Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Sega, Idea Factory and Compile Heart and whomever else worked on it.
Chapter 61
It was just over three hours later that found the group mulling about in the living room when Histoire floated in with Ouya and Stadia following after her. Histoire had a tired, but pleased look on her face while there was a sense of something different about Ouya and Stadia as they seemed to have a relaxed look on their faces that hadn't been there in a long time. "It's done." Histoire announced to the group.
"So you two can't transform again?" Ultra Noire, who had put her eye-patch back on, asked and the two nodded and she smiled. "I normally wouldn't say that I'm glad, but..." She trailed off and shook her head. "It doesn't matter, welcome back, you two."
Nepgear smiled happily as she watched her sister walk over to the two of them and talk quietly before hugging them both tightly. She looked at Plutia, who was standing next to her and gently reached behind Plutia and gave her a gentle push. "Go on, you love those two, right?"
Plutia nodded and ran over to Ouya and Stadia, hugging Ouya away from Neptune, who let go so she could fully hug Stadia.
Ultra Vert, Ultra Noire and Ultra Blanc looked at each other and nodded before walking over and Noire and Blanc hugged Ouya and Plutia while Vert pulled Neptune and Stadia into a hug. Vert and Neptune were joined by Peashy, who hugged Stadia from behind.
Histoire smiled as she watched the group hug. 'Alls well that ends well.' She turned around as a small portal opened up next to her and both the bigger Neptune and Uzume walked through. "Ah, you went somewhere?"
"I just had to show Uzume something really cool." Neptune said and blinked as she saw the group hug. "D'aww, that's so sweet." She pulled out a cell phone and snapped some pictures quickly.
"I'm so..." The smaller Neptune smiled before her eyes suddenly closed and she flopped down, much to everyone's shock.
"Neptune!" Nepgear gasped as she saw her sister on the floor. "Are you..." She trailed off as she heard loud snoring coming from Neptune. "...You fell asleep?"
"Well, Neptuna did blow herself up." Peashy pointed out, "then she went to fight with Uzume..."
"She went Hyper Mode?" Ultra Noire asked, a shocked expression on her face. "AND she blew herself up?!" Peashy nodded. "YOU STUPID IDIOT!" She yelled, partially at Peashy and partially at Neptune, who didn't even react. "No wonder she passed out! She should have been sleeping hours ago!"
"The fact that she stayed up this long just shows how much she loves you two." Ultra Vert said, smiling at Ouya and Stadia. "And how worried she was for you." She looked at Uzume, "and, of course, how much she was worried about you as well."
"Jeez, Nepsy, you shouldn't push yourself so much." Uzume complained as Ultra Vert picked up Neptune.
"Come on, I'll show you where her room is." Nepgear smiled as she led Vert out of the room. They were followed by Peashy, Ouya and Stadia.
"Goodness, that was not good for my heart." Histoire said as she panted and looked at Ultra Blanc, who had a concerned frown on her face. "How long will she be like this?"
"All of tomorrow at least." Blanc replied, "it really depends on how injured she is, but she might be out for a day, a week or even a month or more." She shrugged helplessly. "Not much we can do but wait for her to recover."
Ultra Noire merely shrugged and walked over to a nearby couch before flopping on it. "Well, if that's the case, I think I'll stay here for a few days." She smirked at the looks of surprise she got. "My nation will be fine for a few days, there's an annoying bitch that needs to be paid off in a week, but I want to make sure that Neptune's fine."
"Good point." Ultra Blanc nodded in agreement. "Lowee will be fine. We've gone missing for months and years at a time before, what's a few days? I can't remember the last time I had to worry about the day-to-day stuff in Lowee. And if something big happens, Histoire can contact us." She looked at Histoire in the room, who nodded. "So it shouldn't be too bad to relax for a few days."
"Sadly, I can't stay," Hyper Noire said, sighing heavily. "After the CPU Shift period, there's lots of stuff to do back in Lastation."
"Sadly, it's the same for me in Leanbox." Vert said, shaking her head. "S-Sha promised to keep things from getting too out of control, but I don't want to make her have to do too much. Besides, you said Neptune will be out for a few days at least, right?"
"Yes." Ultra Blanc nodded to her.
"Very well then, just give me a call and I'll return." Vert smiled as she transformed into Green Heart. "I don't think it's right to have a party to celebrate Uzume coming back without everyone here."
Uzume laughed at hearing that. "Thanks, Vertsy, that sounds fun." Green Heart nodded and opened a window, flying off.
Noire looked at Uni and tapped her chin. "Hey, Uni," Uni gave her a confused look and Noire smiled, "why don't you spend the night here?" Uni jerked in surprise and Noire chuckled. "I can handle things back in Lastation and if things get crazy, I'll call you back, okay?" Uni nodded, looking somewhat guarded. "Besides, someone has to keep Nepgear from going crazy, you saw what happens when she gets time to herself."
"I'd wonder what she could do in one day, but then I remember that she built an entire Nepgya factory in twelve hours." Uni deadpanned. Thankfully the Nepgya robots just wanted people to smile and laugh, but the fact that they were capable of doing everything Nepgear could do was a bit disturbing in so many ways.
