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

Sorry for disappearing. I caught Coronavirus. I got better, so don't worry about it. But that's why I was gone. It took me a long longer to recover than I thought it would, but I'm fine now.

Chapter 75

It was late in the day when Histoire, Flonne, Neptune and the rest of the CPUs found themselves sitting in the conference room again. "So..." Flonne smiled as she held up her right index finger. "Miss Nepgear agreed to work on the Great Flonzor Z for the next three months to fix and upgrade it. And, in exchange, until the repairs are done, all repayments will be suspended."

"And if Nepgear manages to upgrade your robot to a satisfactory level..." Histoire trailed off.

"Then all the debt will be written off." Flonne told them, causing several sighs to be heard in the room.

"Considering how much of a pain in the ass Artina was, I'd say that we're still getting the short end of the stick." Noire grumbled, getting a look of annoyance from the Angel in question. "No, seriously, your demands were always at the worst possible time, you never once tried to accommodate us when we were having trouble making our payments..." She trailed off as Artina huffed and looked away.

"In case you forgot, I'm a debt collector, it's not my job to be nice."

Flonne frowned lightly as she saw the tell-tale signs of tension kicking in again.

"Well, why not have her be their slave for a few centuries?" Laharl asked as he walked into the room and jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to Flonne. "Or just simply be their maid." He shrugged at the look of surprise from everyone. "What? Whenever someone's being too much of a pain in the ass for me or my vassals, I force them to be a vassal for a few decades."

"A maid, huh?" Noire smirked as she looked Artina over, who was suddenly turning pale while Vert, Neptune, and Blanc all looked over her. "I've got the cutest little maid outfit for you too."

"Hmm! That might be a good idea." Flonne nodded as she crossed her arms. "Alright then, Artina, you'll be the maid of the CPUs."

"Lady Flonne!" Artina yelled as she jumped up, her face pale, "you can't! You don't know what kinds of depraved, humiliating and mean things they'll do to me to get back at me!"

Blanc had a sly smirk on her face. "I'm thinking... A lacy thong for her panties."

"Yes." Vert nodded in agreement. "And fishnet stockings. We need to really make her legs stand out."

"Lady Flonne!" Artina cried with tears coming out of her eyes while Rom laughed nervously while Ram held up a pair of high-heeled shoes. "Please! Don't make me wear a maid outfit!"

"Oh, it won't be that bad." Flonne told her while smiling. "I'm sure that the CPUs won't force you to do anything horrible."

"Other than clean our rooms." Neptune said with a smirk on her face, getting a chuckle from the others. "But yeah, don't worry, we're not going to make you do anything that we wouldn't make our normal cleaning staff do." She smirked at the look that Artina gave her. "Though I can't say I won't make you iron my underwear every day."

"Um..." Nepgear smiled nervously. "Maybe we should wait until after I fix the Great Flonzor Z first?"

"Yes!" Artina yelled as she jumped up and pointed at Nepgear. "If she can't fix it then there's no point in trying to force me into a maid outfit."

Uni snorted upon hearing that as a gleam came to Nepgear's eyes. "Great, now you gave her a challenge."

"Anyway, we should get going." Flonne smiled as she and Artina stood up. "Just give us a call when you're done, okay?" With a wave, she and Artina were gone.

Laharl smirked and waved as he disappeared, leaving the CPUs all alone.

"So now what?" Blanc asked and looked to the side as the door opened and Peashy, Ouya, Stadia, Uzume and the other Neptune all walked through the door. "Oh, that's where you all were?"

"It's my fault." Neptune laughed as she rubbed the back of her head. "Ended up where my mom was buried and spent time talking to her for too long."

Blanc nodded as she stood up. "No one blames you for spending time with your dead family after all." She stretched her arms over her head and grimaced as she felt her back stretch and pop. "So, the question is, what will all of you do?

"I should head back to my world." Uzume pointed out. "This is a really cool place, but there's no CPU watching Planeptune back home and I want to let Histy know what's going on."

