"Right, the IV's all hooked up." IF confirmed with a nod. "Guess we have some free time to… Chika, huh?"

Koei for his part was simply staring out of the window, a blank look clear across his face as he tried to internalize everything. "Never mind Chika… It's Uzume I'm worried about." He turned to IF with a look of concern. "She's strong, but an Oracle wielding Grace? That's kinda scary to think about taking on solo."

IF sighed, putting a jacketed hand to her face. "You're going to give yourself an aneurysm at this rate. Our priority is getting Vert out of her comatose state, the fact Uzume chose to pick a fight with Chika isn't our business."

"I feel like you're hiding some malice behind those words, Iffy…"

"I'd have the same to say if you decided to stay behind." She noted, narrowing her eyes slightly. "That being said, I do appreciate the fact she chose to hold off Chika to buy us time, at least."

"Speaking of… How are we going to break the whole 'Oracle is a traitor' thing to the populace? Aren't they meant to be like, second to the CPU in authority?"

"Histoire and the others will take care of the back-end paperwork. Far as we're concerned, we can sit back and re-"

"'Sup." Uzume intruded, leaning against the opposite wall tiredly, her jacket and shirt draped over her bare shoulder and sweat dripping down her face as she tried to look like she wasn't just in a brutal fistfight.

She was failing. "Uzume, for Goddesses sake, can you put your shirt back on at least?"

"And get it all damp? Gross." She chuckled, attempting to break the ice with her workmates. "In case you were wondering, I stuck Chika in a chair and found some rope to make sure she doesn't run off. I have some… Questions to ask her." Her tone suddenly dropped off before stretching her arms with a smile. "But that's for later. Vertsy doin' okay?"

"I'm not a doctor by any means," IF decided to ignore Uzume's worrying behaviour for the sake of her sanity if nothing else. "But Vert seems to be recovering a bit faster than the others at least. Whether that's due to her body fighting off the agent or just her system being stronger in general."

"Great." Uzume cricked her neck, her smile rising slightly as she did so, her slightly bloodied knuckles glistening in the early afternoon light. "Dunno 'bout you two, but after that fight I could use a drink. First time in twenty years I've really let loose and these bones aren't what they used to be."

"Uzume you look twenty-four at worst." Koei noted with a deadpan stare. "Speaking of looking worse, is that cut going to be okay?"

Uzume waved off his concern with a shrug. "I'd be more worried about Chika. I knocked her out with a hard right hook and I think it broke her nose, so this little cut? It'll be fine."

"Wait, you did what?"

The trio turned to see Vert, sitting up straight with a shocked expression on her face. "Whatever would drive you to do such a thing?"

"It's a long story, Lady Vert." IF remained calm, taking control of the potential trouble they were in. "But the gist of it is we have confirmation from Chika herself that she colluded with ASIC."

Vert tilted her head slightly. "ASIC?"

"Riiight, she's not been caught up." Uzume noted, still leaning against the wall. "Basically ASIC carried out an attack on the meeting you were sitting in on. We don't know why they wanted you and the other CPUs, but Kosy and I managed to stop them and figure out a plan, as well as ensuring you were all okay before we started to make a move on ASIC. Is that good enough?"

Vert tiredly processed her summary, slowly nodding in response. "Yes, I see. Thank you for your efforts, it seems I should have been more diligent when organizing the meeting."

Koei shrugged in response. "It's fine, it's what we're here for. 'Who protects the protectors', y'know? Even if our method was… Less than orthadox." He looked Uzume, still leaning with the tiniest hint of a smug grin.

"You jacked a prototype war machine, I punched a corrupt government official's lights out, I think we're even on war crimes here." She simply responded.

"Prototype war machine?" Vert toyed with her blonde hair. "Goddesses, I forgot that the PC Continent's tech was even here, let alone still functioning."

"So… Can we keep it as payment?" Koei averted his eyes, knowing it was a pretty big ask. "I mean, it still functions, I know NepG would absolutely go nuts over the prospect of working on a long abandoned war machine and… This might come off as a little petty but I think it'd be a pretty neat thing to have?"

Vert put a glove hand to her chin and made a "hmmm" sound. "Well, I suppose now that I've been made aware that the warehouses of prototype technology can now be considered a national risk…"

IF sighed in resignation. "Fine, fine. I'll get in contact with the Guild in order to get it all disposed of and the LBX-001 will 'mysteriously' turn up in Planeptune. Until then, I guess we'll report to Histoire in Planeptune and go get drunk… I guess."

