Planet 1: Convolution
A woman blinked as she continued to stare at the large purple figure in front of her. The room was dark and the walls were covered in pure black metal sheets. Random neon purple lines were seen all over the walls.
The woman struggled to move, she was covered in the same metal sheets except they were small and chained together. They moved and slithered all over her body like snakes and she felt them squeezing her tighter. She felt sharp pains but couldn't tell if she was bleeding or not. She looked up at the large purple figure again, but didn't say a word.
The large purple figure stared down at her. It's body shape suggested that it was female, but the woman wasn't sure. It was humanoid, except it had four arms and three eyes. It's right eye was closed, it's yellow left eye was open, and it's red top eye, located on its forehead, was open as well. Both open eyes stared down at the woman. The figure didn't move. They simply stared at each other.
Suddenly the metal sheets stopped moving. The woman broke eye contact and looked down at them. She moved a little bit, tried to free herself, but she couldn't. She then heard an alarm go off. It sounded like an emergency fire alarm but it wasn't ear deafeningly loud. Still, she felt the same fear she would if it was a normally loud fire alarm.
She looked back at the purple figure to see a yellow orb drop from the black sky. It was attached to similarly colored black and purple wires that came from all sides of the room. The orb pumped as if it was a heart, and it grew bigger and bigger the more it did.
As the woman stared at it, the orb cracked open at the bottom after multiple pumps which caused yellow honey-like liquid to pour out of it along with a tall slender lady who had pale skin and hair that reached to her waist.
The metal sheets of paper all slithered off of the woman's body and went up and around the slender lady who glowed dimly. The lady turned to the woman and smiled. A pair of angel wings slowly sprouted out of her back, soaked in the same honey like liquid on the ground.
The woman instantly back stepped once seeing the smile and pressed her back against the wall. She pushed against the door and felt it slide a little bit so she slid it aside and turned her head to look inside.
Behind the door was her bedroom. With it's simple faded green wallpaper, standard white bed, desk and wooden bookshelf. She squinted her eyes at it a bit more before feeling a spike of pain on her head.
She turned her head to look at the lady who pulled back the metal chained sheets like a whip. The lady smiled and raised her whip to strike again, but the woman ran into her bedroom and slid her closet door shut. She held it shut and braced for impact from the whip, but she felt nothing.
The woman stood there for a while holding the door closed before opening it again slightly and looking at her jackets hung on the rack and her clothes drawer in their usual places. She blinked before closing the door and opening it again still revealing her normal closet. She looked around her normal bedroom and sighed.
"That… there's no way that was a dream." The woman commented.
She looked by her bed stand to see a tiny blonde book fairy figure start rocking it's head back and forth with the numbers 06:45 on them.
"ABABABABABA." Said the small fairy figure.
The woman patted it's head causing its eyes to stop glowing and it's head to stop rocking. She went to her window to push the curtains open and saw the dim autumn sky. She saw the sun just rising, leaves blowing by in the wind, and cars driving down busy streets.
The buildings were mostly white and futuristic with some more colorful banners at the bottom floor. She stretched, then looked behind her at the closet door in a cold sweat to see nothing unusual.
"I'm going to have to ask Histoire about that…" The woman said to herself.
She yawned, then looked down at her ripped up pajamas with cuts all over her body. She took off her pajama shirt and took a proper look at it.
It was covered in cute pictures of a small chibi girl with light purple hair but strangely, none of the cuts hit any of the pictures of the girl. The woman stared at it some more before looking at her pants and seeing the same thing.
The woman groaned, carefully opened her closet door again, and took out white sweatpants, a black shirt that had a fancy purple N with rings around it, and a big purple jacket with the same dark N symbol on its shoulders and around the heart area.
The woman took all the clothes into her bathroom, took a bottle of medicine called "Healing Grass" from behind the mirror, and drank it feeling the cold sour liquid go down her throat. She looked down to see her cuts quickly heal and she smiled.
"I'm definitely not in a dream right now, I think. Yeah, this is reality but then what was that? I don't remember sleeping in my closet, or ever seeing that strange room before. Hehehe, if I was with the goddesses right now, they'd be singing that song in my ears. I wish one of them was with me right now, I want to be comforted."
The woman put on her normal clothes and looked at her pajamas again, then placed them carefully in a plastic bag and headed for the door. She looked back at the door to her bedroom and sighed.
"Wouldn't hurt to check. Actually it might but… uh, yeah."
The woman went back into her bedroom and opened her closet door holding a small pistol inside of her jacket. She looked around to see her normal closet and squinted her eyes as she slowly closed the door.
"Alright… I guess I'll just go to work…"
She left her apartment and took a few steps down the hallway, then quickly rushed back over and opened the door. She looked around to see everything as normal, then sighed and closed the door.
"Ok, nothing's working. I'll just have to go to Histoire and maybe get my head checked."
The woman locked the door to her home and walked down the hallway again. She pressed a down arrow button and entered an elevator. She leaned against the metal bar and sighed again.
"How many times has it been now… six? Six times I've dreamt of pretty naked women? Except this time it was very… not my thing. I think. I don't think being dominated or bondage are my kinks, or maybe it is. Maybe? I don't remember ever searching up-"
The woman turned to her right to see a middle aged woman stare at her in shock while covering the ears of a small boy who also just blinked and stared at her.
"Oh… Oh no. Listen, hey, I am so, so sorry that you had to hear that. I just- I- uhm-"
The elevator doors opened and the middle aged woman quickly left with the boy. The woman sighed as she exited out of the elevator and looked around the main lobby she was in.
"Don't tell me I'm naturally good at traumatizing kids…"
She left the main lobby and looked outside at the still fairly dim clear sky. She walked down the street and stood at a bus stop along with a few other people. A long purple bus stopped by and they all went inside. Once the doors were closed, the bus began to drive down the street.
"I think… I think I'm gonna move to Lowee." A man said in a seat in front of the woman.
"What? Lowee? Why? That's kind of random." The man's friend asked.
"Well, lately I haven't been getting very good sleep. I mean, no nightmares or anything but it's just been… rough."
"Have you seen a large tall four armed, three eyed lady?" The woman asked the two guys.
The two of them looked at each other, then back at the woman with confused expressions.
