wowee, being late on one chapter + saying the next one will be coming sooner = coming out the same day as most of the other chapters!

and the two "short" chapters ended up being as long as or longer than the other ones, might as well not trust whatever i put here lmao


Now in the middle of the city, the passerby citizens serve as both a benefit in hiding Blanny and an impediment in slowing her down. Some of them try their best to move out of the way of whom they think is their CPU, but others are too distracted by the chase-fight hybrid going on between the two Planeptunian goddesses above them. She's grateful that Nepgear is doing a great job in keeping Iris Heart away from her, but she can always hear or even feel her flying what seems like only a few yards away, even if it's masked by the crowd's noise or the clashing between swords, and she can't afford to look back in fear of crashing into someone. Those sounds single-handedly dictate Blanny's mood, where every hit by Nepgear raises her hopes while her noise from her opponent's attack raises her anxiousness.

After a while, she hears Nepgear yelp out a bit in pain and the sound of Sadie dashing towards her, electrically charged sword ready to strike. Only now does Blanny look back, seeing the CPU greedily swing at her. "Eep!" She instinctively ducks just in time and speeds up while her ally catches her attacker, yanking her back to afford Blanny a few more yards.

By the time the three have almost travelled the whole perimeter of Lowee's capital city, Blanny can feel herself tire more and more from the constant running. Looking at the many buildings she passes by, she wonders if she can hide herself inside one of them.

"My my, Neppy Jr. Even after a long battle, I'm still able to fend you off? Seems that you're not as energetic as I had thought."

"N-no! I'm just making sure that I don't hurt anyone or damage anything here!" Blanc would be pretty pissed if she were to miss her M.P.B.L. and accidentally hit someone or some building.

Hearing that pushes Blanny to follow through on the plan. As she turns left around a corner, she immediately makes another left, running inside a building without checking what it is.

Inside, she finds herself in an extremely cramped restaurant. There might be room for nine or ten patrons, who all would have to sit around the cashier's counter on bar stools. "Lady Blanc?! Is there something going on?" asks the short pink-haired store owner dressed in white and brown, who doesn't pay much attention that her CPU is wearing different clothes than normal.

"Uhh...yeah…" Blanny takes a moment to catch her breath before meekly asking, "May I hide in here for a few minutes?"

This Blanc sounds rather different than normal. Again, she isn't bothered. "Huh? What's going on?"

She knows that Iris Heart is only getting closer; she needs to hide now! "It's...u-um, really hard to explain, but still really urgent!"

"Oh! Of course, I won't ask any more questions!"

"Thank you!" Looking around, the sparse furniture doesn't make for good cover. "Um…may I hide under the counter?"

"You can use my back room, if you want."

"Really? Thank you again!" She hurriedly walks around the bar and slides herself in the back room's door.

"I hope this isn't anything too bad…" wonders the shop owner, watching her store's entrance for anything suspicious.

(-)

Inside, Blanny finds herself in a completely dark storage room. The cooking ingredients presumed to be in there all give a somewhat pleasant smell, but it's not pleasant enough to quell her worries. It seems like the last few minutes have been quiet out there, so maybe she did fool Iris Heart and she's just flying aimlessly around town. If so, when should she come out? She doesn't know when Nepgear is going to be done dealing with her.

As she's contemplating all of this, she hears the door slam open, and the sadistic aura immediately comes back and causes her to stiffen up.

She hears who she least wants to hear at the other side of the door, audibly panting while still trying to maintain her menacing composure. "You wouldn't happen to know where Blanny is, would you?"

"U-uh...a-aren't you...Planeptune's CPU? W-What are you do-"

"Of course I am, so answer my question!" Her escalation almost causes Blanny to jump in surprise.

"U-uh...um…"

Where's Nepgear? Did she lose track of her? How is she going to fend off this force of nature herself? She can only hope this poor girl has the will to convince the CPU to go away.

"I...haven't seen her today…"

"Oh?" There's a pause, where the only noise is the shopkeeper's unsteady breathing. Each syllable she utters stabs the two a little. "Telling lies? Do you know what happens to those who lie right to my face?"