"Yay!" Koei visibly leapt in excitement, his mood very much improved by his new war machine as the trio turned to leave.

"Onward, to drinking and chicanery, the-" Uzume was about to open the bedroom's door before she was flung to the side rather spectacularly as a white lump embraced Vert.

"Vert!" A surprising show of raw emotion was being displayed from Blanc as she continued to bearhug. "I was so worried when I woke up to see Leanbox going dark, I had to come see you myself when Mina was distracted by a video call…"

Koei promptly tried to help up Uzume, hefting the half-naked girl on his shoulder. "That aside, you doin' ok Uzume?"

"Can't say I saw that coming…" She rubbed her head where the door struck her. "How did you get here so quickly anyway, Blancsy?"

"The winds of love care not for the body of a tired lover." Blanc surmised rather poetically.

"English?" Koei raised an eyebrow at Blanc's declaration.

"I used HDD to speed across the ocean." She explained casually. "Overclocking tends to burn Share energy quicker, but it's good in a pinch and the people have been very supportive as of late."

The calm and stoic Blanc blushing furiously while hugging Vert was a hilarious image to the trio, who attempted to hide their smirks. "I can see that you two are going to be busy," Koei smiled slightly at the couple. "But I do have one more request for you, Lady Vert."

"And that is?"

"Chika kinda framed us as terrorists and broadcasted it live to Leanbox, if not all of Gamindustri, so it'd be appreciated if you could clarify that we're not evil international terrorists like she claimed earlier in the day?"

"I was going to denounce her anyway, given the circumstances." Vert declared with a serious glint in her eyes. "But I'm going to need confirmation-"

"I saw the broadcast earlier." Blanc stated, face still red but still stoic as ever. "And Mina can confirm the other Oracles saw it as well. The fact she was there with a specially designed camera drone broadcasting to all of Gamindustri after her own Nation was shuttered for a day all but confirms she was planning this."

"My darling Blanny…" Vert stroked her head with a gentle smile. "Even when at our weakest, you still try to protect your Onee-san."

"I-I told you not to use that term around other people!" Blanc punched Vert in the leg, the latter not even reacting as she simply continued to smile at her embarrassment.

"... We'll leave you to it." Koei finally said, before ushering his friends out of the bedroom before closing it quietly,

Before Uzume left Blanc's vision, she held up a hand. "Wait, Uzume."

Turning around, the former goddess locked eyes with Blanc. "Thank you. I know being outed like you were will be a bit harrowing, but I will make efforts to publicly denounce Chika's actions myself… In a few hours."

Uzume chuckled dryly at the couple. "Take your time, our job was to rouse Vert from her slumber and we've achieved that and more, so I can let it slide for a bit." She said cooly before finally leaving the couple alone.

"You didn't have to thank her." Vert noted, stroking Blanc's bowl-like hair as she did so. "Or are you finally warming up to her?"

"She has a long way to go." Blanc stated sternly, before her tone softened again. "But… I guess you were right about her wanting to change for the better."

Outside the bedroom, Koei clapped his hands before puffing his chest out with a smile. "Okay everyone! So now that we're probably not international terrorists, let's get drunk?" Koei offered.

Uzume and IF shrugged, but were surprised when Koei put one of his UI Gloves to his ear after accessing the interface and going through several screens.

"Koei?" A somewhat tomboyish voice echoed through the gloves. "I didn't expect you to call me so soon after we met."

IF started to give a blood-freezing glare, but Koei quickly clarified over the phone. "Yeah Dana, we were about to go to Celestia, so we could meet up in Planeptune so I can show you where she works now."

"Sure. I'll lock up the resort, but it might take a while. Anywhere you'll be in an hour or so?"

After a moment, Koei nodded with a smile. "There's a subway station pretty close to the bar. See ya there." Was all that was said before ending the call and putting his arms behind his head and turning to his friends. "So remember the other day when we were at that beach resort?"

The pair nodded. "Turns out the owner of the entire resort was the owner of the bar Jill worked in before Celestia and had been meaning to see her for some time now, so the boss decided to give me her number after the fact so we can give Jill a surprise visit."

"I suppose it is around that time of year." IF noted with a tired smile. "Let's get her some whiskey."

It was some Goddess-forsaken hour in Planeptune, the surly bartender of CE1 EST-1A tending lonelily, simply wiping down the bar in an effort to look busy to nobody but herself.

