Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Sega, Idea Factory and Compile Heart and whomever else worked on it.
I felt this chapter was dragging on a bit too much, so I ended it when I did.
Chapter 9
Groaning as she woke up, Neptune looked around and realized three things. The first was that she was in her human form. The second was that she wasn't at the arena anymore. And finally...
"Why am I hanging upside down on this tree?" Neptune asked, realizing that her underwear could be seen by anyone who walked by at that moment. Letting out a small grunt, she tried swinging her body and getting herself up, only to let out a yelp as a loud crack was heard as the branch that was holding her up broke and she fell out of the tree, crashing into the ground with a loud thud. "Well, that could have been handled better." Neptune muttered and sat up, rubbing her head. "Good thing that I don't get concussions easily."
Sure, the fall hurt, but Peashy's excited tackles were far more painful.
After dusting herself off, Neptune looked around in confusion. "Hmm... I don't know where I..." She trailed off and tilted her head in confusion. "Woah, what's with the bling..?" She asked, noticing that there were large golden towers in the distance.
A moment later she heard a beeping sound and looked around before realizing it was her smart phone ringing. "Oh wow, I forgot these things were still in use over here." It was nice of Nepgear to get her one a few days ago, but Neptune had honestly forgotten about it. Turning it on, she looked at the I.D. of who was calling. "Oh, hey! It's Noire!" She smiled and answered her device. "What's up?"
"Neptune!" Noire, Vert and Blanc all said at the same time.
"We couldn't get ahold of you." Noire said, concern in her voice. "We thought something bad happened to you."
"Nah," Neptune smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "I must have been out cold in that tree when you tried calling me."
"Well, either way," Vert spoke up, "do you have any idea what happened after we lost in the arena?"
"Bright flash of light, new bling towers that probably are part of some sort of ancient ritual to bring dinosaurs back to life while summoning a meteor to kill all humans on the planet and recreate life when dinosaurs ruled the planet, and then we woke up wherever we are." Neptune pointed out, smiling.
"...What?" Noire, Vert and Blanc all asked at the same time.
"Well, what else could it be? Just look out for non-humans in dark robes saying the end of the world is upon us, okay?"
The other CPUs were silent, their eyes white and blank as they tried to figure out what Neptune meant by that.
"...Well, I'm not sure where I am, so I'm going to explore, this place looks a bit familiar to me." Neptune said as she looked around. "If you're close to your Basilicoms, you should get back to your nations and make sure that things are doing okay first, because whenever something like this happens, everything falls apart and it takes years to fix."
"You have a point." Blanc muttered. "I'm in Lowee, so I'll head back and see what happened. Oh, Neptune, Noire, Vert, if any of you find my sisters, please give me a call, I don't see them near me. I'll call you if I see Nepgear or Uni."
"Thank you," Noire said over the phone, "so, as soon as we get our nations fixed up, we should meet up again."
"That sounds good. We might even find a clue or two about what happened in our nations." Vert replied.
Neptune tilted her head and thought for a second. "Oh! Wait! Before you all go! This is going to sound a bit weird, but... There might be changes to the world that you didn't expect."
"Like what?" Blanc asked.
"Well, one time, back in Ultra Dimension, someone accidentally released a Demon that loved sweets of all kinds and suddenly all the monsters in the world were cakes, candy, chocolate and stuff. The exploding pies were the worst." Especially since the explosions were actually pretty potent and injured and killed more than a few people. Hell, Plutia, Vert and Noire had all been badly injured by the exploding pies.
And the worst part of the whole event was that the sweets demon's treats weren't even tasty!
"You released it, didn't you?" Noire asked, her voice flat.
"Not me!" Neptune protested. "But one of my grandkids did!"
"...You have grandkids?!" Blanc asked, her voice shocked and if Neptune could see her face, she was sure that Blanc's eyes would be white and blank. Vert and Noire were probably the same. "No, wait, beyond that, you have KIDS?!"
"Yep." Neptune nodded. "That was a long, long time ago though, they all passed away due to old age." Sure, she missed her kids and she had taken in more than just IF, Compa and Peashy over the ages, but that was just the problem with being Immortal. "Just letting you know that things might be really weird, even by our standards, when we get back."
"Thanks for the warning." Noire said. The four wished each other luck and hung up.
"Well then..." Neptune looked around. "Hmm... This kind of looks like Planeptune, but man, it's been a long time." She shrugged and started walking. "I think I'll check out that tower first." Even if the four towers were giant and she could see four of them from where she was, she was certain that the one closest to her was in Planeptune. Shrugging, Neptune started walking towards the tower.
(-)
A little while later...
"Man, this place is huge!" Neptune looked up at tower as she got close. "Man, I can't see the top." She leaned back and put her hand above her eyebrows as she looked up. "Heh heh heh, I bet if I climbed up I'd have a good view, huh?"
