"There can't have been many places for Blanny to hide here!" Jogging through the empty streets of Lowee, C-sha and Mina find that most of the only places open are 24/7 stores, lighting up the otherwise dark city.
"We still need to survey the residential area, too, meaning it is probably that someone hid her in their house," points out Mina.
"She can't have run over there already, right? No way she could've got that far in, like, 20 minutes!" C-sha asks in exacerbation.
"C-sha, we have been looking for about an hour."
"An hour?!" she loudly groans. "Please tell me that the other two already found her…" Fishing through her pockets, she starts a call with Ram while she continues looking. "Hello, you there? Give me the updates…"
Mina also feels that same exhaustion. Maybe she should call Vert, Neptune, or Nepgear to see how they're doing. Though, they'll probably call her first if they find her.
"...Not calling it quits for today? Same here." C-sha puts her phone away before saying, "No dice. All they found was some 'weirdo lady' behind the Basilicom."
"Those kids are still always so eager…" reminisces Mina. "I suppose we can afford to keep looking for a little longer."
They reach the west edge of Lowee's capital city and approach the national hotel, standing out with its relatively more colorful exterior. "Do you think Blanny got a room here?"
"Did you give her any money?" Mina asks. "Though, I would believe they let her in for free...We should ask anyways."
(-)
After a quick question to the front desk, they find that only one person has entered the hotel in the last few hours, and she certainly wasn't Blanc. "I think it would be better to postpone our search until tomorrow morning," proclaims Mina tiredly. "That way, we can issue an announcement for others to help look for her."
"Do whatever you want, but I'm not throwing in the towel," claims a C-sha far too exhausted to do that.
"Are you sure? You certainly don't look prepared for that," worries Mina.
"Of course I can; I did this yesterday; I can do it again," reminds C-sha gravely.
"...What do you mean you did this yesterday?" the Oracle asks in slight panic.
Before she can say anything, C-sha's phone rings. Seeing that it's a call from Neptune, she instantly grabs and answers it. "H-hello? Please tell me you found her...you did?!" Both of their faces light up, and their morale is rejuvenated completely. "Alright!" To Mina, she frantically tells her while starting another text to Vert, Rom, and Ram, "C'mon, let's get to the Basilicom; we got her!"
"Oh, thank goodness!" With that, the two start running back, grateful that it's over.
(-)
"Blanc!" Already back to their base form, Rom and Ram are running in, becoming quickly confused at the lack of their sister around. "Where is she?!" Ram snaps.
"I don't know. We just got here, too," says C-sha while panting.
"Perhaps Neptune already tucked her into bed?" suggests Vert. "That might be something she would do."
"...If so, that would mean we are postponing the spell until tomorrow morning."
Vert's phone starts ringing, puzzling her as she sees it's a video call from Neptune. "Hmm? That's strange."
Upon accepting the call, Her puzzledness becomes greater upon seeing her caller not in Blanc's room but in her own Basilicom, sitting on a desk with a dramatic scheming pose, complete with her fingertips touching. "Hello there-, er, Vert, you might wanna put this on speaker and hologram mode."
She silently complies, hoping for a good explanation, while spreading her surprise to everyone else.
Neptune clears her throat and re-engages her pose. "Ahem, hello there. You might be wondering where your dear Blanny is," she says in a parodically evil voice.
"Please tell us where Blanc is," Rom dryly asks.
"Neptune, do remember that it is past the bedtime of many of these people. It would be in everyone's best interest to make this as short as possible," reminds a voice off-screen. The Oracle to whom the voice belongs reveals herself soon after as Histoire, dressed in her nightgown.
"Oh, alright," groans Neptune as she breaks her act and slouches back on her chair. "So yeah, I took Blanny to Planeptune." Looking to her right, she eagerly beckons someone. "Come over here!" Slowly, the goddess in question walks in view with her newly trademarked shyness. Nepgear also walks in behind them, stopping when she notices her sister's in a call.
