Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Sega, Idea Factory and Compile Heart and whomever else worked on it.

Chapter 67

"So, how long are you going to be an idiot?" A familiar voice filled the otherwise dark void as a person walked in, their form becoming clear as the darkness cleared away.

"That's a mean thing to say to me. Or should I say that you're calling yourself an idiot as well?"

"Unlike you, I'm serious all the time, Neptune."

Neptune just smiled at the person talking to her. "Oh come on, Frozen Queen, you're too serious. Remember that time when our third daughter, Diantha, had a crush on that boy but he rejected her because he had a girlfriend? You wanted to kill him, his family, his pets, his girlfriend and her family for smiting our little girl."

Her other self gave Neptune an annoyed look and snorted as she sat down, a chair materialized out of the darkness under her. "You mean like how you threatened IF's future husband with Sadie if he broke your little girl's heart?"

"Iffy was really shy." Neptune countered her other self. "Part of that was probably the fact that she had two Goddesses as mothers and other people saw her and Compa differently when they found out."

The Frozen Queen shook her head. "And yet your family is completely in tatters. Plutia hates you, for good reason, just like how IF hated her."

Neptune bit back a response and sighed. "You know why I did it."

"Yeah, I know, all too well, your stupid angst and frustration was shoved into me so you wouldn't take it out on the citizens or anyone else." The Frozen Queen snorted at Neptune. "I'm calling you an idiot, not because you're a suicidal moron, but because you seem to think that the best way to deal with your family is to hurt them. Ouya and Stadia..."

"Should I have killed them?" Neptune asked her other self. "They're finally free and don't have to suffer anymore."

"Yet you would have left them sealed away for all time. Just like you did with Peashy and Plutia's HDD selves." Neptune bit her lip lightly, not bothering to say anything to that. "Let's face it, the reason you came back to this world was because you just couldn't handle it anymore." Neptune gave her a confused look. "Oh please, this is your mind, if you can't be honest here, where can you be honest?"

"I..." Neptune whispered softly. "Was I..?"

"I bet that the others were as well." Neptune's other self continued. "The lot of you were in a complete depression for the past two centuries. I'm honestly surprised that none of you tried to kill yourselves just to end the depression and pain." The Frozen Queen got up and the chair she had been sitting on disappeared. Neptune just sat there silently as the Frozen Queen walked forward, stopping when her back was to Neptune. "You kept telling yourself that you couldn't kill yourself, but there were times the thought crossed your mind, wasn't there?"

"...Thousands of times." Neptune answered, her voice small and weak as she lowered her head. "I was so tired, but I couldn't end my life."

The Frozen Queen walked around Neptune until she was standing in front of the small CPU before kneeling in front of her. She reached up and cupped Neptune's chin, lifting it up as tears spilled out of Neptune's eyes. "Because you couldn't leave them." She firmly, but gently forced Neptune's head to turn to the side as images of Nepgear, Compa, IF, Plutia, Peashy, Noire, Vert, Blanc, and Histoire flashed in front of them. The images faded away and images of Sobar and all of Neptune's other children, both biological and adopted flashed in front of them, including Ouya and Stadia. The Frozen Queen let go of Neptune's chin and gave her a blank stare. "So why are you still sleeping?"

"I'm just tired." Neptune gave her other self a tired look. "I blew myself up and fought instead of sleeping."

The Frozen Queen scoffed at Neptune. "You could force yourself to heal faster, you know?" Neptune gave her a flat stare. "Yes, yes, I know, your stats will be halved for the next three years. But it's not like you need to fight anything truly dangerous alone." The Frozen Queen gave Neptune a small smirk. "Besides, what's three years for someone who's lived for over a thousand already?"

Neptune laughed softly. "Yeah... I'm not going to be getting out of bed for a few days though."

"Whatever, just pig out on pudding and have your pet Prinny bring you a bedpan when you need it."

Neptune laughed softly. "Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks." She sighed as everything started to fade away. "Hey, how should I apologize to Plutie?"

"Why are you asking me?" The Frozen Queen asked as she faded away. "I'm you, after all."

"Yeah." Neptune whispered softly.

(-)

Groaning as her consciousness returned to her, Neptune opened her eyes and blinked as everything looked blurry. "Bleah, feels like I'm looking through a fog." She wasn't expecting anyone to say anything.

"I would think that you would have made the weather perfect at all times." A familiar voice said near her bed.

Neptune smiled and turned her head as she saw a yellow blob. "Hey, Histy. How long was I out? Where's Pudding?"

"The Prinny or your favorite food?" Histoire asked.

"Both." Neptune told Histoire. "Plus if I have something to drink, I'm sure that my eyes will water up and flush out."

"Alright, I'll call for your Prinny. Also, it's been three days since you passed out."

Neptune chuckled as she shifted in her bed. "Like mother, like daughter, huh?"

"Neptune?" Histoire asked, confusion in her voice.

Neptune smiled as she closed her eyes. "I mean, you helped me when I was a brand new CPU, right? In a way, you're like my mother."

Neptune couldn't see it, but Histoire smiled softly upon hearing that. "I suppose so." She turned and floated out to find the Prinny.

(-)

Meanwhile...

