Author's Note
And here we are again! Another chapter of LITOH! Yaaay!
So I'm gonna mention this now not sure if I did in the first chap, but if I did I'm stating it again. The story will going at a slow pace. I'm sure everyone defines 'slow' differently, but from what I have planned, it's slow, for me, that is. I'm gonna be doing some slow buildups in the first few chapters for the Hyperdimenion. Neptune will, of course, will have been through lots of stuff because of the time difference that I'm sure you all know of.
It might be confusing with the switching back and forth between the hyper and Ultra perspectives, but I'll try my best to make it work. With that all said, enjoy chapter 2!
DISCLAIMER: Once again, I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia or the characters and some of the lines/scenes. HDN belongs to Idea Factory and Complie Heart.
Lastation, Gamindustri
Place: Basilicom
Date: August 20, 2019
Time: 6:30 P.M
The CPU of Lastation stretched her arms as she finally finished her work for the day. Seeing that she was finished early, she could now indulge herself in her favorite hobby. She let out a soft giggle as she stood up from her work desk and left her office.
She walked down the halls to the housing unit of her basilicom and locked herself in her bedroom. She didn't want anyone walking in on her, especially her younger sister. It would ruin her carefully crafted image.
Opening her closet, she walked in and pulled out some clothing that was hidden behind her line of dresses and work attire. These clothes weren't just any ordinary clothes. No. They were her pride and joy. Something she created by herself and for herself. No one, not even her own younger sister or her girlfriend, knew about this. And she hoped for it to stay that way.
Happily giggling, she quickly striped and tired on her first outfit. It was a black sleeveless dress with red outlines and a black armor on the top. She easily slipped it on and wore the black gauntlets on her arms and the greaves on her legs. She then replaced her ribbons with the black and red ones. "There! Outfit complete!"
She looked herself over in the tall mirror and giggled. "I worked really hard on this, so I'm glad it turned out well."
Suddenly, her phone on the side table rang. She picked it up to see it was a call from Nepgear. It was strange for Nepgear to call her since she usually only called to talk to Uni rather than her. Nonetheless, Noire wasn't going to ignore her girlfriend's younger sibling. "Hello?"
"NOIRE!"
The CPU flinched as she pulled her phone away from her ear. She wasn't expecting to be screamed at right when she answered. "Calm down, Nepgear. What's the matter?"
"Neptune's gone!"
Noire blinked in confusion. "What do you mean 'gone'? I just saw her yesterday."
"She went out to do some quests this morning, but she never came back and I'm worried!" cried the CPU candidate.
Never came back? Since this morning?
"Noire? Noire, you there?"
Noire ended the call and opened the window in her room. She transformed into her goddess form and leaped out the tall building. She summoned her blue wings and flew towards her southern neighboring nation, Planeptune.
Planeptune, Gamindustri
Place: Basilicom
Date: August 20, 2019
Time: 6:42 P.M
"What are we gonna do, Histoire?" Nepgear asked. "She's been gone the whole day and it's getting late!"
In the basilicom's office, both Nepgear and Histoire looked at each other with worry. It had been about nine hours since Neptune left their home. With the panic going on, Nepgear had requested her friends and IF, one of their Guild Agents, to search all around Planeptune.
"Rom, Ram and Uni are currently still out looking. They might catch wind of something," said Histoire.
The candidate sighed, "I hope so…"
Noire suddenly barged into the room and yelled, "I got your message! Is it true that Neptune went missing!?"
Nepgear yelped in surprise, "Noire!"
"I came as soon as I heard."
"I couldn't find her anywhere," Nepgear cried. "I even tried calling, but she wouldn't pick up. I've asked Rom, Ram and Uni to come help looked over Planeptune. I'm really worried about her…"
Noire groaned, "I swear, if she's just fallen asleep somewhere…" Noire internally cried,I was also in the middle of my cosplay session too, dammit Neptune!
"Neptune wouldn't just leave us worrying like this. And she would've picked up my calls," defended Nepgear.
Noire ran her hand through her dark bangs and sighed, "Yeah, but it's better knowing she's sleeping somewhere safe than actually having gone missing."
"For now, I've contacted Blanc and Vert to check around their nations," said Histoire.
"I've already checked around Lastation before I came here," voiced the black goddess. "She wasn't there."
Histoire sighed as she looked out the large glass window. "I guess all we can do is keep searching."
"What are we gonna do if we can't find her?" Nepgear fretted with worry.
"Neptune is a goddess. She's the strongest out of us four, she will be fine," Noire comforted. "I know she's fine."
"Yes, for now, your job is to get the paperwork done and keep the citizens in the dark. We can't have the populace know that their CPU have gone missing," said Histoire.