Her regulars seemed to have been missing completely, but that was fine she supposed. Even with them around it was still relatively quiet, so the gentle ambiance of her jukebox was more than enough… Was it?

"Guess I can close early tonight, at least." Jill reasoned to herself somewhat sadly, staring at the empty bar in front of her, walking out from behind it in order to close up her business.

As much as she loved her home city's aesthetic, it did tend to exacerbate her depression when it was quiet, as all she had was gentle atmospheric music and memories of the bar she used to tend and the patrons she missed ever since VA-11 HALL-A shut down. It was a shame that it did, but she was well aware far in advance so it wasn't a huge deal initially.

Moving to Gamindustri though was a big step. Not because of her meager possessions, but because of the culture shock. In comparison to the corruption that infested most parts of Glitch City, Planeptune was practically Heaven in comparison, with the only incidents she heard of being from the deity that ruled this Nation slacking off… Again…

Jill shook her head, as she was distracting herself from locking up. Sliding the deadbolt that served as a lock shut, she shut off the eponymous neon sign that shined in defiance of Planeptune's usual clean exterior. Sometimes she wondered if the Glitch City charm she brought was why she got so few customers in the first place, but for now she simply opted to start heading up the staff-only stairs to the apartment she rented above the bar.

At least, she was before she heard a sharp knocking on the door.

As much as she wanted some human interaction, she had already spent hours in solitude and just wanted to go to sleep at this point. "Sorry, we're closed." She raised her voice ever so slightly as not to seem aggressive, but at the very least assertive.

"Aw come on Jill," A familiar tomboyish voice broke her out of her depressed state. "Can't you serve your former boss a drink?"

Rushing to the door, Jill practically ripped the deadbolt from the door as she opened to see a certain white haired woman with a mechanical arm.

"Dana!?" A rare moment of shock from the usually stoic barkeep occurred as said former boss walked in casually.

"Just figured I'd stop by and see how you're doin'." She reasoned with a familiar wry smile. "Heard down the grapevine that you had some regulars, but it seems pretty empty to me."

"Yeah…" Jill sighed. "I was just closing up because it seemed my regulars ghosted on me."

"First of all, how dare you." A familiar male voice interrupted, casually strolling into the supposed to be closed bar with a knowing smile, followed by a purple haired tomboy and a brunette chunni, all dressed in similar purple jackets. "Second of all, we were waiting for you to close up so we could hang out with you as Jill Stingray the person, not Jill Stingray the barkeep." He offered cheerfully, fishing a bottle of expensive-looking whiskey from seemingly nowhere and handing it to Jill. "Merry Nepmas."

"Nepmas?"

"I guess it's our 'version' of your Mega Christmas." IF clarified. "Dana and Koei kinda figured you'd want some company, since business was slow."

Jill genuinely didn't know what to think of the current situation. Not only her most frequent customer, but her former boss turning up out of the blue to check on her after hours? It was completely uncalled for, yet she didn't exactly want to reject them.

"Might be a bit cramped." She finally said quietly, looking away from the group before meeting Dana's determined but caring look. "But I can make it work."

"Damn, you have a lot of Beer." Koei fished several cans of Leanbox Brew out of the packed fridge in Jill's apartment. "Guess even a bartender needs a drink sometimes, eh?"

"You could say that." Jill chuckled as she received a chilled Beer, cracking it open before taking her first drink of the night. "Kinda weird to be drinkin' with my usual clientele… And my boss…"

"Don't worry about it Jillsy." Uzume finally spoke up, lightly punching Jill's arm as she took a drink. "We've had a hell of a day, so a change of pace to unload is much appreciated."

"I assume shit went down in Leanbox? I know the Gamindustri News Network wouldn't shut up about it." Jill recalled the absolute media circus surrounding the day's events. "First you're terrorists, then Chika's a traitor, then Lady Vert is pardoning you three and giving a call to action for assistance with the PC Continent's tech…"

"Hell of a day." Koei echoed the sentiment, taking the opportunity to pour some whiskey into a chilled glass with a round chunk of ice.

"I thought that whiskey was a…" A deep sigh escaped Jill's lips "Nepmas gift."

"Gifts are meant to be shared. That and Dana said this was the good shit." Koei took a drink to wet his throat. "Smooth. Want a drink, Jill?"

"I have one whiskey glass." Jill''s features hardened, looking down at the glass currently being used. "And I don't like whiskey, but it's the thought that counts."