She was about to do just that when she stopped and grimaced. "I'd probably just fall off again, huh?" Her love of climbing things and falling down on people and sometimes stuff was pretty useful at times. "Hee hee, that was a funny time..."
*Flash*
Noire, wearing a black tank top and green cargo pants, looked down from where she, Blanc and Neptune were crawling around support beams, all three of them were in HDD as they spied on a large machine with a red crystal in a elevated spire. "There..." She whispered and pointed at a large machine. "That must be what's allowing them to do everything."
White Heart, who was wearing a micro bikini, growled. "Those freaking Mole People..."
"So we just need to smash the machine and we can return everything to normal?" Purple Heart, who was wearing a harem dancer outfit, asked and Black Heart nodded. "But are you sure that I'm a Goddess?"
"For the fiftieth time, yes!" Black Heart snapped at the girl, who jumped slightly and fell off. "NEPTUNE!"
"Ah crap!" Purple Heart cried out as she fell down...
...Several hundred feet...
...And smashed through the large machine, causing an explosion that destroyed the red crystal.
*End Flash*
"Man, that hurt too," Neptune muttered to herself, "but better a headache than being a slave dancer again."
"...There's slavery in Gamindustri?" A familiar voice spoke up and Neptune's eyes sparkled as she turned around to see IF standing near her with a confused look on her face.
"Iffy!" Neptune smiled happily and glomped the brunette before IF could react.
"ACK!" IF let out a yell as she looked at Neptune uncomfortably. "Who are you, why are you calling me by my nickname, and what did you mean about slavery?!"
Neptune blinked a few times and let go of IF, only to tilt her head in confusion. "I know that I disappear randomly all the time, but do you need to act so cold to me?" She pouted. "It's me! Neptune! And I've known your nickname since that time I fell off of the 10,000 floor Neptral tower and crashed next to you!" Her pout increased as she remembered that incident. "You're a tsundere! Why weren't you my landing pad!? And the slavery thing was something that happened to me in another dimension, not here."
IF gave Neptune a look that just screamed disbelief. "...I've never met you before." But IF had to admit, very few people knew the name of the giant tower that she had climbed once. Considering that the tower had disappeared a long time ago somehow, it wasn't a surprise. "And who's a tsundere?!"
Neptune just giggled at IF's annoyed look. "Okay, I get it, I'm sorry for just disappearing from the arena like that. You can stop pretending to not know me now." When IF's look of slight annoyance didn't abate, Neptune's face became one of worry. "...Uh... Nep to IF, are you there?"
IF just gave her an annoyed huff. "I really don't know you, sorry to say."
"Jeez, that's so mean!" Neptune stomped her foot on the ground in annoyance. "I mean, sure, I've been gone for a few years, but for me it was really, really long and I missed you so much that I hugged you in front of everyone because I missed my family so much!"
"...Family?" IF asked, confused before shaking her head. "Well, if you're lost, you can come with me to the guild, I'm sure that someone can help you find your family."
Neptune felt a cold spike in her body when IF told her that. "...okay..." She said in a rather soft, meek voice. 'Not again...' She thought to herself as the two made their way to Planeptune, leaving the Gold Tower behind them. As she followed IF, Neptune's mind wasn't just seeing IF, but also IF's husband, IF's children, grandchildren and other descendants walking with her before they slowly turned black and disappeared one after the other, leaving Neptune alone.
"Eventually, you'll end up all alone, no matter what happens in your life." A familiar voice popped into Neptune's head and she blinked as she saw Rei Ryghts standing in front of her, giving her a sad look. "I just wanted to prevent you from suffering."
"...You would have doomed the world." Neptune answered as Rei faded away, as did the world for a few moments. "...I don't regret my life, Rei..." Even as her mind returned to the present, she sighed softly. "That doesn't mean I don't miss my family though."
(-)
A little while later...
As they got back to Planeptune City, IF sighed at the despondent look on the girl's face. Between her being randomly moody, though IF supposed it was only to be expected if the girl was lost without her parents around, and the constant bugging IF with lots of questions about random things, IF was just glad that they were finally back in the city. "Alright, we're here." She said as they stopped in front of the guild. "Go inside and I'm sure that one of the guild members will help you find your family."
Neptune bit back a reply about that and sighed as IF walked off. "Well, at least I'm back. I think I'll go and see what's going on in the city."
(-)
An hour later...
"This sucks." Neptune grumbled as she walked into the park. "No one remembers who I am?" Sighing, she sat on a park bench and leaned back against it. "This is like the Mole People invasion. Urgh, where's the machine that's making everyone forget we're CPUs?" She smiled softly at that. "But they made a mistake. I still remember that I'm a CPU." Plus she was pretty sure that she still had all her power, unlike when the Mole People sealed their powers and memories off.