"Right!" Nepgear nodded, knowing how bad it would be if the people knew Neptune was missing.
"I'll help too. I'm more efficient when it comes to paperwork. Nepgear should continue searching for Neptune," Noire suggested as she sat down by Neptune's desk.
"Are you sure, Noire?" questioned the candidate.
She gave Nepgear a soft smiled and stated, "Yes, it's what a good girlfriend would do. And you still want to look for her, right?"
Nepgear fidgeted and then nodded. "Yes…"
"Then go look for her. I know she's important to you, just as she is important to me."
"I can't thank you enough," Histoire voiced.
"You don't have to. I would do anything for that purple ditz after all."
"Thank you so much, Noire!" Nepgear gave her appreciation through her smile and left the office.
Noire smiled and shook her head. As if you'd have to tell me that, I hope she's okay."Well, let's get this done then."
Noire got started on the papers left on the desk while her mind was still on her girlfriend. Histoire took this time to leave the office as well. She'd have to report the situation to the basilicom's staff so there wouldn't be any commotion. She flew down to the lobby in search of Planeptune's loyal secretary. It didn't take long to find her as she was scolding some young employees on how to do their jobs.
"Lenna," Histoire interrupted. "May I speak with you? It's urgent."
Lenna nodded and let the employees go. "What is the matter, Histoire?"
"Neptune has gone missing, and I would like you to pass that on."
"What!?" she screeched. "Lady Neptune is missing!"
"Hush!" Histoire yelped. "I don't want anyone to panic."
"My apologies!"
"I want the whole basilicom notified and that no word gets out to the press."
"Of course, Histoire. I'll do that right now." Lenna scurried off in her purple suit to announce the terrible news to the rest of the staff.
It was at this time that Nepgear and the rest of the candidates returned. Histoire was shocked to see her back so soon."That was fast, Nepgear. You only left for a few minutes."
Nepgear sighed, "I met Uni and the others halfway. They said they searched everywhere and were returning, so I came back with them."
"I see, we should tell Noire then."
"My sister is here?" questioned Lastation's candidate.
"Yes, she came a few minutes ago. She is in Neptune's office working as we speak."
Histoire guided the candidates up to the seventh floor with the elevator. They walked to the office and opened the door revealing Noire, who was surprised to see Nepgear back so soon with the rest of the candidates. "Back already?"
The younger purple goddess only sighed, "I didn't searched at all. The others were already heading back, so I came back with them."
Noire nodded, understanding. "I see…" She turned to look at her younger sister and the twins. "Did you three find anything?" Noire asked the other candidates.
Uni spoke first. "I got word from IF saying that Neptune was headed towards Virtua Forest. I went to check it out with her, but we couldn't find anything. IF went back to the Guild to see if she could get more info."
"I-I didn't find anything," Rom sadly voiced.
"Me neither," Ram said.
"Well that's a shame…" Noire muttered.
Histoire was going to say something when she got a weird signal. What's going on?Histoire thought to herself before realizing that someone was trying to connect with her, but it wasn't a signal she was familiar with as it was seemingly sent from somewhere far far away. She briefly thought of not answering it, as they were in the middle of an emergency, but after three seconds realized that it could have something to do with Neptune's disappearance. "Everyone I have an incoming call," she announced.
"Who's it from?" Noire asked.
"I do not know, but it could be something related to Neptune."
"It's best to answer then," Uni suggested.
Histoire nodded and hovered above the desk as she answered the call. A small holographic screen appeared before Histoire and what was shown was a face of a girl with blonde hair. Histoire noticed how strikingly similar she looked to her if she was a few years younger.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Oh my! It worked!"
Histoire looked at Noire with confusion and Noire gave the same expression. Everyone couldn't really see the screen since it was small, so only heard what was coming through. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"Oh! My name is Histoire and I am contacting you from another dimension on the behalf of Neptune."
"Neptune?!" everyone shouted.
"Quiet down, everyone," Histoire scolded. "Sorry, but can you bring her up."
"Yes, please give me a minute to contact them."
The screen went silent as everyone waited. This was breaking news to the tiny fairy, the fact that she was getting a call from another dimension was exhilarating. While this call could be a prank, Histoire had to take a chance that it wasn't. If this led to the return of Neptune, it was worth it in Histoire's opinion. As she was the tome that recorded history, she knew everyone's actions. And the fact that Neptune had disappeared from the history was quite disturbing and was the only reason that she was hopeful that this call was legitimate. Being sent to another dimension would explain quite a few things.
The fact that Histoire happened to like Neptune only heightened the urgency she was feeling.