"N-no…" Blanny can't, or rather doesn't want to, imagine what kind of terror is going through this unprepared citizen.

"As a CPU, I can't just let anyone get away with lying. I would have to use my special training to ensure that not just your mind, but your body knows not to lie to a goddess!"

"S-s-she's in the back room! Just, l-leave me alone!" With that last plead, she can hear her running out.

"Blanny Blanc…" The feeling of being trapped against Iris Heart almost forces her to tear up in fear. Is there anything she can do? She can't run away like the last battle she was in, but can she think of anything other than be paralyzed? She stands there, trembling as her mind scrambles to find any useful advice, where every footstep of the CPU dishevels her thoughts.

"It's been a painfully annoying and obnoxious hour, but I finally get to play with my precious Blanny Blanc…" As the doorknob slowly turns, intentionally so for added torment, Blanny knows her time is through, and she didn't come up with anything to do. Before she can completely give up, though, she finds her body moving against her will by summoning her weapon.

Iris Heart finally starts opening the door, cracking a perverse smile. "There you are-"

"Get away from me!" Disarmed by the thunderous yet shrill scream just for a moment, the CPU is greeted not by a helpless meek girl but one end of a white hammer crashing into her. The surprise hit is impactful enough to create a shockwave, knocking over everything on the counter, and the force behind it is strong enough to slam Iris Heart into the opposing wall with a sound no quieter than Blanny's yell.

Energy instantly replenished by adrenaline, she runs faster than she ever has outside and back into the streets to the right. It doesn't matter where she's running, whom she's running to, or when to stop running, considering that sunset is coming soon; the only thing on her mind is one woman. One divine but nightmarish woman. Not even the fact that she's constantly crashing into the few people still on the streets or that her tears are clouding where she's looking will slow her down. At least, not until she makes a direct head-on collision with someone.

"Ouch! Hey there, watch where you're…"

In her panic, Blanny immediately stands up, ready to resume her sprint without apologizing, but the sight of whom she ran into stuns her for a moment. "C-C-sha?!"

"Blanny, are you alright?! What's going on-"

Before the brawler could fully react to the situation, her wildly distressed friend pulls on her arm and starts running again. "C-sha, w-we have to get out of here! She's going to-"

"Going to what, Blanny Blanc?" Whatever semblance of a reunion breaks when a tired but still determined sadist CPU descends in front of them.

"I-it's her!" Predictably, Blanny turns around and tries to get away without C-sha.

"I'm not giving up, you know; I'm gonna get ya one way or another…" She heeds little attention to the young woman Blanny was talking to and starts her chase yet again.

However, said young woman catches her ankle as she flies past her. "I don't know what's going on, nor do I know much about this place, but it doesn't take much for me to realize there's something wrong here," she says calmly yet sternly.

"Oh? Are you a friend of Blanny Blanc?" Hearing such a nickname makes C-sha grimace. "There's nothing wrong; just us girls playing-"

C-sha decisively pulls Iris Heart towards her and punches her in the face.

Quickly flying back and out of her range, the CPU scowls at the newcomer. "I wouldn't ignore such dirty play, but I...am very busy right now." Busy meaning "tired." "I'm just going to have to spare you; be grateful." She hastily launches herself towards Blanny at high speeds, keen on keeping out of C-sha's range.

"Damn…" Without the ability to fly, she has no chance of catching her. That is, until…

"C-sha? What are you doing here?" Behind her flies in Nepgear.

She points in the two's direction. "No time to explain; Blanny's in trouble-"

"I already know. Let's go!" After that short exchange, the Candidate picks her up and starts the chase yet again, already catching up to the CPU. On the way there, she mentions, "She's healed herself so many times; she has to be close to done!"

"Yeah, seems like it; definitely can't heal herself anymore from how tired she is. Look, there they are!"

Ahead of them is the goddess in question stalking Blanny from above. "Your friends are certainly trying my patience, but at least I have you now!"

"N-no! Stop it already!" The tired girl yells back.