"Aww, we have to go?" Ram pouted as she kicked the ground.

"Well..." Uzume rubbed the back of her head. "You don't need to. I'm sure that you can spend a day here, there's just no one for Planeptune."

"Actually," Blanc spoke up and gave Rom and Ram a stern look, "you should head back. This isn't your world and I'm sure that your big sister would like to have you two back." She then smiled and walked over to Rom and Ram and ruffled their heads. "You're more than welcome to come back at any time, okay?" They nodded and hugged her, causing a small smile to come to Blanc's face. "You're both good girls."

Noire gave Uni a smile as well. "You're always welcome to come and visit whenever you want, but I'm sure that you have stuff you need to do."

Uni nodded and sighed as she gave Nepgear a flat look. "Someone has to keep her from going crazy." She rolled her eyes as Nepgear laughed nervously.

"How about we cook them up something to eat?" Vert asked, causing the others to perk up. "I'm sure you can wait that long, right?"

"Well, don't take six hours to make food and sure." Uzume said as Vert, Neptune and Noire all went into the kitchen. Uzume grabbed Neptune's arm as she went to the kitchen and leaned in. "Hey, Nepsy, when you get some time, I need to talk to you."

Neptune nodded and went to make food.

(-)

Meanwhile...

Artina frowned as she looked at Flonne. "Lady Flonne, I don't want to question you, but..."

"Why would I make you be a maid for the CPUs after everything that happened?" Flonne asked Artina, who nodded as the two walked through Celestia. "Well, I know you do a good job." She smiled and reached up to pat Artina on the head. "But sometimes you get too enthusiastic and actually do more harm than good." She put her finger on Artina's mouth when the Angel tried to argue with her. "Hold on, Artina, I'm not done yet. I know that you're only thinking of Celestia's well-being, Artina, but I think you went too far this time." She sighed softly and lowered her arm. "I know that this was caused by a dummy underling, but," a sad look crossed her face, "I want to be friends with the CPUs too. There's so much bad blood between you and them though, they won't see me as anything but a bad Angel."

"But you're the best Angel!" Artina protested, giving Flonne a look of complete horror. "Who could see you as bad?!"

Flonne tapped her chin. "You know how those kids who were born a long time ago because of what the Mole People did when they were in charge?" Artina looked confused and Flonne continued. "The CPUs had to put extra protections for those children because of their parents. They did nothing wrong, but the rest of Gamindustri didn't see them as anything but the people who hurt them." She smiled at Artina, who looked shocked. "I did my own research, Artina." Her smile faded as a sad look came to her face. "It's sad to hear some of the other Angels call the CPUs "Mole Sluts" because of what happened. Do you think that they'll see us as anything but bad Angels with everything that's happened?"

Artina said nothing as Flonne turned around and started walking away.

"Oh!" Flonne stopped as she got to a door and laughed while rubbing the back of her head. "Silly me, I forgot to tell you." She turned to look back at Artina, "you won't be heading down there for a couple of months." The blonde Angel winked at Artina's confused look, "I figure they need some time to cool off before I give you to them." A stern look crossed Flonne's face, "and I'll make sure that they don't treat you bad, okay?"

Artina nodded, smiling gratefully at Flonne. "Thank you, my lady."

"Well, Laharl suggested I let Iris Heart go full Iris Heart on you for one day." Flonne pointed out while smiling brightly, causing Artina to go pale as she trembled at the thought of Iris Heart having an entire day to go all out on her. "But you don't deserve an angry Iris Heart, so I won't let that happen."

The next thing Flonne knew, Artina was hugging her and sobbing her thanks out.

(-)

A couple of hours later...

Neptune looked at Uzume as the two were in her office. Neptune closed the door and locked it. "There, no one will bother us." She knew that it could be unlocked and opened without too much trouble, but it would give them some time to talk without being interfered with. "So what did you want?"