Neptune tapped her chin. "Hmm, if that's the case, this probably isn't the same thing."
"Yeah, it's probably not the same thing." A familiar voice said behind Neptune, who sat up, her eyes wide and pupils shrinking to pin-pricks as she slowly turned around, only to see empty space.
"...I'm not going to get any sleep, huh?" Neptune muttered as she stood up and walked towards the Basilicom. As she left the park, she looked around in all directions, including up in the sky and grumbled softly. "Dammit, what's going on?"
(-)
After getting to the Basilicom, Neptune smiled at the receptionist. "Hey! How are you?"
The receptionist blinked in confusion. "Hello? Are you lost, little girl?"
Neptune pouted and sighed. "This is about what I expected." She turned and started to walk off. "I'm sorry for wasting your time." As she got to the door, she heard a familiar voice that had her turning with a sad smile on her face. "Histy..."
"Neptune?!" Histoire gasped, and Neptune gawked at her. "What are you doing over there?"
"Do you know this child, Lady Histoire?" The receptionist asked in surprise.
"Yes." Histoire nodded and smiled. "She and I have a long history together. I will see her in the back." She turned to Neptune, who was walking back to them. "Come, Neptune."
Neptune just smiled at Histoire. "Sure." It was taking everything she had not to break into tears in front of everyone and just give Histoire a giant hug.
That didn't last after they got into Neptune's office as Neptune hugged Histoire tightly. "Histy!" Neptune sobbed softly. "I'm glad that you still remember me! You're the best, Histy!"
Histoire sweat-dropped and gently patted Neptune on the head. A lot of people thought that she was smaller than she actually was since she was on her book all the time, but the truth was, Histoire wasn't that much smaller than Neptune in size.
Of course, that didn't mean much as Neptune was rather short as well.
"Sorry," Neptune smiled and let go of Histoire, "I was just kind of sad that no one could remember me."
"It's fine." Histoire smiled at her. "I'm glad that you're alright. But what happened?"
Neptune sighed and shook her head. "Well, unless there are Mole People in this dimension, I dunno what happened. We got our butts kicked because of the new characters that beats the old characters to show how awesome the new characters are trope, then the arena flashed and now no one knows anything."
Histoire sweat-dropped. "...I take it that's happened to you before?"
Neptune rolled her eyes. "Doi! It's a staple in these kinds of stories. It's actually annoying because it makes your old characters look weak and then when they beat the new characters up, people wonder how they lost the first time."
"Please don't be so meta." Histoire muttered, though she was grateful that Neptune seemed somewhat normal. "So what's the plan?"
Neptune sighed and shook her head. "Sadly, I don't have the first clue as to what caused it. I was just coming back to Planeptune to make things better, but even Iffy doesn't know anything."
Histoire stroked her chin. "I see. I suggest you go and find IF, she was heading to the cherry blossom grove that's to the West of the city."
"Might not be a bad idea, maybe the mastermind behind this stupid plot will..." Neptune blinked as she heard a beeping sound and pulled out her smartphone. "Oh, this was set up to find important news?"
"Neptune, this is hardly the..."
"Noire's a wanted criminal?!" Neptune gasped and Histoire floated over to look at the phone as well. "But why!?"
"It must have something to do with the people forgetting that you're a CPU." Histoire said and Neptune nodded as she put her phone away. "Please, hurry and find out."
"Don't worry." Neptune smiled at Histoire. "Even if Iffy doesn't remember me, I'll make sure that she's okay."
Histoire smiled at Neptune. "Thank you."
Neptune was about to leave when she stopped and a thought came to her. "Wait, if no one remembers..." She gasped in horror. "Does this mean that the national food of Planeptune isn't pudding anymore?!"
Histoire sweat-dropped so hard that she fell off of her book. "Neptune! Now is not the time to worry about pudding! Get going or I'll have eggplants made for dinner!"
"ACK!" Neptune started running to the door. "No fair using food I'm allergic to as a threat, Histy!"
"...Allergic?" Histoire asked no one in particular as she got off of the floor and back onto her book. "Hmm, then again, that would explain why someone who enjoys eating as much as Neptune can't stand eggplants, wouldn't it?"
It's been noted by everyone since the original Neptunia game that Neptune is a foodie that eats nearly everything. Someone who isn't picky in the slightest hating eggplants? It was likely done as a joke, but what if, in universe, Neptune can't stand eggplants because she's allergic to them? She took one bite of them, had a bad reaction and determined that they were evil and would never eat them again, never realizing that she was actually allergic.
After a thousand years, I bet someone figured it out and got her tested for eggplant allergies. Probably an alien.