Everyone on the other side widens their eyes as she imagines the worst has happened. "What?! Was Lady Blanc trying to escape all the way to Planeptune?" gasps Mina.
"Uhh..." Neptune already knows that telling her the truth would escalate the situation. "Mmm, you heard Histy! We gotta keep this short, and whatever you asked isn't too important; what is important is my new plan that will knock your rocks off, or whatever!"
Everyone raises an eyebrow at that, with Rom and Ram preemptively frowning at her. Before anyone could interject, she takes a breath and explains, "So, instead of trying to cram Blanny with stuff she doesn't want to remember, we can ask Histy to pull up everything she's got about her and have her learn by looking at just the important stuff!"
Including those on Neptune's side, they all stare at her striking a heroic pose and wearing a smug grin at her own proposal. "That's...actually a fairly excellent compromise, Neptune," compliments Vert.
Blanc immediately breaks out of her drowsiness. "Wait, you can do that?!" She half-yells at Histoire. When the tome naturally backs off at that noise, she much more quietly adds, "Sorry…"
"Err, yes. If you give me some time, I can compile everything I have about you in video form."
"Wow, isn't that cool, Blanc? You get to keep being your current self, AND you don't have to worry that much about learning CPU stuff!" Nepgear points out to cheer Blanc up.
"Histoire just has that kind of stuff laying around? And she has everything about Blanny's history?" asks C-sha in slight disbelief. "If she has that kind of info on everyone, that seems really ominous…"
"My archives mostly consist of public events, meaning that I have more about Blanc or any CPU than any ordinary citizen. In addition, I also have a wealth of private information donated by Lowee's CPUs and Basilicom staff in my highly secretive stacks, inaccessible by virtually anyone but me," explains Histoire, humbly boasting her capabilities.
"That is true…" Mina certainly remembers agreeing to that in the past. "Though, if I recall correctly, that would mean you are missing some parts about Blanc's history as a CPU Candidate before we made that deal."
"Does that mean it's no good?" asks Rom, hoping for a "yes."
Mina thinks it over. "The data can still be sufficient...but even if Histoire supplies us with enough information, learning how to be a CPU from just watching videos is never going to be as effective as having the experience."
"Aww, we can just look at it too, then explain and teach it to her!" assures Neptune.
"When you put it like that, I suppose it will be much easier to mentor her if we have a reference. Beforehand, I was rather uncertain about if we would be of much use," mentions Vert. "But now, consider me sold on this idea…" She almost looks blissful that her daydreams about caring for and teaching this new Blanny can still become a reality.
Lowee's Oracle continues to think hard about this new idea. "I...er, do you truly believe this is a better option than what we have prepared, Histoire? This is certainly a priceless favor you are doing for us."
"Well, we nations always help each other when we need it, right?" Histoire warmly reminds. "If anything, I support this method because it helps refresh my ability to pull data from my top secret stacks. As for comparing this alternative to your original plan…" She makes a very small grin. "...as Croire would say, it would be fun to record interesting history."
"Wow, Histy wanting to do something fun?! That's groundbreaking!" gasps Neptune dramatically before receiving a light chop head from her.
"It was inevitable you would be surprised when you constantly stereotype me as you do!" Histoire says, being very slightly though still unusually provoked. "In all seriousness, my immediate thoughts are that, given the relatively peaceful times we are in, this should not jeopardize anything, and the two will theoretically have similar outcomes to Lowee's shares in the end."
Ram makes herself front and center of the camera. "If they're gonna end up the same, then just do the spell that we already set up, Histy. Jeez, why are we wasting time talking about something that's gonna take a lot more work?!"
That line brings Blanc back to a protective state. "But...but…"
Neptune speaks up for her. "Well, it's not gonna be the same; we're gonna have a much cuter Blanny in the end!"
"Why does it matter to you that she's cuter? We just want our old big sis back, and she's a lot more important to us than to you!" Rom bitterly rebukes.