"That's… oddly specific of you to ask, uh no I haven't" The man said.
"Oh. Sorry to bother you uh, I'm just… what- whatever I'll figure something out."
The woman sat back down comfortably in her bus seat and looked out the window.
"That was… embarrassing."
Eventually, after multiple bus stops, the woman stepped off the bus and looked down the sidewalk. She saw a lady sitting on a bench beside a staircase that led to a very tall white tower. The woman looked up the stairs to see the glass entrance to the tower and the few balconies the tower had.
The tower was in a shark fin-like shape with purple neon lights all over it. The side of the tower had a few mechanical parts and beams sticking out suggesting that it was incomplete. The entrance was triangle shaped but the doors were cut out to be rectangular.
The woman was about to take a step up to the tower, but heard a sniff to her left. She looked over to see the lady on the bench look down and wipe tears from her eyes. The woman walked over to have a closer look at the lady.
The lady wore a black business suit with light blue lines and some white sections and had a white skull on her belt. Her hair was long and light blue, and her eyes were more on the greenish side. She had thin glasses and horn-like hair accessory which was white with neon blue lines and pointed up.
The woman walked over and sat down next to her. The lady noticed her and quickly scooted away wiping away her tears.
"Oh! Sorry! Do- do you need this bench?" The lady asked. "Uhm, I was just about to go anyway! Uh, good bye!"
"Wait, hang on, I just wanted to ask if you were alright." The woman said.
"No no no, I'm fine thank you. I just… I'm ok! See? Nothing- I'm not hurt!"
"Be honest with me, I'm tired of people saying they're fine when they're not."
"It's nothing important! It doesn't bother you!"
"Yeah well the same could be said with my 2000+ hour game file but I still needed a hug and some ice cream after that got deleted. What happened?"
The lady took a step back before looking at the woman again. She took a few deep breaths before standing up straight again.
"Uh, well… Oh! I'm- I'm Rei by the way uh, we- we have to introduce ourselves first… right?"
"You know what you're probably right. I'm Ambience, good to see you Rei."
"Yeah it's uh, it's good to see you to! Haha, uh, I… well."
Rei looked down at the drain by the side of the road. Ambience followed Rei's eyes and saw a large stack of paper soaked and stuck in the crevices of the drain.
"Ah, well that's not too bad. We could go into the Basilicom or a nearby library and just print out some more copies." Ambience said.
"I uh, don't have an online document…" Rei said quietly.
"What? How did you get these then?"
"I copied them all by hand…"
Ambience stared at Rei and blinked a few times.
"I'm sorry, you what?" Ambience asked.
"I spent all night copying them down… and now…"
"That… ok, I won't question what thought process you had to get to this situation but there's nothing to be done now. How about… oh, you do know how to make a document online, right?"
"Yes…"
"Then you can just type it out once and just print it. The Basilicom is literally right there, we can go in and do it now."
"Uhm, well, I don't exactly know how to use… modern technology." Rei said.
"Ok well… uh, that's fine. I'll just send you a tutorial, you have a phone right?"
Rei took out a flip phone from her jacket pocket and showed it to Ambience.
"That… well… huh…"
"Anny usually does the tech work for me…"
"Anny?"
"Oh, oh no! I said too much! Uh, thank- thanks- thank you for the help! I- I have to get going now, bye!"
Rei quickly turned around and ran down the street. A car nearly ran into her as she screamed and tripped onto the wet street. Ambience was about to run after her, but she saw Rei quickly get up and continue to run.
"That's the first time I've seen a flip phone in years…"
Ambience thought about Rei as she walked up the stairs and opened the doors into the main Basilicom lobby. She saw tall rows of pillars dimly lit green and a round table with a much more adult like version of the book fairy she had next to her bed stand. She saw more stairs at the end of the room that lead up to two thrones.
"Good morning Ambience." The fairy said.
"Good morning Evangelist."
"You will call me by my normal name when needed… yes?"
"As in Oracle?"
"That… that will do."
The little fairy straightened her long blonde twintails and started to levitate off the table on the blue book she was sitting on. She dusted and straightened her purple dress, her purple sleeves, and her blue tie.
"That's a nice hat." Ambience noted pointing at the white circular hat with a purple N symbol on Histoire's head. "Where did you get it?"
"Oh, this hat I had custom made a long time ago with a friend of mine. Truth be told, I am a bit worried about her. However I'm certain that she's alright at the moment. She's a very capable woman, dare I say more capable than our CPU…"
"You mean Arfoire? Wow, that must be a really old hat then."
"No no no, Planeptune did not exist when Arfoire and I were… facing… problems. In any case, welcome back to the Basilicom. You'll be stationed outdoors today as-"
"Hi hoo!" A chipper, high pitch voice called out. "I'm up and ready Histy!"
Ambience looked at the door to the right of the thrones and the stairs to see a small, young looking girl with short spiky purple hair on the bottom, but smooth at the top.
She wore a poofy white sweater with blue striped stockings and had two white D-pads on her hair acting as hair pins. Her eyes were about as purple as her hair, and her shoes were purple and had cuffs similar to that of a dress shirt.
"You're up early, Neptune." Histoire commented. "I was about to send Ambience to wake you up. Is Nepgear awake as well?"
"BAH!" The three of them heard coming from behind Neptune along with a loud crash.
"Sounds like she's up!" Neptune said.
"Neptune!" A slightly more deep voice called out. "It's too early for physical pranks!"
A taller girl with the same color scheme as the short girl walked out of the door beside Neptune. She wore a white and dark purple sailor uniform with a yellow ribbon and a purple N on the center of her uniform. She had purple striped stockings and only one white D-pad hair pin. Her boots were white and uncuffed and her eyes and hair was the same color as Neptune, except her hair was smoother and a bit longer.
"Ah, good morning dear sister!" Neptune said. "I see you've fallen down the stairs already. It's a good thing you're a-"
"Don't pretend it wasn't your fault! I was pushed down the stairs!"
"Uh huh… uh, sorry junior but I was down here before you were. There's nooo way I was up there to push you down, besides that's barely even a prank that's just bullying."
"So… who pushed me down the stairs?"
"Rough morning, huh Elita?" Ambience asked. "Yeah I had one too."