"What she means is that she'll enjoy a glass of it after we've all cleared out to spare your feelings about the whole 'one whiskey glass' thing. " Dana clarified, not even noticing Jill's look.

"Anyway…" IF interjected, having been fiddling with her phone from underneath the kotatsu she currently had covering most of her jacketless body. "I've been looking at the reports and people have been digging up the name 'Phoenix of Planeptune' in relation to a certain Planeptune resident who rose from the ashes of an orphanage to become a feared criminal."

Uzume took this chance to sigh deeply, a groan also escaping as her head hit the kotasu's wooden center. "I knew this would come up eventually."

Getting up, Uzume spun on her heel before tossing her jacket and shirt off, revealing her tattoo'd back once again. "Go on, admire my ink some more." She snarked.

"That is pretty nice." Dana admitted. "Think I've seen some yakuza-types rock that style of back tattoo before… Were you-"

"I was undercover yakuza back when I was an Oracle." Uzume turned back around to sit down, putting on her shirt again to at least appear decent. "Pretended I was from the Planeptune yakuza and since the Nations were nowhere near as connected, so I could get away with it."

"That… Wait, you were an Oracle?" IF raised a hand, to which Uzume nodded.

"'Course. Even back then the Oracles kinda served as the links between Nations using state of the art dial-up technology. General public was less connected too, so imagine how awful the underworld's connection would be if an Oracle rocked up with a phoenix tattoo and claimed to be from a non-existent branch of the yakuza?"

"That's not what I was asking…"

Uzume shrugged. "I figured. Really I picked the design because the artist asked me about my life and I told them about the orphanage, they suggested a phoenix with Planeptune iconography to symbolize me rising from the ashes to the Oracle… At the time."

"That doesn-"

"It's a long story Ifsy." Uzume sighed deeply as she headed to the fridge to grab a beer. "Plus, the tattoo means a lot to me, now more than ever. I rose from the ashes of the orphanage, only to fall to darkness… Then someone else came to reignite that flame." She turned to look at Koei.

"I'm starting to think you're attracted to me…" Koei noted, his eyes darting to IF's frosty glare. "One way attraction, I assure you Iffy."

"Regardless of potentially homicidal girlfriends, I was an orphan for a long while." Uzume got back on track with a sullen tone. "Lady Uranus built an orphanage for us and made the occasional visit, but as the years went by she visited less and less. At first we thought it was because she didn't like us… But the orphanage was funded entirely out of her own pocket, it was her health that was declining."

A tense silence filled the cozy apartment. "When I was about… sixteen or so, some bastard set fire to the orphanage. I tried to save as many as I could, but…"

The silence intensified. "But?" Koei asked weakly, fearing the obvious.

"They did all get out fine, but I found out who was behind it. Turns out the land the orphanage was on was pretty valuable to some noble or another, so they paid off a thug to burn it down. An orphanage."

Shocked silence continued to reign as Uzume for a moment to recompose herself. "I found the noble who paid them off after 'negotiating' with the thug. When I asked him why he'd endanger actual children with nowhere else to go, he simply shrugged and muttered something non-committal about how he had no idea what I was on about."

"I'm afraid where this story will go…" Jill noted with a hint of worry.

"You're probably right Jill. Because I saw red when he blatantly lied to me like that. My home was gone with the people I considered my family scattered to the wind to die for some baron's sake." Uzume clenched her fists, her tone darkening as actual hatred started dripping from her voice. "So I figured why not repay the favour?"

Everyone present felt a chill down their spine. "Uzume, holy shit." Koei finally said after some seconds of silence. "Did you-"

"I beat him within an inch of his life as he deserved." She crossed her arms with a glare. "But I knew killing him wouldn't bring the orphanage back. It'd only ruin my own life…" She admitted with some bitterness in her tone. "The police on the other hand? Oh boy. Once they started searching his place and found evidence of his involvement in several conspiracies, drug rings and even running some of the local crime gangs? He was screwed. Well worth the near-jail time I served."

"Near?"

"Even if it led to the complete dismemberment of Planeptune's seedy underbelly, a crime's a crime and I turned myself in out of guilt once the adrenaline wore off. Only Lady Uranus stepped in and pardoned me as thanks." Uzume looked up with a look of nostalgia and a twinge of sadness entered her tone. "She took me in, knowing I was one of the kids she visited and wanting to give me a second chance after such a rough start. So I worked as her intern, eventually becoming her Oracle when I came of age."

