With such logic, it can be said you are the least… fitting," she snickered.
"The hell's that?! All that crap, talkin' out yer butt. I'll kill you!" she threatened.
While the two goddesses bickered, Black Heart saw an opportunity to attack and attempted to slash at them. "Got you!"
Green Heart quickly reacted and blocked the incoming blade. "Wha-?!"
White Heart jumped back, avoiding the Black CPU, "Damnit, that was close!"
Black Heart laughed, "Ahahahaha! It's your fault for babbling in the midsts of battle!"
Green Heart groaned with disappointment. "Really, how much longer does this sterile battle have to continue?"
White Heart and Black Heart paused. The question took them by surprise and it was actually a good question. They were all even in strength and couldn't get the upper hand against each other. They have been fighting for so long that they were getting tired.
"Well then, why not eliminate one of you?" A voice suddenly spoke.
"True… That could be the catalyst of change we've been searching for," said Green Heart.
Black Heart agreed, "Not a bad idea." One less goddess means one step closer to the title of True Goddess.
Purple Heart who have been on the sidelines, noticed a change. The three CPUs were talking and they've never talked. At least not in a negotiable way. Something was wrong and Purple Heart didn't like the feeling she was getting. She needed to intervene. "What? What are you all talking about?" But she was ignored.
"So, who's the sad one to be ousted here?" White Heart questioned.
The voice spoke again. "I suggest… Purple Heart… Neptune."
"It would be difficult to get rid of her later, so I can agree to that," said Green Heart.
"Yeah, I'm fine with that," Black Heart agreed, though she felt a bit sad that her strongest rival will be leaving.
Purple Heart became puzzled. Her uneasy feeling began to grow even more. She somehow felt like something was out of the ordinary, or actually, a feeling of deja vu, like this had already happened before in her life somewhere. "Who are you three talking to?" Again, she was ignored.
Black Heart laughed, "Ahahahahahaha! It's settled then! So sorry!"
Purple Heart became alarmed, "What?! Just what are you all talking abou-?!" Purple Heart flinched, feeling a sudden migraine. It felt like her mind was being hammered. What's going on? Then something deep within her was slipping away, like she was slowly withering. My shares… something's wrong with my Shares… She heard quick footsteps coming her way, she hurriedly reacted and blocked the swift attack from the Black goddess.
Black Heart smirked, "Not bad."
"Kuh-!" Purple Heart steadied her blade and felt her heart thump. She hated this feeling whenever Black Heart got too close. Right now wasn't the time to have this kind of emotion.
As they broke apart, White Heart then charged at Purple Heart, without giving her a chance to catch her breath. "Just do us a favour and die!" She swung her axe, attempting to crush Purple Heart, but she easily evaded by taking the air. "Damn you!" White Heart activated her wings and chased after Purple Heart.
The Green and Black goddess decided to join the fray as well and summoned their flight system. Weapons could be seen clashing in midair, along with the sparks scattering every time they made contact. Purple Heart's opponents charged towards her simultaneously in all directions.
"I won't lose!" Purple Heart flips upwards and evaded all of their attacks right before they hit her. "Hiyaaahh!" She then countered every attack delivered to her and repelled her opponents back.
"Eat this!" Black Heart darted to Purple Heart. She delivered continuous attacks to her, forcing Purple Heart on the defensive, but that didn't last long, as Green Heart jumped towards her, attempting to slice her into two.
In an instant, Purple Heart dashed backwards, evading the Green CPU's attack. "I won't let you escape!"
The Purple goddess defended herself from the assault of her enemies, leaving her open, which has been taken advantage of by White Heart. "It's time for you to die!" She attacked her upwards, causing Purple Heart's weapon to be knocked out of her hand and into the air.
"Oh shoot!" Purple Heart hurriedly moved back and jumped into the air to retrieve her weapon, but only to be hindered by the green CPU as she threw her spear to prevent her from getting her sword back.
At the same time, Black Heart charged towards her, ready to destroy her. "Now it's time for you to disappear!"