After a little bit longer a few voices were heard and then Neptune's face appeared. "Whoa, it's Histy! Hey!" Histoire smiled as she was able to confirm that the call was legitimate as that was indeed Neptune on the other side of this call.
"That's your Histy…? It's hard to tell if she's big or not from the video."
"I can't believe it… She wasn't making it up…"
Histoire didn't recognize the other girl beside Neptune, but she could see someone who surprised her, "Another Noire!?"
"What!?" Noire shrieked. "Did you say another me!?"
"Yo Histy! Can you see me? It's a-me, Neptune!"
"Yes. There is no mistaking you. To think you have been sent to another dimension. We have been looking everywhere for you."
"You think you're surprised!? You know how I can get back, right?" Neptune asked as she leaned in close to the screen.
"Well… about that…" Histoire had never considered that there could be other dimensions outside this one, so the idea of contacting other dimensions, much less traveling to them never entered her mind before. "I d-!" Histoire was suddenly pushed aside by Nepgear.
"Neptune!? Is that really you!?" cried the purple candidate as she looked at the tiny screen.
"Please Nepgear," Histoire said as she floated next to the girl. "We are attempting to hold a serious conversation."
"I'm sorry, but I'm just so worried. I just needed to see her."
"Whassup, Nep Jr? Good to see you," Neptune voiced. "How's the things?"
"You disappeared so suddenly! I've been worried sick!" Nepgear said as she wiped her teary eyes. "I'm so glad you're alright…"
"Hey, plug that leaky eye plumbing!" Neptune didn't like seeing her younger sister cry and she tried to comfort Nepgear, "I'm fine, don't worry. I'll be home real soon, I promise!"
"Okay… I'm sorry… If I'd gone out working with you that day, this wouldn't have happened…"
"Excuse me, Nepgear. I hate to interrupt you, but-" Once against Histoire was pushed aside, but this time by Ram. The poor tome huffed in annoyance. Maybe I should enlarge the screen...
"Hey, Nepgear! Why're you hogging all the fun!? I wanna see Neptune!"
"But Neptune is my big sister, so…"
"Hey, I wanna see Neptune too!" Uni pressed up against Nepgear's right side, trying to see the screen.
Nepgear blushed, "U-Uni!?"
"I wanna look, too…" Rom voiced and walked over.
"Girls," Histoire voiced as she floated closer. "How about I enlarge the-"
"Yeah, but me first!" Ram said as she knocked the fairy aside once again.
"Hey, wait!" Nepgear was pushed back by three other candidates that wanted to see Neptune. "She's my sister!"
"Hey, Neptune! Can ya see me?!" Ram yelled as she waved a hand at the screen.
"That's… another dimension…? Wow," Rom curiously voiced.
"It looks kind of strange to me… Wait! Is that my big sister!? Is she that dimension's version of-"
"Everyone, I was talking to sis first!" Nepgear yelled as she tried to wiggle her way back to the screen.
"Girls, I still have important issues to talk to Neptune about," Histoire said as she floated towards the candidate again only to be knocked back once more. Luckily, Noire was able to catch her before she hit the floor.
"Bring us back some nice souvenirs! Like buckets of yummy kitty candy!" Ram happily voiced.
"I'd like… a picture book…" said Rom.
"If I go over there, would I get to have two big sisters?!" Uni wondered.
Noire didn't like the sound of that and voiced, "Don't even think about it, Uni!" Her voice was ignored though.
"Please let me through," Nepgear begged. "There isn't enough room for me to see the screen!"
"E-Everyone, enough is enough!" Histoire tried to pull the candidates away, but prove to be futile as she was once again knocked back.
Noire finally had enough of this and shouted, "That's enough, girls!" She transformed and Black Heart stood in her place. The white-haired CPU picked up the candidates one after the other and tossed them out the office. "Come back when we're finished!"
"But Noire, I haven't-"
Black Heart slammed the door shut in Nepgear's face and locked it so they couldn't get back in. She dusted her hands and released her HDD. Walking back to the desk, Histoire was already back to the purple goddess as Noire stood behind, listening.
"Noire managed to lock them out of the office," explained the tome. "I would have enlarged the screen for all of us to see, but what's done is done. We should be able to discuss about getting you home now."
Neptune's eyes lit up when she heard her girlfriend's name. "Wait, Noire's there?"
"Yes, she is currently behind me, listening."
"Can I see her?" asked Neptune.
"Of course!" Histoire turned around to call the goddess. "Noire, Neptune would like to speak with you."
"Oh! O-Okay…" Noire suddenly became nervous as she walked over to the tiny screen. A smile easily broke on her face when she saw her girlfriend's face. "Neptune."
"Noire! You have no idea how much I miss you!"
Noire chuckled, "It's only been a few hours since you disappeared."