"Well, for one, that was a really good meal." Uzume chuckled softly. "But, no, the real reason I need to talk to you..." She gestured around the room. "It's all this, Nepsy. I walked around the city with your Prinny showing me around." She smiled softly. "The people here love you, Nepsy. One of the people I talked to said that you went to the hospital when she was really sick as a child and made her feel better. She's now working as a nurse at the hospital." Neptune blinked in confusion and Uzume sighed. "What I'm saying Nepsy, what world will you return to? Yeah, I can keep the portal open so you can go between them, but do you think it's fair to either Planeptune if you can't give it your full attention?"

"Uzume..." Neptune said softly, looking troubled.

"And what about the fact that no one's mentioned Plutsy or Peasy?" Uzume asked, a troubled look on her face, "the only CPU mentioned was you." Neptune looked away and Uzume sighed softly, "you took over Plutsy's nation. Do you think it's fair to abandon it?" She sighed as Neptune gave her a sharp look, "I know that I'm not one to talk, I abandoned Planeptune the first time people turned against me." A small smile crossed her lips as she continued to speak, "but you never abandoned the people, no matter how many times you were betrayed, Nepsy. I really respect you for that."

Neptune sighed and walked over to the window, opening it and walking onto the balcony, where she leaned against the railing and looked out at the city, which had all the lights dimmed so people could sleep. But even so, there was a steady stream of flying cars and lights that filled the sky. "Until Histy somehow found a way into your soul, Uzume, I had given up hope that I would ever get back to my world, to see my little sister and my friends ever again." Her shoulders slumped down, "I'm not someone you should respect. I gave up. As soon as a chance to get away came up, I ran away. I abandoned everyone here. Plutie, P-Ko, Ouya, Stadia..." She hung her head, "I was so tired, Uzume. I'm not brave or anything."

Neptune stiffened as she felt two arms wrap around her. "Nepsy," Uzume began, "I don't believe that for a moment. You gave up? I think you just wanted to get away from here and clear your head." She smiled at Neptune, "if you truly gave up, you wouldn't have rushed to save Ousy and Stadsy when they got captured. You wouldn't have come back to save me. And you certainly wouldn't have come rushing back to this world to save your husband, right?"

"Uzume..." Neptune began as she turned around to look at the other CPU. "...What should I do?"

"Well..." Uzume smiled and lightly slugged Neptune in the right arm. "I think you already know the answer." She winked at Neptune and lightly poked Neptune in the chest. "Look inside your heart and ask yourself where you truly belong."

"You need to get going with the others back to the Hyper Dimension." Neptune said softly. "...Tell Histy that I need a night to think, okay?"

"Sure." Uzume nodded before surprising Neptune by hugging her. "Nepsy..." She squeezed the smaller CPU tightly. "When Gearsy first ended up in Zero Dimension, she offered to bring me with her to Hyper Dimension. I turned her down at the time. I wanted to make Zero Dimension a place that she would come and look at with envy when I was done with it." Uzume laughed as she let go of the hug and rubbed the back of her head. "I guess that was out from the beginning, huh?"

Neptune gave her a small smile. "Thanks. I'll let you know what I'm going to do tomorrow."

Uzume nodded and left the room, leaving Neptune alone.

Sighing, Neptune looked out over the city and watched as cars flew by. "I wanted to go back to Hyper Dimension for so long. And yet..." Memories, both happy and sad filtered through her mind of the centuries she had spent in this dimension. "...If not for Nepgear, I would have never wanted to leave."

Sighing, Neptune found herself sinking down to her knees as she kept her arms on the guard rail while she rested her head on her arms. "...I'm not someone you should respect Uzume. I hurt my sister, my daughter, I abandoned my other two daughters, left my husband, all our children and..." She looked up with tears falling out of her eyes. "I did the worst thing a CPU could ever do..."

Neptune buried her face into her arms and started sobbing loudly. "I put myself ahead of my people."

Dang it, I keep telling myself "this next chapter is the final one" and it never ends up being the final chapter. I know how I want to end the story, I'm just trying to get to that point.