Purple Heart crossed her arms ready for the strike from the Black goddess that was closing in on her. Suddenly, a painful jolt went through her brain. She winced from the heavy pulse and something flashed through her mind. It was an image of her, Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart going against something she recognized, but wasn't sure from where. It's was a rabbit-humanoid monster. It felt like it was something she should know, felt like it was something important. Another painful pulse slammed through her head and this time another image was shown, it was her holding hands with another girl. A girl she holds dearly…
"Noire…"
Black Heart's eyes widened from Purple Heart calling out her name. She wanted to ask how she knew her name, but she had already swung her sword. The blade sliced from Purple Heart's shoulder down to her stomach, causing her to grunt in pain. Purple Heart tip back as her wings dematerialized. She reached her hand out towards Black Heart as her vision became blurred.
Planeptune, Gamindustri
Place: ???
Date: ???
Time: ???
Blinking away the tiredness from her eyes, Neptune looked around. "It's dark… Like, pitch black. Where am I? Wait a minute… I've been here before. Why does everything in my life feel like deja vu all of a sudden?"
"Neptune…"
Neptune jerked in shock. "Yikes! Who's there!? Hello?"
"Nep… tune… can… can… hear me….?"
"Uhhhh, kind of? I guess… do I know you, staticky voice?"
"Ne…une… y-you mus… ke up!"
Neptune scratched her head, unable to make out the words. "Sorry, can you repeat that?"
"You… wake up!"
"Wake up?" Neptune looked around and then she understood. "Oooh! This is a dream! Thanks, Staticky voice!"
"No! Arfoire… trap… Dream realm!"
Neptune chuckled, "I really can't understand anything you're saying, Staticky voice."
The voice groaned, "H-Hold on…"
"'Hold on?' Hold on for wha-!" Suddenly, pain shot through her head, causing her to drop to her knees. Neptune held onto her head as images flash through her head. Her time with Black Heart, her anger for Green Heart, her truce with White Heart, and her battle with Arfoire. Everything was forced back into her brain, the pain was so agonizingly bad that it felt like her brain would split open. Then, it was all gone. The pain vanished, but the memories stayed. "What… what the Nep is going on!?"
"Neptune, can you hear me now?"
"Histy!"
"So it worked."
"What's going on, Histy? I don't understand!"
"Calm down, Neptune. Currently, you and the other CPUs are trapped in a Dream Realm, created by Arfoire. I am using my powers to try and contact you all, but so far only you have responded."
"Probably because I lost consciousness," said Neptune, remembering how Black Heart had struck her down. "I actually might be dead…"
"Not yet, you are still alive. I am with your body and it's still breathing, but if you die in the Dream Realm, you will die in real life," Histoire explained.
"Is everyone in my dream?"
"I can't say for sure, but you all could be in the same dream realm. Arfoire is also in there with you. She has decided to destroy your consciousness, and if she does succeed, you will never wake up again."
Neptune groaned as she rubbed her head, "Holy Nep, this is complicated."
"We can use this to our advantage. If you destroy Arfoire in the Dream Realm, then her body here will be destroyed."
"Ah! I see, giving her a taste of her own medicine, aye?"
"Yes. I will try my best to communicate to everyone else and make them remember. It seems that Arfoire had erased your memories."
"Yeah… Noire didn't even hesitate to take me out…" Neptune touched her chest where the blade had sliced her flesh and winced, feeling a small sting.
"I must disconnect, I am losing strength. You must wake up, Neptune…"
"How do I do that?!" There was no reply. "Histy? Histy! Histy, you there!? Histy!?"
Planeptune, Gamindustri
Place: Compa's Room
Date: ???
Time: ???
"Histy!?" Neptune sat up with her hand reached out and was met with familiar amber eyes. "Compa!?"
The girl in question widen her eyes in surprise. "Oh! You know my name! Wait…" She furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement. "How do you know my name? Have we met?"
"What are you talking about, Compa? It's me, Neptune!"
"Nept-… Nepee-… Nepta-… Nepel… Neput…"
Neptune lightly chuckled. "Just call me Nep-Nep." This was actually like how she and Compa first met. Maybe she traveled back in time! Wait, nope, Histoire said she was in a dream, so this must be like her old memories or something, which explains why everything felt like a recap because she was reliving her memories. But Neptune doesn't remember being knocked out of Celestia or the fact where all three CPUs decided to attack her simultaneously. Something changed and she bet it has something to do with Arfoire. "By the way, how did I end up in your room, Compa?"
"Well Nep-Nep, it was just last night… I saw a shooting star!" Compa happily said with sparkling eyes and then her voice lowered, "That was you."