"Oi!" With one arm still being held by Nepgear, C-sha uses her arm cannon to snipe Iris Heart from the back. She doesn't stop at one shot, either; she continuously fires more bursts of energy, making the scene look not so different from a shmup.

"Agh!" After enough shots, Iris Heart loses her flight and crashes into the streets.

Blanny takes a moment to look back at what just happened, feeling a bit relieved that Nepgear has finally returned, but quickly returns to running away.

Instead of renewing her pursuit as everyone else had expected, though, she simply turns around with a grossly furious scowl. "Well, you two are just so persevering, aren't you? Fine; I won't touch your ever-so-dearest Blanny. Instead, I'll just have to take out my frustration on you both!" Without much thought, the CPU dashes at the two, ready to slash at them with her whip sword.

"Drop me, and let's roll!" The surrounding area has made itself clear enough for one more battle, so C-sha and Nepgear steel themselves for what they hope to be the last part of the lengthy battle.

Still weary about not causing extra damage, Nepgear resorts to using only melee attacks. Yet, that puts her in a similar situation as White Heart from earlier. Though, Iris Heart is somewhat sloppy with her kiting, instead favoring attacks in rapid succession.

Even if that puts Nepgear to the defensive, there's no way for her to do that and fend off an attacking C-sha from her behind at the same time. "Ora ora ora ora!" Her punches and kicks are undoubtedly irritating, and the dominatrix tries to kick back when she can, but without looking at the young woman, she ends up missing most of her attempts at warding her off.

In fact, the moment she tries to turn around to answer C-sha's assault, thinking the other CPU won't immediately attack her, Nepgear punishes that move with an upward slash, allowing both of them to pummel on her. "These two warrant a more special technique…" Iris Heart mutters.

(-)

Meanwhile, off in the distance, the ominous aura around Blanny is fading away, prompting her to take a breather and wipe the tears out of her eyes. Looking behind her, she becomes much more relieved seeing the dominatrix finally not hot on her heels. Now, she has to make the decision between staying where she is now or trying to help. Surely, with it being three against one, there's no chance that scary CPU can even lay a finger on her, right?

"Can you both withstand this Thunder Blade Kick?" She hears from the distance. Suddenly, dark clouds that obscure the skies appear above them all. Lightning immediately forms, striking and stunning C-sha and Nepgear, giving Iris Heart enough time to deliver two impactful kicks with her sharp stiletto heels. Both slammed into the ground, they don't have enough time to react to the barrage of lasers fired from above, pushing them farther into the dirt.

"N-no!" Blanny yells out. After that devastating EXE skill, Iris Heart takes a moment to catch her breath. Even with this act of weakness, she's become much more frantic on choosing if she wants to help or not.

After her short breather, Iris Heart walks up to her opponents and simply crushes them one at a time under her heel. "Finally, I can relieve some stress in peace."

"Ow…" C-sha keeps trying to get her leg off of her, but that only makes the sadist stomp harder.

"Come on…!" Nepgear is having similar trouble, on the verge of losing her transformation.

Is Blanny really that cowardly to leave them like that? But what about Falcom's advice to not fight? She tries to get closer, but finds herself stopping solely from the CPU's menacing air.

"I KNEW IT!" An unknown voice from behind Blanny startles her. Looking behind, she finds the mysterious brown-blonde-haired girl from earlier approaching. "I knew there was a CPU feud going on! I am here with you, Lady Blanc; let's finish this!" She announces, brandishing her beam saber.

"H-huh? You again?" She's too confused by her sudden appearance and why she's here to fully understand what she's saying.

The swordswoman doesn't explain herself and immediately jumps, quite literally, into action with many rapid somersaults and a jump slash down onto Iris Heart.

The CPU releases her pin on C-sha and Nepgear due to the surprise attack and staggers forward. This is the third person to interrupt her, so of course she's only going to get angrier! She chooses not to gratify the girl with any words but instead another deadly glare as she readies her own sword.

The moment she looks away from the other two, however, they immediately get up. "You think one attack is enough to take me down?" shouts C-sha. "Also, thanks for the save, rookie."

That name distracts the stranger from Iris Heart. "Who are you calling a rookie?!"