Knowing Uranus' ultimate fate, Koei kept quiet, thinking back to well over a month ago when he and Neptune visited LAN Castle. After taking a long drink of whiskey, he raised a hand. "Hey Uzume? What's with the Planeptomb anyway?"

"Oh that old thing." She chuckled sadly, remembering the last time she visited. "Lady Uranus always wanted to spruce that place up, clear out the monster population and turn it into a proper tourist spot to preserve the Nation's history." She averted her eyes as painful memories came back to her. "But… She was always a bit sickly, Planeptune never had more than 15% Shares at the time I became Oracle. Then…"

Planeptune

25 Years Ago

The day broke over the Planeptune Basilicom, an eerie silence within as the hustle and bustle of the once prosperous Nation had long since faded to a standstill, the Nation's Share count dropping to unprecedented levels as the populace slowly lost faith in the CPU that few had seen, leading to many rumours that she never existed at all.

She very much existed, although her life was not a very exciting one, constantly bedridden due to her frailty, her once luscious black hair had faded to gray, a change that had shocked the once Goddess. In reality, she had lost her connection to Share energy a while back, but opted not to tell anyone out of fear of a revolution.

Only one knew, as she entered the bedchambers, a youngish tomboy with steadily growing twin pigtails, the frayed edges scarcely reaching her shoulders as she carried a tray of tea and biscuits in.

"Lady Uranus, your morning tea." Her professional politeness betrayed both her past and future personality as she set it down on her bed, a pair of metal legs ensuring it didn't touch Uranus' legs as Uzume opted to fluff up one of the light purple pillows for the weakened woman.

"Uzume…" The girl cracked a genuine smile at her Oracle. "You always ensure I'm comfortable in these last remaining days, don't you?"

"Don't be like that." Uzume crossed her arms and shook her head defiantly. "Any day now, I'll find a way to get your name back into the public consciousness. I was thinking about some form of dragon taming event…"

A weak if not polite laugh emanated from Uranus. "Uzume, you always had your heart in the right place, but we both know there's only one way this is ending."

Uzume's expression turned into a hurt look. "I… I know. I just want to help make people happy, even if their ultimate fate isn't."

A weak smile formed on the former CPU. "That's why you're going to make a great successor."

Uzume reeled back in shock. "Lady Uranus, I can't possibly-"

"Don't doubt yourself like that!" A surprising bout of anger came from the seemingly frail woman. "It doesn't matter if you're an Oracle, a criminal or even an orphan, anyone can lead a Nation if they have the heart and resolve to fight. And your heart is big enough to sway even the surliest of people."

Uzume remained quiet as Uranus calmed down, her tone changing to a somber, but motherly voice. "Call it a selfish request, but I don't want Planeptune's legacy to be a failure that faded away. Even if we are struggling now, even if we are underdogs… We believe in each other and that's what counts in the end. It's why we draw our strength from Share energy after all."

Uranus felt her presence start to fade, as if her body was getting lighter. "Uzume… I know it's a lot to ask, but… Please, make Planeptune shine again. Make it the Land of Purple Progress that we both dreamed of. I… have faith in you."

With those last words, Uranus simply accepted her fate, knowing her adopted daughter would either save Planeptune, or die trying.

Seconds passed before the bed was empty, as if someone had slipped out of the covers as Uzume stood stoically, finally breaking down after feeling the bed to find nothing there.

Silence reigned for what seemed like forever, words caught in the throats of everyone present as they tried to break the tension.

After a while, IF got up, walked up to Uzume and simply hugged her hard while Dana rubbed Jill's shoulder for support, knowing her own past. "I'm sorry." Was all she said, quietly sobbing as she did so. "I didn't really believe you when you said you wanted to change. I always thought you were going to stab us in the back somehow, but…"

"After going through so much because of me, I don't blame ya Ifsy." Uzume responded neutrally. "But those experiences shaped me into who I am today and I wouldn't change any of it. Hell, it's part of why I took Chika's betrayal so personally, because I've been both a CPU and an Oracle and-"

"Enough." Koei simply said. "Let's just have a drink in her honour, yeah?"

The group quietly agreed to drop the topic, IF returning to Koei's side as their quintet raised their respective drinks, glass and metal clinking before they took a drink.

Silence fell again, but Koei was quick to speak up in an even tone. "Wait, if you were an orphan, that means you were born human, right?"