"Oh sorry, uh, good morning Histoire. Good morning Ambi."
"Mornin girls!" Neptune said.
"So, any reason why you girls are up so much earlier than usual? Is it work, I hope?" Histoire asked.
"Silly Histy, did you already forget? We're hosting a goddess meeting today! Everyone's saying it's gonna be the next shift period soon so we gotta prepare and plan! I wanna be up and early so Noire doesn't sneak in and take pictures or something."
"Ah, right. I suppose that's a fair reason. I'm glad you're taking the- no, wait, this is another one of your excuses to just play games with the other goddesses is it not?!"
"No no no! Pisty you got it all wrong! We'll talk about the shift period, THEN we'll play some games. Don't worry, I can do work when I really put my mind to it!"
"If you're planning on retiring, just know that I only have one room in my apartment." Ambience said. "You might have to sleep on the couch."
"No worries! I don't plan on giving up Planeptune to junior just yet."
"Speaking of, Nepgear, you said that you were pushed down the stairs this morning, yes?" Histoire asked.
"Oh uh, yes. But if it wasn't Neptune… who was it?"
"What do you remember happening?" Ambience asked.
"I remember running away from a monster in my nightmare… oh, it was a bad one too… uh, anyway, I was running, then I came across some stairs and I was pushed off. And now I'm here. I think the monster pushed me off in my nightmare, but nightmares can't become real or anything, right?"
"That's… huh. Do you remember what the monster looked like?" Ambience asked with her fingers on her chin.
"No, I was too busy running. Sorry."
"Wait, if you two came down like this… and Nepgear had just been pushed down the stairs while having a nightmare… do not tell me you two have slept in your normal clothes again!" Histoire yelled.
"Uh, maybe?! Possibly?! Perhaps?!" Neptune panicked.
"I will not tolerate such laziness! Go back up and get properly dressed for the day! I do not know when the goddesses plan on arriving, but you will not appear before them like… like hogs! Go! Go now!"
"Alright, alright. Let's go back up Nep Junior. I don't smell that bad, do I?"
"Uh, Neptune, what if that monster is waiting for us up there?!" Nepgear asked.
"Relax, we'll just scream and Ambi will run up and take care of it for us. No need for us to put in effort when we're goddesses!"
"Ambience will not be helping you in such trivial manners! And do not expect her to help you get dressed, she is your royal guard, not your slave!"
"Geez, you make me sound like such an awful person Histy. I'm not that bad most of the time. Well anyway, tell us when they're here Ambi!"
"Sure thing, I'll uh, see what we can do about breakfast."
Neptune joyfully skipped back through the door while Nepgear followed. Histoire sighed and hovered over to Ambience who stuck her arms out allowing Histoire's book to rest in her arms.
"Those girls… I often wish Caelus had not sealed the Deity of Sin and instead stayed in Planeptune. Even if she couldn't ever activate her HDD, she was a joy to work with."
"To be fair Evangelist," Ambience started. "Those two did defeat Overlord Momus, Arfoire, and took down the Criminals of the Free World. ASIC has also been very quiet ever since Elita- sorry Lady Purple Sister basically stomped them."
"Yes, that is true. Also, you may use the nicknames you chose for them as long as we are not in an important meeting. Remember, the goddesses have specifically asked for friendly interactions."
"Right, yeah. I wonder when Neptune even invited them, I don't remember hearing her on the phone yesterday."
"In any case, I will order breakfast. Please notify me if anyone comes in, I will accommodate accordingly."
"You got it."
Histoire levitated again and flew to a different section of the Basilicom. Ambience turned around and walked to the glass door. She threw her plastic bag onto a nearby couch and took a tall metal flag pole into her hands that was hung on the wall. It was beside a long purple halberd that was about the same length and also hung on the wall.
She exited the building and stood right next to the glass doors keeping the purple flag up high above her head which held the symbol of Planeptune, the dark purple N with rings around it that was on her clothes.
The sky was cloudy, but the sun was in the sky. She saw people walking down the street and cars quickly driving by. The wind allowed her flag to flutter freely as she squinted her eyes to keep looking. She touched her glasses, then stopped and took them off.
"Oh I- I put these on? Really? When? Don't tell me I fell asleep with my glasses on."
As Ambience cleaned her glasses and placed them back on, a tall man came out of the building she stood in front of. He had a normal smile and wore traditional purple robes. He held a halberd and his circular hat had cloth covering his hair.
"Well, I see you've arrived here faster than us yet again, Ambience." The man pointed out.
"I need to earn my paycheck somehow. How are things going in there?"
"Oh, same old. Lady Histoire is stressing out over all the work while the goddesses are nowhere to be found. The Basilicom appreciates your help, we really do."
"Hey, no problem. Oh yeah by the way the plastic bag beside the door is my thing, uh, don't mind it I'll take care of it later."
"Yes, I assumed as much. Ah, speaking of your thing, Histoire requested me to hand you this."
The Basilicom staff member handed Ambience a sandwich inside of a plastic container.
"Oh sweet. Thanks, uh, tell her I said thanks." Ambience said while opening it and eating the sandwich.
"Well, I'm off to help manage the guild. Don't let your last examination bother you, high speed combat isn't exactly suited for the tank class anyway."
"Even so, I wish I had at least gotten a B…"
The staff member smiled and went back inside the Basilicom. Ambience sat there and enjoyed her sandwich until she finished, then she threw out the trash in a garbage bin nearby.
2 hours have passed and Ambience looked down to see a short, brown haired girl help a taller, blonde haired lady up the stairs. The brown haired girl had an oversized blue jacket and a black undershirt with a metal plate on her belt with the initials IF carved onto it. She also had a small leaf-like hair tie on her head giving her a ponytail slightly to her left.
The blonde lady's hair reached down to her hips as she wore a dark green top half, and a pure white bottom half dress with puffy white gloves and peach colored ribbons on her hips. The top half of her dress was cut in a way to expose most of her upper body, but in a reasonable manner.
"Phew, for an autumn day it's fairly warm in Planeptune." The blonde lady mentioned while stretching her white and green collar allowing it's red ribbon to flap around. "Tell me Iffy, how do you wear such a big jacket in this weather all the time?"