Without explanation, C-sha launches their opponent upward with an uppercut. "Neo Ryushoken!" Then, she shouts to Nepgear, "Use your laser attack, now!"

The Candidate has just finished recovering. "But what about destroying the buildings-"

"Just do it! Shoot upwards so you don't hit anything!"

"Er, right!" She quickly but surely takes aim while Iris Heart's still airborne. "Multiple Beam Launcher!"

"C-Buster!" Joining her ally, C-sha fires her own laser. The blinding blue and purple lights join together and completely engulf Iris Heart while propelling herself away from them and farther into the sky.

Completely out of energy, she simply falls without any success in catching herself before she collides with the ground. Except, instead of just the ground, she's in trajectory to land on Blanny. "Lady Blanc! Watch out!" The girl tries to warn.

Blanny realizes rather late what's going to happen when their enemy is only a few feet above her. "U-uwa!" Finding herself in a similar situation where she doesn't have enough time to move, her body once more moves against her will by summoning her hammer. With a reaction time and speed that she didn't know she had the whole time, she makes one swift overhead slam.

She wasn't even looking at her attack, eyes closed tightly out of fear, so she's surprised when she finds that she's firmly planted Iris Heart, now reverted back to Plutia, several feet into the dirt and completely unconscious.

The other two are also late to notice what they just did. "Blanny, are you alright?!" shouts C-sha as they both run past the stranger and towards their friend.

"U-um…" She takes a careful minute to look around, still tense from the encounter. But, after a while, she replies, "...Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright."

The three gather around her while Nepgear removes the hammer trapping Plutia to take a closer look at her. "Yep, we finally stopped her for good."

Everyone takes a deep sigh of relief that it's all over. "Uh, not exactly how I imagined our next meeting would be, isn't that right Blanny?" C-sha asks with a preoccupied mind.

"Yeah...but, why did you come here? Err, I'm really grateful that you did and saved me like that, but..."

C-sha puts her hand on her shoulder with a remorseful look. "Because...I wanted to apologize to you as soon as possible about everything that happened last night, even if it meant running across two dimensions. I really should've been more careful; I don't even know what spurred me to make you take on something like that…"

The apology comes off as sudden and out of nowhere to Blanny, and how much her friend had to do to tell her that makes her feel a bit guilty. "H-huh?! Err, it's not your fault, I shouldn't have ran off like that from just one attack..."

"Nah, it really is my fault. Making you fight an S-tier monster in the middle of the night; what was I thinking?"

"But still...even when you were finishing it up, running away like that and almost dying because of it…"

"Nah, if I picked anyone else to torture like that, they would've done the same thing."

Before Blanny can apologize back, the newcomer interrupts them. "Hey, you, in the blue. I should know all of Lady Blanc's allies, but I'm not familiar with you. What gives?"

"Um, sorry that I couldn't say it earlier, but...this Blanc isn't the Blanc you're thinking of, and doesn't actually look over this Lowee," answers Nepgear as she disengages HDD.

"...Huh. Aren't you Planeptune's CPU? Shouldn't you be with that evil goddess? What's exactly going on here? Give me the details," she brusquely asks.

Oh, now she wants details. "There's no CPU war going on like you've been saying! It's just that Plutia here had something personal with this Blanc, who's from a different dimension; the same one the blonde woman you fought earlier is from."

"I see…" she replies discontentedly while still unbothered by her presumptions being wrong again.

"By the way, nice work out there, rookie," C-sha compliments with a thumbs up. "Even if it was just one attack, it was enough for us to turn the tides for us!"

"Don't call me a rookie," she warns gravely.

C-sha returns an amused giggle. "Alright, rookie. Y'know, you remind me a lot of myself when-"

"I don't need this." With a disgusted look, she immediately turns her heel against them and is about to teleport away.

"Wait!" yells Nepgear with an outstretched arm. "Before you go, may we please have your name?"

Back turned against her, she hesitates and looks back. "The name's C-sha." With that, she immediately vanishes under a red beam.

"C-sha?" Everyone asks, reasonably perplexed by this discovery.