Uzume shrugged. "Yeah. As far as I know, I'm the only CPU who was previously human. That combined with my naturally navy hair and black jacket being swapped out for red and white respectively meant I covered my tracks pretty well. Hell, even my given last name means 'Uranus', meaning I essentially took over her place and nobody questioned or even it… Until Histoire."

"What does Histy have to do with this?" Koei asked, recalling she became Oracle during Uzume's time, but not much more.

"As a tome that recorded Gamindustri's history, she saw the discrepancies around Planeptune's current CPU and came to investigate. I couldn't exactly lie my way out considering she literally has the history written down, so I let her in on my backstory and we just kinda decided to work together after that. Needed an Oracle anyway, and Histoire was more than happy to keep Planeptune's history from getting any more convoluted." Uzume explained. "That and I wanted to keep my past buried so that the people didn't revolt, considering how dire the state of Planeptune was."

"And the article Chika found?"

"Oh that was just so embarrassing…" Uzume blushed, vetting her eyes as the mood lightened. "Basically I tried robbing a sweets store back when I was a criminal and the media went nuts over the infamous criminal being nabbed over something so petty." She admitted. "That and Histoire was insistent on not wiping the history books on my past until it was strictly necessary, because that just makes things look really shady."

Koei simply sighed and shook his head, holding it with a single hand. "Good lord this Nation is screwed up."

"Perfect for a group of misfits like us, then?" IF smiled, taking a drink of her beer as she did so. "On an unrelated note, I really do like your ink Uzume. I read up on that sort of thing when bored one day and I imagined having a fiery raven with three legs-" She took a moment to lightly smack the giggling Koei next to her. "And sorta modernized, so maybe she represents nuclear fusion or something?"

"I suppose your Hero title is Hellfire Raven." Jill muttered, unaware of the significance of that iconography. "I suppose that only leaves Koei."

"A dragon." Koei shrugged. "Maybe more Eastern-inspired, but a dragon nonetheless."

"Aw come on Kopey, you can do better than that!" IF punched his shoulder. "A tattoo like that is meant to exude an aura. A wordless representation of what you're all about."

"Then a blue dragon."

"Incredible." Uzume chuckled, nearly choking on her drink as she did so. "Gotta love the man's simplicity, but I think I get what he means."

"Oh?"

"I did a lot of talking with the tattoo artist who did mine." Uzume started to exposit rather casually. "A dragon is generally seen as a benefactor or protector, which we can all agree that Kosy presents himself as."

Various nods of agreement came as Uzume continued. "But it's not just the creature that matters, for dragons especially the colour can mean different things. Black represents experience, a hardened protector for many years. That Falcom girl Ifsy was fangirling over back at the Planeptune's Strongest tourney is a good candidate, assuming she wanted one in the first place."

Proceeding to ignore IF's glare, she took a drink before continuing her lecture. "On the other hand, yellow dragons tend to be more noble companions, tending to go to people who are loyal to a fault… So if I didn't go for a phoenix, I probably would have gone with a yellow dragon, honestly. But blue dragons are noted as being kind and forgiving, as well as lining up with Serenity as his weapon of choice. It's all fascinating stuff, and I'm kinda sad that the tradition died out with the Lastation yakuza."

Uzume's impressive knowledge caused IF to roll her eyes rather dramatically. "Nerd." She stated simply.

"Easy to call me that, but when knowing the meaning of tattoos can be the difference between blending in or getting found out and killed, you tend to hold on to that kind of knowledge." Uzume shrugged, before turning back to Koei. "So yeah, was I right about that or what?"

Koei blinked. "I just like the colour blue. That and I know first-hand that dragons are really hard to kill, so I guess it also kinda ties into my whole 'indomitable spirit' thing?"

"See, there we go." IF proceeded to pat his head gently, causing him to blush furiously. "Why can't you always be thoughtful? Seeing you put on a thinking pose is cute!"

Koei blushed even harder at the praise, taking a drink of chilled whiskey to calm himself down. "But yeah, a blue Eastern-style dragon sounds pretty neat, gets my general deal across rather well. Wait, do you people know what that means or is this another 'we don't know what tanks are' situation here?"

"You mean 'Eastern' as in referring to the dragons that were said to reside in Lowee prior to the more common bipedal variant wiping them out during the Age of Heroes?" Uzume wondered aloud. "Because they did exist for a time, very snake-like and kind of beautiful in their own elegant way, rather than the hulking behemoths like the modern dragon population is."