"Really? Is it that warm? Hmm, that's odd." The short girl commented.
"Morning Midori, Morning Ingrid."
"Oh, good morning Ambi." The blonde lady said with a smile.
"Ingrid? Really? Just call me IF. My identity isn't that big of a secret to keep." The short girl sighed.
"Aw, but I spent all night thinking of a suitable nickname and I like Ingrid."
"You spent all night thinking about Iffy?" The blonde lady asked.
Ambience and the lady stared at each other for a moment and Ambience felt a cold sweat go down her back.
"Alright, that is definitely not what I meant." Ambience corrected. "Let me rephrase it. I spent all night thinking of a-"
The blonde lady giggled and placed her hands together.
"Don't worry Ambi, it was only a joke. After all, I understand how appealing Iffy is, isn't she?"
"You know, sometimes I remember why I always sat and kept my mouth shut in school." Ambience sighed.
"Anyway, is Nep awake yet? I bet she's slept right through the alarm and completely ignored your wake up call." IF said.
"Actually, she woke up pretty early today. It was a genuine pleasant surprise, I didn't have to look like a creep sneaking into the room of two sleeping lolis."
"Loli?" The lady asked. "Remind me, how old is little Nepgear?"
Ambience cleared her throat and gulped.
"I'm sorry Lady Vert, but that's a very dangerous secret. I would tell you she's as old as you'd expect, but I'd rather not lie to a goddess."
"Planeptune secret hmm?" Vert asked. "Oh Iffy? Would you mind?"
"I'll be completely honest with you Vert- sorry, Lady Vert, but I have no clue what Ambi is talking about. Actually, I was friends with Neptune before Nepgear was even created, am I missing something here Ambi?" IF asked.
"Geez everything is going wrong with this conversation, can we please forget about it? I hate being forced to keep secrets."
"Maybe I should kidnap you for some interrogation." Vert said with a smile. "No, I'm only kidding. Oh well, maybe I'll figure it out one day."
The three of them heard the noise of a car stopping behind them. IF and Vert turned their heads to see a black limousine stop in front of the stairs. The driver door opened to reveal a small woman with a business suit and silver hair. She flipped through some documents she had in her left hand before walking over and opening one of the doors on the limousine with her right hand.
Out of the limousine came a black haired lady who had long twintails going down to her waist and blue ribbons keeping them tied. She dusted and straightened her colorful, but mostly black maid-like dress. The skirt was white, frilled, and short so she wore long black boots that reached her thighs and white stockings underneath.
She stretched and looked at the oval grey gem on her middle fingers which were attached to long black sleeves that were frilled at the top ends. She also wore a black collar with a blue ribbon and another oval grey gem in the middle of it under her fair skinned face and her blood red eyes.
"Thanks Kei." The black haired lady said.
"Not a problem." The silver haired woman responded.
Kei walked up the stairs as another black haired lady stepped out of the limousine. This one's twintails were shorter and more wavy with pure black hair ties as opposed to blue ones. She wore a simpler, black one-piece pleated dress with white and grey stripes at the bottom.
Her shoes, stockings, and detached sleeves had the same color scheme of black, white, and grey. She wore a black collar as well with a green dot in the middle and a black ring on her chest.
Kei walked up to Ambience and nodded.
"Ambience." Kei confirmed.
"Knock." Ambience responded.
Kei smirked before shaking her head.
"Knock it off will you? It's not like we- oh. I walked right into that one, didn't I?"
Ambience stared at Kei for a moment before smiling and covering her mouth.
"I'm gonna be honest, I didn't even think of that until now." Ambience said, hiding her smile.
"You're a nuisance to this entire nation. I'm gonna have a chat with Histoire, feel free to join us when your shift is over."
"Will do, thanks Knock."
"Knock?" The taller black haired lady asked. "Out of all the nicknames you could have given Kei, you chose Knock? Knock?"
"Who's there?" Ambience asked.
"I'm never coming to Planeptune again."
Ambience laughed and looked at everyone else. The shorter black haired lady smiled, while Vert also gave a smile, but with a more concerned look. IF sighed and shook her head.
"I'm not saying guards have to be all work and no play, but you're protecting the most incompetent goddesses of all time." IF said. "I bet Gear wouldn't be able to make her way out of a wet paper bag."
"Oh, funny story, she actually did get stuck in a huge wet paper bag once." Ambience noted.
"You can't be serious!"
"That's a story for another time."
"Honestly, I didn't expect anything less from Nepgear." The shorter black hair girl said with a sigh.
"Ah, right. I should probably greet you two. Good morning Jack, morning Oni."
"Still don't get why I have a boy name but whatever." The tall black haired lady said.
"Actually, I think it suits you, Noire." Vert said.
"Hey, when's Blanc gonna be here?" The short black haired lady asked.
"That's my cue." A calm, quieter voice said from around the corner.
A large wooden pirate ship-like car came rolling through the street with a short, brown haired lady at the front steering the pirate ship themed steering wheel. She stopped the pirate ship and it's monster truck wheels as she rested her arm on the side of the miniature wooden ship and lowered the sunglasses she was wearing by dipping her nose downwards without directly touching them.
"Ladies and girls." The brown hair lady greeted.
"You… you actually made it." Vert said with a surprised expression.
"I'm a goddess of my word Vert, plus I'm stupid rich and bored as hell."
"Oh boo, we wasted half an hour waiting for you to say that?! That was a mega lame entrance Blanc!" A high pitch voice called out from inside the ship.
Two tiny child-looking ladies peaked their heads out from inside the mini pirate ship.
"I'm just happy we got here." One of them said quietly.
"Yeah, but we would have been here ages ago instead of listening to boring adult conversations and watching Blanc set up her dumb cameras!"
"Shush now you two." The original short haired lady said. "It was a good shot and it was well worth it. I'm betting at least 3 million views if I put in the right music."
"Moved on from writing books and trying to be a Neptube star, huh?" Noire asked.
"Nope, still writing thanks. Also, you're one to talk, Noirina."
"AJA- T- Don't- we had an agreement!" Noire yelled.
"What?" The lady asked with a smile. "I didn't say anything."
"Morning Reinhardt." Ambience said with a wave. "Morning Poof and Puff."