"I didn't think I would see an Ultra Dimension C-sha today," remarks Nepgear.

"...Is this like how there's two Neptunes and what-not?" The remaining C-sha asks with a concerned frown.

"Yeah, that's about right."

"I knew she was too much like how I was when I was younger…" Her brow furrows even more, deep in recollection.

"Wow, is that so?" A younger C-sha, huh? "What does that mean-"

C-sha cuts her off. "Anyways, Blanny, I thought you also did a really good job out there!"

"What?!" She did about the same thing she did back at the fight with the Whale; how does that warrant a compliment?

"I mean, even though you were so against fighting, you definitely sealed the deal with that smackdown. I guess you still retained some skills, huh?" She continues to flatter.

"Uh…" So that's what she meant. "That was kind of...it didn't even feel like I did it. It felt like that really scary lady made me do it. Plus, I never want to be in that situation ever again..." In fact, even being near that unconscious Plutia is making her uneasy.

"Eh, but you still did it, right? So, we'll find some way to get you to fight like that! Err, only if you want to." C-sha quickly adds that last part before she forgets.

"I want to!" She says that to placate C-sha, but then thinks about it more. "Well, not right now; I don't feel ready to learn about that stuff...Except, I feel like I'll never be ready, either," she glumly adds.

"Remember what I told you earlier, Blanny?" mentions Nepgear with that same determined look. "We'll always be here to help you!"

Seeing that other C-sha help like that; she can see what she means by people wanting to help her. Yet, that felt like a fluke, especially considering how crazy she was. "...Okay."

C-sha decisively asks, "Enough worrying for now; you all came with the other goddesses, right? Where are they?"

"Oh, I forgot!" perks up Nepgear. "We really should get back to the Basilicom to meet up with everyone else! And also…" It's not the most disastrous scene around, but Blanc's not going to be so happy that they trashed her city like this. "Let's hurry."

"Alright."

"Okay!"

(-)

It doesn't take very long for C-sha to stop the group, who are all making an effort to carry an unconscious Plutia. "Hey guys, don't ya think it's time for dinner?"

The sun is disappearing under the horizon. "Just a little longer, C-sha. We can meet up with our friends, then get something to eat," answers Nepgear.

"Aw, they've probably eaten already. I'm not so keen on passing all of these food stands on an empty stomach."

"Well, I guess, but we can't be sure about that. What do you think, Blanny?"

"Um...I want to wait for everyone." She sort of also wants to check on her sisters as soon as possible.

"Aw, Blanny, but I'm starving!" whines C-sha. "Besides, I already came here; might as well check out the local food instead of something this place's Basilicom prepared."

"Oh, then we should eat first," Blanny quickly corrects, leaving Nepgear slightly exasperated.

"Good choice! Here, let me pick." The Gold Third member looks around on both sides before spotting a brightly lit stand that's already occupied by… "Wait a minute…" Without saying much else, she starts leading everyone over there.

"Huh? What is it...oh!" Going back inside, the place is already packed. Packed with five familiar faces, that is. "Neptune?"

"Hm?" Her sister turns around with a mouth full of food and waves at her along with the other goddesses. "Oh, hey Nep Jr.! Sorry that we sorta went ahead with dinner without y'all, but we were getting too hungry. I see that ya took Plutie down, huh? Here, dump her next to me."

"Neptune, I love you, but sometimes, your ideas are too…" Nepgear scolds while carefully placing the sleeping girl down.

"Hey, aren't you that other Blanc that brought that scary CPU here?" bitterly asks the store owner as she points at the wall behind them. "Care to explain that giant hole?"

With everyone looking at her, she can't help but yell out, "It's...it's all that scary lady's fault! What was I supposed to do against her?!"

All the stares then silently redirect at Neptune. "Ah, okay...maybe I didn't anticipate that Sadie would go all lusty over Blanny like that, but no one could predict that!"

The resident Blanc speaks up with a sigh, very clearly tired of today's events. "I'm sorry about my friend's antics. I'll send a repair crew tomorrow."

"I think I can cover it myself; you don't have to worry about it, Lady Blanc," the lamprey store owner says in an attempt to appease her.