"That was a short answer. Wait… That means, I fell from the sky?!" Neptune then felt stupid. She was just knocked out of Celestia, of course she fell from the sky!
"Yes!" Compa raised her voice in excitement. "You were stuck into the ground like Soul-sword… only," Compa's voiced turned back to it's normal volume, "it was you."
"Soul-sword?" Neptune definitely didn't remember this conversation with Compa when she first met her, then again, she wasn't stuck to the ground either. "You mean Soul Edge? And… wasn't it the Excalibur that was stuck?"
"Oh, that's right. I'm not sure why I keep mistaking it with Soul Edge. Anywho, you were out cold, so I pulled you out and brought you here."
"All by yourself? That's cool, thanks! You're a lot stronger than you look."
"I go to nursing school. Moving bodies is part of my training, so I'm fine," she proudly stated.
Nursing school? Neptune became confused. When she first met Compa, she was already graduated from nursing school. What year was she actually in? Now that she thought about it. Somehow this was no longer deja vu, but whole new territory that she didn't remember. "Compa, just a quick question. What's the date today?"
"It's August 19," Compa answered.
"The year too, please."
"It's the year 2002!"
Neptune's face went pale. 2002!? Not 2017? I came down from Celestia waaaay too early! I left Celestia in 2010, not 2002! The others might still be battling it out in Celestia! Neptune jumped out of the bed that she was sitting on and declared, "This goddess must return to Celestia, now!"
"Goddess! Wait… Nep-Nep is a goddess?!" Compa shouted.
Oh! Forgot this Compa doesn't know."Yeppers! This Nep here is the goddess of Planeptune!"
"Really! Oh my, this is the first time I'm meeting the goddess in person! But I thought she would be taller," said Compa.
"Oh, I'll get taller all right!" Neptune grinned as she gave Compa a thumbs up. "HDD activate!" Neptune was surrounded by light and numbers. Once the light dispersed, Purple Heart now stood in Neptune's place. "Fear not, for Purple Heart is now here!"
Compa jumped up and down as she squealed, "Oh my goddess! It really is you! Lady Purple Heart!"
"Compa, I thank you for saving me and treating my wounds, but I must go ba-!" Unexpectedly, her transformation gave out. "Huh?" She looked over herself to see her oversized hoodie instead of the curvy body she's so proud of. "What the-? Hold on…HDD activate!" This time, nothing happened.
Neptune blinked. "Uhhh… one more time! Let's go, HDD activate!"
Neptune felt a beat of sweat run down the side of her face. Another minute passed of nothing happening and Neptune lost her cool. "Why?! Why can't I activate HDD anymore!" Then she realized her shares were low, like really low, apparently so low that she couldn't go HDD. "M-My Shares!"
"Nep-Nep, maybe you're still hurt from the fall that you can't go goddess anymore," said Compa.
"No! It's not the fall! It's my people! I must get to the basilicom!" Neptune ran passed Compa and out of the room as her friend called her name, but Neptune didn't stop.
Planeptune, Gamindustri
Place: Basilicom
Date: August 19, 2002
Time: ???
Neptune huffed as she stood in front of the tower like building of her home. It looked exactly like the way she remembered, titanium walls and all. Walking into the building, she was stopped by a soldier.
"Who are you and why are you here?" he asked.
Neptune cleared her throat and proudly announced, "Your Goddess has returned! For I am Purple Heart!"
The soldier gave her a weird look and said, "No, really. Who are you and why are you here?"
Neptune pouted, "You don't believe me, but it's true! I really am Purple Heart!"
"I know my goddess and she is nowhere near that short," stated the soldier.
"Well, yeah, not in my human form, but you have to trust me that I'm really Purple Heart!" Neptune pleaded.
"Scram, I don't have time to be dealing with little girls right now."
"What!? Is that how you treat your protector?!"
"What is going on here!?"
The soldier suddenly tensed up and turned around to see a tall lady in a purple suit. "My apologies, ma'am!"
Neptune recognized that braided blonde hair anywhere. It was her oracle. "Lenna!"
The girl fixed her glasses and looked down at the purple CPU. "Do I know you?"
"It's me, Neptune!"