"Morning." The lady said.
"Good morning!" The quiet lady called out.
"Let's go already, I wanna play!" The louder one exclaimed.
The lady at the front of the ship hopped off. She had a white circular puffy hat, and her brown hair reached only to her neck. She had cold grey eyes that didn't match with her long white and blue jacket which was furry and brown at the neck area, but she kept the jacket off her shoulders wearing only the sleeves. She also wore a tank top-like white and brown dress with a brown cross belt and orange gems down on her jacket where the pockets normally are.
"Do sandals ever get uncomfortable, Blanc?" The short black haired lady asked.
"Not really." The lady from the ship responded. "Not as bad as high heels."
The two other ladies hopped off the ship with the one wearing red helping the one wearing blue down. They both wore very poofy dresses with cotton balls and buttons all over them. The loud one wore a red dress with a red poofy hat and had brown hair that reached her waist. Her eyes were grey, but a bit warmer to look into and her ribbons on her dress and on her large red boots were blue.
"Rom, hurry up let's go! I wanna build a fortress as quickly as possible!" The loud lady said.
"Ok Ram." The quiet lady said.
Her poofy hat, dress, and boots were blue with red ribbons and her brown hair only reached her shoulders, nearly perfectly contrasting Ram's outfit. Her eyes were grey as well, but somehow gave Ambience more shivers compared to Blanc's eyes.
"Uh, Miss Uni?" Rom asked quietly, approaching the shorter black haired lady. "Would you like to join us in our fort?"
"Of course, I would love to-"
"No way!" Ram said already up the stairs. "It's us two against Uni and stupid Elita, remember?!"
"Her name is Miss Nepgear Ram… but ok! Uh, sorry Miss Uni, but it will only be me and Ram."
"That's alright. Don't throw too hard ok?"
"Teehee~"
Rom and Ram ran up the stairs and rushed through the doors. Vert smiled as IF escorted her through the doors as well. Noire quickly scanned the limousine with her watch and saw it disappear into particles before she made her way up the stairs with Uni. Blanc did the same with her ship truck and followed closely behind. Ambience smiled at them as they walked by and entered the building and only Uni smiled back.
All the ladies walked over the carpeted floor and looked around the throne room. They passed by Kei and Histoire who sat at the round table in front of the two thrones.
"Kei, I'm putting the limo in your storage now." Noire said while tapping on her watch screen.
"Should be enough space, go right ahead."
"Good morning Histoire." Vert said with a smile.
"Good morning Lady Vert. I hope you all enjoy your stay here."
All the ladies walked through the door beside the thrones and climbed up the stairs. They entered the light purple room with colorful carpets, books, stuffed animals, and a large slanted window on the wall.
"Good morning ladies!" Neptune exclaimed, jumping out of the bathroom wearing only a large bath towel.
"Neptune!" Nepgear screamed inside the bathroom.
They saw Nepgear's arms yoink Neptune back into the bathroom. Vert, Blanc, and Noire sat on chairs around a circular purple table in the center of the room while Rom and Ram grabbed the books from the book shelves on top of a nearby desk and ran down a hallway next to the bunk bed.
"I better get going now." IF said. "Bet Nep left a mountain of work for Histoire to do. She probably could use an extra pair of hands. It's the least I can do for leaving her with Nep."
"Aw you don't want to spend time with me?" Vert asked. "I'm kidding I'm kidding, but one more thing before you go."
Vert pulled IF's head closer and kissed her on the cheek. IF blushed and rubbed the area that was kissed and backed away slowly.
"Hehe, ah uh, an- anyways I'll see you all later." IF stuttered.
IF ran down the stairs and Vert turned back to Blanc and Noire.
"It's been years since you two got married and she still wags her tail like a dog when you show any sort of affection." Blanc commented.
"I know, isn't it adorable?" Vert asked with a smile.
"So we'll just wait till Neptune gets here to start talking business, right?" Noire asked.
"That's the idea." Blanc said while taking out a small dual screen handheld device. "Unless you feel like killing off Neptune."
"No, no she hasn't pushed me that far yet."
Blanc turned on the device and animal noises were heard coming from it. Noire and Vert looked at her curiously as she stared at the screen and pressed buttons.
"Playing games now?" Noire asked.
"Didn't get to check on my village this morning."
"Well, it's been a while since we've all been in the same room together, so let's catch up on some things!" Vert said. "Noire, how has Lastation been lately?"
"It's been great! We're slowly converting to more eco-friendly equipment and the last tech expo has been a huge success! Oh, and my friend's list has been growing exponentially ever since-"
"Lies." Blanc interrupted. "Pretend your generals are your friends all you want, they're just bitches mooching money off you."
"Excuse me?! My generals are far too refined and trustable, more than you'd think!"
"So much aggression right off the bat." Vert commented. "Is everything alright Blanc?"
"It only pisses me off when someone tells obvious lies right to my face, you might as well raise a sign that says "I think you're an idiot that can't even tell which direction is west or east." you're not fooling anyone Noire."
"You know what makes me upset?" Vert asked. "Your terrible internet connection. I thought the oldest nation in Gamindustri would have the most experience running internet servers, but playing only an hour or two and I could already tell you're years behind Leanbox in that department."
"You want to talk about outdated technology?!" Noire asked. "What about that time you basically dumped trash onto Lastation with your useless consoles that failed without any proper way of repairing it?"
"Digging up the past to argue in the present? How predictable, Noire. Well, I'm sorry for not being perfect and making mistakes, we were criticized for our unappealing large and uncomfortable consoles so we decided to make them slimmer and, well, lighter."
"No one cares about looks if the damn thing breaks like dried rat shit." Blanc called out.
"Aaaand I see you ladies are already at each other's throats." Neptune said standing beside an empty seat. "Way to go, you made it through about a page and a half before arguing, lighten up! This is supposed to be a happy occasion!"
"Shut up Neptune!" Blanc and Noire yelled at the same time.
"Neptune is right." Vert sighed. "We're better than this, we should all calm down and talk like the civilized goddesses we are."
"I'll, uhm, I'll get you four some tea before joining the other candidates." Nepgear said.
Nepgear went down the stairs and Neptune hopped into her chair with a big smile on her face.