"Don't. It really is my...our fault." Her tone indicates her finality on her decision, while spreading the guilt to most of the other goddesses.

"Um, C-sha?" Rom asks. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, C-sha, wanna try this? The store owner says it's grilled lamprey, and it's pretty good!" says an unaffected Ram, holding up a skewer.

"Of course, don't mind if I do!" C-sha reaches for Ram's skewer and takes a large bite. "Mmm, you're right." She starts taking another one before Ram reaches for her arm.

"Hey, that's too much! Get your own!"

"When did you get here, C-sha?" asks Vert, wearing shrine maiden-like clothes. "Sorry if you wanted to go with us, but Neptune was rather hasty."

"Aw, it's nothin'. I just really needed to tell Blanny something. Speaking of Blanny..." The Gold Third member spots someone staying quiet towards the back, and approaches her. "I believe this is the first we met!"

"Huh?" Blanc looks back at the unfamiliar woman with a suggestive attire, already giving her a bad first impression. "So, who are you?"

"She's a super cool friend of ours!" replies Ram.

"Yep; we've been through a fair amount together. Nice to meet ya, other Blanny!"

"Please don't call me that," she flatly warns while slowly eating.

"Ah, c'mon. My Blanny's fine with it, so why not?"

"'Cause, readers will get confused between who's who! I think…" Neptune speaks up.

"Oh, I see…" C-sha almost seems genuinely disappointed that she can't call Blanc that, while Blanc is glad that she accepted that nonsensical explanation.

"Oh yeah," Nepgear speaks up. "Do you know another girl who looks a bit like C-sha? She has really long blonde and brown hair and wears this android-looking armor, too."

She's about to reply "no," but then stops herself while giving another look-over of Gold Third's leader. "...Well, I do know someone who looks a bit like C-sha. Long brown hair...er, never mind; the similarities stop there. She doesn't look that much younger, and she usually wears some sort of artist getup, not what you said." She frowns while thinking about this person. "And while she tries to have that cool older sister air, she's...like Vert, so no, I don't know who you're talking about; sorry."

Vert perks up. "Huh...wait, what do you mean by that? Don't I fulfill the cool older sister role well?"

"Eh, I mean, you definitely help us a lot and seem pretty wise, but…" Neptune takes glances between C-sha and Vert. "I think C-sha's got ya beat on that."

"Oh, how that hurts me. Nepgear, please tell me you don't think the same way."

"Ehm…well, first, I need to ask..." Nepgear fidgets a bit. "What...are you wearing?"

"Oh, have you noticed?" She teasingly asks while trying to subtly flaunt her stuff, thinking that she's genuinely interested. "After Plutia ever so gracefully tossed me into the water, I needed a new set of clothes. Blanc here was kind enough to lend me a set of spare clothes, even if it's a bit small. Do you like it?" To be fair, the attire isn't exactly Blanc-sized, so it's not a complete disaster.

"Uhm…" Her "younger sister" is choosing her words carefully. "I think the clothes being too small makes it look awkward."

"Aw, you guys shoulda been around when Blanc here saw her with it for the first time," points out Neptune with a laugh. "She was sputtering so hard like a car while still trying to look super intimidating, kinda like right now, minus the car part."

"Lady Neptune, please don't enrage Lady Blanc any more. This place can't stand any more damage…" asks the shop owner.

Holding in her irritation while trying to enjoy her food, Blanc adds, "Sometimes, I wish I had more friends, until you all come to visit."

"I think what you said speaks for itself." C-sha smugly shrugs. "Probably has something to do with how handsy and unrestrainedly lewd you can get."

Vert's mood sours a bit as she sees her reasoning and begrudgingly accepts her inferiority. "I see...I will work on that, then."

Blanc's persisting sour mood catches her counterpart's attention. "Um...are you alright, other me?" The scuffle with Iris Heart took her mind off of her other self, and now she's back to scrutinizing her.

"Huh?" She didn't expect anyone to ask that. "...Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"No reason…"

"Aww, Blanny here's just worried about you looking so 'grr' all the time. Isn't that sweet?" Neptune chirps up while giving Blanny a headpat.