"A few hours? Nuh-uh! I've been here way longer than that, definitely more than a few hours," corrected Neptune.
Noire was quite confused by that, but before she could question what Neptune meant, she saw her own face. "Wow, there really is another me…"
"Oh yeah! Let me introduce you to my new friends. "Noire, Noire. Noire, Noire. Noire, Plutia. Plutia, Noire!"
"Hellooooo, another Noire!" waved the shorter girl.
"We really do look alike," muttered Noire from the other side of the screen.
"H-Hello," Noire hesitantly greeted as she waved. It was weird and kind of embarrassing that she was greeting herself, but she was a CPU and that meant she had to be polite. Besides, Neptune called the other Noire her friend and it wouldn't be right to be rude to her girlfriend's friends. "I'm kind of surprised that you could tell the difference between the other Noire and I…" It really felt strange to say 'other Noire.'
"Oh yeah! Get this, the Noire here actually has friends!" Neptune announced.
Noire deadpanned, "Excuse me?" She had a flat, annoyed look on her face as she heard that.
"I was so surprised! That's how I knew that this Noire wasn't you."
Noire felt a vein pop on her forehead. "Are you saying I have no friends? What about Vert, Blanc and you!?"
"Pfft," Neptune waved her hand dismissively. "Vert and Blanc don't count, they're your rivals," Neptune said. "As for me, I'm your girlfriend."
Noire sighed as she shook her head, but her lips curled into a small smile. And just like that, I can't stay mad at her. She knew Neptune was only joking, and since Neptune was merely joking, that meant she was doing just fine. "I am happy to see that you are doing alright."
"Yep! Nothing to worry about! I'll be back real soon, right Histy!?" Neptune called out to her oracle. "Ya know how to get me home, right?"
Histoire floated over Noire's shoulder and corrected, "Actually, I am uncertain at the moment."
Noire figured it was going to be something like that. They had all just discovered other dimensions after all, it wasn't like Histoire would automatically knew how to dimension travel all of a sudden.
The purple CPU's eyebrows furrowed in worriment. "Dun-dun-dunnnn! That's not gonna fly! You even made me use that crazy melodramatic noise from years ago!"
"Th-There is nothing to be done. I just recently learned that you ended up in another dimension, which I didn't know was possible," defended Histoire.
"But it's your jobby-job job to do something about it, right? It's cool. Even if you cheat a bit, nobody will bat and eyes because you're Histy, my deus ex machina!"
"Do not demand such things of me!" Histoire yelled in irritation.
Oh no… Noire could feel the heat coming from the tiny fairy near her. This isn't gonna end well…
"I will research and then contact you once I find a solution. Farewell!"
"Hey, wait!"
Noire quickly waved her hand and said her goodbyes. "We'll contact you soon, Neptune. Bye, love you."
"Love you t-"
Histoire ended the call and the screen disappeared. "That girl, she's going to be the death of me someday," she huffed.
Noire giggled as she walked around the desk to start working on the paperwork again. "At least we know where she is now."
"Yes, with the coordinates from where their signal came from, I should be able to figure something out, but it might take three days."
Noire rolled her eyes as she voiced, "Why am I not surprised."
"I'll get right to it now, in the meantime, would it be too much to ask for you to watch over Planeptune in Neptune's place until she's back?"
"No worries, Histoire. I'll have Uni look over Lastation in my place. She has our oracle there to help too, so I can help around here."
"Thank you. You are a great help." Histoire flew to the door and left the office.
Noire sighed and looked over the papers. She knew that Neptune told her not to worry, but Noire was still worrying. She was especially worried about that other Noire, they seem to get along as well… Could this be jealousy she was feeling? Noire immediately shook her head to get the image of Neptune kissing someone else other than her. At least Neptune knew it wasn't me… Noire internally groaned, Ugh! I wish I can cosplay to keep my mind out it! I really should've brought some things over…
Noire huffed and pulled out her black smartphone. She opened her musical playlist and strolled the list of songs "I'll just listen to some music, I guess…" She clicked on the song titled Dimension Tripper and set her phone onto the side as the music played. She softly hummed to the tune while she worked alone in Neptune's office.
Author's Note
So yeah, you can assume that Neptune and Ultra Noire already got their CPU Memories because I didn't add that event in. If I were to add that in, Hyper's storyline can't begin until chapter 3 and I already have something planned for chapter 3... somewhat.
Anyways, a lot of stuff from Ultra won't make it into the story because I'm keeping Ultra's storyline mainly the same. I'll try to give the Ultra counterparts some development like you guys have been asking, but please understand that I'm focusing on our main three, which is Noire, Blanc and Vert.
So until the next chapter, see ya'll later!
-Shiena