"Now it's time to have a real conversation!" Neptune announced. "What game are we gonna play?"
"Uh, Neptune? We're here to talk about the upcoming Shift Period, games come later." Noire reminded.
"Let's just talk about our plans and get over it." Blanc said. "I'm safe to stay as CPU."
"You haven't had any threat to your reign over Lowee since… the beginning of Gamindustri." Vert commented. "In any case, as long as nothing rudely interrupts my shares, I'm safe as well. Although… it may take more work than I first anticipated."
"Every time I check, you're always online playing games. What work are you talking about?" Noire asked. "Well, anyway I think I'm gonna retire after this Shift Period."
"And I'm gonna- wait… uh, Noire? Did I hear you right or am I going crazy?" Neptune asked.
"You heard me." Noire sighed. "But you've already gone mad years ago."
"You're planning on retiring so soon?" Vert asked. "But why? Lastation has been going steady and-"
"Alright, time out, a moment of privacy please." Blanc said.
Blanc got up from her chair and pulled Noire off her's by grabbing onto one of her twintails.
"Hey- OW! Ok, ok I get it! Geez."
Blanc pulled Noire into the bathroom and locked it shut. Nepgear came up carrying a tray of tea and crackers as she saw Neptune and Vert staring at the bathroom door.
"Uhm, what happened this time?" Nepgear asked.
"Nowa said she's retiring next Shift Period and Blanc got a little upset. But that's pretty normal around here so only the first half is important."
"What?! I mean, I'm happy for Uni, but why? Noire doesn't seem like the person to just quit like that." Nepgear said.
"It confuses me too." Vert sighed. "None of her actions would have made me even think that she planned on retiring. In fact, I previously believed that she would stay as CPU until her last breath, much like Blanc."
"Junior I got a brilliant idea!" Neptune announced. "You go ask Uni what's what while Vert and I listen in on their juicy little secrets they're keeping in there."
"Uhm, ok. Just remember to not get hit by Blanc's hammer."
"Trust me, if I've learned anything while adventuring with her, it's that her hammer is the least scariest weapon she has."
Nepgear skipped down the hallway to the next room while Vert turned her head to Neptune.
"Neptune, normal people don't eavesdrop or spy on their friends, especially when their friends specifically ask for a moment of privacy." Vert said.
"Aw, but we could be missing out on some real S-tier gossip! Or a bigger secret, what if they're secretly lovey dovey girlfriends?! We're missing out on romantic sitcom-style drama Vert!"
Vert placed her fingers and hands close to her chin and gave Neptune a big smile.
"Nobody ever said we were normal people, Neptune."
"Aw yeah, bad girl Vert coming in hot!"
Neptune and Vert walked over to the bathroom door and pressed their ears against the glass.
"Not bad." Blanc said on the other side. "Consider me convinced. Hope you have fun."
"Thanks for being reasonable."
Noire opened the bathroom door to see Neptune and Vert look at her with sad expressions.
"Aw Vert! We missed out on everything! The author got lazy!" Neptune complained.
"No loud screaming or cat fights?" Vert asked. "Not even an embarrassing scene where we stumble into the room at an awkward moment or anything like that?"
"Hah, better luck next time." Noire said with a smug smile.
"So Noire is retiring next Shift Period. That's final." Blanc announced.
"Really? Noire, are you planning on running off with Blanc to tease a Blanc X Noire spin off fanfiction?" Neptune asked with a goofy smile and eyes that somehow radiated smug energy.
"What?! No, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Noire yelled.
"Really? Despite popular belief I am very experienced in bed." Blanc commented. "It might be worth the trouble."
"Don't pour gasoline on the stupid and unbearably annoying purple fire!"
"Heh heh heh."
Noire took a deep breath and looked at the other three with a more serious expression.
"If you girls can keep this a secret, I think Uni can do a better job at ruling Lastation than I can."
"Oh, what's this?! Noire admitting her faults and flaws?! This is NepTV early coming in live with breaking, once in a lifetime news! We now go to Blanc who is right on the scene witnessing the catastrophic events unfold before her very eyes! Take it away, Blanc!"
"Thank you Neptune." Blanc said with a smile. "As you can see, Noire from Lastation of Gamindustri has finally admitted that she in fact is not the perfect life form or a true goddess-"
"Can you two not turn everything into a joke for five minutes?!" Noire asked. "I'm trying to open up for once but it's really hard when all you do is treat me like a dumbass high school teenager!"
Neptune, Vert and Blanc looked at Noire and Blanc let out a sigh.
"Sorry, go ahead." Blanc said.
"Thank you. So I think Uni would make a better CPU because she's, uh, more mentally stable then I am… and admittedly she does beat me in most of our virtual simulated sparring matches. I… also… uhm, I don't like being a goddess."
"Noire, I just think you had a few bad days." Vert said. "Let's take a week off to relax, shall we? A nice hot spa, a few days to do nothing but binge anime, games and eat treats, and maybe a few drinks as well. Does that sound fun?"
"That would just distract me from my problems."
"How about we go visit Uranus for advice? Hehe, Uranus…" Neptune asked.
"I don't think we should disturb her from her sleep again."
"Just let her do her thing." Blanc said. "If I've learned anything from past experience, it's to avoid Lastation CPU drama."
"Well, ok if you say so Blanc." Neptune said. "Say, how about we go check up on the little ones?"
"Yes, that sounds lovely!" Vert said with a smile.
"You're not taking Rom or Ram. They're my little shits." Blanc threatened.
"My, how could you assume I would ask the same question twice even when expecting the same answer? I absolutely would never do such a thing."
"Anyways…"
The four of them walked into the other room through the hallway and watched as Rom and Ram were standing on top of a large fortress made of ice as they threw books and stuffed animals across the room towards Nepgear who huddled in the corner trying to block the onslaught of ranged attacks. Uni was simply lying on the floor in the middle of the room not moving.
"Hahahaha! Keep pushing Rom! We've almost breached her defense!" Ram yelled.
"Sorry Miss Nepgear!"
"Neptune! I need- I need a- You- you know! I need time!" Nepgear called out.
"What do you- Ooohh! Gotcha, your big sister's on the case! *Ahem* Hey Rom and Ram, how about we-"
An encyclopedia went flying towards Neptune and smashed her in the face causing her to fall backwards and the book landed on her lower torso.