"But...I don't want my old self back, er-" Blanc's face reddens at saying something so obvious.
"But we do!" Ram shouts in frustration while trying to come up with more arguments. "Besides, Neptune and Vert are probably gonna do something weird to you and screw you up somehow."
"Hey, now, I would never do something like that," Neptune responds defensively. "In fact, I can assure y'all that I'll do extra to keep ol' lolicon Vert from messing her up too much."
"How rude, Neptune," pouts Vert. "I simply just want to strengthen our bond together, especially when she has always been so cold towards me!"
"That's because you make her angry all the time…" reminds Rom.
As they all talk about her, Blanc gets the urge to speak up. "Rom, Ram...why is it so important that you want my old self back?"
"Because...Because she's our big sis! We did so much together; we wouldn't wanna lose her again like we did years ago…" laments Rom.
"But...I'm your big sis, right?"
"No, you're not! You're too wimpy to be like her!" shouts Ram.
Blanc, ironically the least knowledgeable of their past experiences together, is the only one not completely stunned. Nepgear, C-sha, Histoire, Vert, Mina; they're all mortified by that sudden declaration and its gravity. "Ram! Don't say something like that to your older sister!" Mina interjects in shock.
"Bleh, you're thinking the same thing, Mina! We all saw you get mad at her for being so whiny!" she says back. "Also, like Rom said, we did so many awesome things together, and now you just wanna forget them all? You might as well be someone else."
Blanc confusedly takes her exaggeration as literal, tormented by Ram's insulting logic and exhausted by this argument. She only knows they're her sisters because people tell her that, so maybe they've been lying this whole time. "Well...I guess if I'm not your older sister, then I get to keep being myself, right? I don't know..."
"No, we're TRYING to get you to be our big sis by getting your memories back! How many times do we have to tell you, you dumb! Did you lose your brains, too?!" she screams back with her arms raised and her eyes tearing up in frustration.
"I...R-Ram…" This feud has undoubtedly become too much for Blanc, who starts choking on her words. Did she really need to put her down like that all the time? "B-but, w-what about...w-why…"
The other goddesses cannot stand the sight, hoping that they could at least end this call soon. Rom and Ram, on the other hand, simply look unimpressed and continue to stare her down, ready to refute the next thing she says. "'Why' what, huh?!"
C-sha has been standing in the back, not talking out due to her fatigue, but that last part quickly piques her frustration. "Damn it, what are you three doing? Why are you throwing away your relationship like that?!"
"B-be...because..." Blanc can't find the right words.
"Because she wants to keep being a whiny scaredy cat!" exclaims Ram. "Don't you want the old Blanny back?!"
"Yeah, but…look, I have my own fair share of memories with her, but I'm not gonna cry if she doesn't have them anymore; I can just retell them to her anyways, and it's not like she's going to deny she did that!" reasons C-sha, whose temper is gradually worsening. "And now, we can just have Histoire use her book magic or whatever and make her re-watch her memories!"
"But Mina said that it's not the same as having experienced them," says Rom. "Please, Blanc, you don't know how much your past self is important to us…"
"Goodness...it's so heart-wrenching seeing you throwing away your sisterly ties like this…" Nepgear quietly mentions with a quavering voice. "If it means you all get back together, then I would happily want the old Blanc back."
Her words break through Blanc's silent hysteria, flicking her head around at her. "Aba- w-what? No?! I th-thought you d-didn't!"
Nepgear immediately falters when she sees Blanc's tearful frown and sniffling. "E-er, never mind, I want to keep this new Blanc!"
"Nepgear…" growls Rom, offering a betrayed and gradually antagonizing look.
Vert looks in disappointment back at the twins and realizes that there are more friendships at risk. She firmly interrupts, "You know, two in the morning is not the time to have this kind of conversation. We can agree that this can wait until tomorrow. Right, Neptune? Histoire, Mina?"