"This is why I love Gamindustri, in a way." Jill interrupted. "I went from a run down bar in a dystopian city full of corruption, hate and strife to a near-utopia where physical goddesses drop-kick creatures I thought only existed in fiction, yet here we are!" A light blush had formed to show her drunkenness along with her slight swaying, indicating that the night was just about over for her.

Grabbing Jill by the shoulders to steady her, Dana slowly got up, allowing Jill to stand up on her own two feet. "Well, it seems we've had our fill for the evening, right Jill?"

"I dunno, I think she can have a few more." Jill put on a fake voice before switching back to her normal voice. "Fore has a point."

Silence.

"Yeah, I'm not going to ask questions." Koei simply finished off the whiskey in the glass before getting up himself along with his comrades. "Try to get some rest, Jill."

"Don't worry about her." Dana reassured. "I know she has a spare futon somewhere in here and I'm sure she's been wanting me to stop here for a while."

With a nod, the trio left them to it, Koei giving one final look of concern before fully leaving.

Taking a glance at the pile of fluff with blue eyes in the corner, Dana shook her head with a tired smile. "How do you put up with her, Fore?"

The cat simply mewled in an annoyed tone before going back to sleep.

The elevator doors to the Basilicom opened as the Planeptune Special Forces exited, Koei giving a lazy wave to the lazier CPU laid on the sofa, half asleep. "Hey, mind if we crash here tonight? I know it's a bit late, but we're kinda tired and the apartment's too far away for us."

"Yeah, sure." Neptune muttered half-commitidely, picking up the TV remote balanced on her stomach. "Kinda pooped myself from having to attend a video meeting with the Oracles about Chika."

"You actually worked?"

"Surprisingly, international matters like the second most powerful person in a Nation going rogue and funding private terrorist organizations tend to require the CPUs to authorize certain emergency protocols… At least I got to see Vert tease Blanc mid-call."

Koei chuckled, thinking of theoretical ways of that wry green CPU to annoy Blanc and admired her elegant persona concealing a devious trickster so well.

Koei felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, Uzume had a tired, but satisfied look on her face. "Yo, Kosy. Gonna take a shower then hit the hay. Ifsy said she was just hitting it right away, so I guess you have some alone time now, heh."

"Huh, I do." Koei briefly pondered this brief pocket of solo downtime with a smile. "Have a good night Uzume."

"You too." The tomboy walked off without another word, heading into one of the bedrooms and locking the door from the inside, knowing there was an en-suite bathroom ready for her, complete with a heated towel.

Koei sighed at the seeming solitude he found himself in. Looking to the half-asleep Neptune, he spoke up. "I want to ask Histoire about our invoice for the job we did today, any idea where she is?"

"Think she was on the balcony," Neptune replied tiredly, her eyes slowly closing as she drifted off to dreamland.

Leaving her be, Koei headed to the balcony doors to see the fairy fluttering alone, her back-illuminated by the Basilicom as she stared out to the landscape below.

Opening the door and slipping through it, Koei simply leaned over the balcony before sighing. "Long day, huh?"

"Indeed. These past three days in fact have been very taxing, but I'm relieved they're finally over." Histoire agreed, before turning to Koei with an inquisitive look. "I assume that's not why you wanted to talk to me? Surely you can feel the chill in the air."

"Nothing I can't handle." Koei blew off her concern with a smile. "My specialty is with ice magic, after all." His face fell as he got back to why he was out here, his breath being visible in the night giving a reason to hurry up. "The whole Phoenix of Planeptune situation is quite the revelation, though."

Histoire simply floated in place. "So you know Uzume was born human?"

"Along with everything else, but I wanted to talk about you." Koei admitted, taking Uzume's words at face value. "Namely something Uzume mentioned about you being the tome that records Gamindustri's history… Is that true?

"I am the very same. Even now as I speak, I am recording all of Gamindustri's actions passively." Histoire nodded, to which Koei took a step back from.

"Wait, all of Gamindustri? Then how does anything bad even happen when you know everything?"

"In order to maintain a physical presence in Gamindustri without going insane, I must 'turn off' the omniscience, so to speak. I am as aware of events as any human while I'm in this form." Histoire explained.

Koei put a hand to his chin. "Then… Can't you 'turn it on' for a time to search for a specific piece of information?"