"ACK! GAH! Curses!"
"Did you two knock Uni out?!" Noire asked.
"I'm not unconscious." Uni said. "I was playing dead so they don't beat a dead horse."
"What?! You bailed on me?!" Nepgear asked. "I trusted you Uni!"
"Nepgear, you know I'm not built to take hits."
"Well I'm not exactly a tank either- OW!"
"All's fair in love and war. And right now, we're at war."
Uni quickly dashed to Nepgear while ducking under books and picking her up to run out of the room. Neptune got up stumbling around a bit as Blanc caught one of the books flying towards her.
"Rom, Ram, get down from there." Blanc commanded.
"Nope!" Ram refused.
"I'll make you two hot chocolate."
"Yay hot coco!" Rom happily exclaimed.
"No Rom! Blanc makes the super gross hot coco!" Ram reminded. "Financier makes the good kind and she didn't come with us."
"Oh…"
Ram threw another book at Blanc which splatted right onto her face. It slowly slid down her face revealing a dark shading over her eyes and a glowing red left eye while her other eye wasn't visible.
"Want to play this the hard way? I will force you down that tower and ice up your… noses."
"Uhm, aren't they like super old now?" Noire asked. "Didn't you say yourself that we didn't have to censor our language around them?"
"Their appearances still throw me off." Blanc sighed.
Another book smashed into the side of Blanc's head and a bright light engulfed Blanc.
"That's it, I'm taking you two home right now!" Blanc's voice from inside the light yelled.
"Blanc, reconsider." Vert said.
"And she's already transformed. Quick, hold her down!" Noire yelled.
"Am I still seeing stars or did Noire put on her pajama panties today?" Neptune asked.
Meanwhile Kei took another sip out of her thermostat and watched Histoire read a document with large, oversized reading glasses.
"Hmm yes, from what this says, I can confirm that Lastation is in fact suffering the heaviest losses from the recent country wide decline in population." Histoire said.
"We're doing everything we can but it's just… well… all the young adults are into 3D boys and girls these days." Kei said.
"The smallest reason, but a reason nonetheless."
The two of them turned their heads to see Ambience walk down the carpet and take a seat at the round table. She placed the flag pole on the side of the table and rested her arms.
"Afternoon… I think. Is it still morning?" Ambience asked.
"It's still morning Ambience." Kei confirmed.
"Ah geez, days have been going so slowly recently. Although it is a good thing and they do say boredom is a luxurious problem, this peace is… kind of off putting. ASIC has been strangely quiet."
"You believe ASIC is still active?" Histoire asked.
"Yeah, I mean we haven't put Dan and Chuck behind bars and I doubt they just tripped and died somewhere. Something tells me they're scheming something. Maybe a massive explosion, or another vessel for the Deity of Sin."
"Dan… and Chuck?" Histoire asked.
"She meant the girl the goddesses call Underling, and the grey rat that was always with her." Kei said. "Your nicknames have to start getting easier to understand."
"But she totally talks like a Dan, right? I can't be the only one that sees it in her."
"At least give girls girl names and boys boy names."
"I believe in the European way where words have genders, but I also believe in trans rights so words can be whatever gender they want."
"... you know for a second there I didn't think you were joking."
"Very… interesting yet confusing and dare I say unnecessary conversation aside, would you like to check on the goddesses? It's about time they have a… reminder. Neptune had better not convinced them to laze around as much as she does again." Histoire said with a disappointed expression.
The three of them heard a loud explosion followed by screams and lights flickering everywhere in the room.
"I think they're fine Histoire." Ambience said. "It sounds pretty tame compared to last time."
"Anything sounds tame compared to last time." Kei said with a smile.
"Shall we?" Histoire asked while levitating off the table.
"Of course."
Ambience positioned her arms into a forklift-like position and Histoire rested her book on them. They then headed up the stairs and into Neptune's room where they saw Uni pass them by rushing down the stairs carrying Nepgear with a towel over her face.
"Sorry! Gotta run!" Uni said.
"Uni! Where- she's already gone." Histoire said.
"Hopefully she's the only one injured." Kei said.
Ambience clenched her hands around the book and stared down the path Uni ran for a moment before walking up the rest of the stairs. The bunk bed was covered in black ashes and the 6 goddesses remaining were sitting on a purple couch and various cushions surrounding a TV and playing a game. On screen, two characters were fighting with very large weapons. Blanc and Noire were leaning closer to the screen pressing buttons on their controllers as the rest of them simply watched.
"Come on now Blanc, focus." Vert said quietly.
"You got her Nowa! Do it for us! I'll give you- uh, I'll let you smell my next cup of pudding!" Neptune yelled.
"What kind of stupid reward is that?!" Noire asked.
"Be still." Blanc said quietly with her glowing red eye.
"You're telling me, Nepgear probably got her face blown up from what I can tell, and you six moved to video games without even making sure she's ok?" Kei asked.
"It's kind of normal, really. You'd be surprised by how much punishment Elita can take." Ambience said.
"I couldn't heal Miss Nepgear…" Rom said sadly.
"Yeah, and the other person just grabbed her and ran off. We couldn't help even if we wanted to." Ram said.
The TV screen flashed and a large text saying "PLAYER ONE WINS" appeared on the screen. Noire threw her arms up and onto her hips with a proud smile while Blanc clenched her controller very tightly.
"Ah, that's another win for Lastation! Hurray for me." Noire said.
"Brain dead little bitch. Land one combo and take two thirds of my health bar, how about you let your brain evolve past the intelligence of a chimpanzee and stop spamming the same strat made for cowards?" Blanc asked.
"Don't like it, don't play the game. Is this why Lowee is so child friendly?" Noire asked.
Vert took the controller out of Blanc's hands and held it with a smile on her face.
"Well, looks like it's time for us to compete once again, Noire." Vert said. "Fair warning before we start, Leanbox was made for these types of games."
"Never stopped me before, bring it on."
"*Ahem*" Histoire interrupted. "I'm glad you're all enjoying yourselves here, but have you all finished discussing the upcoming Shift Period already? I find that hard to believe."