Uzume smiled as she walked into the dining room and saw Plutia sitting at the table with Ouya and Stadia on either side of her, all three of them eating some cereal. "Ah! Ouysy! Stadsy! Plutsy! Good afternoon."

"We just woke up." Ouya told her, getting a nod from the others. "But it makes sense why everyone else was gone and doing stuff."

"That's cool." Uzume nodded as she walked over to the table and sitting down across from Plutia. "Plutsy, can I ask you something?" Plutia blinked, but nodded. "Are you going to ever forgive Nepsy?" Uzume sighed at the sharp and angry look Plutia gave her. "No, I'm not saying you can't be mad at her for what happened. I mean, I was so angry at Gamindustri after being sealed away that I tried to destroy it, rope you three and Peasy into my scheme and I turned Nepsy and the others against their sisters before releasing super strong monsters into the world."

"But that was Kurome." Stadia pointed out and Uzume shook her head.

"You forgot?" Uzume said as she tugged on the blue portion of her hair. "The Uzume Tennouboushi you see before you is a fragment of the good that was in Kurome Ankokuboshi that refused to die and became her own person before melding with her previous self." She sighed softly. "You have every reason to be pissed at Nepsy for what she did to you, Plutsy." She gave Plutia a knowing look. "I hated the people of Gamindustri after being sealed away too."

"...Should I just forgive Neppy for no reason?" Plutia asked, her voice dark and Uzume shook her head.

"No, I get that you're mad and Nepsy deserves your anger. But take it from someone who was also sealed away. Don't let your anger fester and grow." Uzume stood up. "If Nepsy honestly tries to apologize and shows you that she means that she's sorry, at least accept her apology."

"...Can I have a few years to stew in my anger?" Plutia asked and Uzume nodded at her.

"Yeah, I mean, I was sealed for almost eighty years, you had your HDD sealed away for two centuries, right?" Uzume asked, getting a nod from Plutia. "Yeah, it's fine, just let it go if Nepsy really tries to make up for what she did."

"I will." Plutia said, causing Ouya and Stadia to smile at her. "But I want to live a few years with my husband, without anyone reminding me of stuff."

Uzume nodded and smiled at Plutia. "Hey, we all have people that we're mad at for one reason or another, right?" She closed her eyes as images of people that made her mad filled her head. "It's important to remember that even if they hurt you," an image of Histoire looking at her sadly filled Uzume's head, "that so long as they try to make it up to you, you need to forgive them."

"Who are you mad at?" Ouya asked Uzume, who sighed softly.

"...I was furious with Histy." Uzume told them. "She was the first person I met, she guided me as a CPU, taught me how to serve the people of this nation. I guess she was the closest thing that I had to a mother, since we're born from Sharicite here."

"That's different from our world." Stadia muttered, remembering that Neptune had told them that she was a Pure Goddess, unlike the rest of the CPUs of the Ultra Dimension, as she was born a Goddess, not as a human.

"But ever since coming back..." Uzume trailed off as she remembered the interactions she had with Histoire as Kurome. "...I was wrong. I know it's not the same as you, Plutsy, but if you need to talk, I'll listen, okay?"

Plutia nodded as Uzume turned and walked away.

She had a lot to think about.

(-)

Later...

Neptune smiled as she, Histoire, her big self and Pudding ate some pudding together. "Pudding's so good, do you have some of that special water, Pudding?" Neptune asked and reached around for a glass.

"Here you go, Master Neptune, dood." Pudding said as he pulled out a bottle of bubbling liquid. "This should help your eyes out."

"Thanks." Neptune said as she felt the bottle in her hands. She lifted it up and took several big gulps of it.

"Sheesh, Tiny Me..." The bigger Neptune sweat-dropped heavily. "Are you dehydrated or something?"

"PAH!" Neptune gasped as she finished gulping down the liquid. "OH YEAH!" Suddenly liquid flooded out of Neptune's eyes like she was crying. "I needed that!" She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes to clear the liquid away. "Hey! I can see again!"

"Just a build up of liquid, huh?" Histoire asked and Neptune nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"Don't ask me to do any fighting for a couple of years." Neptune laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "I cut my stats in half for the next couple of years to recover faster."

"Well, that's... Abababababababababababababababa!" Histoire shook and started babbling.

Both Neptunes and Pudding looked at her curiously.

"Oh, is that a Histy call?" Neptune asked and nodded to Pudding, who grabbed Histoire and pushed her towards Neptune. "In that case... Boop!" She tapped Histoire on the nose, which caused her to stop vibrating, but her eyes lit up as another Histoire appeared in the room. "Oh! It's mini-Histy!"

"Neptune, I hope that things aren't too bad in your home world." The other Histoire said, a troubled look on her face. "Because I have bad news."

"...I don't like where this is going." Both Neptunes said at the same time.

"What's going on, Mini-Histy?"

The smaller Histoire had a troubled look on her face as she screwed her eyes shut and lowered her head. "I apologize, but the Angels that serve Artina decided that you need to return to make your payment and they decided to take your husband hostage."

Neptune could only stare as her pupils shrank to pinpricks and her skin turned stark white.

Oh sheesh, not something Neptune needed to hear right now.