Lenna's eyes widened, only Purple Heart has the name of Neptune. No one else would have such a complicated name that hard to pronounce. "Lady Neptune?!"
The soldier looked at Neptune and then to Lenna, "Is this a friend of yours?"
Lenna's right eye twitched and she smacked his head, hard. "How can you not recognize that this is our goddess!"
"Huh? What!?"
Lenna bowed before Neptune and said, "My deepest apologies, Lady Neptune. He hasn't really seen you for he was hired when you were still in Celestia."
Neptune chuckled, "Oh no worries, I'm not mad. At least he's doing his job…"
"It's good to see that you are back, I'm sure the populace would be happy to see you. It's been two years since you left."
Two? So it's only been two years in this Gamindustri since Histy sent us to Celestia… To me, it felt like two hundred years… Oh, the Histy in this world would be so angry at us then, but I need to worry about my people now. They have lost faith in me, I must restore that faith. "Lenna call a meeting. I would like to speak to my people."
"Of course! Right away!" Lenna immediately jogged off, but Neptune saw the happy bounce in her steps.
Planeptune, Gamindustri
Place: Basilicom
Date: August 19, 2002
Time: ???
The citizens and guards of Planeptune crowded around the front of the basilicom, wondering if it was true that their goddess has returned to them. They were all eager to see Purple Heart. News reporters stood by with their cameramen ready to record, and spread their goddess's words. They all waited patiently until Lenna walked out from the balcony to peer over them.
"Citizens of Planeptune! I thank you for giving us your time, for this is an important announcement! I run this nation in place of the absence of our precious goddess, but the day has come! Our patience have paid off for our goddess has finally returned! Now, I give you, Lady Purple Heart!"
Lenna stood to the side as Purple Heart stepped up to look over the balcony. The people all gasped, cheered and some even cried. Joy overfilled them to see their goddess back in their nation. Purple Heart waved her hand and felt all the Shares flowing back into her. At first it was hard to keep this form, but once she showed her face, faith began to pour straight into her.
"My beloved nation, my beloved people, it has been two years since I last saw all of you. I apologized for making you all wait, but fear not for your goddess is here. My battles in Celestia were tough, but my duties as Planeptune's CPU have brought me back! I am here to stay and I won't be going anywhere! Please, I once again ask that you put your trust and your faith back in me!"
"Lady Purple Heart!" everyone cheered.
"We missed you, Lady Purple Heart!"
"Welcome back!"
"Lady Purple Heart!"
Purple Heart waved to her people and slowly moved back as everyone lost sight of her. Purple Heart sighed and disengaged her transformation. "Phew! Man, I'm tired."
"Lady Neptune, the people are overjoyed to see you. It is very nice that you would want for the citizens of Planeptune to see you in person."
Neptune shyly laughed. Oh man, now I feel bad. I only did this for my Shares, but I'm glad to see my populace happy. So it's a win-win, I guess. With that done, I need to contact the others and hopefully Histy gave them the rundown. Then Neptune realized something. Wait just a minute! If this is a dream… why are my Shares affected? If I lost Shares doesn't that mean the real citizens of Planeptune lost faith in me? Yet, I got Shares from the citizen of Planeptune from this dream… Neptune thought back and forth and couldn't come up with a solution.
"Lady Neptune? Is something the matter?" Lenna asked.
Neptune started at Lenna and smirked. "Lenna, my good old friend! Come here!"
"Yes?" Lenna leaned in close, not being cautious or suspicious at all.
Neptune reached out and pinched Lenna's cheek, causing her to yelp in pain. Lenna retracted back and rubbed her reddened cheek to smooth out the pain. "What was that for Lady Neptune?!"
"Well, I was wondering if I was dreaming so I decided to see if you could feel any pain," Neptune explained.
Lenna felt her eye twitch and bonked Neptune on the head. "Shouldn't it be the other way!?"
Neptune yelped and held her head, "Owwy!" Then she gasped, "I felt pain!"
"Well, of course," Lenna sighed. "I wonder if the other CPUs might have hit you somewhere to make you dumb all of a sudden?"
Neptune was confused. This was a dream right, but I can feel pain. Then what Histy said, 'if you die in the Dream Realm, you will die in real life,' repeated in her head. She wasn't kidding when she told me that?!
Author's Note
...This took a weird turn... ( " -_-)
Well, see ya'll next time! XD