"Everything will go swell Histoire!" Neptune said happily. "We're all set and ready for action! No one's dying anytime soon!"
"Well… in that case, I have a favor to ask of you Neptune. I have posted a quest for you down at the guild, please take it and complete it by today."
"Aw, do it have to? I have friends over right now, can't I do it later?"
"I wouldn't interrupt you if it wasn't urgent." Histoire said. "It shouldn't take too long, that is if you put in actual effort."
"Fine, I'll be back ladies."
"I'll go too." Blanc said standing up from her cushion.
"Yeah, good idea. Why don't we all go on this quest? For old times sake." Noire asked.
"Anything could happen, one of us might not be here tomorrow." Blanc said.
"I'll call Uni and tell her what's happening then."
"Really? Not even after this match?" Vert asked. "How disappointing. I was looking forward to this the entire day."
"Thank you all so much." Histoire said with a smile. "With all of the goddesses working together, the task should take no time at all."
"Aw yeah, teamwork baby!" Neptune said. "Thanks girls, I knew I could count on you!"
"We're definitely gonna leave most of the work to you Neptune." Noire said. "Don't think you can just run off and expect us to do everything again."
"Aw. I miss it when parties only had a max of three members active at once."
"Have you made it possible for teams to be more than four yet?" Vert asked.
"Not yet. IF has been very busy lately so progress is going very slowly." Noire said with a sigh.
"Oh, hehe. Hmm, I wonder why." Vert said with a big smile.
Everyone made their way down the stairs and the goddesses walked down the carpeted hallway. Noire went on the phone and Neptune pounced onto her shoulders while Blanc and Vert talked with each other as Rom and Ram ran ahead of them.
"Evangelist, you know you could have just asked me to do whatever the quest was." Ambience said. "I appreciate the break, but I'm curious."
"This task, I believe, would be safest if the goddesses were to take it." Histoire said.
"What could be so dangerous these days that the goddesses have to be put to work?"
"A special friend of mine, I believe I mentioned her earlier, had gone missing. It's possible she's just busy or had misplaced her cellphone somewhere, but I believe it would be wise to take precautions."
"A special friend huh? What kind?" Kei asked.
"Planeptune's… secret." Histoire said. "Quite a talented individual, however I-"
"Uzume Tennouboshi, student at the University of Haneda, and secret carrier host of CPU Orange Heart, Goddess of Dreams. Planeptune's secret weapon and Gamindustri's last resort. That's who you're looking for, yes?"
Histoire and Ambience stared at Kei for a moment.
"Yes, that would be her." Histoire said. "Your sources of information are getting more suspicious, are you certain they're not hacking into databases they shouldn't be?"
"Trust me, if we were doing anything illegal, you would have noticed by now." Kei said.
"But that information was classified, as far as I am aware, only I possess the knowledge of her existence. I purposely deleted all files containing even a hint at Orange Heart's existence, has Uzume been using her powers recklessly?"
"Maybe one day I'll tell you how I get information. Not today though."
"Hmm." Ambience thought out loud. "Another girl to think of a nickname for… well, actually if she's supposed to be this super secret mega weapon, I guess it would be best if I never see her. Sucks… wait, Goddess of Dreams? What a coincidence, I had my first nightmare in ages last night."
"Huh. I guess I did have a dreamless night as well." Kei mentioned.
"I pray it's simply a coincidence, it would be catastrophic if something were to have happened to her."
Meanwhile, Neptune and Nepgear walked down an intersection close together and stepped onto a sidewalk.
"Just like old times, yet here we are separated from them…" Neptune grumbled.
"Don't worry, we'll be right with them once we go down this road." Nepgear said.
They walked down the bright streets of Planeptune. Nepgear lead the way occasionally looking at a small hand held device in her hands while Neptune walked slouched over and practically dragged herself along with her.
"So, Junior, how was it letting Uni poke around inside of you instead of me for once?" Neptune asked.
"Not so loud, not so loud!" Nepgear said. "Also… that sounds very, uh, lewd out of context."
"Oh ho, I didn't think my little sister would be such a pervert." Neptune said with her stupid smug face.
"Neptune please! It's- it's very dangerous to play around with a secret like that." Nepgear said.
"Fine fine, I'm just so bored! Ugh, the author has to stop doing time skips, it's a waste of time and space."
"Let the author have some fun…"
They continued to make their way down the road until Nepgear stopped. Neptune looked around and Nepgear raised her head with a smile.
"Straight ahead, Neptune!" Nepgear announced. "It's not too far now! I'll make you some pudding when we get back."
"Now you're starting to treat me like a child too hmm? Trying to bribe me into more work? What happened to cute little Nepgear that always hid behind me and held onto my sweater. Actually, nevermind it was a lot of work taking care of you back then."
"Can we just please go ahead Neptune? I'm uh, I still feel a little sore from getting hit by all those books." Nepgear begged.
Neptune took a deep breath and smiled.
"You got it Junior! Let's get this job done!"
Neptune was about to take another step, but the sunlight bounced into her eye from something shiny in the alleyway next to her. She turned her head to see a small grey and orange device on the floor.
"Huh. Hey, is that… what I think it is?" Neptune asked.
"Neptune? What is it?" Nepgear asked.
Neptune walked into the alleyway and picked up the small device.
"Help… help me…" A small, quiet voice called out.
"Hmm, hey Nepgear, you hear that mysterious, totally not a bait for us to advance the plot voice as well right?" Neptune asked.
"The plot can move on without the voice, I'm getting creeped out, Neptune!" Nepgear said, shivering.
"Oh come on, it's probably just a really tiny person stuck in this little game console thingy. I think that's what it is at least, looks like it. Doesn't look like it's from our nation though, maybe it belongs to Blanc?"
"Wait, don't touch that! It could be a-"
Neptune pressed one of the buttons on the device and a large purple portal opened up in front of them.
"Holy Nepu- AAAAAAAHHHH!" They both said as the portal sucked in the two of them and the small device.
The portal closed. The two of them landed on an old patch of dirt to see broken buildings all around them, large and powerful looking monsters in the distance, and a frighteningly giant, grey skinned woman in the very far distance with dark purple wings, a dark purple halo, and black and purple body armor with a helmet and a red visor covering her face.