"...Huh? Oh, right," the former awkwardly mutters.
"That would be wise," Histoire and Mina say with a regretful and heartbroken glower, respectively.
Rom tries to interject, "What? We can keep-"
Vert ends the call and puts away her phone right then and there.
"Hey, we were in the middle of talking!" Ram upsetly yells when Blanc's miserable frown disappears from her view.
"Ehm…" Leanbox's CPU looks at the other women for help.
Mina picks up on her cue. "Rom, Ram, you really should prepare for bed soon."
"But Mina!" they whine in anger. "You have to use your phone to call Neptune back! Don't you want Blanc back?!"
"You heard Lady Vert. arguing this late won't convince anyone," their Oracle non-answers while trying to guide them upstairs.
The two try to look at C-sha for help, who simply shrugs in ghastly exhaustion. "I could pass out any second."
"Do you need a room?" offers Mina.
"No, but thanks," she bluntly rejects before heading for the front door.
"Wait, C-sha!" Ram has one more question about Blanc for her.
Their friend is already outside the Basilicom. "See you."
After she leaves, Vert follows suit. "You know, looking at you three the past two days, I thought you already accepted the new Blanny," she sullenly mentions back at them.
"...Um…" Looking back, Rom can start to see how their recent act contrasts with when they didn't know about Mina's spell.
On the other hand, Ram still remembers how hard she cried when Blanc lost her memories. "Why should we listen to you if you're trying to take her away from us?!"
"...I suppose you don't have to. Good night, you three. Get some rest," she dully replies before she exits. The sound of her closing the door is the last sound in the room for a fair minute.
During this silence, while the two are trying to keep track of who was supporting whom, it dawns on them how much they overestimated how much everyone was agreeing with them. Well, they definitely caught others gasping at what they were saying, but they certainly weren't going to back down in front of everyone. When they retrospect the way Vert and C-sha left, they can almost see that they've said something wrong. Almost.
They look at Mina in one last hope of validation. In truth, she really does prefer the old Blanc, but with how her sisters acted, she can't bring herself to agree with them for some reason. Is this spite? Hopefully not; that isn't proper as a mother figure like herself. It's certainly something close to concern, but, given her weary and overtaxed mood, she isn't even sure whom she's concerned for. Looking back with her tired gaze, she simply answers their silent question with "Come on, you two. Go upstairs and get ready for bed."
"Okay…"
"...Fine."
(-)
Neptune, Nepgear, and Histoire stare at the unmoving screen after the call's abrupt end. Blanc is looking downwards, trying to hide her tearful mess of a face and scatterbrained beyond functionality. "Ehm...w-what…um, w-what just...happened?"
"We...don't know, either. I'm sorry..." answers Nepgear reluctantly.
"W-why...why did Ram say...all t-those things?"
"Aww, Blanny…" her sobbing is almost making Neptune cry, too. "We both need this!"
"N-need...what?" She jolts when her fellow CPU goes in for a tight hug.
"I don't even wanna live in a world where you're so miserable!" She doesn't let go so easily.
"Do-does that mean…"
"Of course you're still one of my best friends! You're still Blanny, even if you don't have your old memories or if you're different; don't let the haters get to ya!" she shouts out.
That last part worries the other two. "Neptune...what did you mean by that? Surely, we don't want them to distance themselves further, right?" Nepgear asks.
She chooses to mostly ignore that comment for her own priorities. "C'mon, Nepgear, Histy! Show her some love; you don't wanna leave a sad Blanny alone, would ya?"
"Huh? Er, um..." Caught off guard, her sister supposes that is true. She awkwardly and cautiously approaches the two and softly hugs Blanc from the side. "I-I guess just like I said earlier today: you can become as great as you were before, or even better!"
Their Oracle hesitantly floats aside. "Um, but I am not exactly sure how to console her when I had just 'met' this version of her…"
"Histy…" growls Neptune.