"H-hey, not so rough…"

"Hm." Perhaps she has been unnecessarily grumpy today, if there's one thing her other self's worried look tells her.

"Wait a minute...other big sis has an older sister?" Rom realizes.

"No. She's some random stranger that started showing up a month ago who keeps bothering me. She's so much of a nuisance that I had to bar her from the Basilicom grounds just a few days ago."

"She's that tough-acting girl I fought earlier, no?" says Vert.

"Mhm. She was really worried about some sort of CPU war going on, trying to fight Vert and Plutia. Are you sure you don't know her, Blanc?" asks Nepgear.

"I'm sure, and there's certainly no fight between us going on. I'll look into it, though," she assures.

There's a bit of silence, so when it seems like no one's going to ask the question, Vert speaks up. "By the way, Blanc…"

"Hm?"

"Have you decided on if you want to help mentor Blanny?"

Blanc closes her eyes in deep thought. "I…"

"You don't have to if you don't want to," her counterpart quickly reminds.

She ignores the comment and continues thinking. "...I think it's unnecessary, so no."

"What? But we came all the way here for ya!" whines Neptune.

"Sorry, but in the end, she has all of you, right? Anything I can do you all can already do. If you really want her to go back to being her old self, I'm certain that you can also do that yourselves."

"Oh, I see." Blanny takes the explanation well.

"Aww...we just wanted to see you more," pouts Rom.

"I've always wanted to visit more often, too. But, truth be told, things have been getting more hectic around here, so I need to focus on these internal affairs. It'll be awhile before I can get a free day after today."

Rom and Ram both look at her in disappointment. "Aww, boo…"

(-)

"Thank you everyone for coming to my lamprey stand!" yells out the store owner.

"Well, that was some pretty good grub. It's pretty late, so how 'bout we hit the road?" Neptune eagerly points out, carrying the still-unconscious Plutia on her shoulders, as they stand outside in the dark after a lengthy dinner.

"No complaints about that; I really need a long bath after today…" groans Blanc.

"Yeah, 's been nice getting to know ya, Blanc. I'm gonna visit again sometime soon, you hear?" asserts C-sha.

"Hey hey, take us with us when you do!" asks Ram.

"Of course! Well, 'it's more like you're taking me," she says with a chuckle.

"What about the clothes you lent me?" Vert speaks up before everyone forgets.

"Keep it. Or, if you want to, return it the next time you come. I'll get going now; see you all." With that, Blanc slowly walks away.

"Bye, Blanc!" Everyone says back to her while waving, who waves back.

Once out of earshot, Neptune says, "Alright, so to get home...I'll carry Plutie, Nep Jr. can get Vert...hm, Ram can carry Blanny, and Rom'll have C-sha! Sounds good?"

"That's a lot of work...but okay!" Ram is the first to transform of the four. "Anyways, what do you wanna do tomorrow, Blanny?"

"Hm...I don't know…" Her older sister replies with a yawn, still scrutinizing the Blanc shrinking into the horizon. "You should decide, since you know more."

"Ram, Mina's probably gonna decide for us when we get home," reminds Rom.

"Oh yeah! Mina!" With that, Ram quickly speeds away while carrying her older sister, without her older sister noticing.

"H-huh?!"

"Wait! Ram!" Purple Heart and the others fly behind her. "Be careful with Blanny!"

(-)

"Mina Mina Mina!" After very speedily dumping Plutia on Mini Histoire and flying back home, Rom and Ram disengage HDD and drag Blanny into their own Lowee's Basilicom.

"Whoa, wait!"

"Goodness, I know they've been excited to see her again, and so am I, but I didn't think they were this eager!" points out Nepgear.

"It's been a while since I've seen one of oracles outside of Histoire or Chika. Hopefully they won't mind if I stay to say hello." Vert follows after them.

"Hey, I'm not gonna let myself get left behind like that! C'mon, Nepgear!"

"Okay!" Her younger sister shares a similar sentiment to Vert.

Immediately inside, the three find Rom and Ram already running up to Lowee's scholarly Oracle, Mina Nishizawa. "Mina!"