"That would be ideal… Except any search, no matter how broad it will take at least three days. I have tried in the past to mitigate the time investment, but to no avail. Even something you could discern from looking outside such as the current weather takes that long, and more specific searches have taken even longer."

Koei sighed. "I figured as much. Still, why even manifest in the very world your purpose is meant to document if it means your omniscience is useless?"

"At first I simply wanted to figure out the discrepancy, as Uranus was not as my record indicated at the time, a red-haired tomboy in a suspended suit but a graying frail woman who was much more traditionally beautiful. I confronted 'Uranus' directly, to which she stayed adamant until I revealed that I knew she had already passed."

"I can guess what happened next, but I'm curious to see it from your perspective."

"She finally broke down, admitted her name was Uzume and explained what happened, figuring that since people barely saw Uranus during her reign, she could take over with no issue. From there, I was initially going to leave, but something about looking at her face as she went over the tragedy that was her life… I felt a pain deep within."

"Strange how a tome that knows everything can be moved like that."

"... It was that day that I learned something even omniscience couldn't know. It is one thing to merely know someone because you have observed them. It is another to see them, their emotions, their pain as they recall bitter memories."

Koei leaned over the railing, contemplating what the fairy had just confessed and tried to make out the shapes of the few people who were out at this point of the evening, the cool metal bar digging into his crossed arms as he rested his head on top of them. "So that's why you decided to stay, then?"

"I suppose it is reasonable to theorize that part of chronicling history is not just what happened, but how people deal with events like that. The good, the bad, meeting new friends and losing others. There is something poignant about a being created to observe becoming part of history itself, is it not?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Koei admitted. "But even after what happened to Uzume, you decided to stay as Oracle, huh?"

"We can both admit that Planeptune is… Unique among Nations." Histoire chose her words carefully. "I honestly cannot fathom anyone else suited to this role that could also put up with Neptune. That, and I feel I have a duty to ensure the safety of all Nations, because if a Nation collapses… So does its history."

Thinking back to his own past, Koei recalled the culture of many a fallen country, the customs, the deities and the daily lives of the people who lived there. "I don't think that's entirely true, but I'm not here to argue philosophy so late in the day."

Feeling a sudden cold breeze, Histoire shivered. "I concur. It appears that during our conversation that the night breeze has snuck up on us."

Walking to the balcony door, Koei opened it up, feeling the warm air escape as Histoire floated in with a meek nod before entering himself, closing and locking the balcony's door. "Well Histoire, gotta say that was pretty enlightening, but I'm going to go drown that in cheap booze, if you don't mind."

"Umm… If you insist?" Histoire tilted her head in confusion, watching him walk off and enter one of the unoccupied bedrooms, before hearing the muffled sound of a can being opened.

Histoire shook her head at her employee's behaviour with a deep sigh. "Might as well accept them having a day off tomorrow now, I suppose." She reasoned before floating off to her own bedroom, exhausted from the day's events.

A/N: Merry Christmas!... Well, it's the 27th when I'm publishing this, but I still have a gift for you: This stupid arc is over!

Onto more pressing matters: Uzume. Lot to unpack there and honestly I think this retroactively makes her villainous tendencies more believable, as she wasn't just a CPU who ended up making their own downfall, this is a person whose entire life up to that point had been a struggle, from being an orphan to being an Oracle to a Nation that was bleeding Shares to taking over from your dead adoptive mother to straight up losing any faith your followers had due to one simple mistake.

I think this was inspired by the fact that we only saw snippets of Histoire and Uzume's relationship in the original fic kinda bothered me, even if it was done to keep the finale's pace up and now that this arc is finally winding down, we can learn more about the titular Phoenix of Planeptune…

Probably a bit too much, but it did come to me when I was writing the conversation between Koei and Histy that she's really quite the oddity considering she's meant to be keeping track of Gamindustri's history but still working for Planeptune as the second in command.

Look at me, trying to justify logic in my sequel to my self-insert isekai trainwreck fanfiction of a franchise that canonically makes less sense than Kingdom Hearts.

Next Time: As this was Uzume's pseudo-arc, I guess the Hellfire Raven herself will be taking the brunt of development… Hopefully without a second backstory.

Also, I did the maths, and in-universe, it should be around mid-December, if you count the Halloween party in the original fic (Koei Der Toten) taking place on Halloween. This would be an amazing detail if it was intentional... But I didn't notice until writing this chapter, so expect a lot more winter references going forward to kinda make the fic flow smoother, I guess.