"...Alright." She floats above them and starts rubbing Blanc's head softly. "I did tell them that I preferred to keep you as you are now, even if I am not completely familiar with you, so…"
"E-everyone…" Her tears are finally starting to subside. "Thank you...it's just that...t-today was so awful and scary…"
"I...can see what you mean, Blanc. We're really sorry we had to put you through Plutia like that...and then tried forcing you into that spell like that...and then making Rom and Ram yell at you…" Nepgear stops herself in guilt.
"W-what do you mean you made them yell at me…?"
"Uh…"
"It is very evident that the two care for you very much," points out Histoire.
"T-then...why?" She feels like she hears that too often, which each time making her more frustratedly confused. "W-why are they so mean if they 'care' for me?!"
"Well...when people get angry, it is because they think something is wrong." the tome explains further. Before anything disastrous can arise, she finishes "Err, that does not entail that you are wrong! It could mean that how they think is incorrect!" Well, that's not exactly nice, either; Rom and Ram were correct to a certain extent. "Actually...my, this is becoming difficult to explain."
"Bleh, what Histy's saying is that we can show them that you're the best, right?"
"Um...I suppose, but…" Blanc is certainly not in the mood to talk to them. Her doubts that they're really her younger sisters only grow.
She looks like she's not gonna sleep with that thought now implanted in her. "Mmm, I know! You can stay with us for a while tomorrow, and then we can just, y'know, chill out instead!"
"Chill...out?" Blanc asks between sniffles.
"Yeah, yeah! We can just sit around and play games and eat pudding and watch anime; I promise it'll be fun!"
"R-really? Are you sure it'll be fine? Everything just seems so...stressful..."
"Everything? Err…" Neptune takes a moment to review everything Blanc did so far. "Nah, you're just unlucky. I don't think anyone got hurt playing games! And, if you don't trust me, we also got Histy to watch out for anything dangerous, right?"
"Neptune, we're already busy with duties that you should've done yesterday and today, but put off for tomorrow," reminds Histoire.
"Bweh, it's just paperwork stuff, Histy; it won't be a sweat. I can just fill it out while I stick with Blanny. I'm a great multi-tasker, y'know?"
"Shouldn't we check up on Rom, Ram, and the others first…" Nepgear cuts herself short again when Neptune shushes her; she doesn't need to think about them right now. "Err, yeah...we can take it easy tomorrow!"
"Then it's a deal!" cheers Neptune, satisfied by Blanc's disposition finally brightening up. "Here, lemme show ya where to sleep."
After Neptune pulls Blanc towards the bedroom corridors, Nepgear asks, "So...are we calling them in the morning?"
Histoire nods. "I will make sure to keep it discrete from those two."
She sighs in desperation. "Goodness, I know what Neptune was going for, but I really hope we can work something out tomorrow with Rom and Ram…"
(-)
"So! This is my room that I share with Nep Jr., which you can tell, 'cause it has our names a bunch of D-pads on it!" The two CPUs are walking down the somewhat thin corridor.
"Okay."
"That way, if you have any spoopy nightmares, you can always come here and sleep in my bed!" Neptune teases.
"Oh, I see. Thank you," Blanc nonchalantly yawns while trying to look around.
Neptune is barely holding in her laughter at that unexpected answer. "Er...Blanny..."
She turns to her while yawning. "Huh? What is it?"
"Nothing, it's all cool; you're good!" Her friend amusedly mutters while patting her back.
"...Okay." She decides to pay it not much attention. Given how preoccupied she is, she only has enough mental space to take note of the doors, such as the one with a sign with "Uzume's Room!" and a plethora of debatably cool decals pasted on it. "Neptune, who's 'Yoozoom?'"
"Youooom?!" She almost roars in hilarity while recoiling forward. "Youzoom! Blanny, if you wanted us to stay up all night, then just tell me and don't torture me like this!"