"Aw, you two. It's so great to see you all again!" She crouches down to get both of them in a hug. "

"So, you're the Mina I've been hearing the two clamber about. I'm C-sha, nice to meet you!" the Gold Third leader greets.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, C-sha. I've definitely heard a lot about you and your feats, too."

"Yeah, I suppose it'd be weirder if you didn't…" she says somewhat embarrassedly.

"It definitely has been a while. How have your travels been?" Vert asks warmly.

"It's been great, learning everything the world has to offer. Has everything been well in Gamindustri? " She asks back.

"Ehm, more or less. A couple of incidents here and there," answers Nepgear.

"Well, I meant other than those. Again, I'm sorry that I couldn't have come earlier to help," laments Mina.

"Aw, it's alright. We got it all under control," assures Neptune. "Anyways, aren't ya gonna give Blanny a hug, too?"

A bit away from Mina, her CPU is slightly aloof as she studies her. "Um...hello." This is the woman who might know how to restore her memories, huh?

Her Oracle lets go of the Candidates and walks towards her with a motherly smile. "Hello, Lady Blanc. I'm assuming Rom and Ram already told you who I am, correct?"

"Well…" She has heard them mention her a lot, but… "I…feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

"Is that so? Where?" Everyone seems surprised by this reveal, including Mina.

"I don't know. Wait...I think it was a dream, but all I can remember is that we were in...Leanbox?" Dreams can be so easy to forget.

"That is peculiar, especially when considering that I'm fairly certain that is something that really did happen…" Mina takes a moment to consider this. "This might change our plans for getting your memories…"

Blanny perks up in surprise that they're already talking about that. "Um, that's fine."

"But, I think it won't change much; we can still go through with it!"

Everyone else gasps in excitement. "Whoa, we can get Blanny's memories back?!" Rom and Ram very eagerly ask.

She satisfactorily nods. "She should be back to how she was before the incident."

"Well, will ya look at that? I knew you wanted to get them back as soon as possible, and here we are. Isn't that great?" cheers C-sha. "Well, all that trouble with the fighting stuff wasn't that great…but oh well."

"Um…" She should be happy with them, and she has said she would have been if they found a way to restore herself, but…

"Well, what are we waiting for, gal pals? Rev the machine or whatever it is up, Mina!" Neptune gleefully shouts.

"Is it actually like a machine? How does it work?" Nepgear wonders.

"It's similar to a spell circle, and while you were at the other Lowee, I took the time to set it up in the share crystal room."

"Whoa, really? You're awesome, Mina! C'mon, Blanny, let's go!" Ram tries to pull Blanny towards said place.

It's already set up?! She doesn't have time to speak up as her younger sister pulls her upstairs with her friends walking behind them.


writing can sometimes feel a bit less fun when having to write applications for college stuff but ill manage

trying to write iris heart is a bit tricky bc of having to think up all the sexually charged stuffs, and ud c-sha will also be tricky too (when she comes up again later)

also, i might go back to calling hd blanc "blanc" if ud blanc isnt in the chapter

edit: as mentioned in ch 15 notes, when vert says "She's that tough-acting girl I fought earlier, no?", she's talking about ud c-sha specifically :p


"Alright, the process should be simple, Lady Blanc: just step into the circle, and I will take care of the rest." Surrounded by darkness with the only source of light being the Sharicite in the middle, four of the goddesses, C-sha, and Mina gather around Blanc.

"Um..." Remaining stationary, Lowee's CPU very cautiously looks between the circle, Mina's books left open on the dark ground, her friends, and her sisters.

"Hey, what are you waiting for, dummy?! Don't you wanna get back to normal?" Ram testily asks her sister. Neptune, C-sha, Rom, and Mina have a similar look of confusion.

"...Can't we wait until tomorrow?" Blanc timidly asks.

"Well, we could...but it really would be better if we perform this operation as soon as possible. I promise you that it won't hurt, so please step on the circle," Mina sympathetically explains.

She looks at everyone with severe guilt. At the absolute quietest she can, she mutters,

"...No."