"She did what?!" Histoire yelled, her eyes white and blank. "Why was I not told?!"
Uni's eyes went white and blank. "Oh shit! I forgot, you weren't supposed to find out about that!"
Histoire sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Noire, leave Uni here, I have a lecture coming up that will last at least an hour."
Noire chuckled and patted Uni on the back. "Have fun!" She ran off, transforming and flying off through the open window, much to Uni's shock.
Blanc looked at Rom and Ram, who were looking at her expectantly and sighed, "I think Uni won't be up to the task of keeping Nepgear in check after dealing with one of Histoire's lectures." The twins smiled and nodded as Blanc transformed and walked over to the open window, only to be met by her other self. "Yes?" She wondered just what her other self wanted to say.
Blanc smiled at White Heart and leaned in to whisper to her. "Stop worrying about your breasts, okay? You have a cute face, a nice ass and a nice, flat stomach." White Heart twitched, blushed and looked away while Blanc continued. "Besides, if you want to get back at Vert for all her teasing, tell her that her ass is fat." Blanc had lost track of all the times she had made her Vert shut up and start worrying about her butt being too big and fat. And for Blanc, it was a quick way to end any sort of teasing about her boobs.
"...I'll keep that in mind." White Heart nodded and flew off.
"What was that about?" The bigger Neptune asked as she looked at Blanc. "You said something about butts?"
Blanc just gave the busty girl a smile. "Don't worry about it."
"Uni..." Histoire said ominously, seemingly towering over the CPU Candidate, who stood there with blank, white eyes and trembling. "I hope you're ready for this."
"Crap!" Uni yelped as she was forced to a seiza position by Histoire's command. "You're Planeptune's oracle!"
"This isn't even the first time I've given lectures to non-Planeptune CPUs. Your sister, Vert and Blanc have all gotten lectures from me before." Histoire countered, "so I'm more than capable of lecturing you, young lady."
"Ah crap!" Uni gulped and looked around as she realized that everyone was already gone. "No fair!" She yelled, tears falling out of her eyes as Histoire launched into a tirade about not keeping the book fairy in the loop about dangerous things that Nepgear had done and why it was important, as Nepgear's handler, to keep her up to date on everything.
(-)
"Should we have left her alone?" Rom asked as she looked at everyone.
"My memory's a bit fuzzy," Uzume admitted, "but I recall that Histy's lectures can really wear you out and leave you wanting to do anything to avoid them in the future."
"Sounds like my mom." Neptune said, chuckling, before sighing softly. "I don't really remember much about my home, but... I wonder if she misses me."
"She did." Croire said from inside the Nepnote. Neptune blinked and pulled the notebook out of her pocket to look at it in confusion. "You forget? I instantly record all history in a world when I go to it? Your home was the world those three CPUs were from. Your mom died over a thousand years ago in that world. She died thinking you died when you were young."
"Aw man!" Neptune had a troubled look on her face. "If I had known that, I would have returned sooner, I mean..."
"Hey, Nepsy..." Uzume put her hand on Neptune's arm and gave it a squeeze. "It's okay, you can't change what happened."
"I know," Neptune sighed and hung her head. "I just... If I had known that she'd be dead by now, I would have returned home at least a few times so she would have known that I was still alive."
"Yeah, well," Croire spoke up from inside the Nepnote, "you should have seen how much she cried on your birthday."
Neptune just shoved her Nepnote into her pocket and had a look of depression on her face. "I..." She jumped when she felt a hand on hers. Looking up, she blinked as she saw Plutia giving her a look of understanding. "Um..."
"It hurts, huh?" Plutia said softly. "To know that you caaan't be with your family anymore, huh?" Neptune nodded and Plutia let go of her hand and turned to walk off. "You should always cherish your family." Her voice had a hint of pain that was impossible to ignore. "You never know when they'll be gone and you'll be unable to tell them how much you love them."
Plutia walked off without listening to anyone. Her eyes shimmered as she thought back to her life, how her actions had caused IF and many of the other children that she and Neptune had adopted over the years to abandon her because they were scared of her.
"What about you and Neptune now?" Iris Queen's voice echoed in her head.
'That's different, Neppy hurt me badly.' Plutia thought as everything around her seemed to turn black and her Mole Queen self appeared before her.
"I'm not saying you should forgive her. She needs to make up for what she did to you. But don't you think that you're in the same position IF was in?"
"...Are you on her side?" Plutia asked her other self.
"I'm on yours, you know that. I'm just saying, don't do something you'll end up regretting again." Iris Queen said softly. "Neptune needs to make amends to you. I'm just saying, don't be like IF, who let her anger and distrust towards you fester until she wouldn't even see you when she was on her deathbed. Just allow Neptune to make amends, that's all I'm asking."
"I can do that." Plutia nodded as the darkness around her faded and reality reasserted itself. 'I'm not that stubborn.'
More of a breather chapter than anything else.