"Huh? Torture?" she mindlessly worries.
From inside "Yoozoom's" room, a grumbling and low voice can be heard. "Nepsy, what are you still yapping on about at two in the morning?"
"Oh, it's nothing, Yoozoom!" Neptune giddily assures.
Blanc already feels guilty and tries to apologize back. "Er, um, sorry about that, Yoozoom…" She isn't the biggest fan of Neptune teasing her, but at least it's making her feel just a bit better.
When they get nothing but an unquestioning groan, Neptune guides Blanc to one of the unmarked doors and opens it. "Alright, let's just get ya a bed. Here's a guest room, so go on in and experience for yourself the fluffiness of Planeptune's mattresses!"
Inside, the room isn't very decorative, as one would expect, though its soft yellow and pink walls and blankets still give it a bubbly feel. "It's...good," she mumbles while slowly walking towards the bed. When she lays down on the bed, though, she can immediately understand what Neptune was saying. "Oh…!"
"See, I told ya. Now, let's get to brushing them pearly whites…"
"But…" Blanc's eyelids are already dropping, and she's ever so coincidentally already in a comfortable sleeping position. "...Mmm…"
"...Eh, it's alright. Sometimes, I don't feel like brushing my teeth before bed, either. Heh heh!" Before sneaking out, she carefully tucks Blanc in, completely out of it. "Wow, Plutie probably wishes she could sleep that fast. That's 'cause you're not worried anymore, right?" she whispers without getting an answer. "Probably 'cause she needed to sleep, like, a couple hours ago, but hopefully what I said was right. Anyways, good night, don't let the bed bugs bite!" She closes the door gently and turns off the light.
"Nnnh...Rom...Ram...please…"
i had a lot of trouble writing arguments and i most likely have made at least one inconsistency, feel free to point them out or something
had to scratch out a bunch of points but eventually i had to settle on something amirite
tho at least this should (almost?) be the end of the "blanny is sad" part for at least a little while and will do more slice-of-life stuff soon
She could hear fire and smell smoke behind her. There was no time to rest or even mourn the loss of the Basilicom, especially when there were many rabid monsters running around. With her hands occupied by carrying not one, but both of her unconscious younger sisters who were near the point of death, she had no choice but to do her best to evade all of them.
There were many times where one of the demonic wolves landed a hit on her, yet she couldn't afford to retaliate; she simply endured and ran past the enemy.
Focused on the dodging monsters and not the ground beneath her, she was bound to eventually trip on something, causing her to let go of the two. They tumbled in front of her, completely stationary on the ground before a pack of wolves slowly approached them.
"H-hey, get away from them, you hellish scum!" With all of her might and rage, she pushed herself up as quickly as possible, summoned her weapon, and smashed them all in one swing each.
"Damn it..." There was no time for standing there being angry at herself. Being much less gentle than she wanted, she picked them back up and resumed running.
After the longest minute in her life, the forest around her finally quieted down. The sound of fire and growling monsters disappeared, leaving her footsteps as the only noise around. She finally had time to rest and reflect, laying her sisters down against a tree. Looking through her inventory, she only had two healing potions left. Naturally, she simply sighed in an attempt to relieve some pain, sat down near them, and fed each one a bottle. "Rom...Ram...please...stay with me! I-I can't afford to lose you..." They were still unconscious, but hopefully not anywhere near leaving anytime soon.
That day so far had been a complete disaster so far. She had heard before of the other CPUs and their nations experiencing something similar, but she didn't realize that at the moment; she merely seethed in anger at how unfair this chain of events has been. Worst of all, she had no one to help. It wasn't good to hope for what could've happened, but she still needed help getting medical attention for the three. Her Oracle was away from the Basilicom when it was attacked, and her older sister...
She stood back up, picked the two up, and walked at a conservative pace towards the city, where she could hopefully find solace for the three.
"We're almost there! J-just hang on, then we'll get you two everything you need..."
